Everything You Need To Know About Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV and Creative Business Unit III’s Dawntrail were revealed on Day 1 of Final Fantasy XIV 2023 Fan Festival. 

Square Enix unveiled this 7.0 extension that serves as a fresh start for Final Fantasy XIV in a new cinematic video. Naoki Yashida then hosted a key note presentation on the main stage. We learned much about Dawntrail’s release in Summer 2024. We’ll break everything down. 

Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail: Everything you need to know

Yoshitaka Amao is the illustrator of the Final Fantasy series. The color used in the logo, gold, represents the theme for this expansion. Yoshida explained during the keynote presentation on July 28 that the team wanted to “bring the very best summer vacation a hero could possibly have” to the Warriors of Light (the players). Without spoiling the events of 2021’s Endwalker expansion – read Game Informer Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker review here – Yoshida says Dawntrail represents a significant shift from the previous expansion. Dawntrail, where Endwalker had a dark tone with the ending of the world on the line in the background, is lighter and brighter. 

Final Fantasy XIV: A new start [and]The theme of the game is “a journey to discovery”, he explained. The arc that we were on between 1.0 and Endwalker, about Hydaelyn & Zodiark is now over. You can consider this our first move into a brand new story in Final Fantasy XIV. 

A slide in the presentation stated that the Warriors of Light would be receiving a special guest. The winds of opportunity carry a new visitor to the Warrior of Light, who is seeking his help with a succession ritual that will determine Tural’s next ruler.

“The warrior of the light, along with Alphinaud Alisaie and Erenville embarks on a journey through the Indigo Depth. Rumors suggest that the contest could lead to the fabled city gates. They don’t know it, but the contest will divide the scions and reveal who their friends are.

Locations

Yoshida shed light on some of the locations that we will be visiting during Dawntrail. Each one will be broken down. 

Yok Tural

Yok Tural, the New World tropical location shown in Dawntrail’s trailer is located at Yok Tural. You won’t find much industrialization in this area, as it is located west of Eorzea. Warriors of Light are sure to find many new things in Yok Tural. They will meet allies and enemies as well as discover gear. 

Tuliyollal

Tuliyollal will be the largest city within the Dawntrail extension, and is located in Yok Tural. The northernmost part of the country is called “the sea” of Tural’s federal nation-state. Gulool Ja Ja – a Mamool Ja in two halves – is the nation’s leader. Mamool Ja is holding the contest to decide who will be his successor. It’s important to this city that it lives in harmony with nature, so there isn’t much industrialization.

Urqopacha

Urqopacha in Yok Tural is very mountainous. It’s home to “peoples both exceedingly large and unusually small in nature.” In the surrounding mountains, you’ll find their villages. During the keynote, a slide read: “Over a 1,000 years ago and long before Tuliyollal was born, Urqopacha used to be the proud center of the Giant’s Empire that spanned Yok Tural. Only ruins of the empire’s glory days remain in the area, where their descendants still live. 

Yak Tel

Yak Tel, a dense forest area of Yok Tural is accessible via “dirigible flights over the southeast mountains” from Tuliyollal. The slide that was shown during the presentation stated, “The forest is so densely covered with foliage, the ground barely receives sunlight. It’s home to Tural’s Hrothgar, Mamool Ja and the stunning cenotes, which are teeming with cerulean springs and ponds.” 

Updates to the New Arrivals

Yoshida revealed new information about Yok-Tural, as well as a slew of other new features coming to the Dawntrail update 7.0. What he said is: 

• The cap on the maximum level will increase from 90 to 100
• Yoshida has revealed the names of two new jobs, one for melee DPSs and one for ranged magical DPSs
• New dungeons
• Get inspired by these new gears and recipes. 
• New variant dungeons
• New Alliance Raid
• The New 8-Player Rally
• New Ultimate Raid
• Pelupelu is a new tribe of Yok Tural.
• Yoshida, the director of Final Fantasy XIV, says that the PvP will be updated throughout Dawntrail.
• Blue Mage update
• Hildibrand: “inconceivably more adventures”
• Deep Dungeons – New Plan for the Game
• Gold Saucers Update 
• Yoshida said that they will not count as inventory items and take no space in your armory.
• Each gear piece comes in two colors 
• Increase in furnishing limits (planned to be implemented after the 7.0 patch, however).
• The “Strategy Board”, a whiteboard similar to a strategy board, is used for planning raids, strategies and other duties.
• Happening as part of Patch 6.5X – Free trial extended: it will include Stormblood now, the expansion after Heavensward
• Final Fantasy XIV Xbox Series X/S Version Announced

The Graphical Update

Yoshida showcased various updates in a number of videos, including the previously-announced graphical upgrades Creative Business Unit III will be working on for Final Fantasy XIV. The team emphasizes “screen-wide appeal” over individual character changes, as a result of which the update affects nearly everything in the game including characters, shadows, materials and UI.

There will be “higher resolution textures and shadows”. Yoshida said that the team works on these graphics updates piecemeal. This means you should not expect to see everything updated at once. What you’ll see in version 7.0 is a preview of the visual updates to come. 

This is all we know about Dawntrail from the Final Fantasy XIV fan festival 2023 day 1. 

You can watch the Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Trailer here. Then read more about the Xbox Series X/S Final Fantasy XIV version that will launch in the spring of 2024. 

What do you look forward to most in Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail? Comment below to let us know!