My only complaint about the mechanics of the fight was that the wall was up too frequently/felt really repetitive. Every couple posts having to take the thing down was more of an annoyance and didn't really feel like it added anything to the fight itself. Other than that, two thumbs up!

First off I'd like to preface this with this was my first raid, I'm not sure how the other went before this. Also I hold no animosity towards the folks that worked on and created this raid, you all did an amazing job!

As for my review while I did enjoy it there were a few things that felt a bit, bland maybe? On the narrative side it felt like Wushen really wasn't paying much attention to us which made it feel kind of boring to see what he had to say. I know he is the big elemental man so it does make sense overall.

The combat mechanics were interesting, but once we figured it all out in the end it felt a bit stale at the end. Initially I was excited to see what his phase 2 had in store but when the time came and we handled it without much issue it felt easy. I don't know if a third phase would have spiced it up or not?

Again, this is not to meant to be taken as hate, I mean this as constructive criticism. As my first raid it was overall enjoyable and I was happy to take part in it. Thank you again to the teams that worked on everything, you all are amazing!

I liked the concept of this boss a lot but found a bit more to be desired with the narrative and combat. Tying the sister Ronbaru Roundtable event in with the boss fight was a really nice touch, I just wish it could have been a little more prevalent on our end so as to add a bit more flavor to the battle. I had a difficult time knowing how to interact with Wushen outside of repeating attacks since most of his posts were internal dialogue vs anything that our players could actually hear to react to.

My only critique of the combat is that it felt like there was a lot going on, more than I would be able to account for of if my teammates weren't consistently overcoming the enemies/obstacles before they could hurt us. I found it difficult to keep track of all of the status effects that did/didn't effect certain enemies along with who I was supposed to be targeting each round, though that did become more clear with time. Overall, I think that a lot of cool mechanics were introduced, I just wish they were a bit easier to follow.

And seriously, thank you for all the work you guys put into it. You had to do a ton of math and writing to keep this event chugging, and I greatly appreciate your commitment to see if through until the end!

Each of the three poll questions had various strong points and shakier elements.  Rather than skew either way, I’ll just skip the poll and offer the following as creative feedback.  It’s also worth acknowledging how hard it can be to plan for raids when the designer doesn’t yet know who will be participating while creating the boss.  Mad respect for those of you who put in the effort.  Hopefully, some of what follows is useful.

1. Narrative

• Honestly, this raid’s narrative struggled a bit regarding engagement.  The text itself was great, but was often so heavy with internal monologue that it left players with little they could sink their keyboards into and few clues to help solve the various mechanical puzzles.  Constructively, a bit more direct interaction or even just descriptive effects would have been heartily welcomed.
• Narratively, the Ronbaru event seemed strangely more important from a plot perspective than the raid battle itself, likely also affected per above.  It wasn’t possible to keep up with three raid threads plus the Ronbaru thread, so consider this impression as strictly superficial.  More obvious connections between the two might have helped them both.

2. Mechanics

Pros:

• Great mechanical innovation, particularly in phase 2 and in making lesser used features mean something.  
• Phase 2 required good planning and encouraged teamwork, while also incorporating luck as a factor. This was very well done.
• Love the idea of making tanking and support roles have a greater range of function.  In practice, both struggled a bit with that in phase 1, but gained  functionality back in spades in phase 2.  Suggestion: have players define their roles going into the raid, granting each abilities or benefits that only last for that raid.  Also recommend exploring partial effects when boss attacks fail.  This could help with tanks and support utility.
• It was a good call to reveal the boss stats in phase 2, especially given its complexity.  The fog of war seriously hurt phase 1’s fun factor.
• Avoiding the immunity trap.  Thank you!!!  Providing disables with alternative effects was excellent.  More of this would be great.  Nothing is less satisfying than: you just can't use that.

Cons:

• Some of the new mechanics were significant departures from traditional builds and roles (actually a pro), but certain builds may have struggled to remain effective as a result.  Not the end of the world, but may have reduced the fun factor for some, which can kill writer post motivation.  Would love to hear from others if they felt this way (it helps staff to know!)
• It felt like there were probably a few too many effects in play at the same time, especially when people struggled to understand their interactions.  Could be a buzzkill for those who really dislike to math.  Consider setting a vague mechanics theme for the next raid to help players prepare as they see fit (e.g. bring your pep pills (EN sus), play with your opposites (foly, opposing elements, etc.), your hate means nothing (load up on taunt-procs), etc.)  Maybe through the rumour mechanic?  It’s impossible to be prepared for everything, yet failing a raid due to broad or completely unforeseeable factors could hinder player motivation to participate.  Not easy to balance.
• Likewise, mechanical puzzles relying on clever reading of system can struggle if the community’s understanding of those mechanics may be inconsistent.  Not easily solvable, just more of an observation.  We all appreciate how staff are always working to improve and clarify the system.

3. Length

• Running multiple parties simultaneously was a huge improvement and a definite win. Waiting for other group rotations in previous raids was terribly disengaging and dragged raids out horribly. Pacing felt much more engaging, though I can only imagine how exhausting this must have been for staff.  
• Given that multiple players had reached the end of their energy reserves suggests that, mechanically, the fight was probably as long as it could truly afford to be.  This even impacted players who had leaned into sustainability in their builds.
• Ultimately, phase 1 felt very unnecessary.  Opening the raid with multiple rotations of meatbag-pounding attrition was also rather muse-killing.  It felt a lot like wailing on a punching bag with indeterminate hit points without making any discernable headway and drained writer motivation as much or more than their characters’ EN.  Likely best avoided in the future.
• Consider keeping raids to a shorter duration, overall.  Not every raid needs to reach the point of exhaustion in order to achieve a dramatic crescendo.  Brief and intense can work just as well, or sometimes better.  It’s also a lot easier on staff.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to planning and running the raid.  I know how draining it can be.

Cheers.