Patch 6.2 for Final Fantasy XIV is massive. That much we’ve known for a while, but this latest FFXIV Live Letter from the Producer put it into perspective. We got to see got to see some of the upcoming content in action, including the brand-new Island Sanctuary and Variant/Criterion dungeons, all of which feature their own unique systems and mechanics. We also saw the next wave of Pandaemonium raids and new gear sets. Count in new dungeons, trials, and main story quests, and you have one packed update.
Some of the finer details are being worked out, too — PVP will get adjustments along with Series Two while PVE stats like Critical Hit and Direct Hit will be reworked. And if all that nitty gritty isn’t your jam, simple sidequests and activities are in abundance with this patch. That’s all to say that FFXIV Patch 6.2 is giving players something regardless of how they engage with the game.
While the Live Letter was in Japanese, slides from the presentation includes English translations. And translators from the r/FFXIV Discord channel provided context for comments from director/producer Naoki Yoshida and community director Toshio Murouchi, which is a valuable resource for our coverage. The following is a summary of the Live Letter 72 covering new information on FFXIV Patch 6.2.
New Trailer and Release Date for Patch 6.2
The Live Letter kicked off with a banger of a trailer. It teases all of the new content coming to Patch 6.2 and 6.25 while showing glimpses of the new MSQ cutscenes and storyline in the Pandaemonium Abyssos raids. After showcasing a bit of Island Sanctuary and the beginning of The Fell Court of Troia dungeon, the trailer transitions with a full on rearrangement of the Final Fantasy IV boss battle theme. Snippets of the upcoming Variant dungeon and reworked instances for Heavensward are shown alongside hints of the next Hildibrand quests and the Omicron Tribal quests.
There so much to glean from the trailer, including short clips from the upcoming Abyssos raid bosses and new Reaper character who seems to join the mix in MSQ. Venturing into the Void and the Thirteenth Shard again is going to have major story implications. There’s no doubt that we have a ton to be excited about for FFXIV when Patch 6.2 releases on August 23 (Patch 6.25 is expected sometime in October).
Recap of Previous FFXIV Live Letter and Patch 6.2
This Live Letter started with a recap of most of what was covered in the last one. We won’t spent too much time retreading what we already know, so we’ll bullet point the big hits and link out to our previous coverage.
- New Main Scenario Quests (MSQ)
- New sidequests
- Tataru’s Grand Endeavor continuation
- Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures continuation (Patch 6.25)
- Next wave of relic weapons unlocked in new Hildibrand quests (Patch 6.25)
- New Tribal Quests featuring the Omicron, focused on gathering (Patch 6.25)
- New MSQ Dungeon: The Fell Court of Troia
- New Trial tied to MSQ, includes an Extreme version
- Pandaemonium Abyssos raids
- Abyssos (Savage) goes live one week after Patch 6.2 releases
- New Unreal Trial – Containment Bay S1T7 (Sephirot)
- Duty Support expansion
- Brings AI-controlled party members to Heavensward MSQ dungeons up to The Vault
- Revamped versions of Thornmarch and The Steps of Faith (solo duty)
- Island Sanctuary, Variant and Criterion Dungeons recapped
- Additions, changes, and official release of Adventurer Plates
- Current portraits and plates will be erased after Patch 6.2
- Miscellaneous changes:
- Tomestones of Causality added
- New crafted gear at high Item Level
- Repair requests can be done in and out of duties
- Job actions list in-game will display combo sequences
We will circle back on many of the aforementioned features since there was some new information shared throughout the FFXIV Live Letter.
FFXIV Gets Dynamic Resolution Ahead of patch 7.0 Graphics Update
One of the surprises pieces of news was that FFXIV is getting the dynamic resolution option on all platforms (PS4, PS5, and PC) with Patch 6.2. This is a common technique in other games where the resolution automatically adjusts in real-time to balance image quality and performance. Typically, this allows the game to run at an optimal framerate when things get hectic and more demanding on your hardware without you having to manually adjust graphics settings. The game may look a bit blurrier in these moments, but higher framerates are much more important from a gameplay perspective.
While PC players always had graphics options and PS5 players can prioritize graphics or performance, dynamic resolution gives you the best of both worlds. It should also help optimize performance once the Patch 7.0 graphics overhaul comes around, especially for PS4 players.
Jobs and Stat Adjustments Teased
No specific Job changes were revealed during the Live Letter, but Yoshida reminded us that updates to the official Job guide and patch notes on The Lodestone will explain 6.2 changes in detail. He also said the team is going to explain why they make specific changes moving forward. “Of course, not everyone will agree with our decisions 100%, but we hope it will make decisions clearer for everyone to follow as well,” Yoshida said (based on the r/FFXIV Discord translations).
Astrologian and Dragoon are expected to get overhauls at some point, but these adjustments are being postponed to a later patch. Regardless, several Jobs will have minor adjustments.
Yoshida went into further detail about the changes to the Critical Hit and Direct Hit stats. He explained that there are some actions that guarantee Crit or DH and don’t reap benefits when under certain buffs — our understanding is that under those conditions, damage will now scale according to the players Crit/DH stat. This will be further explained in a post on The Lodestone, too.
PVP Updates and Changes
Several changes are coming to the competitive multiplayer aspect of FFXIV. Series Two of PVP starts alongside Patch 6.2 and there will be new rewards and adjustments to how PVP progression works. With Season Three of Crystalline Conflict (not to be confused with Series 2 of PVP), players who reach Diamond and Crystal ranks can get demoted if they lose several matches. This is to encourage players at these rank to continue trying in matches.
Your end-of-the-season rewards will be determined by the highest rank or Crystal score you reached during the season, not where you ended the season. New rewards will include additional Portrait/Adventurer Plate options, achievements, and titles for all PVP ranks.
Abyssos Raid Preview and Mythos Changes
The next section of the Live Letter was an in-game preview of the next leg of the eight-player Pandaemonium raids. It’s called Abyssos and delves deeper into the mysteries of Lahabrea’s wild dungeon beneath Elpis. Yoshida showcased one of the new bosses, which was dubbed “Proto-Carbuncle.” It looked like if Carbuncle was instead a monstrous beast and not a cute little magical baby fox. Considering that Elpis is the ancient place of creation magic, it seems this creation-gone-wrong has been subjected to life in Pandaemonium.
“Not an ounce of cuteness… Just like the battle design team for this fight,” Yoshida said as he played a bit of the fight. He alluded to new gimmicks and mechanics in the normal versions and a higher level of difficulty for this set of Savage versions. In the short demo, we saw an opening cleave from the boss, then a mechanic that split the arena diagonally with a barrier — unfortunately Yoshida wiped to not give away these mechanics.
With regards to endgame gear and currency, there will be a slight change to rewards for this wave of raids. The Mythos exchange rate is going to be a bit more player-friendly — to get the Savage-level head, hands, and feet gear, you will only need four (4) Abyssos Mythos II tokens. Previous raids would require six (6) tokens from their raid series.
A Look at New Crafted, Tomestone, and Raid Gear
A new patch always means new gear, and the Abyssos raid gear set looks stunning. Word on the street is that the preview image above is from the normal versions of Abyssos. It’s a striking contrast from the heavenly look of the Limbo/Asphodelos set from the previous raids — these are downright devilish. The best part is that the weapons all have special visual effects and a glowing aura around them, which you’d typically see from relic weapons.
Yoshida did his holding-printed-screenshots-up-to-the-camera thing as is FFXIV Live Letter tradition, which I still find hilarious. We caught all of them in screenshots, and these include some of the new crafted gear and Tomestones of Causality gear. Check out our roundup of all the new gear coming to FFXIV 6.2.
Preview of Omicron Tribal Quests and Mount
While the next Tribal Quests won’t be in the game until Patch 6.25, Yoshida still gave a quick gameplay preview of what’s in store for the Omicron on Ultima Thule. This one will center around gathering, so get your Disciples of the Land ready. It seems you’ll be bringing life back to The Nekropolis and The Last Dregs bar. Yoshida also showed off a new mount, and glowing alien jellyfish, which we suspect to be one of the big rewards for doing these Tribal Quests.
Island Sanctuary Gameplay Preview
Finally, we saw Island Sanctuary in action. After what seems like ages of it being teased and talked about, Yoshida gave a gameplay demo to showcase you’ll be doing in this brand-new piece of content. Of the new details, we saw what the Island Sanctuary UI looks like and how we’ll be using it. Essentially, you’ll be switching between different modes to perform various tasks. This includes gathering materials, herding and raising animals, building structures, and cultivating the land.
You will be crafting items and earning unique Scrips eventually as there is a progression path for Island Sanctuary. NPCs populate your island and act as guides and helpers who can make tasks easier (if you have the Scrips to spend). Some activities will take real-world time to complete, like building high-level structures and growing your crops; after all, Yoshida said you’re not supposed to grind through this content. Players do not need any crafting or gathering Jobs to participate in activities since they’re all specific to Island Sanctuary content.
We have a full breakdown of the Island Sanctuary gameplay preview, which you should check for more detail. You can also rewatch the FFXIV Live Letter to get a better idea of the gameplay flow.
Variant Dungeon Preview
Although we’ll have to wait until Patch 6.25, Variant and Criterion Dungeons also had a gameplay demo during the Live Letter. Variant Dungeons feature branching storylines with results that depend on the paths you choose throughout your run. You can run these multiple times to see the various outcomes. You’ll also see that these special dungeons have their menu and it seems this first one has 12 total outcomes.
The first one is called The Sil’dihn Subterrane which is a deep ruins in Thanalan. Nanamo Ul’Namo will accompany you for story purposes. Right from the start, you choose one of three doors, each of which take you on a different path to explore and fight through. Additional paths will present themselves the deeper you get into the dungeon.
Since there are no role or party size requirements, Variant Dungeons feature five unique duty actions to help cover different needs in combat:
- Variant Cure – A heal for Tank and DPS players.
- Variant Ultimatum – A Provoke taunt for any role.
- Variant Raise – A revive spell for Tank and DPS players.
- Variant Spirit Dart – A damage spell for Tanks and Healers.
- Variant Rampart – A buff that reduces incoming damage for Healers and DPS.
Be sure to check out our full breakdown of Variant dungeons, which details everything we learned from the FFXIV Live Letter.
Criterion Dungeon in Savage Mode
Criterion Dungeons are a variation on the Variant Dungeon. While they share some thematic similarities, Criterion versions are intended to be a raid-like challenge. You will have a predetermined path to fight through, parties must have standard role composition, and enemies and bosses will be tougher. Parties can only revive other with the Variant Raise action, which will have limited charges. This first one is aptly named Another Sil’dihn Subterrane.
The FFXIV team took the idea even further with a Savage version, ASS (Savage) if you will. You can only enter with a pre-formed party. While these dungeons are intended to be faster paced than typical eight-player Savage raids, you’ll still have challenging mechanics without normal ground indicators for enemy attacks and AoEs, even for trash mobs. Enemies will respawn if the party wipes and they’ll get stronger as time goes on. Yoshida showed a boss fight against Silky, who you get as a mount from the Variant dungeon. It’s a cute pink rat!
For more detail, check out our full breakdown of Criterion Dungeons to prepare for this all-new content type.
Insert Coin Clothing Has a Paladin-Themed Jacket
The last notable thing to mention is the fresh Paladin-themed FFXIV Endwalker jacket from Insert Coin revealed on the stream. Yoshida was wearing one and showed off the design; it’s a two-tone varsity-style jacket with swords on the front and a detailed coat of arms on the back. It’s currently up for pre-order on the Insert Coin website and costs £75 GBP (about $77 USD). Jackets are planned to ship in mid-November according to the site.
