It’s about that time. Another Live Letter from the Producer is scheduled for July 1, 2022 at 4:00 a.m. PT/ 11:00 GMT / 21:00 AEST and it will cover the next major update for Final Fantasy XIV. We can expect a ton of new content from FFXIV Patch 6.2, which director and producer Naoki Yoshida teased in a Live Letter earlier this year.
FFXIV 6.2 will feature the much-anticipated Island Sanctuary content, the brand-new Criterion Dungeons, an expansion of Duty Support (Trusts) into Heavensward MSQ dungeons, and much more. And of course, we’ll get the next batch of eight player Pandaemonium raids that’ll take us deeper into what the actual hell is going in Lahabrea’s wild underground parties. We can also expect some Job changes — Yoshida hinted at what those changes could be, such as a streamlining of Dragoon and big adjustments to Astrologian.
We may also get a release date for FFXIV Patch 6.2, but for now, we can take an educated guess. Based on the development schedule laid out in a previous Live Letter, we know major patches launch four months apart. With that in mind, the release date for FFXIV Patch 6.2 will be mid- to late-August 2022.
Here’s what we can look forward to whenever FFXIV Patch 6.2 launches.
Island Sanctuary Details
Many players are looking forward to Island Sanctuary since it’s an all-new piece of content that looks to be more chill. Yoshida mentioned that it’s a fairly big piece of content that’s going for a Harvest Moon type of vibe. We interviewed Yoshida during FFXIV FanFest 2021, and he said it himself: “There are fans of Harvest Moon on the Final Fantasy XIV team as well, so everyone seems to be having fun [laughs].”
Still, we don’t know much about what Island Sanctuary entails, but we’re sure to see more in this next FFXIV Live Letter.
Criterion Dungeons on the Way
From the FFXIV Live Letter in February this year, Yoshida mentioned Criterion Dungeons. It’s said to be a new type of instance with variable difficulty. You’ll be able to take these on solo or with a party of up to four players. The difficulty will scale based on party size. FFXIV 6.2 will introduce the first Criterion Dungeon and more will be added in subsequent patches. We’ll probably get a preview of it during the Live Letter.
Expanding the Duty Support / Trust System
As part of the 6.x patch cycle, the FFXIV team is adding Duty Support for all the older MSQ dungeons. With Patch 6.1, all of the story-based dungeons from A Realm Reborn got the Duty Support treatment. In Patch 6.2, all the post-ARR MSQ dungeons and the first half of Heavensward story dungeons will have Duty Support. This system lets you take AI-controlled NPCs as party members into dungeons, essentially creating a single-player experience.
It was first introduced as the Trust system in Shadowbringers, but had a slight name change specifically for story purposes. Subsequent 6.x patches will cover the rest of Heavensward and all of Stormblood MSQ.
More Pandaemonium in FFXIV Patch 6.2
Get ready you wild freaks, we’re heading back to Lahabrea’s lair for more Pandaemonium. This is the latest eight-player raid series introduced with Endwalker in Patch 6.05. The first leg of the raid series was called Asphodelos and introduced new lore about the Ancients and Ascians. FFXIV Patch 6.2 will bring the next four raid instances, which we suspect to be called Abyssos. The Savage-level versions will come in a 6.2x patch shortly afterward.
If you haven’t done them yet, use our guides to help you clear Pandaemonium Asphodelos.
FFXIV Patch 6.2 Possible Job Changes
As always, you can expect Job changes with a major patch. Yoshida previously spoke about some of the things the FFXIV team intends to change. They are looking at cleaning up some Dragoon’s attack rotation — this could mean streamlining the way its weaponskills branch out in the rotation. Astrologian will also get some major adjustments since it’s a busy Job, but as an Astrologian main, I kind of like that aspect of it. We’ll have to wait for the FFXIV Live Letter on July 1 to get the specifics on these Job changes, however.
For now, there’s plenty of new content to work through thanks to FFXIV Patch 6.15. If you’re not caught up, check out the new Hildibrand quests, the Omega epilogue quests, and Custom Deliveries with Ameliance. Those who are done with Patch 6.1 MSQ can play through Tataru’s Grand Endeavor, too. More importantly, stay on top of your dailies in the new Arkasodara Tribe Quests.
