The Endwalker expansion of Final Fantasy XIV concluded emotionally a 10-year-old story: the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga. Now it is time to pave the way for the next 10 years of content with Dawntrail, a new era whose first step is set in Tural, a new and exciting tropical location where the Warrior of Light and their allies are summoned for a new adventure.
For this reason, we traveled to Los Angeles, where we had the opportunity to play Dawntrail for an entire afternoon, focusing on gameplay mechanics and some exploration elements. Here we tell you about our experience.
Dawntrail: a new beginning
Revealed in 2023, Dawntrail introduces a new story that continues after the events of Endwalker. This is easier said than done, as it is actually a new beginning for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Additionally, it is an opportunity to introduce 2 new classes: Viper, a melee DPS that fights with two one-handed swords that can combine into a two-handed weapon, and Pictomancer, a ranged magical DPS that uses a brush to mix aether and bring creatures, weapons, and spells to life through painting.
The new classes: Pictomancer and Viper
Most of our playtime was spent exploring and getting to know the Pictomancer, a job originally introduced in Final Fantasy VI (1994). Now it returns and integrates with interesting mechanical complexity that is overwhelming at first, but once you take the time and experiment with all the powers, you realize it is actually quite simple to use.
The foundation of the Pictomancer is 3 canvases: weapon, creature, and landscape. With each of them, you can paint seals that you then materialize with Muses. That is, the flow is more or less as follows: paint seals on the canvases (you can even have them ready outside of combat) that you activate with Muses and that transform into active abilities. For example, by painting the hammer seal, you can materialize this object with the Muse and subsequently use the devastating power of this summoned weapon. Here comes the interesting part: each of the Muses has 2 charges that regenerate over time, so the challenge and fun of the Pictomancer is knowing when to use each one.
"Without a doubt, it is a class that requires patience and a lot of rhythm"
This creates a challenging gameplay loop where the player's skill is tested to summon the respective Muses and execute their power at the right moment. But that is not all, as in the intermittent moments, the Aetherhue comes into play. Basically, the Aetherhue is a filler mechanic between the phases of painting the canvases. After executing a combo of three powers, you get Aetherhue and a white paint charge. The goal of filling this new bar is to execute the Subtractive Palette, which modifies the combo's potency and transforms the white paint charges into black paint, which you use with another ability.
Pictomancer is our favorite classAs you can see, Pictomancer is a very challenging and interesting class to play, as its gameplay loop focuses on always being active generating Aetherhue, transforming the white charges into black, while exhausting the Muses and drawing seals at the right moments. If we can define it in a few words, it would be an endless list of priorities that dynamically change throughout the battles. Without a doubt, it is a class that requires patience and a lot of rhythm to not get lost in the proper order when executing powers. We spent most of the time with Pictomancer and we do not regret it.
On the other hand, we also got to use the Viper, a melee DPS job focused on using two swords that can combine into a single weapon. In short, this class consists of executing combos that enhance your character or weaken enemies. Like all classes in Final Fantasy XIV, Viper has visual aids on the screen (power bars) that fill up when you use specific weapon skills and combos on enemies. Once the gauge is full, you can execute a powerful combo chain that transforms normal moves into more powerful abilities. Viper is an accessible and easy-to-understand class that will prove to be a lethal machine in the hands of experienced warriors.
Tural: a world as beautiful as it is dangerous
During our session, we explored the city of Tuliyollal and the areas of Urgopacha and Kozama'uka. Unfortunately, the city was limited in content, meaning there were no quests, and the NPCs had no dialogue, but fortunately, the location stood out for its beauty. The field areas, on the other hand, showed a variety of landscapes, from farmlands and steppes to small tribal villages, with a very characteristic coastal atmosphere.
We also went through the dungeon titled Ihuykatumu. The dungeon design was quite straightforward, as they usually are in Final Fantasy XIV. We started on a boat chasing a target along a river, facing enemies who boarded our boat. Later, we traveled on foot, overcoming each encounter and its mechanics without much problem. The final boss of Ihuykatumu was a completely different story as its mechanics and area attacks caught us off guard. After failing a couple of times, we achieved victory by observing the attack patterns and understanding that victory depended more on dodging elemental dangers and not standing in the fire. A great classic that never goes out of style.
Tuliyollal rises gloriously on the horizonAt this point, our play session came to an end, and we had to leave Tural and the two new classes behind. Personally, we really liked the Pictomancer and the special cadence of gameplay required to execute the powers in the right order and at the best moment. Naturally, this is the class we will use when Dawntrail arrives on game servers next July 2 on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Dawntrail promises a new era full of exciting adventures and fresh challenges. As Final Fantasy XIV prepares for another 10 years of content, Dawntrail not only continues the legacy of Endwalker but also inaugurates an exciting chapter in the saga of the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
