Dawntrail, the latest expansion of Square Enix’s critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is almost here! Read on to learn about our first impressions of the game, its story, and gameplay.
Everything We Know About FFXIV Dawntrail
FFXIV Dawntrail Story Plot
Following the defeat of the despair of the Final Days, the Warrior of Light and their comrades have continued to walk their separate paths to embark on their own journeys. However, destiny has them reunited with an unexpected mission to a faraway continent that few have dared to journey to, Tural.
It’s time to embark on a whole new adventure and seek the broader horizons of the New World!
FFXIV Dawntrail Gameplay
The latest expansion raises the level cap to 100, meaning that every job will receive additional actions. As expected with every expansion, there will be new zones to explore, new dungeons to complete, new raids to conquer, and most importantly, new classes to level up.
New Race – Female Hrothgar
Similar to the other expansions, Dawntrail also introduces the female variant of the Hrothgar which was introduced back in Shadowbringers. Players who played through the entirety of Endwalker, specifically in Patch 6.55, have already encountered a female Hrothgar by the name of Wuk Lamat, who’ll be an important part of the reason as to why you’re going to Tural in the first place.
Their people hail primarily from Ilsabard, and there are only a few of their kind. They are easily identified by their graceful yet muscular stature, and they are often tied to positions of leadership among their people. They have a shared ancestry with the Xbr’aal and call the Yakt’el home in the Turali region.
New Jobs – Viper and Pictomancer
The new jobs included for Dawntrail are Viper and Pictomancer which are both DPS classes, but the former is Melee DPS and the latter is Caster DPS. Viper will be sharing gear with Ninja in the form of Scouting gear, while Pictomancer will be sharing gear with the rest of the casters.
As for playstyle, Viper plays quick with its actions and even quicker with its burst phase rotation. With the stance seemingly similar to Reaper, where the global cooldown skills will be at a short time. Similar to other DPS jobs, Viper will also have a few resources to build and spend to cap off its rotation. Judging from the footage shown from the trailers and such, it seems to be primarily a "selfish" DPS class with little to no party utility involved.
Pictomancer, on the other hand, will seemingly be a cross between Red Mage and Black Mage. It will have a combination of instant cast spells and long cast spells, with the addition of party utility spells that increase damage done. Based on the footage online, it seems to be a flexible caster DPS class that has options to move their rotation around based on the situation, which will be helpful in high-end raiding.
New Raids – The Arcadion, Echoes of Vanadiel, and Futures Rewritten (Ultimate)
As expected, Dawntrail will be offering new raids in conjunction with the new expansion. The Arcadion will be the expansion’s Normal/Savage Raid Tier, where it will be formatted like a colosseum. Players will be fighting to become the champions of the Arcadion. With the expansion littered with Final Fantasy IX references, it may have bosses or enemies based on that specific entry.
Echoes of Vanadiel will be the Alliance Raid of the expansion featuring the older MMORPG that Square Enix had, Final Fantasy XI. It will prominently feature the Shadow Lord, one of the antagonists featured in the older MMO.
Futures Rewritten (Ultimate) will be the expansion’s ultimate raid, basing off of the Eden Normal Raid series back in Shadowbringers. With ultimate raids becoming a sort-of retelling or "what-if?" scenarios for that raid tier, players can expect a fusion of different mechanics from the Eden Raid tier bosses, like Tectonic Uplift from Titan Maximum in Eden’s Gate, Light Rampant from Shiva in Eden’s Verse, and Triple Apocalypse from Oracle of Darkness in Eden’s Promise.
New Cities and Areas – Tuliyollal, Solution Nine, Urqopacha, and More
The expansion also includes a variety of different settings, from the mountainous city of Tuliyollal, the lush forests of Kozama’uka, the barren deserts of Shaaloani, to the cyberpunk-themed city of Solution Nine. Dawntrail seems to bring about the most diverse areas in the historic MMO yet, and one could only speculate as to how these areas are all related to each other.
New Threats – Valigarmanda, Barreltender, Eliminator, and More
In one of the previous live letters from the producer leading up to the release of Dawntrail, they’ve already revealed Valigarmanda as one of the many threats that the Warrior of Light will be facing. Originally, Valigarmanda was introduced in Final Fantasy VI as one of the many espers that are included in the game. Its inclusion in the story of Dawntrail ties the esper to the Turali culture, stating that it has inflicted terrible scars upon the land each time it has rampaged, donning the identity of the dreaded "Skyruin."
Furthermore, new enemies like the Barreltender and the Eliminator were also revealed, with the latter seemingly tied to the mysterious city of Solution Nine just based on its appearance.
New Allied Societies – Pelupelu, Moblins, Mamool Ja, and More
Throughout the Warrior of Light’s journey and trek through the continent of Tural, they will encounter different societies and tribes in the vast regions of the New World. Some are variants of the already existing populace in Eorzea, like the Moblins, Hanuhanu, and Mamool Ja, which are similar to their Eorzean counterparts. However, there are some groups that will be brand new, like the Pelupelu and the Yok Huy, which are very different from each other as the former focuses on trade while the latter is more focused on their practice of combat.
More Additions and Updates – Cosmic Exploration, Field Operations, and More
And of course, it doesn’t end with just new story content. The devs have already announced that there will be more single player and group focused content in the form of Cosmic Exploration and new Field Operations similar to Eureka in Stormblood and Bozja in Shadowbringers respectively. Additionally, there are still more coming as announced but yet to be revealed in detail such as:
● New Limited Job – Beastmaster
● PvP Updates
● Gold Saucer Updates
● Blue Mage Updates
● New Unreal Trials
● New Variant Dungeons
● New Deep Dungeon
● More Hildibrand Quests
FFXIV Dawntrail Trailers
Full Trailer
The full trailer of Dawntrail showcases its two new jobs as well as more of the Scions in a brand new setting of the New World.
Benchmark Trailer
The trailer for Dawntrail’s benchmark shows off new areas and a little of what to expect in the next adventure in the Warrior of Light’s journey to the New World.
Job Actions Trailer
The trailer above shows the new additional actions for each job.
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FFXIV Dawntrail Product Information
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| Title | FINAL FANTASY XIV: DAWNTRAIL |
|---|---|
| Release Date | July 2, 2024 |
| Developer | Square Enix |
| Publisher | Square Enix |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, Mac), PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | MMORPG |
| Number of Players | 99 Online Players |
| ESRB Rating | T |
| Official Website | FFXIV Dawntrail Website |
