In the new addon Endwalker for Final Fantasy XIV comes the new 8-player raid Pandaemonium. What it is about and what might happen during the story of the raid, we will tell you in this article.
This is Pandaemonium in FFXIV: With the release of the addon Endwalker on December 7, players can expect a whole series of new content. One of them is the 8-player raid called Pandaemonium, which will come in the “normal” and “epic” difficulty settings.
- The release of the normal mode is set for December 21
- The release of the epic mode is set for January 4, 2022
With the respective modes, new armor sets will be introduced into the game, which will be available through crafting, new Allagan stones, or tokens from the raid.
The equipment and upgrades from the epic Pandaemonium raid are expected to be the strongest in the game until patch 6.2 (around mid-2022), when the next part of the raid appears and brings new items with it.
In the last developer stream, director Naoki Yoshida showed some examples of the new equipment.
The design of the stone armor is inspired by characters from FFIV. Old FF fans will recognize the summoner Rydia, the healer Rosa, or the ninja Edge in the images.
The previous raids in FFXIV were structured in three tiers with four boss fights each (except for Bahamut), which were released approximately every six months. It is relatively likely that this pattern will also be maintained for Pandaemonium and that players will be able to defeat the first four boss fights of the normal mode on December 21.
A brief glimpse of Pandaemonium was also shown in the developer stream:
At the same time, Pandaemonium, like the raids before it, will start its own storyline, and this has caused many speculations among FFXIV fans. The reasons for this lie, among other things, in the past of the MMORPG and the Final Fantasy series.
A look into the past reveals something about the future
So it was in previous Final Fantasy: FFXIV is packed with references and allusions from other games in the franchise, and this also includes the new raid Pandaemonium.
The origins of Pandaemonium lie over 30 years in the past in Final Fantasy II. It is the castle of the lord of Hell, which enters the world of humans and releases monsters there.
After the heroes group in FFII defeats the evil emperor Mateus, his soul split into two halves. While the “light” half ascended to heaven, the dark half wandered into Hell. But Mateus was so evil that he became even more powerful there, seized control of Hell, and became the new ruler.
Subsequently, the castle Pandaemonium appeared again in the world of humans, and the heroes of FFII had to fight through the dungeon to put an end to Mateus once and for all. Only when both halves of Mateus’ soul were defeated in Hell and Heaven is the world freed from his existence.
Why is this relevant for FFXIV? This trip into the past is meant to provide you with a basis for the lore speculations associated with Pandaemonium in FFXIV. The FFXIV version indeed has many connections to the hell castle from FFII.
The parallels do not stop with the name. The first official artwork of the raid features a familiar face for many FFXIV players: the Ascian Lahabrea. Throughout the story of FFXIV, players were able to battle him multiple times until he was defeated by Thordan at the end of Heavensward (3.0).
He forms the connection to FFII, albeit through several corners.
The names of all Ascians originally came from FFXII, where they are the adversaries of the evil esper.
- Thus, Lahabrea is also the antagonist of the ice esper Mateus,
- which in turn is an allusion to the emperor Mateus from FFII.
This way, the developers create an indirect connection between Lahabrea and the lord of Pandaemonium from FFII, just as they have done with other Ascians (for example Mitron / Artemis, who is the FFXIV version of the sorceress Artemisia from FFVIII).
Community speculates about the story
These are the theories: Based on these connections and the official description of the raid, some fans have already started discussing what the story will be about. At the center of these discussions is Lahabrea, as he is featured on the key artwork of the raid.
One fan theory states that the soul of Lahabrea was split by Hydaelyn after the fight in the Praetorium, as splitting is the fundamental effect of her power. This would explain why only one half of Lahabrea’s Ascian sigil is visible on the artwork (via reddit).
The theory also sounds plausible when looking at emperor Mateus from FFII. His soul was also split in two halves, with one of them descending into Pandaemonium.
Another theory suggests that Pandaemonium is a sort of laboratory prison of Lahabrea. This theory was based on the official English description of the raid and the actual work of Lahabrea.
Originally, he was a great scientist who created new and diverse creatures from the ether. But no matter how good he was at his craft, some of his attempts failed. And the raid is supposed to be about these failed creations of Lahabrea, so the theory goes. According to the promo page for the Endwalker addon:
Far beneath the ground upon which mortals tread, steeped in darkness deep as starless night, ancient power lies dormant. Too hungry, too brutal, too monstrous – what cannot be controlled must be contained, here, in Pandæmonium. Dare you make the descent?
Official Endwalker page
Pandaemonium is located deep underground and according to the English description, something is contained there that is “too hungry, too brutal, and too monstrous.” “What cannot be controlled must be contained.” This sounds strongly like imprisoned creatures of Lahabrea to some fans.
It is also theoretically possible that the person in the artwork is not the Lahabrea from the Praetorium and Thordan fights. Throughout the Shadowbringers story, we learn that the names of the Ascians are not names, but titles. If you will.
This means that in the past there were several people who bore the title Lahabrea. Accordingly, one of the fan theories is that players can expect a different Lahabrea in Pandaemonium than the one we know from the FFXIV story (via official forums).
What are your theories about the raid? Do you share any of the above-mentioned or do you have your own ideas about what might happen in the raid? Let us know in the comments.
While waiting for Endwalker, there are some things you could take care of:
Final Fantasy XIV: 6 Things you should do before the release of Endwalker
