Today Square Enix hosted the 71st Final Fantasy XIV Letter From the Producer Live broadcast, focusing on upcoming update 6.2.
As usual, producer and director Naoki Yoshida and global community producer Toshio Murouchi provided the first details about the upcoming update.
The update will be titled “Buried Memory” and it’s coming in late August 2022.
It’ll include new main scenario quests, new sidequests with the continuation of Tataru’s Grand Endeavor, and more Hildibrand quests (in the following patch 6.25)
Interestingly, there will be new weapon enhancement quests, also coming in 6.25, and they will be tied to Hildibrand’s quests. You’ll be able to get your legendary Manderville Weapons and update them through the 6.X updates. The progression will be quest-centric.
New Tribal quests for gatherers will also be included in 6.25, tied to the Omicrons.
A new dungeon will appear, titled The Fell Court of Troia, alongside a new yet unnamed trial and its Extreme version, and a new round of the Pandaemonium Raids titled “Abyssos” and its Savage version.
This time, the developers have decided delay the savage version by one week as a test to see how it goes, so it won’t come out at the same time as the normal raid.
The new Unreal Trial will be Containment Bat S1T7 and it’ll be extremely difficult.
New job adjustments will include both PvE and PvP, alongside an attempt to improve the matching in Crystalline Conflict. The extensive changes promised for Dragoon and Astrologian have been delayed because more work than expected is required.
The Critical and Direct Hit stats will also be adjustments to improve their effect in battle because there are cases in which they basically had no effect.
Speaking of PvP, series two will begin with season three of Crystalline Conflict and the return of Rival Wings.
The main scenario quests will receive more improvement with Duty Support added for a bunch of dungeons that you can see below, including the addition of new Trust characters. The Steps of Faith will become a solo quest battle. Thornmarch will be revamped, as it was too difficult for a trial within the main story.
Patch 6.25 will see the implementation of a new battle content titled “Variant Dungeons.” They will be dungeons with variable difficulty introducing casual play for 1-4 level-90 players.
There will be no role restrictions and you can even change jobs. The strength of enemies will be determined by the size of your party, and the route of progression will change based on your actions.
The first will be titled “The Sil’dihn Subterrane” and will prompt players to explore the depths alongside a certain character. Depending on your chosen path the story will change and you can see different branches through multiple playthroughs.
On top of that, we’re also getting Another Path – Criterion Dungeon, which will instead be high-difficulty challenges for 4-player parties including one tank, one healer, and two DPS.
They will be similar visually to the Variant dungeons but there will be no branches or NPC helping.
The first will be “Another Sil’dihn Subterrane” and its Savage version. The first will have no normal methods of resurrection but limited revival actions. The Savage version has no matching. You’ll need a pre-made party, and you will not be able to revive at all. If you wipe, all enemies will be revived. They will even become stronger if you don’t beat them in time.
We finally hear about the Island Sanctuary, which has been announced a while ago and then got no further details. It’ll come in 6.25 and actual footage will be shown in the next broadcast as it’s still being developed and bugs need to be ironed out.
Basically, it’s your farming simulator within Final Fantasy XIV, which will let you gather materials, care for animals, build facilities, craft items, and more at your own pace.
The screenshot below shows a bit of the island. The small dot on the beach is a Roegadyn, so you can get an idea of the size. Every player gets their own island for free.
The activities include gathering materials that are island-specific and have a dedicated inventory. You can craft tools from these materials, and these tools will help you gather more effectively.
You can grow crops from dedicated seeds that are different from these of the housing feature, collect and care for various creatures, including unique ones and various colors. You can name each animal.
You can build your base of operations, customize its appearance and unlock tools for its development, and release your favorite minions to wander around freely.
You can create handicrafts that you can export and sell for island-specific currency to NPCs, not to players.
You can earn rewards by unlocking them with the island-specific currency and use the island as a socialization spot by inviting visitors like friends and free company members.
Flying will have to be unlocked but there won’t be Aether Currents. Exploration will be required.
The team is experimenting with having an Orchestrion at the base and its sound fading as you move away.
Changes will be made to portraits and adventurer plates, including the way they link to each other. The original system is deemed too confusing so it has been streamlined as showcased below.
Unfortunately, all portraits created during the beta version will be lost as the data won’t be compatible.
You’ll be able to edit portraits and search comments from the Adventurer Plate interface. You’ll be able to create corresponding portraits for every gear set.
Further additions to the system include portraits appearing during Doman Mahjong matches. They’re being tested for instanced dungeons, but this won’t make it in time for 6.2.
New poses will be added, new decorative features, and a feature for copying pose and camera settings.
New Allagan Tomestones of Causality will be added alongside new high-Item Level crafted gear and the ability to request repairs from other players both inside and outside of duties.
A new menu to display battle actions will also be implemented, but it’s optional and you can swap back to the old one if you so wish.
Rare materials will be added to aetherical reductions performed by gatherers (they won’t be used in crafting battle-related items) and the Glamor dresser capacity will be improved from 400 to 800.
The order of certain Return to Ivalice quests will be changed
Moving on to merch and event reveals, the Primals Live in Japan – Beyond the Shadow Live Blu-ray will be released on September 14 including two Orchestrion Rolls.
A new TV show will debut in Japan on Saturday, July 9, titled “Looking for Party Members.”
New Eorzea Cafes opened in Kyoto, Nagoya, and Yokohama for a limited time, until August.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently available for PlayStation 4, PS5, and PC. The Endwalker expansion has been released a few months ago and you can read our recent review.
You can also read more about the changes planned for the longer term, including a refresh of the graphics.
