Forget Dawntrail, FFXIV 6.5 is already answering all your prayers

FFXIV 6.5 is coming in early October and, while we might be waiting a while longer to get our hands on the next full expansion, FFXIV Dawntrail, the next major Final Fantasy XIV update is already delivering on some big requests from the playerbase. Hosting FFXIV Live Letter 78 live on stage at the massive Fan Fest event to celebrate the world’s biggest and best MMORPG, game director Naoki Yoshida and community producer Toshio Murouchi detail everything we can expect from FFXIV patch 6.5 as we build towards the Dawntrail release date in summer 2024.

FFXIV patch 6.5 is titled ‘Growing Light’ and it releases in early October 2023. It will be followed by the arrival of patch 6.51 in late October, with the second part of the main scenario quest building to Dawntrail arriving in patch 6.55 in mid-January 2024.

There’s just about everything you’d expect from a standard update, although because this is the final major patch prior to the next expansion we’ll be getting the second half of the story at a later date with patch 6.55, to keep some of the setup for Dawntrail a secret until then. Yoshida teases that the new dungeon, The Lunar Subterrane, will feature “scenery changes partway through.”

With a spoiler warning for patch 6.4, he also notes that we’ll be facing FFIV’s final boss Zeromus in the next trial, The Abyssal Fracture. There’s also a return to Heavensward’s climactic showdown with Thordan in The Singularity Reactor (Unreal), as the latest Unreal Trial aims to capture the showdown at its original level of challenge.

Alongside all the usual changes, there’s some really fantastic news in here for players of all types. The first big note, of course, is that the much-memed FFXIV Free Trial will be expanded to include the Stormblood expansion with the release of patch 6.5. That’s great news for anyone introducing friends to the game.

If you’re taking the opportunity to play through for the first time, and you’re someone who prefers to enjoy the world and story of Final Fantasy XIV as a solo experience, you’re in luck – with the addition of the final round of Stormblood Duty Support, you can now officially play through the full game to Endwalker using the narrative-driven AI companions for all your regular group content, truly reaffirming FFXIV’s place as one of the best single-player MMOs.

Noting the huge crowd response to the reveal that FFXIV dye slots are expanding with a second color option for almost all gear, Yoshida announces another glamor update to cheers from the audience. You’ll now be able to store optional items in the Armoire – that refers to gear bought from the game’s online cosmetic microtransaction shop, the Mogstation – potentially freeing up a huge amount of inventory and storage space.

Drawing an even bigger response is the reveal that the Alliance Raid Duty Roulette will now matchmake based on player level, bringing a decisive end to players who would take all their clothes off before queuing to ensure they could quickly farm the game’s earliest and easiest Alliance Raid and forced all of us to only ever queue into those fights. “There may be some people who don’t enjoy this change, but I think it will be for the best,” Yoshida remarks. He laughs, “I’m really happy, I feel so understood as a developer that people are excited for this.

While going over the Island Sanctuary changes, which include the addition of the disgusting yet somehow loveable Morbol (sometimes known as a Marlboro), Yoshida pauses to respond to a fan in the crowd yelling out, “Increase pasture size!” After a moment’s contemplation, he responds with wry caution, “I’ll tell them – I have no idea if they can actually do it!”

Yoshida also remarks upon the new custom delivery NPC, Margrat the tired researcher. He notes that she’s “very extreme work-wise – she’s a workaholic and never sleeps, which is similar to many of us, so the devs thought we could express some interesting things through her!”

You can watch the Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer Live part 78, to give it its full title, in its entirety below, beginning at the 51-minute mark. Unlike standard Live Letters, this one does have an English translator due to it taking place on stage at Fan Fest Las Vegas. If you just want to see what’s in the next update, we have the full FFXIV 6.5 patch notes below.

FFXIV patch 6.5 Growing Light

Here’s everything currently announced for FFXIV patch 6.5 Growing Light – all content is set to release with the first update in early October 2023, unless otherwise specified.

Quests

• New Main Scenario Quests – Growing Light part one
• New Main Scenario Quests – Growing Light part two [6.55]
• Splendorous Tools [6.51]
• Tataru’s Grand Endeavor [6.55]
• Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures [6.55]
• Further Manderville Weapons [6.55]
• Endwalker Tribal Alliance Quests [6.55]
  • Capstone story quests require completion of the Arkasodara, Omicron, and Loporrit tribal quests ‘The Hippo Riders,’ ‘Life, the Universe, and Coffee Beans,’ and ‘Dreams Come True’

Battles

• New Dungeon – The Lunar Subterrane
• New Trials – The Abyssal Fracture (Normal and Extreme)
• New Unreal Trial – The Singularity Reactor (Unreal)
• New Alliance Raid – Myths of the Realm part three: Thaleia
• Duty Support for Stormblood: The Drowned City of Skalla, The Burn, The Ghimlyt Dark
• Variant & Criterion Dungeon 3 – Aloalo Island [6.51]
  • Explore an exciting new location alongside Matsya
  • Completion of the past Variant Dungeons is not required

Island Sanctuary

• New sanctuary ranks and visions
• New gathering area in the wilds
• New materials, craftable items, crops, animals, isleworks handicrafts, and structures
• New feature – Felicitous Favors
  • Unlocked with the completion of patch 6.5 Sanctuary progression
    The felicitous furball will issue individualized requests for handicrafts production
  • Shipping these handicrafts yields special tokens, which are tradeable for exclusive rewards

Gold Saucer

• Fall Guys Collaboration [6.5x – release not yet set]

Balance Changes

• Job Adjustments (PvE/PvP)

PvP Updates

• PvP series five begins
  • Season eight will run from patch 6.48 (scheduled to launch on August 8, 2023) and last until patch 6.51
• Crystalline Conflict update
  • Minimap and UI adjustments
  • New arena – The Red Sands

Miscellaneous Updates

• New Custom Deliveries: Margrat
• New consecutive aetherial reduction function for collectibles
• Ability to store optional items in the Armoire (PCGN note: ‘Optional items’ refers to items purchased from the online Mogstation)
• IL restrictions for Duty Roulette: Alliance Raid based on level
• Option to sort teleport destinations by expansion (Can be enabled from the teleport settings menu)
• New reward for obtaining all trial mounts in the 6.x patch series
• Free Trial expanded to include Stormblood – arriving with the release of patch 6.5

Prepare for the arrival of the new update by making sure your FFXIV Island Sanctuary is up to scratch, or get in the mood for Dawntrail’s easy-going outlook with the most relaxing games on PC.