With early access just around the corner, we finally have Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail’s first round of patch notes—and it’s a hefty list of changes and upgrades.
What’s new in the FFXIV Patch 7.0 preliminary notes?
The bulk of the FFXIV 7.0 preliminary patch notes is made up of the usual new content that comes with a new expansion, including new story quests, new Role questlines, a new crafter and gatherer job quest delivery series, adjustments to Endwalker content to better reflect the new level cap, and more. There are also a ton of new and retroactive changes that’ll be unique to Dawntrail, ranging from QoL adjustments to overhauls to certain gameplay features.
Special currency changes
As expected, the special currency used in Endwalker—Tomestones of Causality and Comedy as well as White Crafters’/Gatherers’ Scrips—will be retired to make room for Tomestones of Aesthetics and Orange Scrips in Dawntrail. It also seems that Sacks of Nuts, the new Hunt currency introduced in Shadowbringers, will continue to be used in Tural. Additionally, the cap for Bicolor gemstones will be increased from 1,000 to 1,500.
Alliance Raid Duty Roulette adjustment
To diversify the raids chosen for Alliance Raid Roulettes (as well as to prevent players from deliberately limiting the choice by unequipping their gear), Patch 6.5 introduced an incredibly controversial change to the Alliance Raid Duty Roulette. Players were required to meet the average item level of their currently equipped job to be able to queue.
To what must be the joy and dismay of many players, it looks like the devs are doubling down on the decision even harder—players will actually be required to meet the average ilvl of the most advanced Alliance Raid available at their job level. The ilvl requirements will no longer scale to your level but instead operate on a tier system of 235 at levels 60 to 69, 365 at 70 to 79, 495 at 80 to 89, and 625 at 90 to 99.
Improvements to blacklisting, muting, and chat filtering
After many years of an almost decorative block feature, FFXIV is finally upgrading its blacklist system in Dawntrail. Players will be able to eject unwanted guests from their private player housing and apply the ban to every character on another player’s account. While the system won’t be able to block off known griefers in duties and roulettes, it’s still a massive improvement that will help players fend off targeted harassment and stalking outside of instanced content.
A separate mute system will be added in addition to the improved blacklist. Players will be notified if a blacklisted or muted character speaks and have the option to temporarily display their message. Also, a Term Filter for the chat log will be added, allowing players to filter out specific words.
QoL changes to Gatherer jobs
It looks like the FFXIV dev team isn’t done with the various QoL changes introduced in Endwalker—the Patch 7.0 notes include many small changes and improvements that add up to a much better experience. The gatherer job action that increases node integrity/gathering attempts will no longer be available when a node is at maximum integrity, saving players from accidentally wasting 300 GP for nothing in return.
Furthermore, the actual gathering window will display the integrity of the current node for a more streamlined and intuitive UI. Fishers haven’t been left out of the improvements, either—the Fish Guide will now actually indicate whether a fish needs a Precision or Powerful Hookset to catch. Additionally, GP won’t be reduced to zero if you’re killed while on a gatherer job, meaning that you won’t have to wait multiple minutes to get it back if you have some unfortunate accident during an important gathering window.
Miscellaneous changes and improvements
On top of all the changes above, the preliminary notes also include a list of small but impactful improvements to various game features:
- The LB3 animation for Monk and Dragoon will no longer move the character’s actual position—no more mishaps when trying to deliver a finisher to a boss hovering just off the edge of an arena, as was the case in P12S.
- A new option to hide other players near a story NPC has been added—you’ll actually be able to see the NPC you need to talk to amidst the sea of other players at the same quest stage.
- Another win for gender equality in the Glamour meta, as both Faerie Tale costume sets will lose the gender restriction.
- The duration of the animation lock for certain potions and tinctures will be reduced, potentially allowing them to be double-weaved into burst rotations.
- Large-scale FATEs with special rewards—like the overworld boss fights against Daivadipa and Archaeotonia—will be displayed on the map like other FATEs.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail goes live in early access on June 28—you can check out more details from the preliminary patch notes here.
