DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 – Ultra Instinct Guide

So, Ultra Instinct just dropped (like literally today, as of the writing of this guide). How does it work? Which CaC types is it good for? Whelp, let me try my best within the relams of my Xenoverse 2 experience to assist you in asking these questions.

Ultra Instinct Basics

So, here’s the raw numbers analysis copied over from my Definitive Transformations guide. Tl;Dr: this transformation doesn’t buff your damage output whatsoever. It really just adds new and unique features for your character to utilise in a fight.

Benefits:

• Ultra Instinct auto-dodge becomes enabled (roughly at a cost of 1/2 bar of stamina per basic attack)
• Can activate a unique counter move with additional input while dodging
• Unique counter move activates if you are attacked while transforming
• Regular ki blasts become Soaring Fist super, can dash after opponent to continue combo
• Charged ki blasts become Spirit Pulse super
• Surging Spirit charge move is available while blocking, no longer need to take up a move slot just to charge on your character

Drawbacks:

• No attack buffs whatsoever
• No noticeable change in speed
• Dodging attacks drain stamina
• Costs 500 ki to transform, ki cost is consumed similar to Beast
• You revert to base form when stamina is broken
• Ki blast super changes may actually turn out to be weaker than regular ki blasts, as it appears to count basic ki bast damage boosters rather than super or strike buffs

Ultra Instinct is basically just another way to freshen up the gameplay of Xenoverse 2, similar to Beast. It brings new features to the game, and adds a much-needed fresh coat of paint to your CaC. But, is it actually any good? Let’s discuss.

I’ll be ranking each CaC type from greatest Ultra Instinct use potential to least throughout this guide.

Greatest UI Use Potential: Female Majins

• Pros: INSANE stamina break recovery
• Cons: None, really. So far as I have tested, they get a free ride on this one.

As previously noted, your character can fall out of UI once their stamina is broken. Female Majins are notorious for having insane stamina break recovery speed, which is further broken by having super souls with stamina break recovery buffs such as “GAAAH” and “I like you better when you’re mad”. Considering that stamina breaks are one of the biggest weaknesses of this transformation, Female Majins basically sidestep this pitfall altogether. You still need to front the ki cost of re-entering Ultra Instinct, but otherwise the stamina related concerns are negligible for this CaC.

Ultra instinct is a welcome improvement for Female Majin CaC’s, as Purification tends to be an unpopular choice for them.

Frieza Race

• Pros: Stamina recovery during combos
• Cons: Lower health than other characters

Frieza race tends to be tricky for deciding which transformation to use; most people stick with Potential Unleashed, as it has no downsides to its use. Golden isn’t as viable as it used to be, as it exclusively buffs ki use while reducing ki recovery and damage resilience. Beast is fine for Parallel Quests, provided you can find a 20-second window to transform without being stamina broken. But what about UI?

Ultra Instinct shines for Frieza race for a somewhat similar reason to Female Majins; stamina management. Frieza CaCs have the unique benefit of being able to recover stamina during their basic combos. Considering that stamina breaks are the main pitfall of this form, Frieza CaCs have the potential to stay dominant throughout the entire fight by being able to auto-dodge AND recover stamina when they regain the attack initiative. Auto-dodge is also handy considering they have the lowest CaC health pool, too.

Human CaCs (Male or Female)

• Pros: Auto ki-recovery, balanced damage potential
• Cons: Stamina management a potential concern

The placement of Humans on this list is debatable, as both Namekians and Male Saiyans bring a lot to the table that could make them a higher placement on this list. But here’s a big flaw of Ultra Instinct when compared to other transformations; Damage Output. Earthlings have the advantage of versatility in their damage-dealing means. Ultra Instinct has no inherent strengths for offence, therefore it is nice to have versatility for dealing damage to your opponent. UI doesn’t change combo strings either, so Earthlings get to keep all of their OP combo cheesing potential.

Additionally, Ultra Instinct’s charge ability is surging Spirit, which is slow to start and hard to get significant gains out of if your opponent is putting a lot of pressure on you. Having Earthling auto-recovery with this transformation means you can continue to keep the pressure on your opponent with ki and strike attacks. Retaining the offensive advantage helps in reducing the tax of your opponent’s attacks on your auto-dodge/stamina drain.

Male Saiyans

• Pros: Inherently high combo/strike damage
• Cons: Vulnerable to ki depletion, stamina mismanagement

Male Saiyans were hard to place on this list, but I settled on a lower position for a few reasons. First, they have better options for transformation. Any of the Super Saiyan God transformations are a better choice, as they not only enhance a Saiyan’s strengths but they offer much more in terms of resource management. SSG offers amazing ki recovery, whereas SSB/SSBE have stamina recovery so high that it might as well be Ultra Instinct with how many more evasive you can use.

Don’t get me wrong, I love UI on my Saiyan CaC. It’s just not really an option that makes sense outside of personal enjoyment considering the better options they already have.

Namekians

• Pros: Higher than average stamina recovery, healing when at critical health
• Cons: Everything else

I can already hear people yelling at me in the comments about this lower placement. But hear me out; the biggest pitfall for Namekians always has been, and always will be, having the weakest all-around damage output. Their combos are slower and vulnerable to incorrect hit detection, even with the stretchy arms (though sometimes the hit detection can be absurdly generous too). Ultra Instinct does not help with this problem on these CaCs. If anything, it makes them less viable for the following reasons:

• UI has increased risk of stamina break, therefore makes the CaC more vulnerable. Health regeneration doesn’t help a lot if you are stamina broken and vulnerable to ultimates.
• Their stamina recovery is put to better use when paired with Potential Unleashed, or even Beast if you get the opportunity to transform without dying.
• Giant Namekian is a better option if we’re talking about stamina draining transformations. Super Armor, tankiness, mad ki recovery, fun and effective attacks. This transformation is pretty busted particularity for Online PvP.

Female Saiyans

• Pros: high ki attack damage
• Cons: Low health pool, lower basic and strike attack than average, no ki or stamina management options like with other CaC types

What can I say about Female Saiyans that hasn’t been said already? They are the worst CaC type in the game, due to a) slow combos, b) few damage options, c) very low health pool, and d) they are basically a mix of Saiyan and Frieza race, therefore lacking a unique playstyle. There’s not a lot to work with here to begin with.

Like with the Male Saiyans, pretty much any of their other transformations are more practical. And even then, you’re going to want to gravitate towards things that boost their ki damage like Super Vegeta, Potential Unleashed, or SSB/SSBE. And yet, somehow they aren’t even the bottom of my list.

Lowest UI Potential: Male Majins

• Pros: Very silly
• Cons: EXTREMELY vulnerable during stamina breaks

Here’s the thing about Male Majins; they start out very tanky, and progressively lose damage resilience the lower their stamina gets. This is interesting on paper, but in reality much of the fighting in this game is done with 50% of your stamina or less. So ultimately you are actually taking more bonus damage with this CaC than you are resisting with its racial trait. Unless you’re at high stamina most of the time, this effect is useless.

So, compounding that glaring weakness with the issue of UI’s stamina management, and you’re setting yourself up for failure. Not to mention that Male Majins take double damage when they are stamina broken, which this form is quite liable to do more often than not.

The biggest kicker here is that Purification makes the most sense pretty much exclusively for Male Majins. In many ways, it’s the only transformation that makes sense. Male Majin combos are slow, but Purification gives you a new move set. Combined with the super soul “Eee hee hee” your damage output, ki recovery, and benefits of tankiness all go through the roof with their race-inherent transformation.

Tl:DR: UI with Male Majins is basically self-sabotage.

I will say, however, that the auto-dodge animations with Male Majins are absolutely comical. Do check those out at least once just to see how they look.