During the keynote of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Tokyo, which TechRaptor attended, Square Enix introduced plenty of new elements and footage of the next expansion Danwtrail.
We start with the new job (in addition to the Viper announced in October), and it's Pictomancer, a ranged magical DPS. Of course, it'll use the Casting gear and the weapon will be the Brush.
There won't be a requisite class and the starting level will be 80. The job quest starts in Gridania.
They concentrate ether in their brush to unleash their power in battle. They can draw creatures, weapons, and even landscapes.
On top of their drawing abilities that take some time, they also have instant abilities. They don't just attack but also buff their parties. They're not a support job, but they're not quite as attack-focused as black mages.
The story starts with a visitor from the far West requesting the help of the Warrior of Light. We saw her in the new trailer and she's Vuk'lamath, the daughter of the current ruler of Tural. Of course, she's a female Hrothgar.
We'll meet her soon in update 6.55 part 2, which will serve as a bridge to the story of Dawntrail. The patch comes soon, on January 16.
The update will require a 24-hour maintenance because Square Enix will replace the entire Japanese data center infrastructure with newer machines.
The new city hub Tuliyollal functions as a bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of the continent of Tural. The southern and northern parts of Tural function as basically two different arcs of the story of the expansion.
Here's the full world map including the new continent.
Below you can take a look at a video showing plenty of views of the new areas.
A second video shows a rather futuristic area, but Yoshida-san couldn't share much about it to avoid spoilers.
It's called "Solution Nine" and it was built by an entirely different civilization as opposed to Tuliyollal. It will work as a second hub for Dawntraill.
Here are a couple of images.
Another area named Heritage Found is introduced only via artwork and screenshots and is overflowing with lightning energy with thunderclouds that blot out the sun. It even appears to have a steam train.
We get to meet new races of allows, the giant Yokui and the Hanu Hanu, on top of a diverse population of Mamool Ja. They come in all shapes and sizes.
They are a very diverse race including their perspective and values.
The expansion will, of course, include new dungeons. You can see some of them in the video below.
We also take a look at new enemies, including a rather cute buff sabotender named the Barreltender.
Since Krile will become a Pictomancer, she'll make her debut in battle within the duty support feature.
Below you can take a look at the new gear from the expansion. The quality is much improved thanks to the visual update coming with 7.0.
In previous reveals, we heard that the expansion would include "expansive new lifestyle content" and below you can check out new concept art.
Apparently, it'll bring us to various different planets. It's called "Cosmic Exploration." It can be played solo, but it's intended for everyone e to collaborate and make progress together.
With every update the star where this is set will change.
Next on the menu is the new Alliance Raid, which will be a crossover with Final Fantasy XI. We take a look at new concept art featuring the Shadowlord.
The raid titled Echoes of Vana'diel will start in update 7.1.
The new 8-player raid also gets new concept art, and it certainly looks interesting. The title is "The Arcadion." The story will be completely original and normal and savage modes will be released in sequence about one month after the expansion.
A new Ultimate raid will also come, and the theme will be part of the story of Eden. The title will be "Future Rewritten (Ultimate)." It'll be released in update 7.1.
Ongoing content updates will include Blue Mage, Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures, New plans for Deep Dungeon, Gold Saucer, PvP, and new Variant Dungeons.
A new field operation in the style of Eureka and Bozja will also be introduced during the 7.X patch cycle.
The new limited job like the Blue Mage has been announced just with the name, and it's Beastmaster. It'll come during the 7.X patch cycle and more will be revealed at a later date.
We get to see the effect of the graphics update for each race and gender. The starting gear for each race will be updated as well. Everyone is getting a free Fantasia with the update.
Speaking of the graphics update, we also take a look at the new dye system that will let you color two distinct areas of each piece of equipment.
We then finally get more information and a video about the female Hrothgar.
Yoshida-san then mentioned that making new races is really hard, and he'd like to say that female Hrothgar are the last one, but he can't really say that. It'll depend on the players.
This is a substantial change from previous statements, which indeed always mentioned that female Hrothgar would be the last addition to the game in terms of races.
Lastly, we take a look at the beautiful key artwork by Akihiko Yoshida.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently out for PS5, PS4, PC, and Mac, with a new Xbox Series X|S port that will be released at some point this spring with an open beta starting in February.
The new expansion Dawntrail is coming in the summer of 2024, with no specific release date announced for now. You can check out the trailer released earlier today.
Of course, you can already play the game before Dawntrail releases, for that purpose, you can purchase a copy on Amazon.
Square Enix recently hosted the Fan Festival in London and an Eorzean Symphony Orchestra Concert. If you'd like to learn more, you can enjoy our detailed reports for both.
Note: TechRaptor participates in an Affiliate Partnership with Amazon.
All images © SQUARE ENIX.
