Let's run down Final Fantasy XIV: Defenders of Eorzea!

Everything you need to know is here, I think

A long and impressive trailer was just released for the upcoming 2.3 patch for Final Fantasy XIV titled Defenders of Eorzea, which will bring a whole new set of main scenario quests, dungeons, skills, activities, and more to the player experience. But did you catch exactly what is in store just by watching? For those who just want the highlights without all the yadda yadda, check out my list below (followed by additional info) and holla if you're excited to give it all a go:

• Face Ramuh (AAAAHH!)
• New Dungeon: Hullbreaker Isle (and a huge sea monster?)
• Hard Mode introduced for the Tam-Tara Deepcroft and The Stone Vigil (creepy flying face thing is creepy, yo)
• Chocobo Raising! (it's about dang time, I say)
• New synthesis recipes as well as the introduction of de-synthesis (variety is the spice of life. Also, recipes will yield accessories over item level 70.)
• Defenders of Eorzea main scenario quests (I'm actually super excited for this, because I just finished fighting Garuda in the first set of quests literally yesterday)
• New detective work side quests with Hildibrand (looks silly as hell)
• Delivery Moogle Quests (basically you deliver letters to NPCs)
• Hunts (omg yay)
• Private Chambers (finally, your very own space, not limited to a shared company house)
• Frontline (new PvP stuff for folks who are into that)
• Face new enemies in Syrcus Tower (Scylla, Amon, and Xande. Can we talk about how there's a friggen ~5-headed wolfman in there? Also, item level 100 rewards.)
• In patch 2.35 (I know, a little ahead here), Ixtali Beast Tribe quests will be added

That seems to be the extent of it, for now. There's still some stuff we'll have to wait on, such as more info on Hunts, but overall things are looking great. I'm actually pretty excited about Ramuh - when I learned he wasn't going to be part of the main scenario quests because he wasn't considered an immediate threat despite his primal status, I hoped that maybe later on something would eventually make it so we'd have to interact with him. It may be that any battle against him won't be because he's after destruction, but perhaps testing/teaching. Or not. More on that later?

Frontline is going to be accessible to all, including folks who are new to PvP, so don't fret if you want to skip the current options and just try out the new stuff. The possibilities are very exciting, as it's currently being stress tested for a battle of 24 vs 24 vs 24 (total of 72 players in one fight). Battle length is slated to be 30 minutes, and the only requirement is that you're level 50. There'll be an item level restriction as well, but a number hasn't been decided on at this time.

Chocobo Raising is going to be possible for anyone with access to a Free Company estate (by adding the proper furnishing), but later on it'll be accessible to all via Chocobo Porters in the three main cities. When patch 2.35 is released, you'll be able to change your chocobo's feather color as well.

This is probably the more immediately relevant point that was revealed about the Private Housing:

You'll have to be part of a free company, the free company must have a house, and your Grand Company rank has to be second lieutenant or above. Once you've fulfilled these requirements you can create a private chamber by paying 300,000 gil, but this price is still undergoing final adjustments. I believe most players already have 300,000 gil, but if you don't it shouldn't be a hard amount to come by if you start saving right now.

Another exciting point for those of us who love the Final Fantasy series as a whole and like seeing games reference each other:

In the Hildibrand quest for patch 2.3 someone everyone is familiar with will make an appearance but it will be different than the Gilgamesh twist. We'd like to create stories with guest appearances that fit the FFXIV: ARR lore, and once they're ready I'll be sure to share more details.

By the way, did you know that Hildibrand is on Twitter?

I think that's about all of the highlights I've got for now. Defenders of Eorzea is slated for release on Tuesday, July 8th, which is basically right around the corner. Additional information beyond the list above was gleaned from this week's Letter From the Producer LIVE Q&A. You can also access the Defenders of Eorzea main website here.

You are logged out. Login | Sign up