The SSS dummy should explode and kill the player if they fail to defeat it in time.

[UBERHAXED]

This really bothers me. I'm by no means some grandiose player, but I'm pretty confident in my abilities with my class.

Yes, with the proper gear, it's a good indicator. I can barely clear the Seph Ex dummy, food or not, and I don't have BiS for my class.

The dummy takes more than "skill" and rotation into account. You aren't going to be downing Seph in full ilvl 180-190, no matter how good you think you are as a DPS, lol.

Irrelevant. You can't even enter the fight at those levels. You need 205.