The FF14 7.2 release date is confirmed, as game director Naoki Yoshida and community producer Toshio Murouchi come together once more to show us what the next Dawntrail patch looks like. The new update for Square Enix’s critically acclaimed MMORPG is a big one, and looks to deliver the long-form content that players have been asking for. In today’s FF14 Live Letter 86, the pair dive in to give us a closer look at everything coming in patch 7.2.
Let’s start with the unsurprising but important news. As we predicted, Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.2 will be released on Tuesday March 25. There will be 24 hours of maintenance prior to launch, so keep that in mind. The new update is titled ‘Seekers of Eternity’ and will bring a wealth of additional story and side content to the MMORPG, which Yoshida is here to give us a proper in-game glimpse of. There’s also the official trailer, which you can watch below.
We start with the continued Main Scenario Quests, which will build on the shocking revelations in patch 7.1. I won’t dig into these here and they’re not shown in-depth, but note that the team is being fairly carefree with spoilers at this point, so you may want to finish the last arc quickly if you haven’t. These are presented alongside the new dungeon, The Underkeep, and trial, Recollection, suggesting both will be tied to the MSQ, which is what we expected given their clearly FF9-adjacent theming.
Yoshida also briefly mentions job adjustments, which we’ll get a closer look at when the full FF14 7.2 patch notes land. Melee DPS jobs will be getting buffed, although Yoshida notes [via translator] that “it might be more difficult to keep uptime” in the new content. He also confirms that a Pictomancer nerf is on the way – “We tried so hard not to nerf Picto, but we have to.”
Our first gameplay of the day dives into the first fight of the Arcadion raid’s second tier, which is against a disco-dancing Viera known as “Dancing Green.” He’s certainly a stylish customer, who you’ll face on a dance floor. Yoshida spends a few moments engaging with the fight, which begins with some standard half-room attacks to let you get your rhythm going. There are plenty of other features around the zone, such as spotlights, and you can almost certainly expect those to come into play as the battle continues.
Muroichi ponders whether the differently colored tiles will mean anything, while Yoshida notes that there are special ‘perfect bonuses’ available if all the players in a raid perform certain mechanics correctly. We also get a glimpse of the new raid gear, which includes some very mechanical, Alexandrian designs such as Monk gloves that resemble the giant arm of Overwatch’s Doomfist.
Our next trip is to Cosmic Exploration, the intergalactic adventure for crafters and gatherers. It arrives in patch 7.21 and you’ll need to have finished the Endwalker MSQ to take part in this, but can access it using any Disciple of the Hand or Land at level 10 and above. That means you won’t need to be maxed out to give it a try, and solo quests will be level-adjusted to match. “As I said during the last Live Letter, we’re on the moon during this patch,” Yoshida reminds players. “We will be somewhere else in the next update.”
Yoshida says that when you first arrive at the new location, sporting a fancy space suit, “there will be nothing.” To start with, you’ll begin with ‘Cosmo Missions,’ which are primarily designed as solo content and kept fairly simple. Yoshida compares them to guildleves, but explains that you can use your tablet to report missions from anywhere. You’ll also have access to a permanent sprint called Cosmo Sprint to help you zoom about, and another return action, Cosmo Return.
‘Critical Missions’ can activate at certain times, where unusual weather phenomena sets off a red alert, demanding players to band together. A timer appears at the top of the screen alongside a gauge that is filled as everyone completes missions. “The Final Days are back,” Yoshida jokes. Manage to successfully complete it, and the emergency ends. “Each step will give rewards,” he assures, “but there are extra rewards at the end.”
You’ll also encounter notifications about ‘Mech Ops’ on your tablet. These will feature pilots and supporters, and you’ll need to spend your Lunar Credits on a ticket to apply as a pilot. Five pilots will be chosen; if you aren’t picked, your ticket will be returned, and Yoshida notes that your chances of being chosen will increase gradually the more times you are unlucky in your application.
The core currencies of Cosmic exploration are Cosmocredits, which can be exchanged for all manner of rewards, and Lunar Credits, which may be used for Mech Ops tickets as well as Cosmic Fortunes, a lottery-style system offering rewards including a teased new dye type called Metallic Cobalt Green. Then there are the Cosmic Tools for each job, which can be earned from the start of the mode and will grow as you progress, even when they aren’t equipped.
Yoshida says the team spent a while deliberating on a ranking system, and the result is the Star Contributor Award. New Loporrit Scanningway will tally your Cosmic Exploration contributions every other day, and the player who delivered the most within a given 24-hour period will be assigned the status of Star Contributor. This award lasts for 14 days, and you can’t win it again during this period.
While you’re a Star Contributor, your name will be displayed on a bulletin board across the base camps, and a hologram of your character will be projected there as well. You’ll also have a swirling visual effect around you during Cosmic Exploration so that everyone can see how hard you’ve been working for the two weeks that it persists. “Well, it is an award,” Yoshida laughs, “it has to be a little embarrassing.”
As previously discussed, the development of a star in Cosmic Exploration progresses separately for each world server, and you can only perform exploration and surveys while on your home world. Yoshida reaffirms that we’ll be getting a new star with each major Dawntrail patch – the moon arrives in 7.21, but new locations will arrive during the 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 cycles (although most likely not on the launch date of each patch).
Back from a brief break, it’s time to look at Occult Crescent, the successor to large-scale battle content such as Stormblood’s Eureka and Shadowbringers’ Bozja. This has been greatly anticipated by players, as it typically offers some of the most involved long-form grinding to keep you coming back and engaging in multiplayer, with plenty of tough fights to match. It arrives in patch 7.25 and you’ll have to complete the Dawntrail MSQ to take part, with a combat job at level 100.
Much like past equivalents, you’ll enter the Occult Crescent by speaking to a designated NPC – instances can hold up to 72 players, and you bring your full party with you when you join. You’ll rank up your Knowledge Level while there, a system that designates the damage dealt to and taken from enemies. If you die at Knowledge Level five or higher and manually resurrect, you’ll face an experience penalty that can drop your level if suffered too many times, but being raised by another player will prevent this.
Our journey into the Occult Crescent begins in South Horn, and we’re joined by Dawntrail’s most magnificent Roegadyn, Ketenramm. As discussed during Live Letter 85, we’ll take on ‘Phantom’ support jobs alongside our regular chosen class, which grant you additional skills and are all inspired by Final Fantasy 5. You’ll begin as a Freelancer, with more unlocked as you progress through the mode. So far, the team has revealed Monk, Bard, Geomancer, Ranger, Berserker, Time Mage, Chemist, and Cannoneer.
Yoshida addresses some of these, such as Phantom Monk, sharing names with existing FF14 classes: “These support jobs are their ancient form!” He says he expects players to equip one, level it all the way to full, and then pick another. To help with button bloat, there is a new “support action ring” that you can set to rotate in either direction, although there’s still the option to drag actions directly onto your hotbar if you prefer.
There are no restrictions on Aetherytes this time, so you can freely explore from the start to collect them “if you’re confident.” Yoshida then shows a Critical Encounter, the periodic boss battles that you can join by standing inside a pulsing circle that appears in the zone. These look to work much like their Bozja equivalents, with an arena forming to keep active players within a certain range of their foes. “We have a lot of these encounters prepared,” he says, “and I do think some of them are quite difficult.”
You’ll be rewarded for tackling foes with higher Knowledge Levels than you, and beating marked, high-rank enemies in quick succession will grant you an experience chain, offering boosted rewards. If you want to join your lower-ranked friends, there’s the option to sync your party’s Knowledge Level down to three levels above the lowest player. This qualifies you to earn these experience chains, which immediately resolves one of the biggest frustrations from Eureka around level differences.
FATEs can be found around Occult Crescent – these can be challenged with a small group and you’re free to join ones that have already begun. By comparison, while there is no limit on the number of players that can take part in Critical Encounters, you’ll have to be there at the start if you want to lock in for the fight. You’ll also spot treasure chests across the zone – spoils found in these are yours to keep. By rescuing magic pots from monsters and offering them an elixir, you’ll get hints about the location of possible treasures.
While exploring in Occult Crescent, you’ll discover Ciphers. Gather together at least 16 players at a special location and all activate these together and you’ll open an aetherial node to the Forked Tower, a dungeon designed for up to 48 players and the mode’s climactic encounter. If more than that number are standing on the zone, players will be selected at random to enter, but with higher priority afforded to those who have used a Cipher.
The Forked Tower will arrive alongside Occult Crescent in patch 7.25, and Yoshida says that, while he can’t show too much, “there is stuff in the trailer. Honestly, it’s difficult. A lot of hidden gimmicks. We expect the prog to take a bit and the first clearers to be having very serious discussions about mechanics.” He also notes that there are raising restrictions in parts of the dungeon, but that you can use the support jobs to bypass this, so make sure you choose your Phantom roles carefully.
Yoshida confirms that our new weapon enhancement for Dawntrail, Phantom weapons, will be part of the Occult Crescent. The other currencies you’ll earn while in the field exploration are Enlightenment Silver Pieces, which come mainly from FATEs and Critical Encounters, and Enlightenment Gold Pieces, which are mostly earned by fighting monsters out in the wild.
As for future Occult Crescent updates, Yoshida explains that we won’t get anything in patch 7.3 because the focus there will be on the new Deep Dungeon. There will be additional Phantom jobs at some point during the 7.4 patch, and even more in 7.5 along with a new zone (and perhaps another Forked Tower, he teases). “You might think about what support job to pick at first, [but] you will level them all anyway so it doesn’t matter.”
Yoshida once again returns to his beloved paper printouts to show off some of the glamour up for grabs in the Occult Crescent, and I’m certainly eager to grab a few. It’s not purely for fashion, however – these items will feature boosted stats while in the field exploration mode. There are some clear nods to Final Fantasy 5 here, including a wolf-fur outfit that resembles the one worn by FF5’s Galuf when he becomes a Berserker.
Of course, you can expect lots of minions in the new patch, including another canine companion, a white bird that can perch on your head, a tiny version of Oppressor from the Alexander raid, and a construction vehicle that looks to come from Cosmic Exploration. There are also some absolutely magnificent additions that are perhaps best described as ‘weird little guys.’ Yoshida teases that one comes from “a certain quest [that] has a very unique story.”
On the mount side of things, you can trap yourself inside a demon cube, climb into the moon mech from Cosmic Exploration, or even ride out in style with a flying car straight out of Alexandria. There’s also a pretty spectacular-looking airship, and of course a set of wings that will almost certainly come from the new extreme trial – for my money they’re probably the best pair we’ve had yet.
One big quality-of-life change in patch 7.2 is that you’ll finally be able to get on your mount while moving. “Only took us ten years,” Yoshida remarks. Even after playing for more than a decade, I still accidentally cancel my mount all the time, so that’s a very welcome shift. This will work in both PvE and PvP, he notes, “but we have ten years of muscle memory and people will [still] stop to summon their mounts. It will take some getting used to.”
Additionally, when you’re in sanctuaries (that means in town, or near a major Aetheryte), you’ll now jog when your sprint runs out providing you are not in combat. This should make getting around zones a lot smoother. You’ll also now be able to queue food and potions, which will help you use them more consistently.
On the PvP side of things, there are new role actions coming that will be specific to large-scale PvP modes. In particular, Yoshida highlights Swift, the new melee DPS ability that increases movement speed and immunity, and is designed “to allow you to come home alive.” Magical ranged DPS, meanwhile, get the powerful Comet action, which comes with a big caveat – “Once you start Comet, you’re committed, no canceling.”
Yoshida also showcases the returning Secure PvP mode on The Borderland Ruins, which is helpful for players that have started playing recently and might never have encountered it. This features three teams of 24, and requires you to boost your ‘tactical rating’ by occupying one of the nine key locations, defeating opposing players, and battling Allagan weaponry. You’ll now get a damage buff when near to key locations, and new teleporters will make it easier to attack the middle of the map.
That’s all for today’s update. To close, Yoshida confirms the dates when we can expect everything to arrive. Following the launch of patch 7.2, we’ll get the savage version of The Arcadion’s Cruiserweight Tier a week later on Tuesday April 1. Patch 7.21 and Cosmic Exploration arrive on Tuesday April 22. Finally, patch 7.25, which includes Occult Crescent, the Mamool Ja allied society quests, and the return of Hildibrand, is on Tuesday May 27. “FF14 isn’t going anywhere, so don’t forget your Monster Hunter life,” Yoshida jokes.
Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.2 launches Tuesday March 25, following a 24-hour maintenance period. As always, huge thanks to ‘Miuna’ and ‘iluna minori’ on the official FF14 Discord [link here – opens in a new window] for their help in live-translating the showcase.
As a final reminder, you’ll need to claim your FF14 free Fantasia from patch 7.1 before the new update arrives – head to Gridania to grab it while you can. Keep an eye on the FF14 servers and maintenance times in the runup to the launch, so you aren’t caught off-guard by any downtime.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.
