Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, the October-announced expansion to Square Enix‘s massively multiplayer online RPG, will launch simultaneously across North America, Europe, and Japan on June 20, 2017, Square Enix announced at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2016 in Tokyo.
A collector’s edition will also be available and include:
- A special package featuring original art by Yoshitaka Amano
- Exclusive high-quality Zenos figure
- Stormblood art book
- Cloth map of Eorzea
- Original decal
- In-game items
- Syldra Mount
- Wind-up Bartz Minion
- Red Mage Main Arm: Chicken Knife
The “Red Mage” is a new job set to appear in Stormblood. It is a ranged DPS role that uses rapiers and magicked crystal mediums. Its ranged attacks use magic (red magic + black & white magic hybrid), and its melee attacks use the rapier. It is a hybrid ranged / melee style achieved via high-speed positioning that can deal massive damage by linking multiple spells with chainspell and following them up with melee attacks. Its starting level is 50 and it doesn’t have an associated class.
New swimming actions were also announced, though not all bodies of water will be accessible for swimming. Characters will auto-switch to swim mode upon entering an accessible body of water, while in swim mode movement is slightly slower than walking and running. There is no combat while swimming or loading times when switching to swim mode. As for mounts, only those able to fly can swim. Diving is also allowed in select bodies of water, and there are no loading times when moving from swim to dive mode, nor a need to worry about drowning (endless diving is magically enabled). NPC interactions and gatherings will be possible, and there will be new gathering locations. All flying mounts can dive, and diving will only be available in 4.0 areas and can be unlocked via a special quest.
A new beast tribe called “The Ananta” will appear. They inhabit the mountains near Ala Mhigo and are made up solely of females. They’re oppressed by the Garleans and have existed since the time of the Allagans. They’re known for their skill in spell- and gem-craft. They believe in a goddess known as “Lakshmi, the Lady of Bliss.”
Two new high-end raids will appear. In “The Bend of Time – Omega,” Omega is a monster buried beneath the Carteneau Flats, and is said to be a captive of Bahamut in Allagan literature. It has already been mentioned several times in the main story, and in Patch 3.4, Nero tol Scaeva showed some developments involving Omega. It seems to be connected to the main story of Patch 3.5 as well. The raid itself will be of “slightly different taste than previous raids,” according to producer and director Naoki Yoshida. Even if you don’t do it, you should also be able to understand the main story.
The second raid is “Return to Ivalice,” which is being written by Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics creator Yasumi Matsuno with illustrations by Keita Amemiya. Specifically, Matsuno is in charge of the plot and scenario, while Amemiya is in charge of the boss’ character design.
View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.
