Today, During the latest Letter from the Producer Live broadcast Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio Murouchi revealed many details and the first screenshots of the upcoming patch 4.2, titled “Rise of a New Sun“.
The cover illustration for the update was also presented, drawn by Toshiyuki Itahana, mostly known for the Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon series.
The update will come in January, but no precise day has been provided.
First of all, the main story quest will return to Doma, where players will be reunited with Hien, Yugiri, and Gosetsu.
New sidequests will be added, including a new chapter of the Hildibrand storyline (which will actually come in 4.25, since the team found out that most do this kind of content last anyway), and the Ananta Beast Tribe Quests.
Two new instanced dungeons will be implemented: Hell’s Lid and The Fractal Continuum hard mode.
A new trial will pitch players against one of the “Four Lords,” Byakko (no, they’re not gonna call him Dromarch. This isn’t Nintendo). The trial will be called “The Jade Stoa” and will have a corresponding Extreme version.
A new raid will be implemented, continuing the Omega saga. Omega: Sigmascape will have both a normal and a savage version.
The Forbidden Land of Eureka – Anemos will be implemnted as a series of updates starting with 4.25. It will give players a chance to strengthen their weapons, and it will include new systems.
Some jobs will get an update, including the DPS output of black mages and the utility of warriors.
The Feast PvP feature will get a ton of changes, including a brand new map called “Crystal Tower Training Grounds” and a whole new ruleset.
The Glamor System will be completely overhauled, with the “Commode” system implemented on the side of the existing system. Players will be able to convert items to glamors, and save ensemble that can be associated with macros. Commodes can contain up to 200 items, that can also be dyed. On top of that, glamor crystals will be unified into a single type.
The inventory system will be updated. Items will be stackable up to 999, an “undo sort” feature will be added, alongside a set of Chocobo saddlebags, which will contain up to seventy items.
Housing will be updated as well, with additional plots coming to all housing areas one week after the implementation of patch 4.2. Fixtures will now be retained when removed, and the way players purchase plots will be changed.
Subaquatic voyages will be added as a variation of Airship voyages.
The new performance feature for bards will be updated with new sounds and a completely new UI.
Additional updates will include a new kind of tomestones for those who like grinding (and for those who don’t, but have to do it anyway). Main scenario dungeons will also be extended to help new players enjoy it with fewer worries. It might make them longer, but rewards will also be increased. I may be wrong, but this feels like barriers will be added so that veteran players won’t be able to run through engaging many enemy groups at once.
The Hidden Canals of Uznair and the levelimg curve of crafters between level 50 and 60 will also be tweaked.
The brand new Duty Recorder feature will be added. This is basically an in-game replay function that lets you record and watches your dungeons and trials. Several features are included, like different perspectives, tools to take screenshots, different playback modes and more. If this isn’t cool, I don’t know what could be.
Last, but not least, we got the announcement of the new FanFests, which will be in Las Vegas between November 15th and November 17th, 2018, in Paris in early 2019 (for two yet undisclosed days), and in Tokyo on March 23rd and March 24th, 2019.
While it wasn’t mentioned (obviously), I would be surprised if this doesn’t mean that the new expansion will be revealed on November 15th, 2018. That’s the pattern.
You can check out a trailer below. If you want to learn more about the game, you can enjoy our recent interview with Naoki Yoshida and our review of the Stormblood expansion.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently available for PS4 and PC.