Final Fantasy XIV Further Teases Its Newfound Adventure

by Alex Fuller · April 1, 2022

Square Enix held a new Letter from the Producer Live presentation for MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. The presentation is the second to focus on the content in the upcoming Patch 6.1 update, Newfound Adventure, which is now confirmed to be releasing on April 12, 2022. Square Enix also released the official trailer for the update, the first major update following the release of the Endwalker expansion, which can be viewed below alongside new images and the full presentation.

As part of going over the previously-covered information, director/producer Naoki Yoshida and community manager Toshio Murouchi showcased the expanded Duty Support System — a new name for the main scenario part of the Trust System where NPCs join the player for main scenario dungeons. The system expansion will add a selection of NPCs that will automatically be selected based on the dungeon and the player’s job for all of the relevant A Realm Reborn (version 2.0) content, with later content to be included through subsequent major patches. The presentation also showed the change to the Castrum Meridianum and The Praetorium dungeons into four-player dungeons.

The next part covered some of the more in-depth job balance adjustments coming with the patch before highlighting additional content, starting with the first part of the new Myths of the Realm raid series. The first part of the series is titled Myths of the Realm: Aglaia and tells the story of the Twelve, the pantheon of Eorzean deities. It also looked at the Arkasodara tribe quests coming with Patch 6.15, where players help the Arkasodara create a new settlement in Thavnair.

There was also a recap of the new housing lottery system being introduced alongside Ishgard’s new Empyreum residential district. All of the housing areas will use this new lottery system in Patch 6.1, with more Free Company-designated plots to be made available. The lottery system operates on a nine-day cycle shared across all game worlds from the release of the update. Players will be able to enter the lottery for the first five days. After this, the winners of the lottery will have four days to claim possession of their relevant properties.

Naoki Yoshida gave viewers a preview of the newest Minstrel’s Ballad trial, where players take on a tougher version of Endwalker’s final main scenario trial, before a providing an in-depth look at the new Adventurer Plates system. This is a new profile display feature that lets players customise their profiles with details such as their primary job, usual online periods, and personal play priorities, as well as a personalised character portrait. Multiple portrait variations can be saved at a time, with players able to choose from a selection of base plates, frame designs, and decorations.

The presentation also featured a demonstration of the new Crystalline Conflict PvP mode. It is a 5-on-5 team competition, with each team member having a different job, though there are no role (tank, healer, etc.) restrictions. There will be casual, ranked, and custom matches available, with the ranked matches aiming to group players of similar skills. The objective of the mode is for teams to control a crystal that being in the centre of the map between the team’s bases; to win, a team needs to get the crystal into the other team’s base. The crystal will move up or down a preset path as long as members of a single team are next to it.

Patch 6.1 will bring with it major changes to the PvP rewards and ranking systems. The rewards system will now work across Series, with a new Series generally beginning with the launch each major patch. Each reward within a Series is unlocked as players raise their Series Level. Certain levels grant special rewards such as emotes, gear, or Adventurer Plate items, with all PvP content contributing to Series progression. Ranked PvP will be divided into Seasons, with players placed into five tiers from Bronze to Diamond. Each tier will also be divided into sub-levels called Risers. Players earn Rising Stars by winning ranked matches and move up in a Risers and then tiers by earning enough Rising Stars. Players can drop down a Riser by losing a ranked match when they don’t have any Rising Stars, but cannot drop down in tier.

The final parts of the presentation covered collaboration and merchandise news. Firstly, the collaboration event with Japanese TV show Garo that first ran in 2017 will be returning, letting players obtain Garo-themed gear by participating in PvP. The return will make gear, achievements, and titles available for all Shadowbringers and Endwalker jobs added since the initial event. Meanwhile, the album THE PRIMALS – Beyond the Shadow by the official Final Fantasy XIV band led by composer Masayoshi Soken will release worldwide on May 25, 2022. Finally, full-colour art book FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker – The Art of Resurrection -Among the Stars- will release worldwide on September 13, 2022.

Newfound Adventure Screenshots