In a few hours it's time for the new Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.3 to arrive. Let's take a look at the preliminary notes and see what awaits!
Over a year ago Final Fantasy XIV released their newest expansion Endwalker. Honestly, I’m still recovering from it and listening to Flow while crying. But YoshiP keeps reminding us, the story doesn’t end there and next week with Patch 6.3 we’ll get the next part of a completely new tale and lots of other fun content.
Readers beware: In this summary I’m covering everything seen in the trailer and in the preliminary patch notes for patch 6.3 and 6.31. As we fans know, the X.3 patches have a history of being especially heart-wrenching and life changing (5.3 hurt me so much). So if you want to go into the story without any knowledge, scroll past the next headline or come back after playing through the story quests.
A little taste of what is to come can be seen in the trailer:
Patch 6.3: New Story Content
Following the tradition set by Shadowbringers we’ll get a new dungeon during the new story quests. This time we seem to travel into the mountains of Garlemald to explore Lapis Manalis. Most exciting though is the glimpse of my favorite pair of twins Alphinaud and Alisae coming back into the story. During the last two patches the two were off doing their own thing, but now a reunion is in sight!
As per usual in X.3 updates we've got another huge trial ahead of us and of course, we're going to beat up a boss in style. Unfortunately the dev team is keeping our opponent a surprise. We’ll have to wait until patch day to find out exactly who or what we’re facing. Don't forget the extreme version will release right alongside the new patch and it'll include a new mount!
Fighting Gods In The New Alliance Raid
In true Warrior of Light style let’s go beat up some more gods! The next Alliance Raid Euphrosyne features Nophica, Althyk, Menphina and Halone. Honestly I can’t wait to fight Ishgard’s primary goddess together in a 24-person raid for that sweet glam.
Important: Remember to finish the previous raid’s quests, so you don’t have to on patch day! Make sure you don't miss the two other quests after the raid, which you should quickly do so you can stare at best cat boy G’raha Tia dreamily.
New Ultimate, Unreal Trial and Duty Support
Little by little YoshiP and the team have added to the game to make solo players more comfortable. For new beginners the multiplayer aspect of MMO’s can be intimidating. Because of this the developers decided to implement a system to run dungeons with NPCs. Duty Support adds the remaining dungeons up to Baelsar’s Wall to its roster, which means the entire free trial except for two boss fights can now be played as single player.
Continuing our cycle through old trials with the new patch Containment Bay P1T6 gets its turn as the new Unreal Trial. So over the weekend make sure you enjoy the current fight against Sephirot, because it will disappear after the new patch.
Overshadowing all this new content is something far scarier. Yes you guessed correctly, a new Ultimate called The Omega Protocol will wreck our world in 2 short weeks. Like the name suggests, it is based on the Stormblood raid series and should encompass 8 bosses! YoshiP stated the fight should be on Dragonsong’s level but definitely not higher. I can’t wait to see our top raiders conquer it!
Side Quests To Look Forward To in Patch 6.3
If you ask me there can be no debate about the scariest character in the game. Tataru Taru single-handedly managed the Scions’ organization, so we could save the world without bureaucracy. On Tuesday we can continue to follow her on Tataru’s Grand Endeavor. In case you haven’t started yet, talk to Mehdjinna in Old Sharlayan to get caught up!
Our next Custom Delivery giver Ander looks a bit different than expected. In Il Mheg the pixies found him and now he needs some help. As an erstwhile hero we certainly can’t refuse now, can we?
Even more side quests, including the Hildibrand relic, are coming with 6.35, but until then we still have some weeks to prepare.
Optional Content Incoming!
How much more can the team pack into this patch? The answer is yes! So here is all the optional content coming.
Time for some fun with a new treasure hunt The Shifting Gymnasion Agonon. Now the really interesting part is that this map takes place on Elpis! Maybe some juicy hidden lore can be found by exploring it.
Finally, Island Sanctuary gets expanded with new buildings, ranks, animals and more. After a few weeks most of us had already grinded out everything, so nice to see the team adding new content to this part of the game. Further they are implementing a list of quality of life changes to make gathering and crafting easier. Be sure to visit your sanctuary to get everything ready for the new stuff!
One of the most unique things in FFXIV is the beloved Gold Saucer. Not many MMOs have a casino full of mini-games. Combine that with the communities love for jumping puzzles, and you get my favorite Leap of Faith, which is set to get a new course themed after the Black Shroud. Let’s all fall multiple times in a row together…
Count your gil, because on Tuesday new wards will be added to all housing districts! We’ve been screaming about the housing drought for a long time, which resulted in a new lottery system to be implemented and now finally some new spaces for FFXIV’s real endgame.
Lastly PVP series 3 and Crystal Conflict season 5 start with the new patch, so claim your rewards while you still can. To motivate us a new map in a Kugane theme drops for CC. From what YoshiP said during the live letter, there will be more possibilities for interaction and unique features to spice up your match.
Paladin Rework
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Paladin has been having some issues this expansion, so a major overhaul will be implanted on Tuesday. We don’t have a detailed plan yet but some changes were already announced:
- No more dot from Goring Blade and Blade of Valor
- New effect Divine Might after physical combo allows one enhanced Holy Spirit without cast
- Holy Sheltron changed from blocking to reducing damage
- Bulwark ability comes back improved
Even more adjustments were made to improve the burst damage and defensive abilities. Though they already did a hotfix for the last raid tier, it seems the team felt more changes were needed.
Other Updates
Besides the new content and Paladin rework FFXIV gets some small QoL changes:
- Adjustment for different jobs
- Type of damage taken now shows next to the flying number and in the battle log
- Housing demolition recommences
- New UI Theme #3: Clear Blue (slightly transparent)
- Portraits shown before Duty Finder content (dungeons, raids...)
- New icons on map for certain duties
- New activities with fashion accessories
- Glamour and dye gear in retainer menu
- Filter for new items at Sundry Splendors vendor
- Entrust duplicate stackable items collectively to retainer
- Export portraits editor to adventurer plate and vice versa
FFXIV A Realm Reborn celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year. YoshiP teased we have a lot to look forward to with Fanfest and other secret plans. Now I’m really curious about the future, but first let’s conquer Patch 6.3 on Tuesday!