https://bsky.app/profile/en.finalfantasyxiv.com/post/3myv4ye3uhc2u

This is something I've been struggling with for a while. Sometimes when doing trials or raids, and there are a lot of flashy attacks or effects on the screen, I genuinely can't see my mouse cursor between all the bright lights and it takes me a solid second to find it again.

I'm not sure if it's my ADHD, because I get easily distracted, but it has happened a couple of times and I was wondering if anyone else had the same problem, and how did they deal with it? Are there any settings to make it bigger or change the colors?

'ello. o/

and welcome to the end results of a month long survey of the Arcadion Retrospective. 💥

• start date: 9/25/2026 - 10/23/2026. 🎉
• ending count of responses: 902. 🔥

Quick Introduction! 🎉

hi. I'm an XIV player from Dynamis (originally from Aether, moved because I wanted a house :P), and just like the previous questionnaire regarding the Ultimate Raids of XIV, this time I went a different route to ask the community about the current 8-man Normal Raid series of Dawntrail, The Arcadion. The purpose of this questionnaire was to understand what people DO/DON'T like about these Normal Raids, whether you've done just the Normal difficulty and/or the Savage difficulty. It was made in mind for EVERYONE to fill out. 😄

Thank you all so much to those who filled it out and also help share it around to gather as much data as possible from wherever possible. 🎉

Some pointers before you scroll through!😄

• On the favorite mechanics question, the list has been consolidated to only show Top 30. Especially as a lot of these are tied up with each other. 🏅
• There was typos found in some answers and had to be fixed in the duration of the questionnaire, but has been accounted for and combined with the fixed answers. 👍
• Everything should be ordered from highest number to lowest, top-to-bottom.
• Labels are added to clarify what was multiple choice and what was single choice.

With that introduction out of the way, enjoy reading through the results. ❤️

What Data Center do you currently live on?

Single choice.

1. Aether: 277 (30.7%)
2. Primal: 184 (20.4%)
3. Light: 136 (15.1%)
4. Crystal: 135 (15%)
5. Chaos: 78 (8.6%)
6. Dynamis: 42 (4.7%)
7. Materia: 27 (3%)
8. Elemental: 17 (1.9%)
9. Mana: 5 (0.6%)
10. Gaia: 1 (0.1%)

Seriously, thank y'all, especially those from across the globe being able to fill it out. ❤️

When did you first start playing FFXIV?

Single choice.

1. Shadowbringers: 315 (34.9%)
2. Endwalker: 168 (18.6%)
3. A Realm Reborn: 126 (14%)
4. Stormblood: 97 (10.8%)
5. Heavensward: 78 (8.6%)
6. Dawntrail: 70 (7.8%)
7. 1.0 (you were there...): 48 (5.3%)

"What role(s) do you mainly play?"

Multiple choice, accounted for those that play multiple.

1. Tank: 439 (48.7%)
2. Melee DPS: 396 (43.9%)
3. Healer: 343 (38%)
4. Magic Ranged DPS: 342 (37.9%)
5. Physical Ranged DPS: 268 (29.7%)

What job(s) do you mainly play?

Multiple choice, accounted for those that play multiple.

Of the Tanks:

1. Paladin: 214 (23.7%)
2. Warrior: 205 (22.7%)
3. Dark Knight: 197 (21.8%)
4. Gunbreaker: 186 (20.6%)

Of the Healers:

1. Sage: 210 (23.3%)
2. White Mage: 202 (22.4%)
3. Scholar: 137 (15.2%)
4. Astrologian: 113 (12.5%)

Of the Melee DPS:

1. Viper: 175 (19.4%)
2. Samurai: 144 (16%)
3. Dragoon: 143 (15.9%)
4. Reaper: 126 (14%)
5. Monk: 104 (11.5%)
6. Ninja: 71 (7.9%)

Of the Physical Ranged DPS:

1. Dancer: 166 (18.4%)
2. Machinist: 119 (13.2%)
3. Bard: 100 (11.1%)

Of the Magic Ranged DPS:

1. Red Mage: 176 (19.5%)
2. Black Mage: 152 (16.9%)
3. Pictomancer: 127 (14.1%)
4. Summoner: 121 (13.4%)

When did you first start raiding in FFXIV?

Single choice.

1. Pandæmonium: Asphodelos: 136 (15.1%)
2. Eden's Promise: 99 (11%)
3. AAC: Light-heavyweight Tier: 94 (10.4%)
4. The Binding Coil of Bahamut: 83 (9.2%)
5. Alexander: Gordias: 59 (6.5%)
6. Eden's Verse: 55 (6.1%)
7. Eden's Gate + Pandæmonium: Anabaseios: 53 (5.9%)
8. AAC: Heavyweight Tier: 46 (5.1%)
9. Pandæmonium: Abyssos: 44 (4.9%)
10. Omega: Deltascape: 40 (4.4%)
11. AAC: Cruiserweight Tier: 36 (4%)
12. None of the above!: 23 (2.5%)
13. Omega: Alphascape: 19 (2.1%)
14. Omega: Sigmascape: 17 (1.9%)
15. Alexander: The Creator: 16 (1.8%)
16. Alexander: Midas: 13 (1.4%)
17. The Second Coil of Bahamut: 9 (1%)
18. The Final Coil of Bahamut: 7 (0.8%)

What was your first Savage raid tier?

Single choice.

1. Pandæmonium: Asphodelos: 148 (16.4%)
2. None of the above!: 125 (13.9%)
3. AAC: Light-heavyweight Tier: 111 (12.3%)
4. Eden's Promise: 77 (8.5%)
5. The Binding Coil of Bahamut: 68 (7.5%)
6. AAC: Heavyweight Tier: 52 (6.8%)
7. Pandæmonium: Anabaseios + Eden's Verse: 48 (5.3%)
8. Pandæmonium: Abyssos: 46 (5.1%)
9. Eden's Gate: 43 (4.8%)
10. Omega: Deltascape: 32 (3.5%)
11. AAC: Cruiserweight Tier: 30 (3.3%)
12. Omega: Alphascape + Omega: Sigmascape + Alexander: Gordias: 14 (1.6%)
13. Alexander: The Creator: 11 (1.2%)
14. The Final Coil of Bahamut: 8 (0.9%)
15. Alexander: Midas: 7 (0.8%)
16. The Second Coil of Bahamut (Savage): 6 (0.7%)

Have you done the Arcadion on Savage?

Single choice.

1. I have!: 701 (77.7%)
2. I have not!: 201(22.3%)

What are your favorite fights of the 3 Arcadion raid tiers?

Multiple choice.

1. M4 || Wicked Thunder: 442 (49%)
2. M5 || Dancing Green: 421 (46.7%)
3. M12 || Lindwurm: 400 (44.3%)
4. M6 || Sugar Riot: 374 (41.5%)
5. M8 || Howling Blade: 356 (39.5%)
6. M10 || The Xtremes (Red Hot and Deep Blue): 345 (38.2%)
7. M11 || The Tyrant: 309 (34.3%)
8. M2 || Honey B. Lovely: 238 (26.4%)
9. M9 || Vamp Fatale: 199 (22.1%)
10. M7 || Brute Abominator: 163 (18.1%)
11. M1 || Black Cat: 96 (10.6%)
12. M3 || Brute Bomber: 91 (10.1%)
13. None of the above: 9 (1%)

What are your LEAST favorite fights of the 3 Arcadion raid tiers?

Single choice.

1. M3 || Brute Bomber + M7 || Brute Abominator: 317 (35.1%)
2. M11 || The Tyrant: 256 (28.4%)
3. M2 || Honey B. Lovely: 194 (21.5%)
4. M9 || Vamp Fatale: 166 (18.4%)
5. M6 || Sugar Riot: 161 (17.8%)
6. M10 || The Xtremes (Red Hot and Deep Blue): 152 (16.9%)
7. M1 || Black Cat: 143 (15.9%)
8. M8 || Howling Blade + M12 || Lindwurm: 119 (13.2%)
9. M5 || Dancing Green: 80 (8.9%)
10. None of the above!: 76 (8.4%)
11. M4 || Wicked Thunder: 37 (4.1%)

What are your favorite mechanic(s) of all the Savage Arcadion floors?

Multiple choice. Could only answer this question if answered previous question asking if you've done Savage. Showing Top 30.

1. M12 P2 || Idyllic Dream: 476 (67.9%)
2. M6 || Adds Wave 4 (full sequence): 331 (47.2%)
3. M6 || Adds Wave 3: Jabberwocks + Yan + Gimme Cat: 309 (44.1%)
4. M6 || Adds Wave 1: Gimme Cat + Mu + Yan: 303 (43.2%)
5. M10 || Watersnaking/Firesnaking: 296 (42.2%)
6. M6 || Adds Wave 2: Feather Rays: 289 (41.2%)
7. M12 P2 || Replication 2: 284 (40.5%)
8. M11 || Ultimate Trophy Weapons (full sequence): 225 (32.1%)
9. M12 P1 || Grotesquerie: Act 2: 215 (30.7%)
10. M4 || Electrope Transplant (Intermission to P2, full sequence) + M11 || Flatliner (Arena Split, full sequence): 212 (30.2%)
11. M5 || Ensemble Assemble + Arcady Night Fever 1: 205 (29.2%)
12. M4 P1 || Narrowing/Widening Witch Hunt: 195 (27.8%)
13. M8 P2 || Howling Eight + 5x Mooncleaver: 193 (27.5%)
14. M5 || Ensemble Assemble + Arcady Night Fever 2: 181 (25.8%)
15. M4 P1 || Ion Cluster + Electron Stream (full sequence): 174 (24.8%)
16. M10 || Insane Air 2: 171 (24.4%)
17. M8 P2 || Champion's Circuit: 168 (24%)
18. M11 || Ecliptic Stampede (full sequence): 150 (21.4%)
19. M9 || Hell in a Cell: 145 (20.7%)
20. M5 || Disco Infernal 1: 143 (20.4%)
21. M8 P1 || Millennial Decay: 141 (20.1%)
22. M8 P1 || Eminent/Revolutionary Reign: 140 (20%)
23. M9 || Adds Phase (Doornails + Flails) + M8 P1 || Tactical Pack (full adds sequence): 138 (19.7%)
24. M8 P1 || Beckon Moonlight: 135 (19.3%)
25. M12 P2 || Replication 1: 134 (19.1%)
26. M10 || Insane Air 1: 133 (19%)
27. M4 P2 || Ion Cluster + Sunrise Sabbath (full sequence): 131 (18.7%)
28. M4 P1 || Electrope Edge 2 (full sequence): 129 (18.4%)
29. M11 || Trophy Weapons: 125 (17.8%)
30. M10 || 'Arena Split' Sequence: 123 (17.5%)

What are your LEAST favorite mechanic(s) of all the Savage Arcadion floors?

Multiple choice. Could only answer this question if answered previous question asking if you've done Savage. Showing Top 30.

1. M2 || Alarm Pheromones 1: 174 (24.8%)
2. M11 || Trophy Weapons: 146 (20.8%)
3. M10 || 'Arena Split' Sequence: 136 (19.4%)
4. M11 || Ultimate Trophy Weapons (full sequence): 133 (19%)
5. M11 || Flatliner (Arena Split, full sequence): 125 (17.8%)
6. M11 || Orbital Omen: 113 (16.1%)
7. M2 || Alarm Pheromones 2: 105 (15%)
8. Skip!: 102 (14.6%)
9. M4 P2 || Ion Cluster + Sunrise Sabbath (full sequence) + M6 || Adds Wave 3: Jabberwocks + Yan + Gimme Cat: 100 (14.3%)
10. M7 P1 || Sinister Seeds (full sequence) + M7 P3 || Debris Deathmatch (full sequence) + M6 || Adds Wave 2: Feather Rays: 92 (13.1%)
11. M6 || Lavascape (full sequence): 91 (13%)
12. M7 P2 || Deathmatches (Thorny, Demolition) + Strange Seeds + M6 || Adds Wave 4 (full sequence): 90 (12.8%)
13. M3 || Fusefield: 88 (12.6%)
14. M9 || Vamp Stomp: 87 (12.4%)
15. M6 || Adds Wave 1: Gimme Cat + Mu + Yan: 85 (12.1%)
16. M12 P2 || Replication 1 + M8 P1 || Millennial Decay: 76 (10.8%)
17. M9 || Adds Phase (Doornails + Flails): 73 (10.4%)
18. M7 P3 || 2nd Stoneringers 2: Stoneringers + Strange Seeds: 72 (10.3%)
19. M9 || Undead Deathmatch + Sanguine Scratch: 70 (10%)
20. M3 || Final Fusedown: 69 (9.8%)
21. M12 P1 || Grotesquerie: Act 3 + M12 P1 || Slaughtersheds: 62 (8.8%)
22. M6 || Desertscape: Growing Cactus: 61 (8.7%)
23. M12 P1 || Mortal Slayer: 60 (8.6%)
24. M10 || Deep Aerial + Watery Grave: 57 (8.1%)
25. M1 || Raining Cats: 53 (7.6%)
26. M11 || Dance of Domination Trophy + M8 P2 || Hero's Blow 2 + Ultraviolent Ray 4: 47 (6.7%)
27. M10 || Watersnaking/Firesnaking + M6 || Riverscape: Arrows + Thunder Spreads/Fire Stacks: 46 (6.6%)
28. M12 P2 || Blood Mana + M12 P2 || Idyllic Dream: 45 (6.4%)
29. M11 || Meteorain: 43 (6.1%)
30. M3 || Fuse or Foe + M8 P1 || Beckon Moonlight + M9 || Aetherletting: 42 (6%)

Which 1st floor of the 3 raid tiers is your favorite?

Single choice.

1. M5 || Dancing Green: 565 (62.6%)
2. M9 || Vamp Fatale: 226 (25.1%)
3. M1 || Black Cat: 98 (10.9%)
4. None of the above: 13 (1.4%)

Which 2nd floor of the 3 raid tiers is your favorite?

Single choice.

1. M6 || Sugar Riot: 352 (39%)
2. M10 || The Xtremes: 323 (35.8%)
3. M2 || Honey B. Lovely: 197 (21.8%)
4. None of the above: 30 (3.3%)

Which 3rd floor of the 3 raid tiers is your favorite?

Single choice.

1. M11 || The Tyrant: 502 (55.7%)
2. M7 || Brute Abominator: 201 (22.3%)
3. M3 || Brute Bomber: 132 (14.6%)
4. None of the above: 67 (7.4%)

Which 4th floor of the 3 raid tiers is your favorite?

Single choice.

1. M12 || Lindwurm: 318 (35.3%)
2. M4 || Wicked Thunder: 288 (31.9%)
3. M8 || Howling Blade: 270 (29.9%)
4. None of the above: 26 (2.9%)

Do you have any favorite songs from the Arcadion?

Multiple choice.

1. M4 P1 || Give It All: 623 (69.1%)
2. M12 P1 || Everything Burns: 529 (58.6%)
3. M12 P2 || The Arcadion: 479 (53.1%)
4. M2 || Bee My Honey: 450 (49.9%)
5. M5 || Ride the Rhythm: 446 (49.4%)
6. M8 P1 || Unleashed: 432 (47.9%)
7. M10 || The Mirror: 428 (47.5%)
8. M11 || Absolute Tyranny: 426 (47.2%)
9. M9 || Sinister: 386 (42.8%)
10. M4 P2 || A Risky Bet: 334 (37%)
11. M6 || Back to the Drawing Board: 323 (35.8%)
12. M7 || Not Afraid: 308 (34.1%)
13. M8 P2 || Peerless: 250 (27.7%)
14. M1 || It's Showtime!: 172 (19.1%)
15. M3 || Burning Souls: 75 (8.3%)
16. None of the above: 9 (1%)

Of the 3 raid tiers, which tier is your absolute favorite?

Single choice.

1. AAC: Heavyweight: 406 (45%)
2. AAC: Cruiserweight: 304 (33.7%)
3. AAC: Light-heavyweight: 164 (18.2%)
4. None of the above: 28 (3.1%)

Of the 3 raid tiers, which tier do you think is underwhelming?

Single choice.

1. None of the above, they're all fine!: 396 (43.9%)
2. AAC: Light-heavyweight: 245 (27.2%)
3. AAC: Cruiserweight: 146 (16.2%)
4. AAC: Heavyweight: 115 (12.7%)

Do you have a favorite armor set for glamour from these raid tiers?

Single choice.

1. Courtly Lover's Set (crafted): 318 (35.3%)
2. Light-heavy Set (raid): 221 (24.5%)
3. None of the above: 184 (20.4%)
4. Heavyweight Set (raid): 153 (17%)
5. Bygone Brass Set (weekly tome): 152 (16.9%)
6. Cruiserweight Set (raid): 126 (14%)
7. Historia Set (weekly tome): 121 (13.4%)
8. Quetzalli Set (weekly tome): 96 (10.6%)
9. Archeo Kingdom Set (crafted): 85 (9.4%)
10. Ceremonial Set (crafted): 33 (3.7%)

Did you enjoy the Arcadion?

Single choice.

1. "ABSOLUTELY! IT'S THE BEST!" (5/5⭐): 429 (47.6%)
2. "I enjoyed it a lot! Only few complaintsbut otherwise still fun!" (4/5⭐): 391 (43.3%)
3. "Only eh. Wasn't great but also wasn'tbad either." (3/5⭐): 51 (5.7%)
4. "I feel like it could've been better. I didenjoy a few bits though." (2/5⭐): 22 (2.4%)
5. "Honestly, not really. Just not for me." (1/5⭐): 9 (1%)

for this next section, these are all questions related to Evercold!

Will you be playing the new Normal Raid series, Beyond the Lifestream, in Evercold?

Single choice.

1. "Absolutely! I'm also be doing theSavage difficulty as well, whether Week1 or later!": 682 (75.6%)
2. "I won't be doing Savage but I'm stillinterested in raiding, so I do wannacheck out the new difficulty!": 166 (18.4%)
3. "I'll only be doing the Normal difficulty! Not too interested and/or no time for Savage, nor the new difficulty.": 50 (5.5%)
4. "I won't be raiding, but I'll at least watchfrom afar!": 4 (0.4%)

With the 2-minute meta announced to be completely gone, do you think it'll allow for interesting and/or harder fights?

Single choice, rating from a scale of 1-5.

1. 5: 319 (35.4%)
2. 4: 293 (32.5%)
3. 3: 189 (21%)
4. 1: 53 (5.9%)
5. 2: 48 (5.3%)

What existing jobs are you personally interested in trying with Evolved Mode?

Multiple choice, misc options were added and will be listed separately at the bottom of this section.

Of the Tanks:

1. Dark Knight: 272 (30.2%)
2. Gunbreaker: 238 (26.4%)
3. Warrior: 204 (22.6%)
4. Paladin: 200 (22.2%)

Of the Healers:

1. Scholar: 221 (24.5%)
2. Sage: 211 (23.4%)
3. Astrologian: 210 (23.3%)
4. White Mage: 178 (19.7%)

Of the Melee DPS:

1. Dragoon: 253 (28%)
2. Reaper: 247 (27.4%)
3. Samurai: 222 (24.6%)
4. Monk: 197 (21.8%)
5. Ninja: 193 (21.4%)
6. Viper: 186 (20.6%)

Of the Physical Ranged DPS:

1. Bard: 213 (23.6%)
2. Dancer: 207 (22.9%)
3. Machinist: 191 (21.2%)

Of the Magic Ranged DPS:

1. Red Mage: 234 (25.9%)
2. Black Mage: 233 (25.8%)
3. Summoner: 206 (22.8%)
4. Pictomancer: 165 (18.3%)

Misc. Options:

1. I'm waiting for more information first!: 284 (31.5%)
2. None of the above: 35 (3.9%)

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

whew. you made it to the end. hope you enjoyed the read! If you'd like the proof of work and also see more numbers in more detail about other mechs, here's a direct link to the now public analytics! 👀 (this is especially here to prove the typos issue that I had to fix in the middle of duration of the questionnaire).

once again like the previous questionnaire, was genuinely a really fun quest to understand what people really do enjoy and don't particular enjoy about these 8-man Normal Raids. as i've stated before, i'm having a lot more healthy and thorough conversations about these fights instead of just quick negative conversations going, "this sucks, fix it." it was also really cool watching people do this live, thinking deeply about what to pick as their answer. 👍

i don't really know what else to say other than just, thank you so much for those that filled it out and also shared it around. big shoutouts to friends of mine as well helping me out get the word around as well. 🥺

i guess for like a closing shill, uh. hi. I stream on twitch sometimes. I do indeed play XIV but i'm also sometimes a fighting and rhythm gamer. you are free to follow and watch some horrible gameplay. 😛

have yourself a damn good one. o/

I killed Odin last week. Huge mistake. Today, he respawned. So naturally, I had to fight myself (and lost, obviously, since I was alone).

I've probably done the fight 100-200 times and this is the first time I've ever seen the whistle drop lmao

I think it turned out so lovely and wanted to share!

More randomness from the weekend!

My tiny azem named Sòse and he’s made out of felt. And 4ish inches/ 11 centimeters.

I think that's a cute way to end their story story for now. If I find some fun ways of making more pictures, I will post, but for now, in marriage, we say goodbye to the couple Manderville!

Seriously, watching this guy fumble through menus and question FFXIV's logic is giving me major nostalgia. From getting mad at chocobo insurance to getting "offended" by the NPC's nicknames for his PC. His commentary is hilarious.

I Thought the community would appreciate a good chuckle from a newcomers perspective.

Hello and welcome to what the FFXIV ConsoleGamesWiki refers to as "Week 12" of the Masked Carnivale challenges!

These guides assume the following:

• You already know all 124 spells.
• You already know how to otherwise complete all relevant fights.
• You use a DPS mimicry and don't intend to heal mid-fight.

Not many jokes in the ol' tank this week. BST Crucible Rankings are finally a thing and I don't even have all my beasts at 25 yet, Keybound Brawler releases in ^\checks notes*) a day from posting this, JP Fanfest this weekend...busy, busy.

The B Rank challenge notes are, uh, quite verbose, but the specific loadout I gave us means being a bit of a clown about it and I wanted to make sure to guide you through the steps involved. Strictly speaking if you're smart about it you can use the whole suite of this weeks spells in there but also strictly speaking you don't even need Role Action "Sleep" to get it done with what I've set up. ^\shrug*)

Have a safe journey, everyone!

Image alt text and any Expanded Notes are included in the spoil foil below.

Included in the image but not in any particular box is spell #77, which you are intended to cast on another player who is a DPS job to acquire DPS Mimicry BEFORE entering any given Masked Carnivale stage for additional damage output.

The C Rank challenge is #13 "Beauty and a Beast" and its spellbook box contains these spells: #24, 28, 33, 44, 47, 48, 55, 78, 80, 92, 94, 100, 103, 104, 122, 124.

The C Rank challenge's notes section reads: "'Use the provided Vibe Check combo (#33 -> #92) for Act 1."

The B Rank challenge is #17 "The Sword of Music" with the following challenge: Enfeeble Me Tender.

The B Rank challenge's spellbook box contains these spells: #28, 33, 55, 92.

The B Rank challenge's notes section reads: "Open with the "Sleep" Role Action on the Right Claw (on your left!). Focus down the other with #55, then hit Right Claw with #28 and spam #33. Use the provided Vibe Check combo (#33 -> #92) for Act 2."

The A Rank challenge is #09 "To Kill a Mockingslilme" with the following challenges: Elemental Mastery, Modus Interruptus.

The A Rank challenge's spellbook box contains these spells: #24, 44, 47, 48, 78, 94, 100, 104, 122, 124.

The A Rank challenge's notes section reads: "Press each button at least once. Interrupt "Golden Tongue" with #24."

Expanded Notes:

-No Notes.

This was my first time drawing Au'Ras, and I think I nailed them! It is for a friend and his girlfriend, but I really wanna draw my own character now!!!

(speed running challenge this time) and here's the new 3d digital sculpt work that I did for my static grp friend as a new commission sample, it's roegadyn this time. Since my friend didn't need any vfx for the sculpt I just put more focus on the detailed texture on the coat and weapon. done in 8 days (average 6 hours per day) and I call it a win