Final Fantasy XIV Announces Stormblood, New Areas, New Job Teaser

By Staff Reporter - 15 Oct '16 22:06PM

Coming Summer of 2017, Stormblood is the next expansion to Final Fantasy XIV. It was officially announced in the FanFest in Las Vegas, Nevada. The expected areas were also teased, hyping fans up for what to expect next year. Look at them here.

Polygon expands on the storyline of the expansion, noting that the setting, Al Mhigo, is a nation up for reclamation from the Garlean Empire. There is, however, resistance, as not all of the occupied citizens wish to be liberated.

It would also be prudent to take note of FF XIV director Naoki Yoshida's shirt during the reveal. Given that the previous Dark Knight job was teased with a Batman shirt, while a 007 shirt teased out the Machinist job.

Now, though, he was wearing a Scarlet Witch shirt. The closest speculation fans came up with for this a possible Red Mage in the works. This is, of course, different from the obvious monk class that this patch will seem to focus on, much like how Dragoon was focused on for Heavensward.

As for gameplay updates, the fan favorite for now seems to be the inventory expansion that was promised in the keynote event. This was asked for as early as 2013 but was delayed due to internal server-side concerns on Square Enix's side.

Kotaku also shares about an overhaul to the battle and skills system of the game. The effect is that skills are now grouped into roles instead of jobs. For example, X job's needed skills to the tank will now be grouped under tank skills, instead of X job. The positive effect is the saving of keyboard hotkey spaces for other skills.

Another highlight is The Forbidden Land - Eureka, the next stop for those who wish for high-end gear.

Aside from these, general updates are the level cap increase from 60 to 70, new primals to combat, new dungeons to fight them in, new gear to fight them with and mysterious fourth residential area with scarce details.

More updates on the expansion will come in the next two planned Fan Festivals, one in Tokyo, Japan, and one in Frankfurt, Germany. That means there will likely be refinements or additions to the updates given in this one. Stay tuned here to find out more!