Final Fantasy14's Endwalker expansion brought the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga to its satisfying conclusion when the Warrior of Light stopped The Final Days. It was a huge culmination of everything that came before it, which necessitated something brand new to follow it. That's where the upcoming Dawntrail expansion enters the picture. Final Fantasy 14's Dawntrail expansion is a new era and a new storyline, set in "the new world" of Tural. The Warrior of Light and their allies get summoned to this continent, which is pretty normal for their adventures, but it'll be interesting nonetheless to see how Dawntrail steps out of the shadow cast by the events of Endwalker.

Game ZXC was recently able to play Dawntrail for about 8 hours, although our time with the Final Fantasy 14 expansion focused primarily on exploring a handful of areas, hunting marks, checking out the new classes, and generally focused more so on gameplay than story. Luckily, this means we were not subject to any serious story spoilers and were instead able to focus on all the new gameplay content Dawntrail brings with it. As such, we spent about half our time playing the new Viper class and the other half playing the Pictomancer.

This article is based on play of an in-development build of FINAL FANTASY 14: Dawntrail, and content in the final version is subject to change.

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail Overview

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  • Dawntrail is a new story following the events of Endwalker.
  • The Warrior of Light travels to a new location - The federal nation-state of Tural.
    • New locations include Tuliyollal, Solution Nine, and several open areas.

  • New classes: The Melee DPS Viper and the Magical Ranged DPS Pictomancer
    • The Viper uses two one-handed blades that can be combined into a single two-handed weapon.
    • The Pictomancer uses a paintbrush to mix aether and bring creatures, weapons, and spells to life through painting.

  • A new limited job, Beastmaster, will be released during patch cycle.
  • New trials, Unreal trials, dungeons, raid series, variant dungeons, field operations, and more.
  • New lifestyle content in Cosmic Exploration
  • Duty Support Updates
  • PvP Updates
  • New Level Cap of 100
  • New gear and crafting Recipe
  • Blue Mage and other Job updates
  • Much, much more!

FF14: Dawntrail's New Jobs: Viper and Pictomancer

The Viper Job

For the first half of our gameplay session, we focused on the Viper class. The good news is that we were able to check out the full gamut of its abilities, thanks to Square Enix providing us with level 100 characters for FF14: Dawntrail. The Viper feels very much like a rogue archetype because, while it has access to some survival abilities, it's not a very bulky job. This means anyone playing the Viper will want to be wary of strikes and watch out for telegraphed abilities, but those who manage to get in and out quickly will be able to make the most out of the class. Furthermore, it has a rather rhythmic flow of ability rotation that makes learning it as a new class very easy. Every Viper ability feeds into the Serpent's Ire Gauge.

The Viper has three important buffs/debuffs to consider to increase the effects of combos, namely Noxious Gnash, which increases damage taken by a target; Hunter's Instinct, which increases damage dealt by the player; and Swiftscaled, which reduces auto-attack delays. In combination with these are single-target damage-dealing moves such as Steelfangs, Flanksting Strike/Flanksbane Fang, and Hindsting Strike/Hindsbane Fang, with each move depending on the exact execution. Completing a combo will also let players utilize a powerful move in Death Rattle.

If needing to perform an AOE rotation, players can utilize the various buffs/debuffs alongside Steel Maw, Jagged Maw, and Bloodied Maw. Executing these combos leads to a powerful AOE move in Last Lash, while other combos and move strings complement the overarching Viper job. Doing all of this builds the Serpent's Ire Gauge, which when maxed out allows the player to perform a reawaken combo. These flashy, fast, damage-dealing moves replace the Twinblade weapon skills when the Reawaken action is selected, each one becoming one of First, Second, Third, and Fourth Generation skills. After each Generation, the Double-bladed First-Fourth Legacies can also be selected, utilizing both single-target and AOE-style moves with tons of flair.

The simplest way to play these is to understand the start of the combo and the best times to use them, while following the hotbar as it changes moves and highlights the next combo performer; however, it's very clear that, as the player learns the Viper, they are able to get more modular with their hotbar, really emphasizing or customizing their approach to the Viper. What's clear is the Viper knows its niche and fills it well, and it is ultimately a joy to play for any Final Fantasy 14 players who love DPS.

The Pictomancer Job

The Pictomancer is on the other end of the spectrum. It's not necessarily a more difficult class, but it is more difficult to learn and be effective with, and it is not as rhythmic as the Viper. The Job Hud for the Pictomancer includes three Canvases: Weapon, Creature, and Landscape. The Weapon Motif could be used to paint and render to life a Hammer through Steel Muse, for example, allowing skills such as Striking Muse and Hammer Stamp to be used. Landscape and Creature Muses follow a similar pattern: a skill to paint, a skill to render, and a skill to utilize. However, these can also be used interchangeably to single or special effect; for example, players can use a Creature Motif and Living Muse to set up four more skills (Depiction of Pom, Depiction of Wings, Depiction of Claw, and Depiction of Fangs) to create a Medeen Portrait, allowing the use of Retribution of Madeen.

Beyond that, the Pictomancer is able to cast certain Final Fantasy 14 spells through the use of aetherhue. Players get a standard selection of spells, but as their Palette Gauge and White Paint gauges grow, the spells become more powerful. For example, one combo could see Pictomancers go from Fire in Red to Fire II in Red, Aero in Green to Aero II in Green, Water in Blue to Water II in Blue, and so forth. Using Subtractive Palette can then lead to more powerful spells like Blizzard I/II in Cyan, Stone I/II in Yellow, and Thunder I/II in Magenta, and Subtractive Palette could also be used further in executing White and Black Magic spells, like Holy in White or Comet in Black. Hyperphantasia will also accumulate based on Aetherhue actions and other methods to gain Rainbow Bright Enhancements to reduce spell cast times for Rainbow Drip.

Overall, the Pictomancer's spells and abilities build and build, but they may not be as intuitive for some players as others. That said, it's hard to ignore the appeal of a ranged DPS class because its survivability is higher than the Viper, as long as they are played carefully and work well with other players.

Tuliyollal, Ugropacha, and Kozama'uka

The Beauty of the New World

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During our preview, we were able to explore the city of Tuliyollal, as well as the Urgopacha and Kozama'uka Field Areas. There was understandably not much in the city given the limits of our preview, but it is very eye-catching regardless. The city works its way from a coastal harbor up a slight mountain and into a loft palace, with plenty of slopes, stairs, and buildings in between. Beyond that, the Field Areas also let players check out the equivalent of farmlands, harsh steppes, small tribal-like villages, and more. There was a very earthen sense to the Field Areas, and there was a time or two when the city and areas reminded us of Limsa Lominsa. However, it is more marine-focused than Tuliyollal and definitely more so than the Field Areas.

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Another interesting design element is how Tural and its areas combine this earthen new world with a melting pot of cultures; each area easily transitions from one into the next, representing the varied races of Tural in each environmental asset, design choice, and overall structure. It really is a vibrant way to show off the new graphical updates coming in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail.

During our preview, some of the graphical updates for FF14: Dawntrail were implemented, but not all of them. The latest benchmarks are the best examples of these changes.

While there was plenty of graphical work still to be done, it was already obvious how much Square Enix is looking to improve these. New backgrounds, textures, shaders, and characters helped make everything pop, which works really well with the new world environment of Tural too. It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together, but it's clearly a few steps in the right direction.

FATEs, Marks, and Exploration, Oh My!

Most of our time was occupied by hunting marks, completing FATEs, and otherwise exploring the new environments in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail. Really, the only disappointment we experienced in all of this is the fact that there were several waterfalls, we checked behind all of them, and there was nothing special -- at least in this build. Otherwise, Final Fantasy 14's FATEs still work as anyone would expect. We'd have to defeat so many monsters, find so many things, and otherwise complete some task within a certain time limit. The enemy variety is perhaps the biggest standout of our exploration, as each standard enemy (lobas) or odd enemy (giant cockatoos) really helped push that new world aesthetic.

At the same time, the Marks really stood out. There was a Giant Frog that we faced that unfortunately timed out on our party, while another had the lower body of a wyvern but the upper body of a fish. The challenge of each FATE and mark varied, no doubt at least in part due to being level 100, but players don't need to worry about hitting the new level cap in Final Fantasy 14 and not being challenged. Beyond just FATES adjusting levels, there are powerful S-tier marks, including a Giant Wasp-like enemy. Our party was probably 7-8 people strong, and it still took us over 10 minutes to kill the thing. Learning its AOE and instadeath abilities helped, but it's clear there are plenty of challenges across Dawntrail's areas.

Ihuykatumu Dungeon

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We also ran the Ihuykatumu Dungeon in a party of four (we filled the DPS role as the Viper). It was understandably pretty straightforward. We started off on a boat chasing someone down a river, and we had to defeat the enemies that they threw onto our boat. After that, we couldn't proceed on the water anymore, so we had to carve a path through a few dungeon nests and enemies as we proceeded on foot. When we came to the final boss arena, we faced a giant beetle-like enemy who not only hit hard but had a variety of AOE attacks that covered the arena. Many times, there was only one safe area during these, and making it there was a matter of life and death, really adding to the challenge of the fight.

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Unfortunately, once we had reduced the enemy to about 20%, it managed to wipe 3 out of 4 of us (including myself, our tank, and our healer). This left one other player face-to-face with this boss: a Final Fantasy 14 Warrior. This player managed to impressively defeat this boss by themselves, netting us all the win. It was intense and a lot of fun, even from the sidelines in that final fight.

Final Fantasy 14's Dawntrail is the Start of Something New

Overall, Final Fantasy 14's Dawntrail expansion has high expectations. Any additional content to Final Fantasy 14 understandably will, but Dawntrail holds an unenviable decision, having to introduce a brand new storyline following years of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga. It'll be interesting to see, ultimately, where the story goes with Tural, but the gameplay, new features, and everything coming alongside it are seemingly up to the task.

Final Fantasy 14's Dawntrail expansion officially launches July 2. Game ZXC was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.