Square Enix just revealed the next expansion for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, which will release in Summer 2024. Check out our article to see everything coming with FF14’s next adventure!
Square Enix has announced the fifth expansion for the popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, titled Dawntrail, which will launch in summer 2024. The announcement was made by director and producer Naoki Yoshida during the Fan Festival in Las Vegas, where he also revealed a brand new trailer for the expansion, which showcases some of the new areas, enemies, and features of the expansion.
New Continent, Story Arc, and Characters
The expansion will take players to a new continent across the western sea, called Tural, where they will embark on a quest to find a fabled city of gold. Tural is a diverse and exotic continent that will, most likely, have many different landscapes and cultures to explore. Some of the new maps that players will visit in Tural are Urqopacha, a mountainous region in Yok Tural, and Yak T’el, a rain forest region accessible from Tuliyollal. Urqopacha is home to The Pelupelu, one of the new Allied Tribes that players can befriend and interact with. Yak T’el is home to hrothgar and Mamool Ja, two races that have appeared in previous Final Fantasy games.
The expansion will also introduce a new story arc that will divide the Scions, a group of heroes who have been fighting against the forces of darkness, as Mamool Ja is having a contest to see who will become his successor to the throne. Along the way, players will also meet new characters, such as Galool Ja Ja, the ruler of Yok Tural, the new hub city.
The Dawntrail reveal trailer itself has a very “pirate” vibe to it, which suggests that the expansion will be a break from the norm and put us on a vacation. According to Yoshida, the theme of the expansion is based on “Gilded Legacy”, and it will be “the perfect summer vacation”, and our warrior of light seems to be the center of the adventures again. However, we can also spot a few familiar faces like Y’shtola and Thancred. How did we arrive in this new world? What are we planning to do here, and who will we be helping this time? So many questions come from this trailer, and we can’t wait to learn more about this brand new world!
Two New Jobs, Both DPS
The expansion will also add two new jobs, both DPS: one melee and one caster. We speculate that the caster job will have something to do with being a Painter, based on a hint from Yoshida that referenced TMNT (he was wearing a TMNT shirt on stage while talking about the new jobs). For those who don’t know, TMNT stands for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a popular franchise that features four turtles named after famous painters: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. As for the melee job, something related to pirates could make sense? Currently, however, the actual jobs are still unknown at this point, but we hope to learn more about them soon. It is fun to speculate, though!
New Content Coming in 7.0
Additionally, on top of all the other information we have so far, the expansion will also bring new dungeons, raids, alliance raids, ultimate fights, and more. Some of the new content that was teased in the trailer or mentioned by Yoshida are:
Level Cap Increase to 100
Valigarmanda Dungeon Boss: Valigarmanda (image above) is a bird-like creature that uses magic powers and first appeared in Final Fantasy VI as an optional boss.
Duty Support Update: A mysterious feature that Yoshida said he can’t give too many details about because it pertains to new story beats. We wonder what it could be.
New “Lifestyle” content: This is most likely going to be similar to Endwalker’s Island Sanctuary, where players can enjoy some relaxing activities such as farming or fishing. No screenshots were shown yet.
New Variant Dungeon: New type of dungeon that Yoshida said will be challenging and fun.
Alliance Raid: A 24-player raid that usually features a crossover with another Final Fantasy game or another franchise. No name or theme was revealed yet.
8 Player Raid: An 8-player raid that usually follows the main story of the expansion. No name or theme was revealed yet.
New Ultimate: This is an extremely difficult fight that requires high skill and coordination from the players. No name or theme was revealed yet.
Blue Mage Update: Blue Mage is a limited job that can learn skills from enemies and use them in battle. The expansion will update the level cap and the skill list of Blue Mage, as well as add new content for Blue Mage players.
More Hildibrand: Hildibrand is a comedic side story that follows the adventures of Hildibrand Manderville, a self-proclaimed gentleman detective, and his eccentric companions. The expansion will continue this story with more hilarious quests and scenarios.
New Deep Dungeon: Dawntrail will add a new Deep Dungeon. No other information is available yet.
Gold Saucer Updates: Gold Saucer is a place where players can enjoy various mini-games and activities, such as Chocobo Racing, Triple Triad, Mahjong, and more. The expansion will update the Gold Saucer with new games and rewards.
These are, of course, just a few examples of what is to come! We are very excited to see what Square Enix has in store for us in this expansion, and we cannot wait to explore the new continent, the new story arc, the new jobs, and the new content.
However, this is not all that SE has to offer, there are still more announcements and reveals to come during this weekend’s Fan Festival, which will feature more details about the expansion, especially during the upcoming Live Letter, as well as other possible surprises and collaborations. We will be covering all the interesting stuff that has been announced, and will still be announced during this weekend. So stay tuned for more news about Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail!
