easiest extremes/ultimates/savages?

[Local_Custard]

Greetings!
I have been contemplating getting into this content as I realize now that when I get to know a piece of harder content, the chaos can be quite fun (though, it stresses me out at first- don't even get me started on trying to heal when the party keeps dying despite my efforts). So, what would be a good first piece of harder content to dip my toes in? I would consider myself a very casual player. I would also consider a piece of content easier if (mostly) everyone else knows what they are doing since it means the content will eventually get cleared somehow. Though, learning with everyone else can be fun.

I vividly remember a random group trying to introduce me (on my main) to that one Eden Extreme that has a version of Titan but he is on wheels (I forget which). I think at the time it may have been a poor choice as a first piece of harder content because I wasn't ready- Though now I feel a bit more ready.

[Nizzi]

Don't concern yourself with Ultimate right now, too many new players want to jump straight into Ults because they get told things like "UWU and UCoB are really easy now" and end up terrorizing groups by having absolutely no high end experience. They're still Ultimates even if they're easier than they were on content, and I wouldn't want to do them with someone who hasn't cleared a tier of Savage this expansion.

The newest EX (Zermous) is a great starting point for current content, the DPS check isn't too high and it has a lot of recoverability even if you die. My first clear of it had 6 deaths and that was going into it blind. There's really only one body check-ish mechanic and even that can be salvaged if people are willing to sacrifice themselves. Once you're comfortable with the newest EX, you can try jumping into the current Savage tier, Anabaseios. That's how I would recommend going about it.

[Local_Custard]

Don't concern yourself with Ultimate right now, too many new players want to jump straight into Ults because they get told things like "UWU and UCoB are really easy now" and end up terrorizing groups by having absolutely no high end experience. They're still Ultimates even if they're easier than they were on content, and I wouldn't want to do them with someone who hasn't cleared a tier of Savage this expansion.

The newest EX (Zermous) is a great starting point for current content, the DPS check isn't too high and it has a lot of recoverability even if you die. My first clear of it had 6 deaths and that was going into it blind. There's really only one body check-ish mechanic and even that can be salvaged if people are willing to sacrifice themselves. Once you're comfortable with the newest EX, you can try jumping into the current Savage tier, Anabaseios. That's how I would recommend going about it.

Good to know- I would like my first actual try to not scare me too much. What the order of least to most hard (as in of these three in terms of how they are generally labeled for any harder content: ultimate, savage, extreme)?

[Jeeqbit]

Players regard the difficulty of content to be in this order, from easiest to hardest: Extreme/Unreal (Unreal is just old extremes scaled up), Savage, Ultimate (requires a savage clear to do).

Which are easiest is mostly irrelevant (except ultimates because they sync no matter what), because the only relevant ones are the latest ones. The old ones are typically done "unsynced", where they become a joke or even soloable if they are old enough. So obviously the easiest ones would be the oldest ones. For example I can kill the level 50 ones in 7-9 seconds, so old ones don't really count unless you do them Minimum Item Level, which only a minority of raiders are interested in, so it can be hard to find a party for them (but there are discords for it to help find a party).

I vividly remember a random group trying to introduce me (on my main) to that one Eden Extreme that has a version of Titan but he is on wheels (I forget which).

That is not an extreme. That is the final floor of the first savage tier in Shadowbringers. There were actually statics that spent months on that. Personally it took me a week.

What I recommend doing is:

1. Open Party Finder.
2. Click the High-End category.
3. Look for a [Practice] party for The Abyssal Fracture (Extreme) or The Singularity Reactor that says "fresh prog" or "blind prog" in the description.
4. If it says to watch a guide, then they mean to watch one on youtube. They will often reference hector at https://www.youtube.com/@HectorHectorson/videos
5. When you are confident in all the mechanics, join a [Duty Completion] party. These parties don't expect to clear on the first pull necessarily, but within several attempts.
6. [Duty Complete] can only be joined if you have completed the duty. They expect you to know all the mechanics and be confident and consistent with them. If you are not, join more [Practice] parties first.

There are some basic things you should know about raiding, if you don't, so look up a basic raid guide on youtube to help, if needed. For example

• You should at minimum have 640 High-Quality crafted gear from the market board.
• It should be melded with X materia (usually Critical Hit, Direct Hit or Determination).
• You should have High-Quality 640 food (such as Baked Eggplant).
• You should have High-Quality potions for your main stat. My main stat is Strength, so I have a stack of "Grade 8 Tincture of Strength".
• Clock spots mean everyone decides their position around a marker, which indicates the direction they will run for certain mechanics ie. heals are usually east/west, tanks are often north/south, melee dps are often SE/SW and ranged dps are often NE/NW, but it can vary depending on the fight.
• There are partner stacks (usually this is 1 tank/healer and 1 dps), light party stacks (typically two parties of 1 tank, 1 healer and 2 dps), or in the current extreme trial it is common to have all melee (tanks/melee dps) in one party and all ranged in another (healers/ranged dps).
• You can see some other common raid mechanics at https://imgur.com/a/c9oxF1d but it's a bit dated. New indicators and mechanics have been added since.

[TaleraRistain]

Good to know- I would like my first actual try to not scare me too much. What the order of least to most hard (as in of these three in terms of how they are generally labeled for any harder content: ultimate, savage, extreme)?

Extreme - Savage - Ultimate

I second the new Extreme. It's very forgivable and recoverable and does not have a tight dps check. Lots of learning parties right now on Aether (which is where it looks like you are if that's your char) but learning parties quickly turn into clearing parties because it's not super hard. It's still fun and can get chaotic but it's the recovery that keeps the salt down.

If you are on Aether, look me up if you're around. This is my char and I've been running it. Got my kitty last night (\o/) but I still want weapons and songs and I always enjoy helping with these. I understand fully getting bitten by the hardcore bug. I thought I was way too casual in mentality for these but now I've done Unreal, Extremes, and Savage this tier.

If you did want to step into Savage, there are still a decent number of learning parties and sometimes I even see completely fresh or blind parties. So it's not a bad time to dip toes in if you're interested.

[Bonoki]

Easiest Ultimates in order for when you feel ready are:

UwU < UCoB < TEA < DSR =/= TOP

That's about the order from easiest to hardest, DSR and TOP are neck and neck and often tango which is actually harder.

[SerMicha]

Definitely take a gander at PF and look for parties recruiting for fresh prog of the most recent savage fights, assuming you have them unlocked. Preferably start with P9S (Ninth Circle Savage). If you want to try an easier savage from this expansion, try to create/join a party for P1S, naturally approachable since it's the first of the expansion. If you want to try the easiest savage period, look into O1S haha, arguably as easy as a normal mode raid.

I'll also say, don't forget that all of the older content in the game can still be run at minimum item level and with no echo to simulate the difficulty of when they were released. Just remember there's a lot of older high-end fights that are just as good if not better than the most recent ones (subjective of course).

In terms of ultimates, I would stay away until you are comfortable with mid-hard level savage mechanics, and are ready to put in one hell of a grind to progress lol. The two Endwalker ultimates reach into the 18-minute range (most savages last 8-9 minutes), and are pretty much 6-7 phases of savage level mechanics. For whenever you do feel ready to try out an ult, I would recommend UWU, usually considered the "easiest" of the ultimates (though obviously still harder than most savages).

It's also worth mentioning that even unlocking the ultimates requires you to clear a specific savage fight for each one: O4S for UCOB, O8S for UWU, E4S for TEA, P4S for DSR, and P8S for TOP, so you'll naturally get savage experience just through the process of unlocking these duties.

I don't really run the recent extremes anymore since Shadowbringers, but like others say they are generally easier than savage, and I'd say are the closest thing this game offers to midcore difficulty. Most extremes have maybe one or two mechanics that require strict focus (assuming synced), while savage usually requires good memory and focus across the board.

Edit:
To add a bit of terminology, [ Letter Number "S" ] refers to a specific savage difficulty fight. T7S would mean Turn 7 Savage, referring to the savage mode difficulty of the seventh fight of the Coils of Bahamut raids from ARR, which is actually named "The Second Coil of Bahamut - Turn 2 (Savage)".
O8S would mean Omega 8 Savage, actually named Sigmascape 4.0. It's not really important to remember the actual names of the raids, everyone just uses the letter number "S" names.

[Local_Custard]

thank you all for your responses! I do wonder: how easy is the very first available Extreme offered in the game?

[Rychu]

Greetings!
I have been contemplating getting into this content as I realize now that when I get to know a piece of harder content, the chaos can be quite fun (though, it stresses me out at first- don't even get me started on trying to heal when the party keeps dying despite my efforts). So, what would be a good first piece of harder content to dip my toes in? I would consider myself a very casual player. I would also consider a piece of content easier if (mostly) everyone else knows what they are doing since it means the content will eventually get cleared somehow. Though, learning with everyone else can be fun.

I vividly remember a random group trying to introduce me (on my main) to that one Eden Extreme that has a version of Titan but he is on wheels (I forget which). I think at the time it may have been a poor choice as a first piece of harder content because I wasn't ready- Though now I feel a bit more ready.

AH ha, I just answered your question about astro in your other thread. It's always fun seeing people interested in getting into harder content. Based on the question you asked about astro, I would highly advise not doing ultimates yet, they are in a completely different league of difficulty compared to savage and especially extremes. They are longggggg fights and you will be heavily discouraged if you aren't prepared. I love them, but I also cleared a bunch of extremes and a few savage tiers before I threw myself into that ring.

Honestly, here is my complete recommendation. Watch a guide or two on how you should try and play your job in harder content, you will not retain and understand everything immediately, but having an understanding of your job that is more than just surface level will be very helpful. After that try the extremes in endwalker, especially the more recent ones since you can't cheese them as much with gear levels. Once you are comfortable with it then give anabaseios a shot and see how you like savage content. once you are comfortable there then give UWU a try. It is by far the easiest of all of the ultimates, but don't get it twisted, it is still an incredibly hard fight if you go in expecting to just breeze through it. It took me about 4 weeks of casual-medium farming to get that clear.

Best of luck!

[Jeeqbit]

thank you all for your responses! I do wonder: how easy is the very first available Extreme offered in the game?

It really depends how you do it. The very first one seems to be Ultima's Bane at level 50. You can clear it in a second to a few seconds unsynced.

If you do it synced (to the maximum item level of ARR which is 130), it is probably moderate difficulty.

If you do it minimum item level, it's rough because the healing at level 50 requires mostly GCD casts instead of abilities like at level 90, and it can overwhelm healers, especially if people are dying. Tanks have less mit, less self-heals and the only DPS that can resurrect is Summoner.

We had an unreal version of it a while ago that was scaled up to max level and it was really easy, but part of that was all the high level abilities we get by level 90.