Final Fantasy XIV - Going Free To Play Up To Level 60, and Other Notes From LIVE Letter

In the latest Letter from the Producer Live for FFXIV a whole host of information was brought to the forefront regarding the next big content patch titled, Reflections in a Crystal. While the live stream was in Japanese, an extensive summary of features is available which includes a lot of the content and features players can look forward to.

FFXIV’s Reflections in a Crystal update has been delayed for a matter of weeks, but now will plan to keep its August 11^th release date. The long bullet list of features from the latest Letter from the Producer Live also included some detailed information regarding a Realm Reborn revamp, a crossover raid with NieR Automata, some additional crafting-focused quests, information on a new encounter, and new items and collaborations that are in the works. In addition to all of the content that will be added, it was also explained that FFXIV’s free trial will be expanded to include the Heavensward expansion content. While the list below is thorough, you can learn more about the features which include a lot of video footage in the exhaustive list available here. The list of content and features is below:

Patch 5.3 “Reflections in Crystal” arrives on August 11, 2020.

• New main scenario quests will be added. Yoshida says the Reflections in Crystal scenario has the most voice acting and cutscenes yet, so you might just want to devote a play session to it alone due to its length.
• The Crystal Tower alliance raid series will become a required quest as well as the My Little Chocobo quest.
• New tribe quests will feature the Dwarves with a focus on crafting.
• The Sorrow of Werlyt scenario quest will continue.
• A new Level 80 instanced dungeon The Heroes’ Gauntlet will be added.
• A new mystery trial has been added, includes an Extreme-level difficulty.
• The YoRHA Dark Apocalypse alliance raid series collaboration with NieR Automata will continue with The Puppets’ Bunker.
• The A Realm Reborn Revamp will include the ability to fly in A Realm Reborn zones.
• Unreal Trials will feature a classic trial starting with Shiva in the Akh-Afah Amphitheatre. The “Unreal” classification of difficulty means that the boss is upscaled for current gear rather and item levels rather than players being synced down. The fights will rotate each patch. Faux Hollows is a minigame around this content.
• Adjustments will be made to PvE and PvP battle jobs.
• Astrologian‘s MP requirements for certain actions will be reduced. Lightspeed will have a 1.5 second recast, and the MP regeneration will be removed and added to another action.
• Bard will get a boost in their damage output in 5.3. Multiple actions will see buffs.
• Monk will be seeing a revamp similar to Ninja did, particularly to their Greased Lightning system. All the adjustments won’t be ready for 5.3, but they expect to be finished by 5.4. Perfect Balance’s cooldown time will be reduced and Form Shift will reduce one form.
• Summoner won’t have any drastic changes to their rotation; the only change will be a Tri-Disaster nerf.
• Season 16 of The Feast will begin; no large-scale PvP update in 5.3.
• Crafters and gatherers will get a new custom delivery client, Trial Synthesis, a reverse lookup for recipes using materials in your inventory, and items requested as Collectables will no longer be random.
• A party of players will be able to join another party via the party finder.
• The option to specify one player per job will be added to the party finder. (Useful to prevent doubling up on the same job.)
• Players will be able to use the World Visit system while in a cross-world party. (Useful for those who are changing worlds on hunt trains.)
• New chapters will be added to New Game+.
• New token exchange vendors will be added to major cities that will trade Allgan Tomestones of Poetics for upgraded gear belonging to each expansion so you don’t have to travel all over.
• A Fashion Accessories menu option will be added, which includes umbrellas.
• A Sticker Mode has been added to the the Group Pose function where you can place stickers in your shot. You can also rotate, resize, and adjust opacity of each “layer.” You’ll be able to add the zone/instance name as text as well as a timestamp and character name. (Pictured below.)
• Yoshida teased a new glamour, emote, and a watermelon… minion.
• A new magitek flying mount and a Construct 7 flying mount have been added.

The #FFXIV Free Trial is being expanded to include:?? Level cap raised to 60?? Heavensward (through Patch 3.56)?? Dark Knight/Astrologian/Machinist?? Au RaA Realm Reborn/Starter Edition owners are also being upgraded with the above! pic.twitter.com/1nGXFJjPpa

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) July 22, 2020

Patch 5.31:

• Ishgardian Restoration update where the ranking system will return.

Patch 5.35:

• Resistance Weapon quest updates will include the first step to upgrade the items and will include a new large-scale instance: The Bozjan Southern Front.
• Skysteel Tools update will be added.

For the Realm Reborn Revamp:

• The ability to fly in A Realm Reborn zones has been added and you can unlock it by completing the A Realm Reborn scenario.
• A lot of quests have been shortened, or their requirements lessened. For example, you won’t have to collect as many of an item to complete them.
• They’ve also made a teleport ticket just for The Waking Sands to accommodate new players and lessen the amount of travel time involved.

The New Raid, YoRHA Apocalypse – The Puppets Bunker:

• The second chapter of the YoRHA Dark Apocalypse alliance raid compilation with NieR Automata.
• They had to adjust it a lot in testing and when they showed it to Yoko Taro he said “Oh if we die, we die, ok? You should make it so that the whole raid wipes if you press this Duty Action.”

Tribe Quest Addition – The Dwarves:

• A new crafting-focuses tribe quest series involving the Dwarves will be added in Patch 5.3. Their home base will be in Lakeland. You can expect rewards to include a mount.

Changes to Crafting and Gathering (Patch 5.31):

• Upon reaching Level 15, players can practice crafting without the necessary materials – this is called Trial Synthesis.
• A Reverse Lookup function will let you search for recipes via the materials in your inventory and will even include recipes you haven’t yet unlocked. You can find this by opening the submenu for an item.
• You will also be able to use a feature that will calculate the amount of items you’ll need based on the amount of items that you to create. (See picture below for a detailed breakdown.)
• Quick Desynthesis will also allow you to desynthesize a single stack of items in your inventory in succession.

Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr Encounter (Patch 5.35):

• Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr is a new, large-scale encounter at the Bozjan Southern Front. Band together with up to 72 players and assist the Bozjan Resistance in their mission to rout the IVth Imperial Legion. What’s different from the Forbidden Land Eureka series is that there will only be a maximum of 72 players in and instance.
• In order to participate, you will need a battle job at level 71 or above, and you can change jobs and form parties once you’re inside the instance.
• Mounts can be used immediately after entering, but you won’t be able to fly.
• You will do battle with the IVth Imperial Legion to raise your Mettle. With sufficient Mettle, raise your Resistance rank to help the front-line push forward.
• Skirmishesare battles initiated randomly in the field, similar to FATEs. There are no limits to the number of players that can participate, rewarding mettle commensurate to contributions in battle. 
• Critical Engagementsare battles initiated after meeting special conditions. Only a limited number of players can participate, with encounters ranging from 24 to 48-person battles. 
• Lost Actions are special actions that can only be used in the Bozjan Southern Front. They offer various beneficial effects, healing, and can even revive players in battle. Lost Actions are created from forgotten fragments obtained in the field. Each crystal used to create these actions has a given weight. Players can only carry a certain combined weight, so you must choose wisely.
• Resistance Weapons can be strengthened after gaining access to the Bozjan Southern Front. Players can also accept a quest (from Gerolt in Gangos) to begin collecting items to augment their Resistance weapons. The required items can be found both in and outside the Bozjan Southern Front.

New Glamours and Housing Items:

• Mannequins representing hrothgar and viera races have been added.
• Housing items have been added from the player design contest and the YoRHa Dark Apocalypse series.
• Several new minions were shown. (Pictured below.)
• A new Gaelicat-like minion with a winter coat can be obtained by collecting Skybuilders’ Scrips through the Ishgard Restoration update in Patch 5.31.
• Yoshida showed off new Bozjan gear.

The Return of the Yo-Kai Watch Collaboration:

• The Yo-Kai Watch collaboration with Level 5 is coming back on August 19th through Patch 5.4’s release date