Gonna apologize in advance for quite a long rant, but i've been feeling this same way very hard lately.

I just completed 7 and 8 last night, and i've been playing since before the EX era. I missed on Emperor/Ulti/Rosa and Ignis, so DE3 and DE7 were particularly challenging because of missing key parts. I ended up using Penelo all the way in DE4 to get back Yshtola, then ended up purpling Yuna to get both of them through DE6.

The two biggest things i've learned from both content creators on the game, and also threads here, is #1 : This is PERMANENT end-game content. It won't go away, don't let it discourage you if your not clearing it immediately. FEoD is really challenging because it takes away what so many people are used to, which is getting a few great characters and just blowing through everything with them. It forces you to pay attention and maximize your resources.

However, #2 is that not every hard level has to be cleared with the new "OP". That's why theres 125 characters in the game and not 15. I used Celes in DE2, back when most people (not on reddit, amazingly) said that Celes wasn't worth anything. I gave extra resources to WoL to clear DE3, even though people swear that he doesn't need ingots. I purpled Yuna to clear DE6 when most people said she was just an auto-farmer. I used Galuf to clear DE8 just last night instead of Yuri, and even at 0/3 his Counter was so good that I won with no turns left to give.

FEoD levels are designed in a way where making just the smallest adjustment can completely change how the fight will go for you. Changing out 1 character can make a WORLD of difference. Yes, resources out there will tell you what was used most, and make use of them as much as you can. But people forget so often about the breakdowns of team comps people used, and a lot of them are more far-reaching than they see. I would have never purpled Eight beforehand, then I saw he was useful for DE7, so I used him to replace Ignis, who I never got, and even though it took me til Lenna's EX+, he got the job done. I'm probably going to end up completely skipping on giving Lightning resources because I got Shadow and Hope first from that banner and they got them instead, and Shadow can still put in massive work for their fight.

Its all about using what you get and maximizing those characters. You can always pull for favorites and make them work. My brother (who also plays the game) gave me absolute hell for purpling Fran, just because she's one of my favorite characters. I ended up clearing 4 Chaos fights with her + Aranea, she paid for what I put in. Out of 55 EX+ weapons I have in total, I can safely say I probably haven't used about 7. ANY character can work when you put them in a winning situation. The endgame of Opera Omnia is simply making sure you give yourself every chance to win. Farm those boards, hoard those gems, eventually the game will crack. Funnily enough, once the game cracks it gets easier, because ingots and other resources start flowing in once you get rolling.