How difficult is Ultimate?

[MPK]

Not that hard tbh just requires consistency.

I just wish that square stops making it sound like it's a super difficult thing only meant for the 1%. That's just stupid. There's so many legends that I wouldn't be surprised if at least 20% of active players cleared at least one.

uwu right now is like a savage difficulty at most. There's not many hard mechanics aside from titan gaol and the dps check in sb ultimates are a complete joke right now

[KDSilver]

Not that hard tbh just requires consistency.

I just wish that square stops making it sound like it's a super difficult thing only meant for the 1%.

A lot of people keep saying that as well (only 1%) while he have no concrete data.

[HyoMinPark]

There's that one person who keeps talking about Ultimate on the forums... so I got curious and looked it up. Apparently there are three Ultimate fights in the entire game and they seem pretty complicated and look really cool. A lot of what was going on went over my head though so I can't tell how hard it is. I'm wondering how hard Ultimate actually is. Is it something that only the 1% can tackle, or is it accessible to any good player in the game? How long does it take?

Ultimates are all about memorizing mechanics and executing them correctly. As far as DPS checks, most are relatively lenient in them. However, screwing up certain mechanics means a wipe, and repeated deaths—especially for core members like healers or tanks—usually means chances of recovery are slim (depending on where said deaths happened).

Honestly, the fights are not difficult in terms of their mechanics. Even with the ones that you cannot afford to screw up. The difficulty comes from trying to find a group good enough and in-sync enough to clear the fights, as well as in finding endurance to handle repeated wipes. From wiping to the final phase to enrage to the first boss in the gauntlet. It’s very common to reach enrage or near-enrage one pull...and then spend the next two hours dying to the first boss. It’s incredibly frustrating to be so close, and then get nowhere for several pulls in a row; or get 15 minutes into an 18 minute fight, and wipe. And this happens even with groups that have players that have cleared the fights. It’s just part of the encounter.

Ultimate is, ultimately, an endurance test for yourself and your static mates.

A group of thanks has done it, so rated out from that, not hard or difficult, also devaluates the worth of the title.

Just because a group of extremely good players cleared UCoB with 8 tanks doesn’t devalue the title for those who cleared with a standard comp and earned the title. The people who have done 8 tank Ultimate clears are some of the best players in the game—they have done the fights multiple times; hundreds of times. An Ultimate clear is an Ultimate clear at the end of the day.

[Roda]

A lot of people keep saying that as well (only 1%) while he have no concrete data.

It's kind of a problem in raiding scenes in general and why developers are putting more "casual" (read: faceroll) versions of content.
People call raiding, no matter what game, a hardcore scene meant for no-lifers.
Is it considered the most difficult content in the game? if yes, then that obviously means it's impossible to get into if you don't have 5 hours a night to dedicate to raiding, and if you're not the most shining perfect example of your role from the get-go.
Doesn't matter that it's only the most difficult content because it's the only bit of content in the game with a fail-state that requires co-ordination to beat.
And it doesn't help that a lot of insecure raiders who want to think they're hot stuff try to scare off newbies with this hardcore bravado.

I have been a mentor in a lot of raiding groups in various games, and the first thing I have to do with every newbie is beat the idea out of their head, that raiding is exclusively for hardcore no-lifers.

[ForteNightshade]

A lot of people keep saying that as well (only 1%) while he have no concrete data.

From the Lucky Census a while back, I believe the estimated numbers of active characters who have cleared.

UCoB: 1. 89%
UwU: 5.6%
TEA: 6%ish

The general average seems to be 5%. UCoB being the lowest makes sense due to its sheer length (clocking in at 17-18 minutes).

[Reap00]

From the Lucky Census a while back, I believe the estimated numbers of active characters who have cleared.

UCoB: 1. 89%
UwU: 5.6%
TEA: 6%ish

The general average seems to be 5%. UCoB being the lowest makes sense due to its sheer length (clocking in at 17-18 minutes).

One wonders how many of these clears were purchased.

[HyoMinPark]

One wonders how many of these clears were purchased.

Not nearly as many as you’re wanting to insinuate.

[Bsrking5]

Fairly easy, just open your wallet. Don't tell SE and poof, you get the title. Theres plenty of PF listing for it 24/7 that never get a second thought from the GMs. Who doesn't like microtransactions. Its just like getting a jump potion...

[Jeeqbit]

Unfortunately, finding 7 people who are equally competent at mechanics and with the time to spare is actually harder than the fights in this game. People who clear these things were lucky enough to find the right team.

[Shougun]

It's not that hard you just have to put in a lot of effort frequently to memorize 20 minutes of fight, as a group, meanwhile making very few mistakes while playing your class above average. . . lol. (Speaking ultimate, savage is a lot less to memorize- honestly just get a PF and you're well on your way for that content, good luck in DF until huge echo buffs though and then good luck again once enough people who learned it stop queuing for it xD).

It's true if you did those steps it isn't but for many people that is just a big no thanks, even if you make them realize 'they could'. It's like saying Dark Souls or Sekiro (Sekiro specifically) isn't that hard, sure if you learn to parry it's actually easy to look like a god. Now get the average person to become a master at parry.

It's not going to happen no matter how kind of a teacher you are. There will be some who learn because you were welcoming but no matter the instance of quality teacher it'll never become a majority content unless you've already made your audience focus that niche in the first place.

What makes Ultimate hard is it requires you put in above average effort. If you're a person willing to do that, then it certainly is achievable. I would strongly wager, no matter if Yoshida literally held everyone's hand individually to help them do the fight, the majority is not going to want to put in that effort. Naturally this is why mods like DBM (WoW) and the thing that must not be named in FFXIV are fairly popular as it quite literally makes it take less effort to win (basically cut your memorization down either entirely or almost entirely, then you just have to actually play your job right and get others to do the same- which still takes enough effort that the minority does this content lol).