The King Slime Crown returns! The special Dragon Quest X Collaboration Event "Breaking Brick Mountains" is coming back to Final Fantasy XIV on July 3, 2020 and will last until July 27. New players and players who may have missed the initial run of this collaboration back in 2014 will be able to take part in the event by completing themed quests and participating in unique FATEs to obtain Dragon Quest related items. To start the quest, players only need to speak with Havak Alvak of the Mythril Eye in Ul'dah - Steps of Nald when the event begins in July. If you have already completed this quest, you cannot undertake it a second time. Havak's location is located below (Images via Lodestone): After picking up the quest, players will be able to seek out and take part in special FATEs to complete the questline in order to obtain the Wind-up Brickman, Thug's Mug helmet, and to purchase the wiggly King Slime Crown from Toughie in Ul'dah - Steps of Nald (X:8.2 Y:12.2). The "Brick by Stone Brick and Brick by Gold Brick" FATE locations are located across multiple zones in A Realm Reborn. These areas include the following: Central Thanalan, Sil'dih Excavation SiteLower

Square Enix has just announced a cancellation to their plans for this year's North American Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, originally set to be held in November. Citing concerns with the on-going coronavirus pandemic, producer/director Naoki Yoshida took to the forums, sharing a Letter from the Producer to explain the current situation. "The North American Fan Festival was scheduled to be held in San Diego half a year from now in November, but after much deliberation we have made the difficult decision to cancel proceedings," said Yoshida. "Although we have been moving forward with various arrangements to adapt to the unfolding pandemic, we ultimately feel that we cannot guarantee the health and safety of the attendees, performers, or company staff members who would be present at the event. Thus it is with great regret that we arrive at this conclusion, and I offer my sincere apologies to all who were looking forward to enjoying the festivities." Despite the cancellation, however, Yoshida states that Square Enix is already drawing up plans for a possible new date, city and venue in the first half of 2021 to host a North American event. The current Fan Festivals in Japan and Europe planned for December and February

In the 58th Letter from the Producer Live broadcast, Final Fantasy XIV director/producer Naoki Yoshida and global community manager Toshio Murouchi shared more information about the third major update to the Shadowbringers expansion. We've included a summary of the major information below: Covid-19 impact on development Yoshida read a letter from a player who is a medical worker on the frontline of fighting the coronavirus who expressed their thanks to the development and operations team for a game giving everyone the strength to get through this. Square Enix staff are working from home. Originally, Patch 5.3 was scheduled to release in mid-June. The original plan was to have Yoshida check over the patch content in the second week of April; it was then decided that the Square Enix office in Tokyo would need to transition to work from home. Voice actors are recording lines from home and sending the data to to Square Enix. Everything for Patch 5.3 has now been recorded. Staff are testing their updates from home to prevent bugs before their changes are pushed to the game. The transition to work from home hasn't been without difficulties, such as needing to connect to an internal server for security purposes. Some staff could do this in

Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida released a statement today on the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the development team and their ongoing work. Tokyo is currently in a state of emergency, and Square Enix's headquarters in Shinjuku has been taking preventative measures to ensure the safety of staff. Patch 5.25, which released on Tuesday, was largely finished during the development of Patch 5.2, but Yoshida shares that they narrowly finished on time. This patch introduced a story-heavy first step of the new Resistance Weapon series. Going forward, however, there will be several issues that will affect development. Yoshida lists them: Delayed delivery of graphical assets due to the lockdown of cities in East Asia, North America, and Europe.Delayed voice recording due to the lockdown of cities in Europe.Delays to development tasks performed by Tokyo staff due to work-from-home/shelter-in-place limitations.Production and QA teams operating well below normal capacity due to work-from-home/shelter-in-place limitations. Due to these challenges, Yoshida expects a delay of up to one month in the arrival of Patch 5.3 - the third major update to last year's Shadowbringers expansion. Originally planned for mid-June, it looks like we'll potentially see it in mid-July. Yoshida apologizes for the delay, and cites the necessity

On April 7th, Final Fantasy XIV will update to Patch 5.25, introducing a new quest series tilted 'Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr'. The story follows the Garlean occupation of Bozja, and will allow you to upgrade 'Resistance' weapons progressively as new chapters release in later patches. Here's the official description: "For years, Bozja─homeland of the Hrothgar─has remained at the mercy of Garlean rulers. But the Empire has fallen into disarray, and the people of Doma and Ala Mhigo have risen up to challenge their authority. The Bozjans, while heartened at this news, yet lack the means to join the rebellion. To that end, they seek a standard under which their people may gather. A weapon of legend..." This quest's story is closely tied to the Return to Ivalice alliance raid series, so much so that it is a requirement to complete it before you can start Blades of Gunnhildr. Weapons for combat jobs aren't the only ones to get progressive upgrades -- Skysteel Tools will also release in Patch 5.25, which will benefit crafters and gatherers. From the last development team broadcast, the upgrades are created by collecting specific materials. How Cid feels to be apart from Nero. In other news, Square Enix has concluded

This year's Hatching-tide seasonal event will be conducted in two chapters, the first beginning Monday, March 30th and the second on Sunday, April 5th. The Easter-adjacent festivities will include unique rewards including a rabbit suit (head and bodies come separately), a stuffed rabbit furnishing, and a Hatching-tide advertisement furnishing. From The Lodestone The event quest “The Eggth Umbral Calamity” will start in Old Gridania with the Revelrous Rabbit in Mih Khetto's Amphitheatre. Note that you must be at least Level 15 and complete the main scenario quest “It’s Probably Pirates” to participate. The event will end the morning of Monday, April 13th. You can check out previous years’ events on our YouTube channel – specifically from 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9RbJ9BizUQ Final Fantasy XIV is available for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Mac.

The Little Ladies' Day limited time seasonal returns to Final Fantasy XIV on March 2nd, a holiday where young women of all classes are celebrated like a princess in the streets of Ul'dah. This year's rewards include themed headgear like the Princess's Peach Corsage or the Seneschal's Monocle. Housing items include a Eastern Stage (table) and a Little Ladies' Day Banner (wall-mounted.) From The Lodestone The event quest "Pretty in Peaches" will start with the Royal Seneschal in Ul'dah's Steps of Nald. Note that you must be at least Level 15 and complete the main scenario quest "It's Probably Pirates" to participate. The event will end the morning of Monday, March 16th. You can check out previous years' events on our YouTube channel - specifically from 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Final Fantasy XIV is available for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Mac.

In Final Fantasy XIV's latest patch titled "Echoes of a Fallen Star," a brand-new piece of content has been added for the realm's fishers: Ocean Fishing. Every two hours of real world time, you can embark from Limsa Lominsa with a party of 23 other fishers - the same size as an alliance raid. This expedition will hit three rotating locations that also have varying weather patterns. Based on the places you go you'll use different types of bait to rack up points that are calculated at the end of your journey. Score enough and you'll net gathering scrips, minions, and a big ol' shark mount. All you need to start is to complete the "All the Fish in the Sea" quest available at Level 1 in Limsa Lominsa's Lower Decks and you're ready to go. A vendor nearby the boat will also sell you the requisite bait for Ocean Fish, and you can also restock on the boat should you run out. I've been messing with it here and there this week, while blasting through Patch 5.2's other (great) content. So far, Ocean Fishing's been quite fun - largely due to how players are interacting with it. The masses await the next

In the 57th Letter from the Producer Live broadcast, Final Fantasy XIV director/producer Naoki Yoshida and global community manager Toshio Murouchi shared more information about the second major update to the Shadowbringers expansion: Echoes of a Fallen Star. We've included a summary of the major information below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEDVcrwnlJ4 Patch 5.2 Content & Features Patch 5.2 arrives on February 18th, 2020.New main scenario quests will be added.Beast tribe quests featuring the Qitari (Qiqirn) will have a focus on gathering.A new Chronicles of a New Era quest The Sorrow of Werlyt will be added.A new instanced dungeon Anamnesis Anyder will be added.Cinder Drift (Ruby Weapon) will be added as a new trial and will also have an Extreme difficulty version.A new raid called Eden's Verse will be added and will feature both a normal and Savage level difficulty.Job adjustments and PVP Job adjustments will be implemented.Crafting, fishing, & materia system updates will be implemented. A few crafting actions will be removed and fish bites will be changed to notifications.Ocean Fishing will be added.Allgan tomestones of allegory will be added.Additional New Game+ chapters will be added - this time alliance raid quests will be added.Rank increase for free companies to 30 - higher levels will get an

Final Fantasy XIV's second major update to the Shadowbringers expansion will arrive in the middle of next month. Titled Echoes of a Fallen Star, patch 5.2 will see a continuation of the main scenario quest, the Eden raid series, a new dungeon, a new trial, and various other content. The team provides a closer look in a website update today. Keep in mind that the following will contain spoilers for the Shadowbringers scenario. Main Scenario QuestsEchoes of a Fallen Star "With Eulmore on the path to a brighter tomorrow, the Scions await such time as the Exarch might return them home. Not in idleness, however--for when has any world been content to grant its heroes respite?" While there's still a lot going on in the First, the Source still has its share of problems. In the images below, we see the Warrior of Light meet with Raubahn and Gaius's company in Ala Mhigo, likely to discuss the movements of the Garlean Empire. At the conclusion of patch 5.1, we learned of a powerful new weapon they are testing. Meanwhile, on the First, a figure resembling Ardbert has been summoned. Could he be the counterpart to the realm's savior - the Warrior of Darkness? The