Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the fifth expansion for Final Fantasy XIV. It was announced in July 2023 during the first 2023 Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, and was released July 2, 2024. The expansion takes players to Tural, the "New World", and is set to be the beginning of a new storyline after the end of of the Hydaelyn–Zodiark arc.

The Japanese name for the expansion, 黄金の遺産(レガシー) (Ōgon no Regashī?) translates officially to "Gilded Legacy", with the expansion's theme color being gold and the theme being "a journey of discovery".

Story[]

Premise[]

Having defeated the despair of the Final Days, the Warrior of Light and their comrades had resumed walking their respective paths. Yet fate would see them reunited for a mission unto another reflection, and now an unexpected petition has arrived beckoning them west—to the faraway continent of Tural.

Answer the call, seek new horizons, and embark upon an adventure the likes of which you have never experienced!

Official site

After the events of Endwalker, the Warrior of Light, Krile Baldesion, and Alphinaud and Alisaie Leveilleur head towards the westernmost continent of Tural by request of Wuk Lamat, the daughter of Gulool Ja Ja the current ruler of Tuliyollal, to aid in a contest for leadership of the land.

Features[]

Dawntrail features the regions of Yok Tural and Xak Tural, the former containing the new main hub city in the form of the cosmopolitan Tuliyollal and the areas of Urqopacha, Kozama'uka, and Yak T'el and the latter featuring the high-tech city Solution Nine and the areas of Shaaloani and Heritage Found.

Two new jobs were introduced with the expansion: A physical melee DPS known as viper, who wields dual-blades that can be combined into a double-bladed weapon, and the magical range DPS known as pictomancer, who wields a paint brush and palette to paint magical elements, creatures, and landscapes to buff allies and attack enemies; both of which feature job quests from level 80 to 90. In addition the level cap will be increased to 100 for all non-limited jobs and classes, including disciples of the hand and land. A new limited job, beastmaster, is set to be released during 7.x patch cycle.

All core battle content returns, including FATEs (including both regular and large scale FATEs), the Hunt, treasure hunts and sidequests, alongside new dungeons and trials, including encounters with the legendary beast Valigarmanda and mechanical Eliminator. Additionally, there will be an update to Duty Support, including the debut of Krile for the system. New role quests will once again be available, unlocked at level 92, and will be divided into five questlines divided by role—tanks, healers, melee DPS, physical ranged DPS, and magical ranged DPS. The new Treasure Hunt dungeon, Cenote Ja Ja Gural became available starting from patch 7.05.

Alongside these, the expansion will feature more variant and criterion dungeons, as well as new raids, including the normal raid series, the Arcadion, where battles between combatants enchanced with feral souls entertain the crowds, the new alliance raid series, Echoes of Vana'diel, which sees the player venture into the world of Vana'diel, and new ultimate raid, Futures Rewritten (Ultimate), an alternative retelling of the Eden raids. These are set to debut across the lifespan of the expansion, alongside a new Blue Mage update, a Gold Saucer update, and new Hildibrand sidequest series, entitled Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures. Additionally, there are plans for a new Deep Dungeon and a new Field Operation series, the latter of which takes place within the Shades' Triangle, as well as plans for new types of battle content, such as Chaotic difficulty alliance raids, the first of which is set to debut with patch 7.1.

Disciples of the land and hand role quests are set to return with the Wachumeqimeqi deliveries, divided into five questlines—one for blacksmith, armorers, and goldsmiths; one for carpenters, leatherworkers, and weavers; one for alchemists and culinarians; one for miners and botanists; and one for fishers. In addition, the expansion is set to feature expansive new lifestyle content for disciples of the land and hand, named Cosmic Exploration, planned to be implemented in the 7.x patches. With the new expansion, gatherers have access to new gathering nodes, regional folklore, and a new variety of gatherer scrip, as well as new quality of life additions, including gathering integrity being displayed in the gathering window, and the fish guide displaying the type of lure required for a catch. Crafters will similarly receive new recipes, master recipes, and a new crafters' scrip.

New allied society quests are set to debut with the expansion, available from the diminutive Pelupelu (for disciples of war and magic) and goblin-like Moblins. Other societies featured in the expansion include the giant Yok Huy and birdlike Hanuhanu.

Dawntrail will feature updates to the various PvP modes, with further updates to Crystalline Conflict, Rival Wings and Frontlines, with the last set to receive a new map.

With the expansion, the game's first graphical update was applied, with higher resolution textures and shadows, improved materials and lighting, and additional foliage resolution and density, as well as miscellaneous upgrades to visual presentation, such as more dynamic mount animations and new graphical options. An additional dye channel was added to certain gear, allowing players more options for color combinations, as well as an additional, purely cosmetic, gear slot for eyewear, which does not take space in the player's armory chest. Alongside these, furnishing limits will be increased during the 7.x patches. With these system updates, game's system requirements were changed.

The expansion also introduced a new playable race, female Hrothgar. Players with Shadowbringers registered to their accounts will be able to create female Hrothgar characters.

A new, collaborative tool, called the Strategy Board, is set to be introduced in Dawntrail during the 7.x patches, allowing players to collaboratively modify and share visual strategies for raids and other encounters.

Introduced with the expansion are a variety of quality of life features: there will be an option hide nearby players when close to an quest NPC or objective marker and players will be able to select emotes and recipes related to quests directly from the duty list. Phials of fantasia will now allow a 60 minute in-game period to see the characters in in-game conditions before the changes lock-in.

Music[]

The main theme of the expansion, "Dawntrail" was composed by Masayoshi Soken, with guest vocal performance by Amanda Achen, lyrics by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and Kathryn Cwynar, and lyric concept and translation by Natsuko Ishikawa. Initially revealed alongside the expansion with the teaser trailer, the full theme was revealed with the full trailer during the Tokyo Fan Festival 2024 and released June 2024 with the 7-inch vinyl single Dawntrail, which also includes "Open Sky - The Theme from Dawntrail", a variation of the track performed by The Primals.

Development[]

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail was first referred to with the implementation of male Viera, with female Hrothgar announced for release in 7.0. It was later teased 1 January 2023 in a Lodestone post, with thoughts on the keynote speech of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festivals of the year and a poem:^[1]

With gladness for Their blessing,
Unto the Twelve we pray,
For ten more dawns as brilliant,
As this resplendent day.
Since first began our journey,
Like many years we count,
Each step that we have taken,
A challenge to surmount.
Yet still the faint horizon,
And lands where few have gone,
Renew our weary spirits,
Together we march on.

From the journal of a well-traveled young man^[1]

During the keynote speech at the Las Vegas 2023 Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, the first teaser CG trailer was shown. The keynote proceeded to showcase the title and various details regarding the expansion. More information about the expansion was revealed during the London 2023 Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, where an extended teaser was shown.

The expansion was later teased again in a 2024 new year's greetings alongside another poem:^[2]

I awake at the break of dawn, as I always do.
Turning to scan the western seas, I contemplate the journey ahead.
Will it seem a homecoming or a new beginning?
Time will tell—though the salt winds whisper to me of things unknown...

From the journal of an explorer^[2]

Major updates[]

Note that the below version updates also add features and adjustments to A Realm Reborn (2.x), Heavensward (3.x), Stormblood (4.x), Shadowbringers (5.x), or Endwalker (6.x) content.

Crossroads (Patch 7.1)[]

Set to release mid-November 2024, Patch 7.1 was originally announced in the 83rd Letter from the Producer Live as a planned update for Final Fantasy XIV. Over the course of the patch life the following features are set to be added:

• Continuation of the main scenario quests.
• A new dungeon: Yuweyawata Field Station.
• A new Extreme trial: The Minstrel's Ballad: Sphene's Burden.
• A new Unreal trial: The Jade Stoa (Unreal).
• A new Ultimate raid: Futures Rewritten (Ultimate) (patch 7.11).
• A new alliance raid, the first part of the Echoes of Vana'diel alliance raid series: Jeuno: The First Walk.
• The introduction of Chaotic alliance raids with The Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic), a new type of high-end battle content for 24 people (one week after patch 7.15 launch).
• New allied society quests for disciples of war and magic with the Pelupelu.
• New Custom Deliveries with Nitowikwe (patch 7.15).
• Capstone quests for both role quests (patch 7.16) and Wachumeqimeqi delivieries (patch 7.15).
• Introduction quests for Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures (patch 7.15).
• New Game Plus support for main scenario, job, and role quests introduced in 7.0
• Duty Support update for non main scenario dungeons, starting with Halatali.
• Hall of the Novice update, explaining common mechanics such as stack markers, spreads, tank busters, etc.
• PvE job changes.
• Extensive PvP changes:
  • Action changes for all jobs except pictomancer and viper.
  • Changes to action execution and hit detection in order to allow shielding and healing to feel more natural.
  • Arena improvements for The Red Sands and Cloud Nine.
  • Balance changes to Frontline and Rival Wings.
• Housing update, allowing players to change the base interiors of houses.

Behind the scenes[]

As with the announcements of the previous expansions, producer and director Naoki Yoshida wore a shirt at the Fan Festival 2023 in Las Vegas in July to tease upcoming jobs. He took off his overshirt to reveal a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt after announcing that there are two new jobs, hinting at the pictomancer job, as the four turtles are named after artists.

Many of the English voice actors in Dawntrail are Latino and Latina actors based in California, such as Sena Bryer who plays Wuk Lamat and Luis Bermudez who plays Koana, as befitting the Americas-based setting of Tural. This is the first time that American voice actors have been featured in Final Fantasy XIV since the move to a London-based studio in Heavensward.

Production credits[]

Voice cast[]

Patch 7.0 Credits

Additional Voices (Japanese): Hiromi Hirata, Risae Matsuda, Aria Seki, Masakazu Nishida, Tadaaki Doi, Narufumi Machimoto, DJ.Knike

Additional Voices (English): Emma Ballantine, Jaimi Barbakoff, Sheena Bhattessa, Cassie Layton, Ciaran Owens

Gallery[]

Artwork

Key artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

Key artwork.

Viper job artwork

Pictomancer job artwork.

Valigarmanda artwork.

Eliminator artwork.

Echoes of Vana'diel announcement.

Echoes of Vana'diel key artwork, featuring the Shadow Lord.

The Arcadion key artwork.

Cosmic Exploration key artwork.

Female Hrothgar race artwork.

Promotional artwork featuring a pictomancer, a painted moogle and Madeen, by Masayoshi Inoeu

]], by Rokuma Saito.

Renders

Warrior of Light render.

Viper job render.

Viper job render.

Pictomancer job render.

Female Hrothgar race render.

Female Hrothgar race render.

Eliminator enemy render.

Barreltender enemy render.

Location art

Tuliyollal city artwork.

Tuliyollal city artwork.

]] city artwork.

Urqopacha zone artwork.

Yak Tel zone artwork.

Heritage Found zone artwork.

Kozama'uka zone artwork.

Shaaloani zone artwork.

Dungeon artwork.

Dungeon artwork.

Countdown art

A Miqo'te pictomancer painting a moogle.

A Roegadyn machinist, by Nobuyoshi Mihara.

An Elezen dragoon, by Tetsu Tsukamoto.

A Hrothgar ninja, by Kyung Jin Woo.

A Lalafell paladin, by Hiroyuki Nagamine.

A Hyur scholar and Eos, by Rokuma Saito.

A Viera dancer, by Wang Yueren.

An Au Ra astrologian, by Seiji Yamate.

An Elezen red mage, by Yoshimi Urabe.

A Lalafell reaper and their avatar, by Marina Otani.

A Roegadyn monk, by Takeshi Yoshida.

An Au Ra dark knight, by Eui Kyun Oh.

A Viera black mage and their chocobo, by Erika Murabayashi.

An Elezen summoner and their Carbuncle, by Yusuke Mogi.

Hyur, Hrothgar, and Elezen sages, by Eiichi Hama.

A Miqote samurai, by Mariko Higashi.

An Au Ra bard, by Ayumi Namae.

A Hyur warrior and their chocobo, by Keishi Shimada.

A Lalafell white mage, by Kenta Tanaka.

A Miqo'te gunbreaker, by Kentarou Miura.

A Hrothgar viper, by Masayoshi Inoue.

The Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Wuk Lamat, and Erenville, by Ayumi Namae.

Citations[]

External links[]

• Official site (Japanese)
• Official site (English)