This morning marked the latest Live Letter from the Producer livestream, focused on giving players the inside information for what’s coming to Final Fantasy XIV. As always, lead producer and creative director Naoki Yoshida was joined by global community producer Toshio “Foxclon” Murouchi. This time around though, there were special guests, like outgoing Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda and incoming CEO Takashi Kiryu.
Outside of the executive guests, this Live Letter was all about the upcoming Patch 6.4. The entire stream was purely in Japanese, outside of the English translations on the slides, so all of the translated statements are from the excellent Final Fantasy XIV Discord. After some banter with the bosses new and old, Yoshida and company got into the nitty gritty.
First up, they detailed what’s coming in Patch 6.38, coming April 4, 2023. The patch will remove the weekly restrictions on Pandaemonium Abyssos (Savage), kick off Crystalline Conflict Season 6, change the North America data center hardware, and offer PVP adjustments. It’s all just a prelude to the big content patch.
Patch 6.4 Is “The Dark Throne”
Patch 6.4 got it full title: The Dark Throne. It’ll be released in late May 2023. Screenshots from the patch’s new main scenario showed Erenville, Krile, and Zero. There will also be new Tataru’s Grand Adventure quests, with Gaius making a return in a lighter (hopefully) storyline.
Hildibrand will get new adventures once again in Patch 6.45, featuring a… low-poly Hildibrand? With Hildibrand in Patch 6.45, we’ll also get the next set of Manderville Relic Weapons and the next lineup of Splendorous Tools.
Patch 6.4 Dungeon and Raid Content: New Dungeons, Golbez Trial, and Pandaemonium Anabaseios
The patch will feature a brand-new dungeon, the Aetherfront. The preview screenshot shows a vast snowy field with lush green mountains and a large font of energy in the background. Yoshida said the dungeon has a “good tempo” to it and noted it has a Sharlayan feel to it.
After keeping the new Trials secret in previous Live Letters, the team just came out and revealed the next Trial will see us facing Golbez. Guess that means the Shadow Dragon will probably appear in the dungeon. The official title of the Trial is the Voidcast Dais and of course there will be an extreme version. As many guessed, the next Unreal Trial will finish the Warring Triad with Containment Bay Z1T9.
The final wing of the Pandemonium raid series has a name: Anabaseios. Pandemonium Anabaseios got a pair of preview screenshots, one showing a blue fountain of energy and another highlighting an enemy. Yoshida said the white-clad foe reminds him of the Orphenoch enemies from Kamen Rider Faiz. The Savage version will come a week after Patch 6.4’s launch.
Players can also expect the next Criterion/Variant dungeon, Mount Rokkon. This time, we’ll be heading to a Hingashi-style location. There will be three levels of difficulty: Normal, Criterion, and Criterion (Savage). Players won’t need to have completed Sil’dihn Subterrane in order to tackle the next one.
Patch 6.4 Adds More Stormblood Duty Support
Speaking of Hingashi, the Stormblood dungeons will also get Duty Support. The included dungeons are The Sirensong Sea, Bardam’s Mettle, Doma Castle, Castrum Abania, and Ala Mhigo. Preview screenshots show the supporting cast of Stormblood helping out, including Hien and Gotetsu.
Patch 6.4 PVP Updates
Patch 6.4 will have job adjustment for PVP and PVE, but Yoshida did not disclose which jobs are getting a little love. Onto more PVP stuff, PVP Series Four will begin with the patch and there will be adjustments to Frontline. Jobs in PVP are adjusted around Crystalline Conflict now, so Frontline has to be changed to accommodate that.
Patch 6.4 Shows Blue Mages Some Love
Finally, Blue Mages will get some updates with Patch 6.45! The screenshots shown on the Live Letter include a new Blue Mage outfit and a new ability that seems to be based on Vauthry’s Innocence form, with golden blades running in a straight line from the Blue Mage.
Island Sanctuary Updates in Patch 6.4
There will also be a new Island Sanctuary update! It’s a big one, with new sanctuary ranks, a new gathering area, and new construction options for the hideaway. A preview image showed a cool clocktower and cute Spriggan riding a giant crystal. There will also be support for outdoor furnishing items in the hideaway, with a total of 90 slots being unlocked via Island progress. Yoshida said he’ll show off the feature more in the next Live Letter, but he did offer a screenshot of the hideaway with some maple trees! There will also be new items, new materials, new craftables, and new animals to find!
Patch 6.4 Miscellaneous Updates
- The next tomestones will be Allagan Tomestones of Comedy.
- Patch 6.4 adds a brand-new Ocean Fishing route, this time heading toward Kugane. You can enjoy fishing as the ship coasts past Kugane and Heaven-on-High!
- The maximum number of gear sets will be increased to 100. Players won’t need to do anything to access the additional gear sets and in a welcome change, gear sets will be unlocked immediately.
- Job icons will appear in the chat log and on player nameplates, but only in parties and alliances.
- Glasses and wing accessories will now properly display when in combat in the overworld.
- Scholars can now glamour their fairy, choosing between Eos, Selene, and Carbuncle!
Closing out the Live Letter, Yoshida mentioned the FFXIV Fan Fest dates. He also stated that he would be showing off some of the Patch 7.0 graphical update at the North American Fan Fest event, happening July 28-29, 2023 in Las Vegas. Fans can also now pre-order merchandise related to the Fan Fest. The items can be purchased regardless of Fan Fest attendance.
Pre-orders for North America start today, March 31, at 9:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 p.m. EDT. European pre-orders start at 16:00 p.m. GMT Japan pre-orders are live on the e-Store as I write this! Items include a Loporrit figurine for $64.99, made from the same material as the previous Alpha figurine; a Portly Porxie Plushie for $34.99; an Azem’s Crystal silver pendant for a whopping $249.99; a reversible Hydaelyn and Zodiark jacket for $184.99; an acrylic stand of Endwalker-era Alphinaud, Alisaie, Estinien, Krile, Tataru, G’raha Tia, Hydaelyn, and Zenos, ranging from $17.99 to $23.99; and much much more.
That’s everything! There were no further details about when we can expect the next Live Letter to drop.
