In the full cinematic trailer for Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail created by Square Enix’s Image Studio department, we get a reveal of the Pictomancer job, as well as a new character – female hrothgar who is a major part of the new story. She invites the Warrior of the Light and the Scions to her home, Tural, to participate in a contest that will determine the successor as the ruler of Tuliyollal.

Dawntrail is the fifth expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, which has now reached 10 years of operation and amassed over 30 million registered players. It’s going to be released in Summer 2023, although the team wasn’t quite ready to share the exact date, as they want to avoid a delay announcement like what happened with the previous expansion.

The second job coming in the Dawntrail expansion is Pictomancer. Krile is seen debuting this new job in the cinematic trailer. This caster DPS is inspired by the original Final Fantasy VI depiction, but is different in that they create art instead of duplicating it. Final Fantasy series creators working on multiple different projects met to confirm that Pictomancer should be the official nomenclature for this job going forward.

Pictomaners can create more than monsters in their Final Fantasy XIV iteration — they can also create weapons and landscapes to aid them in battle. They’ll use a brush as their weapon and Casting gear for equipment. They work with the medium of “mixed aether” to cast spells and will their creations into reality.

No prerequisite class is needed to play Pictomancer, and it will start at Level 80 with a quest chain in Gridania.

This job will have actions that will need to be casted, thus taking cast time, but they’ll have a slate of instant-cast abilities to use as well. They will not be able to raise any party members.

While there are also support abilities that come with Pictomancer, they shouldn’t be considered a support job, but they’re also not purely offensive in nature like the Black Mage.

Dawntrail • New Regions

Dawntrail • New Town – Solution Nine

The team described one of the Dawntrail story’s themes as: “the greatest summer vacation the Warrior of Light could have.” A new character, who will appear in Patch 6.55 releasing on January 16th, is a female hrothgar hailing from Tural.

She beckons them to aid her in a contest. The prize is succession as the ruler of Tuliyollal, a massive city that sits at the juncture of northern and southern regions of Tural.

Said contest for succession may also split the Scions, who make take opposing views to your own. A massive bridge near Tuliyollal connects the northern and southern regions of Tural, and the story may feel like two sections as you travel from one to the other, but it will be one scenario.

The team also revealed new areas that look dramatically unlike any other in the Dawntrail expansion. A new town, Solution Nine, is “a city of towering facades constructed by an entirely different civilization than of Tuliyollal.”

Another area, Heritage Found, is a region “overflowing with lightning energies, thick thunderclouds blot out the sun, while streaks of purple levin illuminate the land day and night.” It’s not a dungeon — there are people that live their regular lives here.

Dawntrail will see you encounter new allies in the Pelupeuli and Moblins, as well as the Hanu Hanu (similar to Vanu Vanu). The Mamool Ja are also a diverse culture that have different perspectives and values when you meet them on your journey.

Previously revealed at the other Dawntrail Fan Festivals, players will be challenging new threats in the expansion – presumably in new Trials.

Pictured on the left are three such challenges: Valigarmanda, a winged serpent players may remember from Final Fantasy VI, The Eliminator, a mysterious entity that seems potentially synthetic and organic, and… Barreltender, a sabotender that is sporting unique porportions.

8-Player Raid:

The Arcadion

While not much information was shared about this raid, we can see that it will be located in the futuristic area referred to as Solution Nine. This is an original story – not a collaboration.

This 8-player raid will have a Normal and a Savage difficulty version that will launch a month after expansion so players don’t feel rushed to complete the expansion story to enjoy the raid.

Alliance Raid:

Echoes of Vana’Diel

This collaboration with Final Fantasy XI will see players take on challenges from the world of Vana’Diel.

Most notably: the Shadow Lord, who is a primary antagonist from Final Fantasy’s first MMORPG.

This alliance raid series will begin in Patch 7.1 and continue through the post-launch patch series.

Ultimate Raid:

Eden – Futures Rewritten

The next Ultimate Raid will return us to Eden.

In Futures Rewritten (Ultimate) players will see a potentially different “what-if” scenario involving its primary characters Ryne and Gaia.

The team acknowledged that the popularity of the raid and its story and characters led them to select this as the next Ultimate.

Female hrothgar will be the last race to be added to Final Fantasy XIV. The team wanted to design them to be as sleek and strong as possible.

Hrothgar hail from Ilsabard, and females “number relatively few among the population, but are readily identified by their lithe, muscular forms. Equally distinctive is their predisposition for leadership. A Turali people with shared ancestry with the Xbr’aal call Yak T’el home.”

Summoner, Samurai, Sage, Gunbreaker

Machinist, Reaper, Astrologian, Paladin:

Core Battle Content

Returning from previous expansions, new FATEs will be added to field areas, as well as new hunt marks, treasure hunts, and quest-synced sidequests.

Duty Support will also be getting and update, and you can expect Pictomancer Krile to join you at some point.

Cosmic Exploration

A brand new type of “lifestyle content” will debut after the launch of Dawntrail in the patch series. Lifestyle content first appeared with the debut of the Island Exploration, where you could explore an island, gather resources, and craft items in a factory.

In this new content, you can play it solo, but it’s intended for everyone to work together to make progress. Here, you’ll be adventuring to different planets. With each update, the planet that you are working on will change.

The scenario here will be different than the one experienced in the main scenario, and the team wants you to think about what kind of experiences you’ll have on these different worlds.

Ongoing Content Updates

Following the Dawntrail expansion release, content will release in a series of patches. You can expect updates to existing content like the Blue Mage limited job, more Hildibrand adventures, a new Deep Dungeon (the team has plans for but has not finalized them), updates to Gold Saucer, updates to PVP (starting in 7.1), and new Variant Dungeons.

Field Operations

The Endwalker expansion’s post-release content schedule didn’t include a new Field Operation – the term used for content like The Forbidden Land Eureka (Stormblood) and Save the Queen (Shadowbringers) and the team has since received a lot of feedback regarding this.

In the 7.x series, the team will release something in the style of this content. It will be designed for players who will need to clear in large numbers.

Yoshida noted how times and attitudes have changed since Eureka‘s debut, and he noted that they ended up developing Field Operations into a type of content the community enjoyed – and while they took a break in the 6.x series, a new field operation will come.

Limited Job: Beastmaster

Beastmaster will be a new limited job releasing in the patch series following the Dawntrail expansion.

Like Blue Mage, this job will be a different approach to combat jobs, and will feature some sort of collection aspect as well as challenges for solo play and party play.

More information including artwork will be shared at a later date.