Here’s everything coming in FF14 7.1, including story, the FF11 alliance raid, and new Hildibrand

With Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail firmly in the rear view mirror now, attention turns at last to the FF14 7.1 patch – our first major post-launch update for the critically acclaimed MMORPG. Live from the Tokyo Game Show floor, game director Naoki Yoshida and community producer Toshio Murouchi host FF14 Live Letter 83, showing off everything in Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.1. Among the reveals are the Echoes of Vana’diel alliance raid, a dungeon reminiscent of Resident Evil, the grand return of Hildibrand, and that much-touted first 24-player savage fight.

Producer Live Letter 83 opens with a lovely spoiler-filled trailer for Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail – fair warning that you may want to hold off on reading this coverage if you’re yet to finish the latest expansion’s main story. While we don’t get an exact FF14 7.1 release date here, Yoshida does tease that “as an experienced player, you probably already know what date this will be, but we can’t confirm.” Player’s intuition from many, many years with the MMORPG suggests that means it will fall on Tuesday November 12, but we should get official confirmation with the next FF14 PLL if you want to wait to book your time off.

Yoshida begins by noting that, as ever, this first reveal of the next FF14 update won’t include any in-game footage, so you’ll have to wait for the next Live Letter for that one. He also explains, “I am in the middle of checking the patch, so there is no trailer today. We haven’t even started on it yet.” However, he does go on to say that “We got a lot of feedback after the release of 7.0 and we hope we can show a bit of what we managed to implement for 7.1 today.”

FF14 7.1 is titled ‘Crossroads,’ and we get a look at the official art for the expansion, which features some notable figures. In the middle is Dawntrail fan favorite Bakool Ja Ja, who players will be glad to see isn’t stepping completely out of the spotlight. In front of him is Prishe, who FF11 veterans will remember as one of the main NPCs from Final Fantasy 11’s Chains of Promathia story. Expect to see her in the FF14 Echoes of Vana’diel alliance raid series, then.

Behind them is what looks to be the final form of Ryne in the new 7.1 ultimate raid, Futures Rewritten. At one side is Shadow Lord, another FF11 character – its original primary antagonist, in fact – who we already know will be part of the Echoes of Vana’diel alliance raid. Finally, rounding out the image is the Cloud of Darkness from FF14’s Crystal Tower raid series, who will be making a dramatic return as the first face of the much-teased 24-player savage content.

We’ll of course be continuing the MSQ, and it looks like we’ll be starting to tie up some of Dawntrail’s loose ends. Expect to spend a bit more time with our new Dawnservants, then, as we tidy up from the fight against Sphene and attempt to figure out young Gulool Ja’s place in the world. It also appears we’ll be digging a bit more deeply into Zoraal Ja’s past, and his relationship with his own father.

Our next dungeon is Yuweyawata Field Station, which looks almost like something out of the Resident Evil series. Hopefully, we get to learn more about the dark history of blessed siblings and the royal bloodline here, and perhaps see another side of Gulool Ja Ja himself. Yoshida also notes that “the third boss is very engaging – it might make you feel like, ‘Don’t do this, guys!’” It sounds like we’ll be continuing with Dawntrail’s trend towards slightly more challenging combat content, then, which I’m very excited for.

Our new allied society quests in 7.1 are with the Pelupelu, and Yoshida notes that this is for battle jobs, meaning you can use it to level your other classes, although he adds that “I think leveling in our game is already pretty easy.” In fantastic news, our custom deliveries NPC is Nitowikwe, the female Hrothgar train driver from Shaaloani. Hopefully that means we can help to get the railway back on track after its repeated (and rather explosive) disruptions.

The role quest finale will be introduced for players who have completed all of the 7.0 role quests – Yoshida notes that the team “did spend quite a bit [of time] on this quest, just so you know.” There will also be additional Wachumeqimeqi quests if you have already finished the previous crafting and gathering missions, which Yoshida describes as “sort of a finale for the business district” in Tuliyollal.

Of course, Hildibrand will be making his grand return as promised, along with his faithful assistant Nashu, who we already get a glimpse of in Solution Nine. Yoshida says the 7.1 story is “sort of a prologue for the Dawntrail version of Hildibrand, but it should show the direction we’re going.” You can also jump into New Game Plus for Dawntrail’s MSQ when the new update arrives, which will give you another way to revisit the original look for its final zone.

We then turn our attention to the new alliance raid, Echoes of Vana’diel. The first of these is Jeuno: The First Walk. Yoshida confirms that these are considered to be in the world of Final Fantasy 14, not that of FF11, but does note that some of the staff working on this alliance raid also worked on its equivalent in the other MMO. We also get a glimpse of an area that looks like the throne room of Castle Zvahl, which plays host to the tomb of the Shadow Lord in FF11.

Our trial for this expansion, as expected, is the extreme variant for the final MSQ fight, The Minstrel’s Ballad: Sphene’s Burden. The trial’s baseline incarnation, The Interphos, is one of my favorite 8-player encounters in a while. Murouchi mentions that fight’s notorious Absolute Authority mechanic, saying, “it’s just wild.” “We did debate if it might have been a bit too much,” Yoshida responds, “It will be interesting to see what happens with that in the extreme. It might be friendlier than normal mode,” he laughs.

Then comes something all-new: chaotic alliance raids. As revealed during my FF14 Dawntrail combat interview with Yoshida, this will feature a series of challenging 24-player fights based on past alliance raid content. The first of these is The Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic). “We wanted to have sort of an extreme feel,” Yoshida remarks, “but then the developer Mr Ozma [a designer known for his work on some of FF14’s hardest content] said, ‘Oopsie, it turned a bit more into a savage than an extreme.’”

“We have only planned for this one for now,” Yoshida continues,” and depending on feedback we will add more in the future.” He notes that you won’t have to deal with trash mobs, just the fight itself, but it looks pretty intense, featuring towers that seemingly require all 24 players to be spread out perfectly across numerous platforms to succeed. Yoshida also announces that there will be a “changed reward system that gives incentive for players to repeatedly clear [the fight] and help out.”

The Futures Rewritten Ultimate is set to arrive “one or two weeks after 7.1,” and will naturally be the promised reimagining of the Shadowbringers Eden raid series. “I am always told to take care of my health, especially my mental health,” Yoshida says, addressing the audience and viewers directly, “so please take care of your health when you challenge this content.” Whether he’s talking about the sheer level of challenge or the emotional toll from the narrative isn’t clear, but I’d expect a little of both.

Housing has been given a big update – you’ll now be able to change the interior layout of your house regardless of where it is located, and there’s even a new design to choose from without pillars. You can switch this as often as you want for free, but if you’re looking to spend some Gil then Yoshida teases that – not in 7.1, but eventually in the future – you’ll be able to change the internal size of your house to a larger or smaller one. “It would be unfair to players who fought hard to get a large plot [if it was free], so upgrading the inside will be costly,” he notes.

Interestingly, we’re also getting some additional support content for new players. The Hall of the Novice is being expanded to teach how specific battle mechanics such as stack markers, spread markers, towers, gaze mechanics, and tankbusters work, something I spoke to Yoshida about in my FF14 Dawntrail media tour interview. “Anyone that hasn’t played tank doesn’t think too much about the markers we have for tank-specific mechanics, all they know is ‘something that is unrelated to me but it hurts,’” Yoshida adds.

Additionally, duty support is coming for some of the dungeons that aren’t required for MSQ progression, although don’t expect them too soon. Patch 7.1 will see the addition of NPC companions for the very first optional dungeon, Halatali. “We will be slowly starting to add support,” Yoshida explains. “If you compare Halatali to the current dungeons, it’s very different, you know. We might take ten years. Aurum Vale? Maybe one day.”

Expect balance changes in 7.1; Yoshida notes that there will be some PvE job changes made, but says, “we’re trying not to nerf anything, especially with the ultimate in mind, and buff jobs within roles where needed.” More details on that will come with the next PLL. FF14 PvP, however, is introducing new actions for every job except the two newcomers, Viper and Pictomancer – “My beloved Black Mage is changing a lot,” Yoshida says, “so the play feel for some jobs might be very different.”

The team is working on an “extensive update to PvP action execution and hit detection,” which should hopefully improve situations where certain skills felt particularly underwhelming (or, conversely, too powerful) due to the way they landed. The examples given are Machinist’s limit break and Warrior’s Primal Rend, with effects such as stuns now tied to when animations end, giving you a chance to react. Yoshida promises that these changes are in preparation for big updates to Frontline PvP coming in patch 7.2.

There’s one more thing we haven’t covered, and it’s probably something you weren’t expecting – a Mahjong update for the Gold Saucer. That’s right, in patch 7.1 you’ll be able to spend MGP on special voice packs that will see the Scions cheering you on in your matches. “Some of our voice actors are Mahjong experts, some had no idea what they were recording, so that was pretty fun,” Yoshida concludes. “I am most scared of Y’shtola.”

That’s a wrap for today. It’s going to be an agonizing wait for more, with the next details due in Live Letter 84 ahead of the arrival of FF14 patch 7.1 in November. The FF14 7.1 release date is expected to arrive on Tuesday November 12, but we’ll get official confirmation with the next Producer Live Letter. You can watch the full livestream below, although note that it’s entirely in Japanese.

As always, huge thanks to Miuna and Iluna Minori on the official FFXIV discord for their live translation of the event – you can join right here (invite link opens in a new window).

Alternatively, we’ve got even more of the best new MMOs for you to take a look through. If you’re still playing this one in the runup to patch 7.1 and haven’t picked up your FF14 Dawntrail free Fantasia yet, make sure to do that as well.

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