In Final Fantasy XIV, ultimate raids represent the height of difficulty, yet the brilliance of the MMO’s balancing system is that every vocation is viable in all encounters. It’s not often that certain occupations stymie growth, but The Omega Protocol, the latest Ultimate raid, has a technological constraint. Many groups racing for a world-first completion are changing out occupations with too many perks due to a certain stage of the fight.

The game’s engine currently limits the amount of active buffs on a single player to 30 at a time. During the third phase of The Omega Protocol Ultimate, a mechanism known as Hello World bestows various boosts on everyone in the group. Because buffs are so numerous, occupations are unable to deliver boosts to themselves or their fellow party members.

This issue would be minor if it weren’t for the fact that this section of the encounter has a very strict DPS check. Many party configurations are straining to match this need with buff-heavy tasks. Certain advancement parties have swapped their Dancers for Machinists in the ranged DPS role, with a Samurai or Black Mage thrown in for good measure.

Furthermore, the buff restriction is generating problems for healers. When the maximum quantity is reached, healers cannot use regen heals, shields, or mitigation on party members to aid with incoming damage because each of these also counts as a buff stack.

Square Enix is expected to correct this error, according to players. Ultimate raids should not make the game more difficult merely because of engine constraints, and no player should ever feel as though they are impeding their group’s growth by playing a certain role.