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Just out of curiosity, what else would you consider difficult if the 'reactions' were removed from the equation?
I don't think all of the reactions should be removed... but they should be toned down.
The way these battles are now, it's like a 10-minute stress test in which players must remain 100 percent locked in the entire time. It's just too much, and, above all, it's not fun. There's no real strategy involved and no room for improvisation.
You could cut the frequency of insta-kill mechanics by 50 percent (and insert other moves that the party must account for), and you'd still have to dodge enough stuff throughout the fight that the battle would still retain plenty of difficulty. It just wouldn't be OMGWTFGOEFFYOURSELF pointlessly difficult.
I also think there's a lot of merit to what Catwho says about giving bosses more HP. A big reason why the current method of insta-kill mechanics is difficult is that people make mistakes. Even when people know a fight inside and out, they may still make mistakes. You force a fight to go on long enough, and someone will ***** something up, and the party will need to scramble and rebound from that. Back in XI, some of my most memorable battles were with groups that had to overcome mistakes in order to eek out a win by the time the clock expired.
For that matter, SE could maintain a high degree of difficulty and pressure by loosening the insta-kill mechanics, increasing boss HP and clamping down on the time limits for certain content (not dungeons, but for things like coil). Reducing the time limit is a great way to punish parties for mistakes while still giving them the chance to overcome those mistakes.