Along with dropping a ton of patch notes and teasers, the latest “Letter from the Producer LIVE” has unveiled the new Final Fantasy XIV raid series, which is based on Yoko Taro‘s NiER series of games. Titled “YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse,” the 24-person alliance series will begin with “The Copied Factory”, which will go live in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers alongside Patch 5.1 on October 29, 2019.
“The Copied Factory” was developed by Square Enix, with Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro as guest creators. The raid pits players against machine lifeforms as they explore an all-new area inspired by the NiER series.
A trailer for Patch 5.1 Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty provides an initial look at the gameplay for YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse alongside a glimpse at the new main scenario quests, New Game + mode, new extreme trial, new dungeon, and new Beast Tribe quests.
Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida confirmed a ton of content for Final Fantasy XIV this morning. The full list of additions, changes, and tweaks includes:
- New Main Scenario Quests
- New 24-Player Alliance Raid: “The Copied Factory”
- New Game+
- New Trial: Hades (Extreme)
- New Dungeon: “The Grand Cosmos”
- New Beast Tribe Quests
- Job Adjustments for Ninja, Samurai, and Summoner
- Crafting and Gathering Overhaul to actions and UI
- New Gold Saucer GATE “The Slice is Right” with Yojimbo
- The ‘Fellowship’ community system
- New Performance Actions
New Game + will allow players to revisit previously completed quests, cutscenes, dialog, and battles while keeping their current character and level. Patch 5.1’s New Game + mode includes the main scenario quests for Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers.
The Ninja changes include adding mudra and ninjutsu to the same global cooldown as weaponskills, with a fixed recast time of .05 seconds for mudra, and 1.5 seconds for ninjutsu which increases ninjutsu potency. Trick Attack’s vulnerability up effect will no longer require a strike from the enemy’s rear, the increase to enemy damage taken has been reduced, and the duration has been increased. The Ninki gauge cost for Hellfrog Medium, Bhavacakra, and Bunshin has been reduced to 50, which means that Ninki gained from weaponskills has been adjusted accordingly.
Samurai players will now enjoy 3 stacks of the Meditation status effect that no longer expire, which means Shoha now requires 3 stacks of Meditation. However, Meditate, Iaijutsu, and Tsubame-gaeshi now grant stacks of Meditation, which will allow players to more easily work Shoha into their rotation. Additionally, Tsubame-gaeshi will now benefit from skill-speed bonuses.
Summoners are getting tweaks to Egi Assault and Egi Assault II which will categorize them as spells, so will now be affected by the global cooldown, which increases the attack potency of both spells. Tri-disaster will no longer inflict Ruination, but will cause direct AoE damage, and the Enhanced Bane trait will extend Bio and Miasma effects to their full duration.
The new beast tribe quests will take players to the fantastical Garden of Dreams, Lyhe Mheg, which is a new area featuring a new questline with more of the mischief-loving pixies.
Going forward, players can look forward to the “Restoration of the Holy See of Ishgard” in 5.11, where players in each world will work together to deliver goods, complete various tasks, and restor the Firmament of Ishgard to its former glory. Patch 5.11 will also introduce the latest Ultimate difficulty raid, “The Epic of Alexander” which brings back a buffed-up version of the beloved raid boss. And Patch 5.15 will bring in a new PvP Frontline Map “Onsal Hakair” which incorporates the tribes of the Azim Steppe.
