Summary: Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker keynote, releasing November 23

Tonight, during the keynote address to kick off Final Fantasy XIV‘s digital Fan Festival, the team revealed new information about the forthcoming Endwalker expansion. Director and producer Naoki Yoshida took the stage to lay out the major content and features players can expect.

We’ve summarized all the major points below:

Recap

• A new healer job called Sage will be added and weilds floating weapons called nouliths.
• The level cap will increase from 80 to 90.
• Five new role quests will be added.
• The Trust system will be updated to include characters such as Estinien.
• Down-scaled values in battle calculations will be performed for long-term battle system maintenance.
• Belts will be removed as an equip-able item to make way for more weapon and ring slots. Belts won’t be deleted but you may want to safely store them. More information later.
• A small-scale PvP mode will be added.
• A new 8-man raid “Pandaemonium” will be added — it’s a setting original to Final Fantasy XIV.
• An Island Sanctuary will be added in the 6.x series patches that will feature “slow-living” type of content. It’s open to everyone, not just crafters and gatherers.
• Ishgard will become a new residential district. The team is working on features that avoid RMT and cheating with regard to obtaining plots.
• Data Center Travel will be possible where you can travel to different data center. The plan is to release this before Endwalker to thoroughly test this feature. More information will be revealed later.

New Job: Reaper

The Reaper wields a two-handed scythe and is a melee DPS. It will share the same role as Dragoon. There are no required classes or jobs to become a Reaper, but you will need the Endwalker expansion and one other combat job leveled to 70. Reaper will also start at Level 70. The job quests will begin in Ul’dah.

Reapers use scythes for a dynamic close-quarters combat style. They can also call upon an avatar from the Void to join them in battle. You will channel the voidsent’s power to fight in battle. The team wanted to create something unlike anything you’ve seen in other jobs.

In the Endwalker trailer, Zenos yae Galvus has changed to this job. You will see him take on this new job in Patch 5.55. More information about the job will be revealed at a later date.

The Story & Trailer of Endwalker

The story of the Endwalker expansion will bring us full-circle from A Realm Reborn. Additionally, the main scenario will end with the conclusion of the expansion patch (6.0) and a new story will begin that is separate from the Zodiark and Hydaelyn arc. Yoshida mentions that Final Fantasy XIV is not ending here, and will most definitely continue.

A new player hub city, Old Sharlayan, will serve a similar role as Ishgard, Kugane, and the Crystarium. It is a city of vast knowledge and scholarly pursuit, but is largely isolationist and does not intervene in the affairs of other nations. Originally in 1.0 there had been plans to have six starting cities that included Ala Mhigo, Ishgard, and Sharlayan. In the end there wasn’t enough time to include them all, so Gridania, Ul’dah, and Limsa Lominsa were chosen. There is a lavish manor pictured that is very important to the story.

As heard in the Endwalker trailer, the main theme of the game will be composed by Masayoshi Soken, lyrics by Michael-Christoper Koji Fox and Natsuko Ishikawa. The song is performed by The Primals with vocals by Sam Carter from Architects and Amanda Achen.

The trailer features Estinien Wyrmblood, who appears with the dragon Vritra. He will join you in Endwalker dungeons via the Trust system. A new Elezen man appears in the trailer in Old Sharlayan – you’ll learn more about him in Death Unto Dawn – Part 2 (Patch 5.5). Alphinaud, Alisaie, Y’shtola, Urianger, Thancred, and G’raha Tia will join you in the Trust system.

OLD SHARLAYAN

The trailer features Estinien Wyrmblood,who appears with the dragon Vritra. He will join you in Endwalker dungeons via the Trust system. A new Elezen man appears in the trailer in Old Sharlayan – you’ll learn more about him in Death Unto Dawn – Part 2 (Patch 5.5). Alphinaud, Alisaie, Y’shtola, Urianger, Thancred, and G’raha Tia will join you in the Trust system.

LABYRINTHOS

Labyrinthos is an enigmatic new area, with ancient buildings that house a strange technology. This area is actually underground lit with an artificial sun in and artificial sky.

THAVNAIR

Thavnair is the origin of the Dancer job and there are statues that depict dancers throughout Radz-at-Han. The graphics team spend a lot of time selecting the colors for this area. Will it be sunny all the time? The dev team isn’t so sure.

RADZ-AT-HAN

MARE LAMENTORUM

A new floating island area was shown, but they could not reveal the name, only artwork. Garlemald is shown in a state of ruin. An area on the moon is shown: Mare Lamentorum. How you get to the moon is still a mystery but it appears to have breathable air.

New Encounters

The Magus Sisters will appear in Final Fantasy XIV. Originally appearing in Final Fantasy IV, they will have a different kind of appearance in Endwalker.

Lopporrits will also make an appearance on the moon. There a new race you’ll encounter.

New Dungeons

The dungeons you’ll find in the Endwalker expansion are varied and they will be compatible with the Trust system.

New Alliance Raid: Myths of the Realm

The new alliance raid will feature a setting original to Final Fantasy XIV, and feature the “Twelve”, a pantheon of gods worshipped by Eorzeans.

Endwalker Collector’s Edition

The Endwalker Collector’s Edition features a special box featuring artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, a Paladin figure with removable parts, an “Azem” pin, a Lopporrit plush, and a collection of artwork from Version 1.0 to 6.0 that can be put into a frame.

Collector’s edition in-game items will include an Airon mount, Wind-up Porom minion, and a Death Scythe weapon.

Starting with Endwalker there will not be a disc version of the game, so you can’t go to a shop and buy it. The team says that over 85% of players buy the digital version, and since it’s an MMORPG with updates, they decided to not release a physical disc. For players that have bought the Windows PC & Mac version, you’ll need to purchase the Collector’s Edition that will have a game code and the physical & digital items.

Those on PlayStation 4/5 and Steam will need to purchase the Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker Collector’s Box the get the physical items — then to get the digital items purchase on the platform of their choice. Square Enix can’t include physical items with code purchases on these platforms, so this decision was made accordingly. The digital collector’s edition will simply contain the digital goods.

Pre-order gifts will include a Wind-up Palom minion and Menphina Earring. The earring will have a boost to experience points gained as in previous expansion.

Early access will be available for those who pre-order the game and will begin on November 19th, and the official release will take place on November 23th.

Male Viera & Female Hrothgar

Male viera will be playable with the release of the Endwalker expansion. Female hrothgar will also be playable, but they will be coming after Endwalker’s release. Yoshida says that the graphics team worked incredibly hard to make this a reality.

Oceania Data Center

The team wants to address poor latency experienced by players in the Oceania region who have often been split up based on their region. The plan is a huge undertaking, and is planned to be ready by Patch 6.1.

Endwalker artwork (Akihiko Yoshida)


About the Author

Tony Garsow Tony joined Nova Crystallis in 2015, and has spent more than a decade writing in the Final Fantasy community. He also contributes to the Nova Crystallis Twitch and YouTube channels, where you can watch select gameplay highlights, previews, and streams.

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