An unnamed group recently cleared Final Fantasy 14’s newest raid, The Omega Protocol (Ultimate). In order to defeat this difficult Final Fantasy 14 encounter, players had to overcome some frustrating glitches involving the buff cap.The Omega Protocol is the fifth Ultimate raid in Final Fantasy 14 and was added shortly after Endwalker Patch 6.3 went live. These optional battles are extremely hard, requiring mastery of many game mechanics to defeat, and provide unique titles and cosmetic gear for beating them. Nearly a week after its release, an unnamed raid group in Japan was able to defeat this new Ultimate encounter.RELATED: Final Fantasy 14 Patch 6.3 Adds Swimming, New Story Quests, and MoreHowever, it had to overcome a frustrating glitch involving the buff cap. In Final Fantasy 14, a player can have a total of 30 buffs or debuffs. The Hello World phase in The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) dumps tons of debuffs on players, bringing many players to the cap and causing buffs and shields to not apply to their characters, dooming their runs. This led many raid groups–including the unnamed team that just cleared–to prioritize classes like Machinist and Summoner, who relied on fewer buffs than others, like the new Sage job from Endwalker.

Normally, the buff/debuff cap isn’t an issue, but it has caused problems in the past in certain large-scale Final Fantasy 14 duties. Delubrum Reginae (Savage) and the Baldesion Arsenal are two high-difficulty raids with groups larger than the standard eaight players that feature special actions and restrictions. Final Fantasy 14 players have used the buff cap to avoid debilitating debuffs in these duties in the past, but the buff cap has rarely been an issue in an eight-person duty before The Omega Protocol (Ultimate).

Players were quick to celebrate the victory of their fellow Final Fantasy 14 fans. This marks yet another world-first victory claimed by an unnamed Final Fantasy 14 raid group–a stark difference from games like World of Warcraft, where nearly every raid has its first clear by one or two specific groups. Fans enjoyed watching streams of the groups attempting the challenging raid and look forward to using the strategies of the victors to get a clear of their own.

That said, some players are irritated at Final Fantasy 14 for The Omega Protocol. The complications concerning the buff cap seemed like an oversight from the devs, and many wondered if Final Fantasy 14 properly tested the fight. Many are hoping Final Fantasy 14 makes adjustments to the buff cap so it doesn’t hinder raid progression like this in the future.

Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.

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