Letter From the Producer LIVE LXXII Confirms August 23rd Release for Patch 6.2

12 Aug 2022
0

The second Letter from the Producer LIVE for Patch 6.2 concluded just hours ago and with it came a deep dive into the upcoming content for Final Fantasy XIV. Per usual, the Live Letter started out with the trailer for Patch 6.2, “Buried Memory”:

As many players expected, the next patch will release on August 23, with a patch reading by Naoki Yoshida starting on August 22 11pm PDT / August 23 6am GMT. Prior Patch Note Readings usually started when the maintenance for that patch would begin, implying that this won’t be a full 24hr maintenance. As we have no official confirmation on the exact length of the maintenance yet, take this information with caution!

What’s to come in Patch 6.2

  • New Main Scenario Quests
  • New Sidequests
    • Tataru’s Grand Endeavor continues
    • Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures (Patch 6.25)
  • New Weapon Enhancement Quests (Patch 6.25)
    • Unlocked in “Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures”
  • New Tribal Quests (Patch 6.25)
    • The Omicrons for Disciples of the Land (Gathering)
  • New Dungeon
    • The Fell Court of Troia
  • New Trials
    • ???? / ???? (Extreme)
  • New Raids
    • Pandaemonium: Abyssos
    • Pandaemonium: Abyssos (Savage)
    • Savage raid will be released one week after Patch 6.2
  • New Unreal Trial
    • Containment Bay S1T7 (Unreal)
  • Continued Improvements to Main Scenario Quests
    • Duty Support added for:
      • Snowcloak / The Keeper of the Lake / Sohm Al / The Aery / The Vault
    • Now a solo quest battle: The Steps of Faith
    • Revamped Duty: Thornmarch
  • Job Adjustments
  • PvP Updates
  • Island Sanctuary
  • Variant Dungeons
  • Criterion Dungeons
  • Further Additions to Adventurer Plates & Portraits
    • Transitioning from Beta Version to official release
    • Revised: Though other portrait data created during the Beta will be lost, portraits linked to an adventurer plate or gear set will remain intact after Patch 6.2

Miscellaneous Updates

  • Allagan Tomestones of Causality added
  • New high-IL crafted gear added
  • Ability to request repairs from other players (both in/outside of duty)
  • Combo sequence display added to the Actions list
  • Rare materials added to aetherial reductions performed by miners, botanists, and fishers
    • (Materials not used in crafting battle-related items)
  • Glamour dresser capacity expanded from 400 to 800
  • Adjustments to the order of certain Return to Ivalice quests
    • (In accordance with this, quests “Makin’ Bacon (Bread)” and “Wok on By” will become unavailable)
  • Preparations for Patch 7.0 Graphics Update
    • Advance implementation of optimized graphics processing
      • (Will alleviate drops in framerate under heavy GPU load)
    • Dynamic Resolution function (Beta version) – Windows / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5)
      • Adjusts the resolution of 3D graphics according to current GPU burden
      • Enable in Settings to prioritize framerate over resolution

Job Adjustments

  • No major overhauls, but minor adjustments to several jobs
  • Intentions behind job adjustments will be explained
  • Critical & Direct Hit Adjustments
    • Action that guarantee critical/direct hits did not receive benefits from buffs/debuffs that increase critical/direct hit rates
    • To address this, actions that guarantee critical/direct hits will now inflict more damage as a result of such buffs/debuffs
      • Other actions will continue receiving typical benefits

PvP Updates

  • Adjustments to PvP Actions
  • Hidden Gorge Returns
  • PvP Series Two Begins
    • Available rewards will be updated and Series level/experience will be reset
    • Series One rewards may be claimed until the end of Series Two
    • Season Three of Crystalline Conflict begins
    • Adjustments to Crystalline Conflict Ranked Matches from Season Three onward
      • To encourage everyone to give their all in these matches, demotion will be added
    • In light of the demotion feature, all ranked characters will begin Season Three at Bronze 3 with Rising Stars set to 0
    • Final rankings will be determined by the highest tier/Crystal Credit score achieved during a season
    • Adjustments to Crystalline Conflict Matching
      • Matching will undergo overall adjustments
        • New enhanced matching will allow for dynamic adjustments to matching based on current tier population and more, performed independently of patch releases and other maintenance
      • Withdrawal mid-duty or after mathing has been complete will result in stricter penalties
      • Players will be eligible to receive portrait elements, achievements, and titles for all tiers up to and including their highest tier attained during a season (including Season One and Two)

Pandaemonium: Abyssos

Next up on the Live Letter was a first look at one of the bosses players will face in the second tier of the Pandaemonium Raid and some of the new gear players can obtain either through crafting, tomestones, or the new raid series.

  • The Abyssos Mythos Exchange Rate
    • The number of copies of the Abyssos Mythos II required for gear equipped to the head, hands, and feet will decrease from 6 to 4
    • Exchange rate adjustments do not apply to previously implemented raids, including Asphodelos

Island Sanctuary

The second half of the Letter started off with an in-depth look at the Island Sanctuary, which will be added with Patch 6.2, so in less than two weeks! As stated in an interview earlier this week, there will be no story associated with the Island Sanctuary. Instead, players will be given the island after they finish the 6.2 MSQ. The tutorial on the island should take player only a few hours which will familiarize them with the different activities on their new tropic safe haven.

You can watch Naoki Yoshida’s demo of Island Sanctuary below, starting at 2:15:33 and lasting for nearly 40mins.

Variant Dungeons

  • Variable-difficulty dungeons, previously introduced as “Criterion Dungeons
  • Level 90 casual play for 1-4 players (4-player party when matched)
  • No role restrictions, job changes permitted
  • Enemy strength determinded by party size
  • Route of progression branches based on player action
  • Variant Dungeon #1: The Sil’dihn Subterrane
  • Explore the depths alongside a certain someone
  • Experience a different story depending on your chosen path
    • (All stories may be enjoyed via multiple playthroughs)
  • Duty actions designed to compensate for role imbalances
  • Access two at a time with the ability to change mid-duty.
  • Actions have recast timers, but no other limits on usage.
    • (actions cannot be changed during battle or while recast timer is on cooldown.)

Criterion Dungeons

  • Level 90 high-difficulty challenge for 4-player parties
  • Party must comprise one tank, one healer, and two DPS
  • Visually similar to Variant Dungeons, but overall structure/enemy strength are entirely different, route is predetermined, and no NPCs accompany you
  • Criterion Dungeon #1: Another Sil’dihn Subterrane & Another Sil’dihn Subterrane (Savage)
  • “Another” dungeons are high-difficulty by default, with “Savage” providing additional challenges

Another Sil’dihn Subterrane

  • Parties of fewer than 4 players supplemented via matching
  • Normal methods of resurrection are prohibited, but each player is granted limited use of Variant Raise II
  • (All other Variant Actions are unavailable)
  • Defeated enemies do not revive after party KO

Another Sil’dihn Subterrane (Savage)

  • For pre-formed parties of 4 (matching unavailable)
  • All methods of resurrection and Variant Actions are prohibited!
  • All defeated enemies revive after party KO!
  • Enemies become much stronger if not defeated within a certain time limit!

Miscellaneous Updates, Events, and Merchandise

To wrap up the Letter, Yoshida announced the next Eorzean Symphony 2022, which will be held on December 17 and December 18 in the Tokyo Garden Theater. The lottery for the tickets will go live on August 21st and is open exclusively for Final Fantasy XIV players. As an additional treat, Square Enix is selling an Elpis Flower light visitors at the symphony can hold up during the concert.

The next event where Final Fantasy XIV will make an appearance will be PAX Australia in early October which also coincides with the next 14hr livestream on October 8. Before then, there will the be Mogchute Farm Livestream on Twitch, which starts on Monday, August 15, 5am PDT and go until Friday, August 19, 5am PDT. More details on both events will be posted on the Lodestone ahead of the events.

Shown off by Yoshida throughout the Live Letter, Square Enix is also working together with Insert Coin Clothing and is releasing a new Paladin-themed jacket that can be pre-ordered right now. According to Insert Coin, shipping will start Mid-November.

In other merchandise news, the Unending Journey Volume 1 is now also available in digital form, but still only in Japanese. There is no information yet if the other languages will get these tomes in the future. With another reminder of the new Start Guide Videos series and the currently open positions for Final Fantasy XIV, the 72nd Letter from the Producer LIVE ended after just over three hours.


Images courtesy of Square Enix.