Today, during the second part of the Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer Live 87, Square Enix announced the first details and screenshots about update 7.3.
As usual, Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio Murouchi provided all the relevant details during the livestream from Square Enix’s headquarters in Tokyo.
The patch will release in early August, and the title will be “The Promise of Tomorrow.”
Below, you can check out the official artwork.
We start with a look at the new Main Scenario Quest chapter. It’ll pretty much conclude the story arc started with Dawntrail.
We also get to see the new Allied Society Quests for crafters, featuring the Yok Huy.
Next is the new chapter of the Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures. The theme will be “Hard Boiled.”
The new instanced dungeon part of the main quest will be The Meso Terminal.
About the new Trial, we just get to see a screenshot. It’s still a secret, but it’ll come in Normal and Extreme versions.
The next stage of the Alliance Raid Echoes of Vana’diel will get us to San d’Oria, and it’ll be titled San d’Oria: The Second Walk.
The next Unreal Trial will be The Wreath of Snakes.
The new Treasure Dungeon will also be implemented, and it’ll be Vault Oneiron.
We also learn that Cutter’s Cry will get Duty Support. PvP will get its usual update with the beginning of Series 9, an adjustment to PvP actions, and a new Crystalline Conflict arena, titled The Bayside Battleground.
You can see it below, and it won’t have any particular special rules, keeping things simple.
Interestingly, players will be allowed to queue as a pair since many are intimidated by the idea of trying PvP on their own.
New tiers will be added, Omega and Ultima.
Cosmic Exploration will get its second drop, and with the completion of the Moongate Hub, we’ll get to explore the next star, Phaenna.
There will be further enhancements to cosmic tools and new rewards. Of course, the Starward Stela and the Star Contributor status and effect will be available on Phaenna as well.
The new patch will bring new Phantom Weapons enhancement quests.
A new Deep Dungeon will be implemented. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s basically a rogue-like experience within FFXIV. This one will be suitable for leveling your jobs.
The name of the new Deep Dungeon will be Pilgrim’s Traverse.
To gain access, you’ll need to have completed the main scenario quest of Endwalker and have progressed to floor 50 of Palace of the Dead. Level 91 is required. You’ll enter via an NPC in Il Mheg.
The floor 99 boss battle will have a harder version that you can access via the same NPC. You’ll need to be level 100 and have a party of four players. Below you can see a tease.
The previously announced chat bubble feature is in active development and almost complete. It’ll be optional and disabled by default, and it won’t be an alternative to the usual chat log, which will remain.
You can set different chat modes on or off and define the color for each (both the color of the bubble and of the font).
You’ll also be able to have it automatically disable during combat and PvP. The system can be set to display one or two lines of text, and the text itself will be truncated upon reaching a word count limit.
The headgear support for Hrothgar and Viera will be expanded, with more hats displaying on the two races. This process will continue in future updates.
Viera will be able to hide their ears. The visor toggle in the Character window will also get an on/off subcommand. The display setting will also be saved in registered gear sets.
Bangs will finally be displayed with hoods. Below you can see a before-and-after comparison.
We also take a look at the new Whiteboard feature. This will actually come in patch 7.4 or later.
Developers are considering letting players display it where desired, including in battle, an option to highlight specific jobs, the ability to set up multiple schemes for a single duty, and the option to share it with others.
More details about the update will be shared in the next Letter from the Producer Live broadcast.
If you’re unfamiliar with Final Fantasy XIV, it’s currently available for PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X|S.
Incidentally, Final Fantasy XIV is one of the pillars of Square Enix’s game lineup, and its recurring revenue does wonders to keep up its otherwise shaky financials.