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| Mike Salbato |
And some Ramza guy, I guess?
10.05.17 - 11:01 AM
Square Enix released a new batch of screenshots for Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood's first major content patch, coming next week. We get some nice new looks at the Ivalice raid, dungeon-diving with squadron members, but more importantly... No patch is complete without new minions, mounts, and hairstyles, so we're going to start with those.
New minions in Patch 4.1 include these adorable little fellas:
The new mounts certainly run the gamut: This new flying lounge chair is pretty great, but believe me when I say that it's the oversized Korpokkur that is getting my full attention here.
Whew, until we recently saw visual confirmation, I was almost worried we weren't getting new hairstyles this patch! Both new styles definitely seem inspired by the Far East aesthetic of Stormblood, and I can definitely see these working well on samurais.
We've been able to recruit for and build squadrons in FFXIV for awhile, sending virtual soldiers on missions for spoils, Final Fantasy Tactics-style. At long last, we'll be able to take these characters into a select number of dungeons with us. For now, the available dungeons are a selection of dungeons for level 50 and below. You can see the lineup here, as well as the UI elements that will allow you to assign tactics to your AI teammates during battle.
It's going to be interesting to see how these characters perform some boss mechanics compared to real people, that's for sure.
By far the most exciting thing about Patch 4.1, and the entire reason it's named The Legend Returns, is the Return to Ivalice alliance raid. We've seen art and video of the raid, but still have yet to see Ramza and Delita of Tactics fame in-game. Until now:
Argh, you guys are such teases... But this rendition of Ivalice is looking great nonetheless. Here's a few new shots of what we're in for:
Finally, we have new looks at the completely terrifying first version of an "Ultimate"-difficulty raid battle, which combines the final bosses from all three tiers of The Binding Coil of Bahamut into one fight. Personally, I find these three - Twintania, Nael deus Darnus, and Bahamut Prime - to be some of the most challenging and enjoyable fights in all of Final Fantasy XIV, even today.
But man, I am just not hardcore enough for this... I look forward to seeing the spectacle when Scott inevitably streams it, though.
And that's it for now! You can find a few more new screens for the patch in our gallery below, as well as last week's media update. Patch 4.1: The Legend Returns comes to Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood on Tuesday, October 10th.
