Today, during the Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer Live 92, Square Enix shared the first gameplay of the features and content coming with update 7.5.
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.
First of all, if you want to check out the trailer of the update, which is titled “Trail to the Heavens,” you can watch it in our dedicated article. It’s pretty crazy, so you’re likely not prepared.
We already know that Update 7.5 Part 1 will release on April 28, while Part 2 will come in early September, bridging the gap to the new expansion, which will be revealed at least in part at the first of three Fan Festivals on April 24.
The broadcast started with a recap of the content and features of the update, which you can find in our recap of Letter from the Producer Live 91
- New Main Scenario Quests
- Allied Society Capstone Quests
- Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures
- New Custom Deliveries – Tiisol Ja
- Duty Support Additions – Support for The Dusk Vigil & Shisui of the Violet Tides will be added
- PvP Updates – PvP Series 11 begins, with adjustments to existing PvP actions and the addition of a new Crystalline Conflict arena: the Archeia Harmonia
- New Dungeon – The Clyteum
- New Alliance Raid – Echoes of Vana’diel, Part 3 – Windurst: The Third Walk
- New Trial – Enuo – Includes both Normal and Extreme difficulties
- New Unreal Trial – Shinryu’s Domain (Unreal): Take on the mighty Shinryu at level 100
- New Ultimate Raid
- New Occult Crescent Update – New zone with new monsters, Critical Encounters, increased knowledge level, and multiple new Phantom Jobs
- New Limited Job – Beastmaster – Capture beasts and call upon them to fight at your side!
- Phantom Weapon updates
- Ocean Fishing Update – New route (towards Thavnair)
- Cosmic Exploration: New Planet – Auxsia – A new planet for intrepid crafters and gatherers to explore, as well as additional updates and changes
- Housing Update – Increased limits for interior and exterior furnishings, new interior designs, and more
- Armoire Update – A dramatic increase to the number of items that can be stored
- Dye System Update
- Miscellaneous Updates – Companion Chocobo system update, Crafting updates, Gold Saucer updates and more.
We then get to take a look at the first gameplay of the Alliance Raid, Echoes of Vana’diel, with part 3, Windurst: The Third Walk.
Final Fantasy XI fans certainly will find the location, the music, and the first boss definitely familiar. The rewards are also quite appropriate.
We then take a look at the new Crystalline Conflict arena, named Archeia Harmonias.
You can find its mechanics explained in the slides below.
We also get to see some gameplay showing the arena.
The update will include improvements to the sightseeing log, including the fact that the message displayed when you reach a vista will include the emote required to complete it.
If there are specific time or weather conditions, the message will also tell you if these have not been met.
Outfit Glamours will get an update, with gear from dungeons from 3.0 onwards that will be made eligible to store as outfit glamour. Infdividual pieces of gears will also be able to be removed from outfit glamours.
You can see that in action in the gameplay below.
Crafting will become a bit less restrictive, letting you perform the following actions with the crafting log open: change class/job, consume food/potions, move items in the inventory, join or leave a party, and operate linkshells.
The companion chocobo will get new animations corresponding to its rank. It’ll also react to the emotes “pet” and “poke.”
The UI will get Clear Pink and Clear Grey color schemes.
We then move on to the Beastmaster job, and we learn that to capture monsters, you’ll first use “Gauge” to see if a monster can be captured. Then you’ll have to reduce its HP to increase the chance.
You can then use the “Catch” action to knock the monster out. If successful, it’ll be added to your Master’s Bestiary.
We then get to check out gameplay.
In the slides below, you can check out how battle works. You can find your captured beasts in the Master’s Bestiary and assign up to three beasts to battlehorns. You can have only one beast in battle at any gigven time, but you can swap between the three you have assigned.
Each beast will disappear and be on cooldown upon using its finisher. At that point, you can summon another.
Here’s a recap of the beast actions you can use.
You can also use Instinctual skills. When the Beastmaster Gauge and the Beast Gauge reach 100 or more at the same time, you can unleash them together with your beast.
If you keep doing that, you can trigger instinctual combos. By performing instinctual skills with the correct affinity and in the right order, you can increase the damage dealt.
At higher Beastmaster levels, you’ll get abilities that fill the gauges instantly, letting you connect multiple combos.
Check it all out in action below.
We then get to see the last incarnation of the Phantom Weapons.
Next, is the usual showcase of mounts and minions that will be included in the update.
Lastly, we get to take a look at some of the cosmetic gear that you can earn by playing the update’s content.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently available for PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X|S. If you’re interested, you can read about the latest update 7.4 and its follow-up patches.
