Ultimate Fantasy XIV followers throughout the globe had been hoping to see a treasure trove of recent particulars in regards to the upcoming Dawntrail enlargement eventually weekend’s JP Fanfest occasion in Tokyo, and head developer Naoki Yoshida didn’t disappoint in anyway.
Forward of the still-projected launch of this Summer time, “Yoshi-P” offered a wider and fortunately extra detailed imaginative and prescient of what gamers can anticipate throughout their model new journey to the big western continent of Tural and past. From new jobs, to the long-awaited reveal of feminine Hrothgars, to much more new areas, dungeons, raids, and extra. Right here is our checklist of the most important takeaways for FFXIV’s Dawntrail from JP Fanfest.
Actual Launch Date Nonetheless TBA
Yoshi-P opened up the keynote with steadfast assurance to everybody that Ultimate Fantasy XIV‘s Dawntrail remains to be slated for a Summer time launch, and that their ongoing growth schedule goes very properly. That mentioned, he admitted that as a result of they need to preserve issues on observe as a lot as humanly attainable, he particularly doesn’t desire a repeat of Endwalker’s regrettable delay and is opting to attend till they’re completely sure when the date might be.
He completed by saying that the discharge date, and subsequently all data relating to enlargement pre-orders, might be offered in a future Producer’s Reside Letter on YouTube within the coming months.
Pictomancer Rounds Out New Jobs For Dawntrail
Arguably the most important reveal of all the keynote was Dawntrail’s second new job, which turned out to be Pictomancer. A brilliant and cheery magical ranged DPS outfitted with a painter’s palette and a staff-sized brush, gamers will get to wield this class from the very starting of the Dawntrail enlargement. Yoshi-P indicated that Pictomancer will begin at Degree 80, and that the job questline will start in Gridania, an space that hasn’t seen a brand new job debut there in fairly a while.
Pictomancer will operate someplace primarily between Black Mage and Crimson Mage, as a DPS with the flexibility to supply essential buffs to the social gathering. Nonetheless, Yoshi-P identified that it’s going to not have a Revive potential of any sort, in order that stays uniquely with Crimson Mage and Summoner.
Greater than something, it’s a reduction to see that Krile lastly discovered her area of interest among the many Scions, and if the expanded trailer is something to go by, she appears happier than ever.
Feminine Hrothgars Revealed With Wuk Lamat Becoming a member of the Scions
Yoshi-P handled followers firstly of the keynote with an expanded model of the trailer for Dawntrail, which showcased not solely Krile as Pictomancer, however the long-awaited reveal of feminine Hrothgars within the type of an essential new character named Wuk Lamat (seen above within the header). The daughter of the present ruler in Tural, she’s the primary contender for the throne within the recreation’s new story saga, and Yoshi-P describes her as a “highly effective” character that may have fairly a presence all through our journey.
Close to the very finish of the keynote, we additionally obtained a full reveal trailer for the feminine Hrothgar race in-game. Evidently, followers in all places up to now are extremely impressed and excited to pop open a Fantasia to check out the brand new look. Whereas we don’t know for positive but, they appear to be practically as tall as Vieras, and definitely leaner and extra nimble than their stockier male counterparts. Their gesture animations look well-tuned, and the variations of their clans (as seen above) are all distinctive.
Definitely, we anticipate to see mobs of feminine Hrothgars operating throughout Tural from the get-go.
Answer 9 & Heritage Discovered Areas Starkly Distinction Tural
It goes with out saying that when Yoshi-P offered new idea artwork, screenshots, and even footage of two extra areas referred to as Answer 9 and Heritage Discovered, followers within the world viewers felt a mix of utter shock and fascination. It’s an understatement to say that, simply aesthetically, these locations are the polar reverse of Tural’s tropical landscapes. These will, in actual fact, be totally explorable new areas for gamers, as evidenced by the aetherytes, with who is aware of how a lot content material and lore wrapped in with them.
Whereas Answer 9 (seen above) is about as futuristic because it will get, Heritage Discovered was revealed as primarily the undercity, positioned instantly beneath. Coated in a perpetual fog of lightning magicks and shadowed by town above, Heritage Discovered appears to be extra steampunk in nature, and certain the place the much less lucky reside. Whereas some followers are screaming ‘Cyberpunk’ vibes, if this isn’t a reference indirectly to FF7’s Midgar, I’ll need to eat each my footwear.
Nonetheless, Yoshi-P was very cautious to not reveal any spoilers relating to these areas, therefore why no NPCs or inside places had been seen. Nonetheless, when a few new dungeons had been showcased later within the keynote as properly, we may see that at the least one will happen right here.
Beastmaster is the New Restricted Job For Dawntrail
Whereas Pictomancer undoubtedly stole the present with its reveal because the second new most important job for Dawntrail, individuals had been nonetheless anxious to know what the following Restricted Job could be. It turned out to be none aside from Beastmaster, an iconic job within the Ultimate Fantasy franchise that many gamers have been pleading to have put in XIV. Given the construction of fight within the recreation, it most likely does take advantage of sense to have Beastmaster in a restricted capability, and there’s little question that individuals might be scrambling to check out it out in droves. It’s good to see Blue Mage lastly have a companion in its nook, and albeit we’re relieved it’s not Inexperienced Mage.
Yoshi-P didn’t have any additional particulars to share but about Beastmaster, notably because it received’t debut till the second half of seven.X, however hopefully we’ll get at the least a number of extra particulars main as much as Dawntrail’s launch.
New Way of life Content material Similar to Cosmic Exploration & New Discipline Operations
So-called ‘Way of life Content material’ has progressively turn into an enormous a part of XIV’s tradition over the previous few years, and Yoshi-P and his staff are ambitiously seeking to develop it additional in Dawntrail. He kicked it off by revealing a fully new sort of aspect content material referred to as ‘Cosmic Exploration’, which in his phrases will take gamers far past Tural to “a number of totally different planets”.
As you wrap your mind round that, he additionally indicated that whereas this specific content material could be accomplished solo if you want, it’s nonetheless finest carried out alongside teams of gamers so as to make true progress. This actually provides echoes of the Ishgardian Restoration in The Firmament, as he additionally famous that “with every replace the star you’re engaged on will change”.
As well as, he assured that one other Discipline Operations-style space (like Eureka and the Bozjan Southern Entrance) will debut in Dawntrail, although it’s not sure when precisely in 7.X that might be. Nonetheless, that may undoubtedly be to the delight of many, as that sort of content material was sorely missed in Endwalker.
So far as Island Sanctuary, there was no point out in anyway of updates to that portion of Way of life Content material within the keynote, however to our recollection, Yoshi-P and his staff have beforehand mentioned that it’s going to proceed sooner or later. It could merely take extra of a again seat to ensure that them to focus different content material for now.
First New Graphic Replace For Dawntrail Launch
One other big subject of the keynote was clearly the primary of many monumental graphic updates coming to the sport. Beginning with Dawntrail’s launch, all playable races within the recreation will see total makeovers to their appears (see feminine Au’ra above) from their hair all the way down to their default race outfits. Yoshi-P took time to indicate the before-and-after for every race and gender, and this by itself will up the hype for Dawntrail even additional, with gamers anxious to see how their characters will take care of the replace.
Yoshi-P even famous that they probably might be offering gamers with a free Fantasia, in case they don’t like how their present character takes care of the replace. Whether or not that’s by way of pre-order bonuses or just a part of a smaller patch replace we’re unsure, so bear that in thoughts. It’d even be a fantastic alternative for people to check out feminine Hrothgar in Character Creator. After all you’ll be able to at all times use your Retainers for that as properly.
Extra graphic-related updates will come down the road all through Dawntrail and past, as Yoshi-P talked about that it’s going to have an effect on the whole lot from open-world areas to in-game clothes. On that be aware, the two-dye choice is coming as properly, which is able to enable gamers to dye one piece of armor/clothes two totally different colours. The glamour recreation is about to whole an entire new space, suffice to say.
New Alliance Raid Collaboration With FFXI
One of the highly-anticipated forms of battle content material in XIV is Alliance Raids. Usually there are a number of collection featured all through every enlargement, and the primary one for Dawntrail has been revealed. It is going to be a collaboration with none aside from FFXI, Sq. Enix’s different huge MMO title that’s nonetheless operating 21 years later, with its personal devoted fanbase.
The title of this specific Alliance Raid collection might be ‘Echoes of Vana’diel’, and Yoshi-P featured a glimpse through idea artwork of the Shadow Lord, who’s the primary antagonist of the story in FFXI. We will solely think about that he’ll be featured as the ultimate boss of one of many three raids within the collection, and that epic composer Masayoshi Soken might be offering some epic glow-ups of music tracks from the unique recreation. From the Ivalician arc to the Nier collaboration in Shadowbringers, Alliance Raids have seldom ever disillusioned, and we’re positive this one might be the most effective but.
New 8-Man Raid ‘The Arcadion’
On the heels of the Vana’diel Alliance Raid arc, Yoshi-P additionally revealed the brand new 8-Man raid arc for Dawntrail as properly. Referred to as ‘The Arcadion’, we’re undoubtedly positive that is going down smack in the midst of the hyper-futuristic Answer 9 world. The supplied idea artwork (as seen above) confirmed off a really vibrant, eclectic-looking area that audiences understandably thought regarded like an enormous GPU. We will’t assist however really feel the identical method, and are dying to know what forms of fights this entails, and particularly the gear units.
Yoshi-P didn’t present additional content material particulars to keep away from spoilers, however he did say that each Regular and Savage tiers of The Arcadion will arrive “about one month after the launch of seven.0”.
New Final Raid ‘Rewritten Recollections’
As if that weren’t sufficient raid content material for gamers to dive into, Yoshi-P really revealed the following Final Raid that may premiere in Dawntrail as properly. Referred to as ‘Futures Rewritten (Final)’, it’s set to revisit the FF8-influenced Eden arc from Shadowbringers, with Gaia and Ryne undoubtedly on the forefront. We will solely hope that we received’t need to cope with a sure ‘Mild Rampant’ mechanic this time round, however given the sheer issue of Ultimates, maybe that ought to be the least of our worries.
Yoshi-P introduced that Futures Rewritten (Final) might be launched with Patch 7.1, that means someday within the Fall.
Extra Content material Updates All through Dawntrail
Along with all the main bulletins supplied through the keynote, Yoshi-P made positive to additionally point out that updates for loads of current content material will proceed by way of Dawntrail as properly. Whereas it’s probably not restricted to those, they for positive embrace:
- Blue Mage replace – Possible a stage improve, extra spells for the spellbook, and extension to the questline with new gear.
- Inconceivably Additional Hildibrand Adventures – So long as he’s been round, Hildibrand evidently isn’t going wherever anytime quickly, and his distinctive mixture of thriller and slapstick comedy will proceed in additional quests. We did additionally simply get relic weapons courtesy of Godbert Manderville in Radz-at-Han, so their legacy very a lot lives on in XIV.
- New Deep Dungeons – Whereas Endwalker’s Eureka Orthos wasn’t fairly as well-received as its predecessors, Deep Dungeons stay a highly regarded sort of content material within the recreation, and there are extra to come back in Dawntrail. We think about one might be Tural-themed for positive.
- Gold Saucer replace – There’s any variety of issues this might imply, from new GATEs to new prizes, new video games, and even perhaps a brand new space within the Gold Saucer itself. We’ll merely have to attend and see in later Reside Letters on that.
- PVP replace – This probably means additional updates to Crystal Battle, maybe a brand new Frontline area, new gear units, and extra.
- New Variant Dungeons – Whereas some really feel they’re a tad limiting, the participant suggestions on the Variant Dungeon collection has been principally optimistic, so they’re on account of proceed with it. After the introduction of the Sil’dihn Subterrane, Mount Rokkon, and Aloalo Island, we’ll probably see a handful of recent Variant dungeons and their Criterion counterparts all through 7.X.
That concludes our have a look at the most important takeaways for FFXIV’s Dawntrail from JP Fanfest. Tell us what you’re most excited to see within the upcoming enlargement, or what you hope to see that wasn’t essentially talked about within the keynote.
Remember to try all of our different guides for Ultimate Fantasy XIV, such because the story behind Pictomancer.
In regards to the creator
