Final Fantasy XIV's 86th PLL Offers In-Game Look At The Occult Crescent, Cosmic Exploration, And More

The second half of the Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.2 Live Letter took place this morning, and it was packed. As some of you may have noted, Yoshi-P has been telling us that this particular patch would be a big one, and well, it took about 3 and a half hours for him to detail everything. Of course, they kicked everything off with a new trailer, and it’s apparent we’re going to have to put a few people in their place.

As expected, the patch is set to release on Tuesday, March 25. This update will be preceded by a 24-hour downtime for implementation. Make sure you have everything in order before they bring the game down.

Now, to the content. As we mentioned, today’s stream is pretty lengthy, so we may skim over some of the content – particularly anything that was covered already in the previous live letter. Of course, we will embed the full stream below and, if you’d like to follow along with translations, we suggest the unofficial Final Fantasy XIV Discord channel. They’re who we trust when doing these writeups, and they do an amazing job.

Of course, the update will continue the MMORPG's current MSQ. That means a new dungeon and a new trial. Both of these were teased in the previous live letter, so we won’t spend much time on them here. That said, Yoshi-P did note that the normal mode of the trial shouldn’t be too difficult. The Extreme version – available on patch day as well – is questionable. He also added that players can expect to receive a single totem per clear for this one and then made a crack about people thinking they need to do 99 runs.

This update marks the next tier of the normal raids. Savage will kick off a week later, meaning players have a week to get their gear prepared. The good news is that crafted gear will drop with the 7.2 release, so start making deals with your crafter friends now.

As for other battle content, who wants to visit Suzaku again? If you’re planning on attempting the new Unreal Trial, that’s what you’ll be doing. That’s right. We’re all headed back to Hell’s Kier. I’m not really sure how we have time to visit Othard with everything else going on. This is probably why the Scions are always telling us to get some rest.

On the PvP front, an improved version of The Borderlands Ruins (Secure) returns to Frontline. Among the various changes, the developers added teleporters to the map to allow players to make it to the middle more easily. These are not active immediately, however.

Players can also expect job adjustments – not just in PvP but also in PvE. This is going to hurt some of you, but Pictomancer is getting a nerf. Supposedly, it’s a “slight” nerf, but we’ll see. Melee DPS, on the other hand, is getting a buff.

The update will also introduce new role actions specifically for large-scale PvP. Those actions can be swapped in the starting area, depending on the situation, even after a match is underway. Players choose 1 of 3 actions for each role. One example is a Rampage skill for tanks that allows them to attack all nearby enemies and increase damage. Healers get a Stoneskin action to protect themselves and party members. Each DPS type has its own skills as well. The ones shown are obviously not the only ones available, but it gives a general idea.

This was announced in the PvP section but actually applies game-wide. Players can now mount while moving. That’s a nice change. Although, after 10 years of stopping to summon mounts, Yoshi-P imagines it will take players time to get used to not having to stand still. Speaking of quality-of-life changes, the ability to queue food, pots, and sprint will also be a thing. However, even when sprint runs out, you won’t go back to the normal trot; you’ll be somewhere in between with a jog.

As we all know, Patch 7.2 will introduce Cosmic Exploration for crafters and gatherers as well as the new Operation, Occult Crescent. That said, this content will not be made available on the 25th. Instead, they will roll out in the 7.2 series of patches. Cosmic Exploration will hit with 7.21 on April 22. Occult Crescent will drop with Patch 7.25 on May 27. This is also when players can expect the next Hildibrand installment, as well as the Mamool Ja Society Quests. We all still have a bit longer to wait on those.

That said, it will give players time to concentrate on the new raids and earn the next set of raid gear. As we’re still in the Arcadion, the new gear is fairly modern, giving street vibes for a lot of it, if not all. (I imagine a friend of mine will continue to complain about caster gear.) Yes, there is new Tomestone gear. Visually, it’s on the other end of the spectrum, traditional fantasy.

We actually got some in-game footage of the raid in this stream, so if you want to see it, the stream is embedded below. (Honestly, I just can’t with some of these characters.)

What are we expecting when Cosmic Exploration drops? Lalafells in space suits, apparently. (According to Yoshi-P, those of us with tails will have to live with them being crammed into our space suits.) Obviously, we’re terraforming different worlds, starting with our own moon.. This is apparently simple content, partially consisting of solo “Cosmo Missions” that function similarly to guild leves. Everything’s done through a tablet, so there’s no need to run back to someone and report.

There are also emergency missions, which require players to work together to fill a gauge. Completing each step earns players rewards, and extra rewards are distributed at the end.

Players will also be able to pilot mechs, although they will need to buy tickets to do so. For that, we have Moon Credits. It seems that even with that, being a pilot is not guaranteed. You still have to be chosen. If you’re not, the ticket will be returned. When you are chosen, you’ll take part in “Mech Ops”.

Just as was the case with Ishgardian Restoration, Cosmic Exploration includes lots of mini-content that players can earn goodies from. Prepare for the RNG.

As for what’s required to participate in Cosmic Exploration, you just need to have completed Endwalker. If you’re still working on Dawntrail, don’t worry. Also, note that you need to be on your home world to participate in this content. Of course, this content is tied to the new relic tools for crafters and gatherers.

Moving on to the Occult Crescent, this content will be available to Disciples of War or Magic at level 100. Yes, you need to have completed Dawntrail. As with other Operations, the Occult Crescent is broken up into instances. Each instance can hold 72 players.

The Occult Crescent introduces a stat specific to the content called “Knowledge Level.” This is the content’s leveling system, so it’s important for players to concentrate on leveling it, particularly since it’s the determining factor in the outcome of a battle. Yes, if you’re knocked out, you can lose levels – although this won’t happen until after Knowledge Level 5.

This is also the content that introduces the Support Jobs mentioned in the last Live Letter. These jobs have to be unlocked. Players only have access to the Freelancer at the beginning. Luckily, just doing the first quest will unlock more jobs. There are 12 jobs total, and the first three will be unlocked with the first quest.

As with previous Operations, players will face individual monsters, mob groups, and FATEs. There will also be Critical Encounters, which have no player count restriction but are more difficult than FATEs.

Yes, this is where you will be working on your relic weapon. Players will also pick up gear in the Occult Crescent. This gear includes boosted stats while doing Occult Crescent content.

As we all know, new content means new mounts and minions. A few of these were shown off during the livestream, including the most adorable beagle puppy minion. As for the mounts, one looks like one of those possessed walls had just swallowed the Warrior of Light. There’s also an Alexandria-themed car, a mech, and another set of wings.

Of course, at the end of the stream, there was some general business and announcements to take care of as things closed. This included showing off chocobo and moogle onesies, Hydalyn and Zodiark liquor, t-shirts, and more.