Eorzean Evening Post: The Fanfest Wrap-Up .

I have a flood of information for you today, from two weeks of Fanfests. Let’s get started then, shall we?

The first, and biggest piece of information, is the announcement of the expansion, Heavensward. This expansion will be taking place in the snowy region of Ishgard, land of the dragoons, and will apparently add flying mounts to the game. These flying mounts will be limited to movement in the expansion zones, so it’ll be something similar to how they worked in World of Warcraft when they were first introduced. Free companies will be allowed to build airships, a concept that recurs heavily within Final Fantasy and has since the first game. The story ramifications of this are rather great, given that the game’s story as of 2.3 left off on a rather sour note for Ishgard and its inhabitants. The Ishgardians are also infamously xenophobic, meaning that the player is going to be entering into a game world that doesn’t really recognize them as a great hero or give much of a care for who they are and where they came from. We’ve been told to expect a more mature feel from the story arcs and artwork, and that significant similarities between Final Fantasy VI and this new expansion are going to be seen. Given that Final Fantasy VI is one of the most infamously dark Final Fantasies, being a game where the villain actually finds success, this gives us a good idea of where and how the story’s going to go.

Oh my goodness it’s gorgeous.

Patch 2.4 is almost here, and a few minor life changes have been confirmed. The amount of housing within the game is going to be doubled completely, with what appears to be a second zone worth of housing being added for purchase. This means the many free companies and players looking for a home to call all their own will finally be able to own one. The community’s been really clamoring for extra housing, and a full doubling will be a very nice bonus for all players involved. Stats are changing just slightly to allocate a place for Rogues and Ninjas in the future of the game. Dexterity is now going to add to Rogue and Ninja damage as well as Strength, meaning that they’ll be in the running against Bards for their gear. However, they’ve also been confirmed to be sharing gear with Monks at the upper levels. This is going to require overhauls of major parts of Monk gear, and as such the gear for Monks up until anything released on or after 2.4 will now include Dexterity. Ninjas are also going to be cross-classing with Pugilist and Lancer, making them one of the first pure DPS classes, since Bard serves as a DPS and support type class. The primal mount drop rates, as well as Atma drop rates, are being raised in 2.4. This’ll make catching up to everyone much easier for people behind on their gear (like myself). Also, the continuing adventures of the greatest character in the game, Hildebrand Manderville, will now involve recurring bosses Typhos and Ultron. Honestly, I just kind of want to see the madness that follows the guy.

Style and class. And the greatest smile in Eorzea.

Beyond Patch 2.4, we’ve got a bit more information on what’s coming up. In Patch 2.45 there’ll be a marriage system added into the game, the Eternal Bond. Eternal Bond is not gender or race specific, allowing for a full range of varied marriages. Characters will apply on the Lodestone, which is actually out of game. It’s not known what will be done for the marriages within the game, but only a limited number can be done a day, which likely means something much more involved than the usual “click and go” method. There’s also been some information on Patch 2.5, though we don’t have a whole lot of yet. Chocobo breeding is one of the main minigames that will be added, which will probably play into the flying mount system coming out soon. Yoshida has stated that six mounts will be available to the player, with a seventh being something that the players decide. Gilgamesh Extreme will be added in Patch 2.5, which will add some difficulty to one of the easier (but more entertaining) fights in the game. A masked NPC, Yugiri, may be unmasked so we can actually see what she looks like. Regardless, her race will be the new race for the expansion. The Golden Saucer will be in the second part of Patch 2.5, along with the Triple Triad card game as a minigame.

However, we’re not even close to done yet. The next class, Dark Knight, has also been announced. We don’t know much about the Dark Knight, other than its history and what has been stated. They’ll be a greatsword-wielding class, using melee attacks with “the power of darkness” to do their work. This is a rather unusual role for the Dark Knight though, since it’s generally been a DPS class that sacrifices its own HP for greater damage. Souleater, that specific ability, has been seen as an HP stealer before, but we don’t know how it’ll be used in this particular version of the anti-paladins. The most popular Dark Knight, Cecil Harvey, started in this class before actually moving over to Paladin throughout his story. Interestingly, Dark Knight is the first of the jobs to require no class before it. There’s no mini-class that the player belongs to before they join the Dark Knights. They simply are a Dark Knight from the outset and that’s the end of that.

Giving Ninja a competition for darkness.

Three more Primal boss fights were announced, as well as the beast tribes that go with them. For the purposes of clarification, every Primal has a beast tribe to whom they offer tribute. This beast tribe is generally responsible for the re-summoning of the Primal into the world, and before Bahamut came to the land, Primals were generally the greatest threat that faced Eorzea. The only exceptions to this are the Elder Primals, who exist without the assistance of anything. Odin is one of these Primals, known as the Dark Divinity and being more than capable of existing on his own. At Fanfest, a Primal fight against Odin was seen and able to be played, demonstrating that he’ll probably be the next fight added to the game despite him already being part of it as a FATE that rarely spawns. The other two Primals are brand-new to the game.  One is Bismarck, an enormous sky-whale summoned by the Vanu Vanu, a race of birdmen. The other is Ravana, a massive, six-armed humanoid with laser swords that is summoned by the insectoid Gnath. Bismarck has been seen before as a summon in prior Final Fantasies, but Ravana is all new. Given its name and appearance, it will probably have some influence from its legend as the primary antagonist of the Hindu epic “Ramayana.” Though, laser swords is definitely new.

Finally, a new method of bringing in finances faces the future of Final Fantasy XIV. An item shop will be added to the game, though it’s not quite the doom and gloom many are taking it out to be at this moment. Instead, this item shop will offer mostly seasonal items and equipment that could otherwise be acquired within the game. There will be no shop exclusive pets, nor will there be any advantages given to those who buy something within an item shop. The dreaded pay to win is nothing to be concerned about in Eorzea.

The fanbase is honestly a bit mixed on these announcements. In the week I spent gathering information, three core concerns came up. The first is the Dark Knight being a tank. In Final Fantasy XI, Dark Knight was a scythe-wielding DPS class, and there’s a large contingent of players who came to Final Fantasy XIV expecting the game to be simply FFXI 2.0. Therefore, they’re dissatisfied in that and the fact that Ninja won’t have the flexibility it did in FFXI. For more there, see my article on the history of Ninja in Final Fantasy MMOs. The second is the item shop, and concerns that the game will become pay to win over time as opposed to immediately. YoshiP has addressed this, but there’s some distrust still, just because it’s an item shop. Finally, the introduction of flying mounts has players spooked about the game becoming another World of Warcraft. Honestly though, the few negatives have been mostly overwhelmed by the sheer excitement that permeates the game now, the hope in the future of Final Fantasy XIV.

As I finish this article, the game’s shutting down for the night. A 24 hour shutdown is going to usher in Patch 2.4, Ninja and Shiva, along with a few other changes. But it’s an exciting time to be an adventurer in Eorzea. I hope you’re all looking forward to it as much as I am.

Who’s ready to strike down their foes?