A couple weeks ago after moving my character D’azri back to Goblin, I set a goal to get her all caught up on Dawntrail (including patch content) before the next big MSQ patch released. At the time I set this goal, I was just barely to the spar between the Warrior of Light and Gulool Ja Ja but as I’d done the story twice already on Kibbles and Maisha, I knew it would go fast because I would be skipping cutscenes.
Sure enough, it didn’t take much time at all to finish the main MSQ and I think that’s because I picked the perfect time to resume Dawntrail on D’azri. Patch 7.2 was well-received by many Final Fantasy 14 players, including myself, and I think that brought a lot of players back. Those players needed to catch up just like D’azri did so I never had to wait long as DPS to do any of the dungeons or trials. Thankfully, those dungeons and trials went much faster on D’azri than with previous characters and I was relieved that I even got to skip certain boss phases that caused me trouble in the past.
Having done 7.2 and knowing where the story was going, I appreciated certain parts of Dawntrail a bit more on D’azri because I knew how things were going to change/improve. I still think the story elements of 7.1 would’ve worked better woven into the main MSQ but that’s just my opinion and not something I have any control over. For now I’ll just move on with hope for the continuing development of the story.
Once finished with the MSQ and the patches, I set about unlocking the Arcadion raids on D’azri. I was quite happily surprised that I remembered most of the mechanics for the first four fights and did about as well as I usually do. I then unlocked the next wing and those mechanics are very fresh in my mind because I’m doing them weekly on Kibbles.
The fight against Dancing Green is still my favorite and a lot of fun even when I’m not doing mechanics correctly. The fight against Sugar Riot trips me up here and there but overall it’s still fun. I don’t have much fun against Brute Abominator and find that fight very confusing. The fight against Howling Blade is starting to sink in but I dislike the tower falling mechanic because I’m horrible at reading it. Thankfully I can usually find one person in the group who knows how to do it so I glue myself to them.
Last night I finished up the last two bosses of Cruiserweight division and then did Jeuno: The First Walk. The alliance raid is all right and I do okay at all but the last boss but overall, it hasn’t really been my thing. I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy any alliance raid as much as I did Myths of the Realm from Endwalker but time will tell.
I’m now almost totally caught up on D’azri as far as Dawntrail content goes. I still need to do the two expert dungeons from Dawntrail but I’m hoping to tackle those this week. Otherwise, I’m just working on leveling D’azri in various classes via fates, society quests, and roulette.
I even took the time this past weekend to finish up the fates in the Shadowbringers zones on D’azri finally! I only had six left to do in one of the zones and I soloed them easily on paladin. Once that was complete, I unlocked the special gemstone vendors in the Crystarium and Eulmore and got the Amaro hatchling minion and dancer barding I’ve been wanting forever. There are lots of other items I want from those vendors but I ran out of gemstones for now.
Amid leveling, I’m also working on remodeling the Free Company house on Goblin. I’m almost done, just a few things here and there to figure out. D’azri has lots of furnishings to work with and I’ve barely started on her free company chambers.
Overall, I’m quite happy that Dazri has now Dawn-zoomed and is ready for whatever new things come up in Final Fantasy 14. I’ve been playing her solo since I moved her back to Goblin but I’m hopeful that friends will return to the game soon and group adventures can start again.
Srinity 