In the live stream about the last Producer Letter, Naoki Yoshida discussed Patch 4.3 of Final Fantasy XIV and its contents that are set to go online at the end of May. We are translating the content of the Producer Letter into English and showing you everything that is now known about Patch 4.3. The patch is expected to be released in May.
The patch is named “Under the Moonlight” and its development is going smoothly so far. The development team is on schedule to finish, if not earlier.
The Main Scenario: The Story Continues
After the story of 4.2 led players to Doma, Patch 4.3 will conclude the Doma chapter.
The Imperial Envoy has made an offer to the Warrior of Light and his allies that they could not refuse.
As the artwork for the patch reveals, the story will mainly revolve around Yotsuyu.
The outcome will be revealed at the end of May when the patch goes online.
Currently, the story is being polished, and Yoshida promises players big surprises about how it will unfold.
Side Story Quests
Myth of the 4 Beast Spirits
As expected, the story of the Myth of the 4 Beast Spirits will continue. Players will learn more about the legendary Tenzen and his friendship with the Zuiju.
The screenshots suggest that a malicious force may take possession of Soroban? Whether this will be permanent or only temporary, Yoshida did not reveal.
Whether and which of the gods will be fought next in a trial has also not been revealed yet.
Beast Tribes: the Namazu
New quests for the Namazu beast tribe are being added, this time for gatherers and crafters.
Similar to the tribes of the Moogles and Ixal, these quests are intended to facilitate and speed up leveling of the non-combat classes.
The screenshots suggest that the Namazu quest line will lead the player into the Azim Steppe and that they are somehow related to Cirina and the Mol.
This tribe will also have its own mount. It is presumably obtained again after reaching the highest reputation level.
However, Yoshida wanted to show which it is in another stream.
Rebuilding Doma
The second part of the quest line for the reconstruction of the enclave of Doma will also be implemented with Patch 4.3.
Not much information about the content has been revealed. However, it can be assumed that the newly announced delivery requests will also have something to do with it.
Yoshida specifically noted that the delivery NPC this time will not be a Miqo’te.
As the last side quest, there will again be new adventures of Hildibrand. More on this will be shown in the next Producer Letter.
New Dungeon: Shallow’s Compass
The new dungeon is “Shallow’s Compass”, which is located in Yanxia.
Some attentive players may have already seen the entrance to the dungeon while flying by.
Yoshida said that he is very satisfied with the design of the dungeon, and he also liked the music there very much.
New Trial is super-secret!
It has not been revealed who and where players will fight. However, Yoshida explicitly stated that it will not be one of the 4 Beast Spirits.
Rather, it will be an opponent who plays an important role in the main story of the game.
This boss is so secret that it will not even be shown in the upcoming trailer for Patch 4.3.
We will only learn more when the patch goes online at the end of May.
Return to Ivalice: Alliance Raid
The story of Ivalice and the Lucavi continues. In the new alliance raid, players venture into the tower at the Ridorana Cataract, which will be very familiar to FFXII fans.
The tower was the resting place of the Sun-Spun in FFXII, from which the chosen ones could carve new Nethicite.
What role it will play in FFXIV will be revealed to players in Patch 4.3.
Additionally, there will be a companion quest for gatherers and crafters that further expands the story of Ivalice.
Gameplay-wise, the loot system will be revised in the new alliance raid. From Patch 4.3 onwards, players will only have the option to roll “Greed” on the desired items.
Yoshida explained that it gives players the opportunity to upgrade their side jobs, which would otherwise have too low item levels to participate in the raid.
This gives everyone an equal fair chance to obtain armor.
Deep Dungeon Reaches New Heights
The new level dungeon in the style of the Palace of the Dead is called “Heaven on High” (Japanese: Amen o Mihashira).
It is the “Jenga” tower in Ruby Sea, which has long been suspected to be turned into a dungeon someday.
Heaven on High is intended to be used to bring jobs from level 60 to 70, as an alternative to normal dungeons.
Similar to the Palace of the Dead, players can participate both alone and in groups, and it will include its own gameplay elements.
According to Yoshida, a gameplay mechanic called “Great Summoning” is planned.
Players will use Magitek to perform this summoning within Heaven on High.
Who will be summoned or how it works has not been revealed by the director of FFXIV.
In total, there will be 100 floors, with floors 31+ intended to be a challenge for fixed groups. And of course, there will be new exclusive rewards for this.
Eureka Pagos
The second part of the Eureka quest line will go online a little later with Patch 4.35.
The new area “Pagos” will continue the story of the island of Eureka.
It will not only be a new area, but also include other types of content.
Ultimate Fight Against Ultima
The new “Super Savage” content is Ultima and will go online with Patch 4.31 a few weeks after the main patch.
The fight will be somewhat shorter in duration than Bahamut, in response to requests from World First Raiders. They felt Bahamut with an engage of 19 minutes was too long.
Ultima will not only receive new animations and visuals, but also old assets will be reworked. The reason for this is that the original Ultima fight was released during the 2.x patch series when the PS3 version of the game was still online. These assets are therefore very outdated.
It is speculated that the fight will also have several “forerunners” before players can fight Ultima directly.
Similar to Bahamut, the fight against Ultima has been designed for the best players in FFXIV and will be extremely difficult.
Cross-Server Circles
The cross-server social feature system will continue to expand, and from 4.3 players will also be able to create circles that can cross server boundaries.
These circles will initially be able to include a maximum of 64 players.
The development team will monitor how many circles are created and how their number changes throughout the patch. Once it stabilizes, the member cap will be increased.
Yoshida also mentioned that circles without members will be automatically deleted after some time.
PvP Updates
The HUD for competitive FEAST battles will be revised again. This time, the visibility of the status effects and buffs of individual characters will be improved.
The random PvP content front will be adjusted to shorten waiting times. In addition, the daily rotation of content will be designed so that the content does not repeat.
The battle arena Crystal Tower will also be revised.
Miscellaneous
Job Adjustments
The exact details of balance adjustments for individual jobs will be presented next month in the Producer Letter.
However, Yoshida revealed that the affected jobs will primarily be Samurai, Dark Knight, and Astrologian.
The adjustments have already been completed and are currently being tested and checked for bugs.
Projection Wardrobe
Starting with Patch 4.3, it will be possible to remove items from the wardrobe.
However, the name of the crafter will be removed from crafted items.
In addition, projection plates will be able to change the appearance of NPCs in the command.
Bard Compositions
The Bards will receive a major update for their composition feature. Primarily, the sounds of the musical instruments will be reworked and sound quality will be improved.
Additionally, characters will receive 5 new animations while playing.
Residential Areas
The individual houses will have guest books starting from 4.3.
House owners can write a welcome message to their visitors and visitors can leave a comment about the house and the owner.
These will also be displayed on the market board. Yoshida mentioned that this feature is primarily aimed at role players.
New Equipment
At the end of the stream, Yoshida also showed pictures of new outfits that will come with the patch at the end of May.
This includes the winner of the design contest Square Enix held some time ago.
All information about the upcoming companion app for FFXIV can be found here:
Final Fantasy XIV receives companion app! But not completely free
