Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail: Dawntrail’s first major patch is coming mid-November. Alliance and 'Chaotic" raids, allied societies quests, and just a few details about the MSQ

Final Fantasy 14 will receive its first major update in mid-November. Patch 7.1, called "Crossroads", has no specific release date yet, but it will likely come on the 12th or the 19th of November, as the MMO updates every Tuesday. The patch was announced during the "Letter From the Producer" live at the 2024 Tokyo Game Show. It's a pretty packed patch with lots of things to do.

There are also some new main scenarios quests (MSQ), which, judging from the screenshots, deal with Gulool Ja's son Zoraal Ja, who is now interim king of Solution Nine after his father gave him admin privileges as a child. I'm in general for this, as Zoraal Ja's character was (unfortunately!) underdeveloped in Dawntrail MSQ.

We'll get more crafting quests in Wachumeqimeqi and the role quests capsstone.

In terms of content that you can actually hit, aside from two errant Pelupelu mobs, the first installment of the Alliance Raid series, Echoes of Vana'diel will be released along with a new experimental battle content type called "Chaotic alliance raids". These are 24-man battles that take a single boss from an alliance raid, and make it more difficult than the current savage raids.

Few weeks after 7.1 there will also be a brand new ultimate centered around Shadowbringer’s Eden raids called "Futures Rewritten". For those who are unfamiliar with ultimates, they are long, grueling fights lasting around 15-20 minutes where one mistake can spell death. The raids are so complex that it will take months for anyone but the most dedicated world-first raiders to complete and prog. What is the prize? Shiny weapon glams are the ultimate status symbols.

The final fight in Dawntrail - The Interphos - will also get its own Extreme difficulty version, called Minstrel’s Ballad: Sphene’s Burden.

The main updates are quality-of-life improvements to PvP, and the introduction of Duty Support (which allows you to do dungeons without players by using NPC allies), which will be extended to side dungeons starting with Halatali. One exciting promised feature for housing enthusiasts (who tend to do some amazing things in MMOs, and FF14 is no exception) is that estates are getting new interior design layouts--additionally, there are promises to let players make their homes bigger on the inside in the future patch for a hefty sum of gil.

A new tutorial called Hall of the Novice will also be available at level 49. This is a long overdue update, as the previous one taught new players bad habits that no longer apply. It's a welcome update, but I'm left wondering why the level requirements are so high. Stack markers are visible even before level 50, but a refresher is always helpful.

I'm not really excited about the new MSQ installment, but rather from a critical perspective, as opposed to buying a ticket on the hype-train. As someone who wasn't too impressed with Dawntrail's story quests, it's interesting to see where Creative Studio 3 takes the game and if the dialogue has improved.

The cover art is beautiful, but it doesn't tell us much, as Prishe occupies the center of attention. Prishe, a character from FF11, is likely to appear in the Echoes of Vana’diel crossover raids. The figures in the background, including what looks like a Dragon Ball Z hybrid of Gaia & Ryne, are all from the Eden Raids. Bakool ja Ja, the thirst magnet, is the only MSQ boy in this scene. He is fighting Prishe and I feel like he is being used for a storyline about an alliance raid. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the trailer to come up with any new material to spin my theories.