Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic which, like many industries, has resulted in a massive change in the day-to-day workings of the Final Fantasy XIV development team, the next major patch to the MMORPG has been delayed by a couple of months now. Some players such as myself have taken a break while they wait for new content to play through. Fortunately, we can now officially mark the date of our return to Eorzea.
It was today confirmed that Final Fantasy XIV 5.3: Reflections in Crystal will go live on game servers from Tuesday 11 August 2020. In addition to the usual content one would expect to find in a new odd-numbered patch (Eg. 24-player Alliance Raid, new dungeons and trials, a continuation of the main quest etc), this patch is set to offer first time content. This includes Unreal Raids (Super-powered variants of former expansion trials – starting with Shiva in the Akh Afah Amphitheatre) and the first major step in the Resistance Weapon Questline.
A currently known list of features and some first preview screenshots can be found below. More information and specifics are expected to be rolled out in the weeks leading to the patch going live.
- Main Scenario Quests
- New Dungeon – The Heroes’ Gauntlet
- New Trial
- New Alliance Raid – YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse: The Puppets’ Bunker
- Chronicles of a New Era – The Sorrow of Werlyt
- Faux Hollows – The Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Unreal)
- New Custom Deliveries
- Beast Tribe Quests – Dwarves
- Save the Queen – Unforgiven, Unforgotten
- New Battlefield – Bozjan Southern Front
- Ishgardian Restoration Updates
- Skysteel Tool Updates
- A Realm Reborn Area Improvements
- Trial Synthesis
- New Game+ Updates
- Sundry Splendors
Keep in mind that, as was the case with other recent patches, some of the content mentioned above may be released in a sub-patch between 5.3 and 5.4.
