GamerEscape

Yesterday, to kick off the second day of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest, Noaki Yoshida held another Letter from the Producer broadcast.

This stream talked about the new content that will arrive with Patch 5.55.

Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.5 will release on Tuesday, May 25 and will include the second part of the Death Unto Dawn storyline leading into the Endwalker expansion, new Save the Queen updates, epilogue quests for YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse, as well as a reward for players that collect all of the Triple Triad cards that are currently available.

Before digging into further details about the patch, it was announced that the PlayStation 5 version of Final Fantasy XIV will officially begin with this patch, on Tuesday, May 25.

• New Battlefield – Zadnor
  • The final chapter of “Save the Queen” will be penned.
  • Resistance Rank cap will increase from 15 to 25.
  • New skirmishes and critical engagements will be added.
  • The Dalriada, a new large-scale assault (max 48 players), will be added.
  • Resistance Honors
    • Unlocked upon reaching Resistance rank 25.
    • Sufficient mettle may be used to acquire proofs of mettle.
    • Proofs of mettle can be exchanged for three types of honors that increase attributes in Save the Queen areas.
      • Sun of Fortitude: Increases maximum HP.
      • Sun of Valor: Increases damage dealt.
      • Sun of Succor: Increases healing potency.
  • A means to increase mount speed will be added.
  • Skirmishes and critical engagements will be adjusted for fewer participants.
  • The availability of large-scale assaults (Castrum Lacus Litore, etc.) will be adjusted.
  • The chances of being selected for duels will now increase upon non-selection.
  • Delubrum Reginae (Savage) will be adjusted to allow between 24 and 48 participants.

Yoshida gave us a preview of some of the rewards that players will be able to earn through this content. It looks like players will be able to get even more Final Fantasy XII themed outfits in addition to a two-person air bike mount.

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• Final Step in Resistance weapon upgrades.
  • Upgrade quests will become available upon unlocking Zadnor during the 5.55 storyline.
  • Stats will be slightly better than those of the Eden’s Promise (Savage) weapons.
  • Once one has been upgraded, the process for upgrading further weapons will differ.

• Desynthesizing Gear Obtained from Trials
  • Gear obtained from certain extreme trials did not yield crafting materials when desynthesized.
    • Trials whose gear yieled materials: Shinry, Suzaku, Seiryu, Titania, Innocence, Hades, etc.
    • Trials whose gear did not yield materials: Zurvan, Byakko, Tsukuyomi, Warrior of Light, etc.
  • With the release of Patch 5.5, adjustments will be made so that all gear obtained form extreme trials will yield crafting materials.

Upcoming Schedule

There’s a lot of time between now and the November 23 launch of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, and so they have released a schedule so that players can see what to expect during that time.

After Patch 5.55 later this month, we’ll see the return of the Make it Rain campaign in July, followed by Patch 5.57 and Patch 5.58. In August we’ll have the return of the Moonfire Faire and The Rising events. September will see the return of the Final Fantasy XV collaboration event.

Yoshida also says that between September and November we’ll have a Endwalker media tour as well as the implementation of the Data Center travel- though they’re still working out the details. Additionally, Foxclon chimed in and mentioned that depending on the pandemic situation at the time, they’ll also be looking to do another 14-hour broadcast.

After the patch information, Lead Story Designer Natsuko Ishikawa came out to answer questions that were submitted by players. You can view the Q&A portion in the video above at about 1:28:00.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Fan Fest edition of a Live Letter without some special announcements.

Square Enix will be partnering with Citizen to create not one, but two different watches for Final Fantasy XIV. They can be pre-ordered in Japan now, however information for NA and EU will come at a later date.

Square Enix is also teaming up with Fender, to create a Final Fantasy XIV Stratocaster. Along with Patch 5.5, there will also be a new electric guitar instrument added to Bard’s Performance mode, and this guitar will be the model used. There will also be a furnishing that players can purchase with MGP and hang in their houses. You can find all of the information about this collaboration here.

Last, but certainly not least, there is a whole new batch of Final Fantasy XIV goods that are now available to order on the Square Enix Store.

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Images courtesy of Square Enix.