Straight from the Las Vegas convention centre, we’ve got the latest from the Letter from the Producer Live, detailing everything there is to know about the FFXIV 6.5 patch cycle, including a rough release date, what to expect all the way into the new year, and all the neat little system tweaks it’s bringing, too.
Not only have we broken the 6.5 content schedule down into easy-to-read sections, but we’ve followed along with the live letter to reproduce it in its entirety. If you read from top to bottom, you’ll learn of the announcements in the same order we did.
General content
FFXIV 6.5 Patch title - Growing Light
In Japanese, the title has a “hidden zero” in the text, with the developers confirming the meaning to be a focus on Zero. She’ll arrive at the First and meet Ryne–somehow.
FFXIV 6.5 release date
As per the Fan Fest live letter, the date for FFXIV 6.5 is set for “early October.” Producer Naoki Yoshida noted that this could change, but they’re currently on schedule, suggesting a release within the first week or two of the month.
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+ 5Tribal alliance quests
Once you’ve completed all three tribal quest lines from Endwalker, you’ll be able to take on the Tribal Alliance quest, which involved the Loporitts meeting the Arkasodara and Omicrom.
Tataru
Tataru’s Grand Endeavor will continue in this patch as well, if you’ve been keeping up with that one between your excursions to the island she graciously gifted to you.
Hildebrand
Hildebrand and his low-poly companion will continue. The developers joked if he could be made of grapes. They’re just the gift that keeps on giving. The Godbert looks strong in this one.
Manderville weapons
In 6.55, the current relic weapon step will continue, with Godbert (fully clothed) coming to Gerolt with a curious artifact.
Splendourous tools
Also in 6.55, the upgradeable crafting and gathering tools we’ve worked on throughout the expansion will grow in strength once more.
Battle content
click to enlarge + 5New Dungeon - The Lunar Subterrane
It looks like we’ll be taking another trip to a moon. Screenshots showing a much darker type of terrain. The developers note we’ve been a moon before, but suggest they’re not one and the same.
New Trials - The Abyssal Fracture
The mysterious Zeromus is the face of the 6.5 story trial, potentially bringing a close to the story of Zero.
Unreal Trial - The Singularity Reactor (Thordan)
The developers noted that the Extreme version of the King Thordan fight was already quite hard in the original release, it has been retuned to match the current strength of our gear, weapons, and abilities today.
click to enlarge + 5Alliance Raid - Thaleia
Carrying on from Aglaia and Euphrosyne is Thaleia, the third and final leg of the Myths of the Realm Alliance theme. Given we’ve already taken on the majority of the realm’s fabled deities, with can probably cause with good confidence which will be testing us this time around.
New Duty Support Dungeons
- Drowned City
- The Burn
- The Ghimlyte Dark
This signals the completion of Duty Support for Stormblood which, in turn, makes the Duty Support feature complete. Solo players can now play through the entire story with NPC allies.
It’s basically the canonical way to experience the game’s group-based activities, with important characters from each patch playing their combat roles and interacting with the rest of the cast in new ways.
click to enlarge + 5New Variant and Criterion Dungeon - Aloalo Island
The third VC dungeon, Aloalo Island, will come with patch 6.51 a few weeks after the main patch. You won’t need to complete either of the other two for this. Matsya will accompany you on your mission.
As the Hawaii inspired name and imagery suggests, there’s tribal tiki theming throughout the lush coastal woodland.
Job adjustments
PVE
Smaller tweaks to DPS classes will be made to alleviate concerns, but no major changes will be made with the larger reworks set for the launch of Dawntrail.
PVP
Series 5 begins with Season Eight actually launching on August 8 with patch 6.48 and running all the way up until 6.51 in late mid/late October. This is to accommodate the championship series taking place across the North America and London Fan Fest events.
Crystalline Conflict
- Minimap and UI adjustments come to alleviate questions and concerns from the player base.
- New arena - The Red Sands
click to enlarge + 5Island Sanctuary
New ranks and visions, new gathering areas, and new materials, craftable items, crops, animals (like a Morbol), isleworks handicrafts, and structures will come with this update.
The crowd yelled for increased pasture sizes and Yoshida-san added that he’d let the team know. He doesn’t know if it’s possible, and it certainly wouldn’t be available in this patch, but it has been taken onboard.
- Felicitous Favors
- Unlocked with 6.5 sanctuary progression
- Individual requests, shipping these handicrafts yields special tokens for exclusive rewards
Gold Saucer
The Fall Guys x Final Fantasy XIV crossover will be added “at some point” during the 6.5x patch cycle, bringing the bouncy nonsense of Fall Guys to the Gold Saucer.
It’s essentially a jumping puzzle with obstacles designed to knock you off the stage and eliminate you from the competition - like a mix of a few currently available mini games with some unique rewards.
Custom Deliveries
The hardworking Margrat takes centre stage for the latest line of Custom Deliveries. The reason being the development team relating to her busy schedule and lack of sleep. If that’s not a cry for help…
Collective 6.X trial mount
For getting every story trial mount this time around, you’ll be able to claim a blue dragon with a seat it carries in its claws.
Miscellaneous
- Consecutive aetheric reduction for collectibles
- Green dot indicators for newly logged fish
- Ability to store optional items in the armoire
- IL restrictions for Alliance Raid based on level
- Ability to sort teleport locations by expansion
- Free trial expansion to Stormblood
With all that squeezed into a fast-moving hour, the 6.5 live letter came to a close. For more FFXIV content, check out the Shadowbringers relic steps and Heavensward relic steps if you’re looking for some visually striking weapons that aren’t too hard to earn these days.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Final Fantasy XIV page.