Yesterday, Square Enix announced the final release date for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, the latest expansion coming to its popular MMORPG. Dawntrail will go live on July 2 on all platforms. Funnily enough, Game Director Naoki Yoshida said it could have launched sooner, but they wanted to give players (and themselves) a bit more space to play Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, which launches on June 21.
Pre-orders for the expansion will begin in just two days, on Tuesday, March 26. All pre-order users will receive the following bonuses:
- Wind-up Zidane Minion - a vanity pet based on the character from Final Fantasy IX
- Azeyma's Earrings - Earrings crafted in the image of the radiant sun, the symbol of the goddess Azeyma. They feature attributes that will vary according to the user's class/job and current level when equipped. Additionally, the earrings grant a 30% increase in EXP gained by defeating enemies when worn, perfect for leveling your jobs to 90. This The bonus effect will only apply from level 1 through 90. The earrings are only equippable by Disciples of War or Magic classes and jobs.
Pre-ordering Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail also allows users to take advantage of the early access period, which is tentatively scheduled to start on Friday, June 28 at 2 AM Pacific Time. Beware that to be granted early access and play the new content from the new expansion, users need to be playing Endwalker and have completed certain quests.
There are three editions to choose from. The Standard Edition is priced at $39.99; the Digital Collector's Edition, priced at $59.99, adds an Ark Mount, a Wind-Up Garnet Minion, and a Chocobo Brush equippable by pictomancers of any level. The physical Collector's Edition includes the digital items as well as the physical Dawntrail Special Art Box, Expertly Crafted Viper Figure, Adventurer’s Cloth Map, the Unending Journey, and Adventurer’s Pen Case, all for a price of $219.99. These physical items may also be purchased separately (without Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail) through the Collector's Box, priced at $155.00.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is a brand new adventure on the faraway land of Tural. The main features include the addition of the Pictomancer and Viper DPS jobs, the Beastmaster limited job, a level cap increase from 90 to 100, new dungeons, new raid and alliance raid series, a new Ultimate raid, new variant dungeons, new Field Operations, new trials and Unreal trials, and more. Moreover, regardless of whether you purchase the expansion, the game is receiving a major graphical update and a new playable race (female Hrothgar).
With the recent release on Xbox Series S|X consoles (where users are forced to have an active Game Pass subscription to play), the MMORPG's player base is larger than ever, setting itself for many more years of successful operation.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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