Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail: Everything we know so far
What to expect in the MMORPG's next expansion.
Dawntrail will be the next expansion to MMORPG Final Fantasy 14, extending the story of the player's Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
Leading up to release, three Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest events have taken place over the past year in Las Vegas, London and Tokyo. At each, producer and director Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) has revealed more about what we can expect from the game. You can watch the full trailer for Dawntrail below.
Below you'll find everything we know so far about Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail.
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Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail trailer
Here's the full trailer for Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail:
Square Enix has also released a launch trailer for the expansion, showing in-game footage of what we can expect.
Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail release date
Dawntrail is set for release on 2nd July 2024. Early access will be available a week before, from 28th June.
Yoshida noted the release was delayed slightly to not clash with the release of Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
Yoshida described Dawntrail as "the very best summer vacation", alluding to both the game's setting and its release.
Square Enix has released a new expansion to Final Fantasy 14 every other year. This began with Heavensward in 2015, then Stormblood in 2017, Shadowbringers in 2019, and Endwalker in 2021. These have all been in summer, until Endwalker which released in December 2021.
Which platforms will Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail be released on?
Final Fantasy 14 as a whole is currently available on both PC and PlayStation consoles (PS4 and PS5). Dawntrail will therefore follow suit across these same platforms.
In addition, Final Fantasy 14 is now out on Xbox Series X/S. As such, Dawntrail will be the first expansion coming to Xbox consoles on day one.
Xbox head Phil Spencer took to the stage at the Las Vegas Fan Fest to announce Final Fantasy 14 would be coming to Xbox Series X/S consoles in spring 2024. Then, in Tokyo, an open beta for Xbox was announced for "around 21st February" - and no it didn't leak early.
Lastly, the famously memed free trial for Final Fantasy 14 has also been extended to include Stormblood. That means players can test out the base game and the first two expansions for free, up to level 70.
Which Jobs are in Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail?
As with each expansion, Dawntrail will introduce two new Jobs - essentially your character's class. Yoshida teased these at the Las Vegas Fan Fest with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on his t-shirt as a major clue. Both Jobs are DPS (damage per second), as opposed to Healers or Tanks. A third limited Job is also on the way: Beastmaster.
There are already 20 combat Jobs in Final Fantasy 14, meaning Dawntrail will have 23.
Viper
Announced at the London Fan Fest, Viper is a dual-wielding melee DPS with two swords that combine into one. It's an original Job not seen in previous games in the series. It's similar to the existing Ninja Job.
The Viper fights with swift slashes to pressure enemies, before unleashing mighty blows with the joined weapon. Vipers can also call on the memories of ancient hunters to imbue their body with additional power for temporary abilities.
Pictomancer
Announced at the Tokyo Fan Fest, Pictomancer is a call-back to Final Fantasy 6 and the ability to draw enemy techniques. In Dawntrail, the Pictomancer is a ranged magical DPS Job that battles with a paintbrush and can paint creatures, weapons and landscapes with which to attack enemies.
Pictomancers will be able to buff the party with magic in addition to attacking enemies, all with colourful splatter effects. This is not strictly a support Job, however.
A further Job will also be added in a future update after Dawntrail's release. The Beastmaster Job will join Blue Mage as a new limited Job and will include some form of beast collection feature.
What's the graphical update in Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail?
Dawntrail, which marks update 7.0 of the game, will include the game's first ever graphical update.
The update will improve the graphics of the game, adding more detailed textures, better lighting and shadow, more muscle definition to characters, and vastly increased plant density. No more low poly grapes!
The development team will gradually work to update the graphics bit by bit, beginning with Dawntrail.
Players will be given a fantasia item to edit their character following the graphical update.
In particular, the lush jungle areas and flashy Pictomancer Job seem primed to show off the graphical update players can expect.
As a result, the PC requirements for the game will be altered. Minimum and Recommended system requirements will be as per the screenshot below:
Everything we know about Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail
Here's everything else we know about Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail.
Story and setting
Dawntrail will take place in the western continent of Tural, known as the New World. Tural consists of two regions, north and south, which are loosely inspired by North and South America. At the centre is the capital city of Tuliyollal, a market town with plenty of diversity.
Other known areas include:
- Urqopacha: a mountainous area featuring bright rainbow fields inspired by Peru
- Yak T'el: a lush jungle area
- Kozama'uka: a tropical region of breathtaking waterfalls and vivid coloured trees
- Shaaloani: a Wild West-like desert area with a railroad and Ceruleum deposits
- Solution Nine: a futuristic cyberpunk metropolis
- Heritage Found: another futuristic area full of lightning energy
Players will once again join the Scions of the Seventh Dawn on a new adventure, where they will take part in a contest for the Tural throne. The story will see them dividing into two opposing groups.
Completing Dawntrail will take players up to level 100. Each expansion adds 10 player levels to reach, with Endwalker ending at 90.
New characters
A new playable race of characters will be introduced in Dawntrail: female Hrothgar. These are strong lioness women. Until Dawntrail, players could only play as male Hrothgar.
Female Hrothgar will be represented in the story with a brand new NPC called Wuk Lamat (voiced by Sena Bryer), who is the daughter of the current ruler of Tural. Ahead of the release of Dawntrail, players will meet Wuk Lamat in patch 6.55 part two.
New lifestyle content
Dawntrail will introduce a new branch of lifestyle content called Cosmic Exploration, which will allow players to explore different planets. It's currently unknown what players will do on each planet, but the content can be played solo or co-operative. It's intended to follow the Island Sanctuary farming mode added in Endwalker.
New Alliance Raid series
A new series of Alliance Raids will be added in patch 7.1. Based on Final Fantasy 11, the series is called Echoes of Vana'diel.
Other additions
Dawntrail will also add a new 8-player raid called The Arcadion; new fates, hunts, treasure hunts, and quest-synced sidequests; new gear and recipes; updates to the PvP mode; more Hildibrand adventures; and new plans for deep dungeons.
Further, players will be able to dye more of their gear; equip eyeglasses as a separate item to headgear; and the furnishing limit for houses will be increased.
For hands-on impressions of the game, check out our Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail preview detailing more about the Viper and Pictomancer Jobs, as well as the graphical update.