Predictions for Patch 4.4

As long as they don't bring Haurchefant or Ysayle back, I'm content. I don't mind Gaius returning since he represents the Garlemald that I want to see more of...though I'd have been equally happy with a different character being introduced and slipping into his intended role. Though there is a very thin line being tread already. When death feels 'cheap' it rubs people the wrong way. Every person has characters they like and those that they don't. So bringing characters back from the dead is always going to be controversial as there's going to be those who question why X is brought back but Y isn't.

As for 4.4, I'm hoping that we learn why Varis spat on the coffin of the previous Emperor. He's very much a wildcard at the moment. Varis having met Alphinaud already back in Heavensward makes it likely that the pair will meet again.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

As for 4.4, I'm hoping that we learn why Varis spat on the coffin of the previous Emperor. He's very much a wildcard at the moment. Varis having met Alphinaud already back in Heavensward makes it likely that the pair will meet again.

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Was that the Emperor's coffin though? We had learned about the succession crisis the empire was going through and, as such, I always thought he had spat on his uncle's coffin, whom supposedly was his number one obstacle during those events.
I imagine Varis shared the late Emperor's goals and wishes for the empire, which is why I assumed his disdain was directed at his rival for the crown.

I don't think it was ever resolved whether Varis was spitting on his recently-deceased uncle, who challenged him and nearly tore the Empire apart, or whether the War of Succession was relatively short and they left Solus hangin' in the throne room on an extended period of mourning until it was resolved, and then he spit on him at the end of it anyway for some reason. (For "letting" this happen in the first place?)

My Predictions for 4.4 -5.0 (I had some ideas that I have no idea will be in 4.4 itself

-near the end of Stormbloods update cycle, Fordola will temporarily join our Jolly band of Scions until a certain point 5.0 Storyline or Post-storyline
-We'll meet NotGaisbuttotallyGais aka Shadowhunter at the end of 4.4 and learn his true identity (or cliffhanger into learning his identity at the beginning of 4.5)
-Ele-Zenos is flying off to Garlemald to try and get his body back and will reach Doma by the end of 4.4
-Solus Flashbacks since Solus is in the new Update card
-Eldibus will prepare to personally try taking us down
-In 4.5 We'll unwillingly team up with Zenos to take on Eldibus in an instance, Eldibus not wanting to take a chance will leave the body allowing for Zenos to take over, resulting in a Niddhog-esque Trial

I hope we'll get to learn the truth of what happened in the Burn to make it the way it was now that we're journeying to it presumably to rescue Alphnaud from the imperials and/or whatever nasty beasts dwell there.

If it was really a multitude of primals that stripped the land of its aether, someone had to have summoned them and judging from the decrepit building present in the sole screenshot we have of the place as a dungeon, it seems like it probably was home to a civilization before it was destroyed.

Re. the Burn, there's some previous lore set up in the Azim Steppe - I posted about it in the 4.3 discussion thread and I'll copy-paste it here:


The cave-dwelling Uyagir in the Nhaama desert (cave entrance at X:8.8, Y:29.6) seem to claim their ancestors were responsible for what happened.

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Baavgai explains:
We live here to make amends for our sins. In the past, having grown drunk off its own greed, our tribe embarked on a mission to subjugate all that it possibly could.
In response to our insatiable greed, the gods punished the Uyagir by unleashing giant, oliphant-like beetles upon our lands.
The beetles left absolute devastation in their wake. Rivers dried up, crops wilted and cavernous holes were dug in the southern deserts.
Our ancestors, faced with the result of their avarice, swore to repent for their mistakes. They chose to live in the caves bored by the giant insects and abandon all greed.

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So... did they summon a primal to defeat their enemies? Were the beetles some kind of primal gone out of control or even someone else's primal? (something on the scale and behaviour of Bismarck I suppose.) Or even Allagan bio-warfare or machinery as perceived by a primitive tribe?

It's a little ambiguous whether they are currently living in the bored caves though, or if they moved out into different caves later. But the world map does have a drawing of a giant worm (beetle larva) in the Burn, so that part seems to add up.


They also have cave murals that, according to one of the other tribesmen, "tell stories of our ancestors' greed":

https://img2.finalfantasyxiv.com/acc...4700d7bc73.jpg

(I only took the one screenshot and forgot to check the other cave walls to see if they had different images. This one doesn't seem particularly useful in the end.)

All on the right seem to be hunters and horses, directly behind the scaffolding are mammoths (?) and at the top is a warrior with a sword riding possibly-a-yol.

I'm not certain but I think this might be the same mural in the cave where you fight the yol at the end of Bardam's Mettle. Whether that would mean anything or if they just recycled the design.


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And now here we are, seeing more of the Burn 'for real', and it has giant worm carcasses scattered across it. Whatever happened, it was something more solid than "just" a primal, and perhaps the worm-tunnels are still there waiting to be explored.

For that matter, perhaps some of the worms are still there.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

As for the Burn... well, while it's said to be a lifeless wasteland and certainly appears that way when we played as Alphinaud in RP Mode, the artwork shows what looks like some sort of massive land worm's carcass. It would be pretty boring as a dungeon if there were no landmarks...

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Oh I am quite sure that there will be landmarks but other than that? Will it be just another dungeon where we kill just another bunch of garlean soldiers or machines? For me that dungeon sounds not that interesting but we will see how it will turn out.

About Gaius: Honestly I still feel like it was retconned. We barely managed it out alive by having the mount there (and the fire was directly behind us). Yet Gaius, who was probably also in shock, somehow managed to get out of it alive and shows no obvious burn marks. (Would have been cool to have his face being horrible burned) But yeah having to accept that he is back. (Dear SE can you bring my husband back to live too? *puppy eyes* maybe just give him the echo and let him be a present from Hydaelyn for our good deeds..even if its just at the end of FF14..please *cough* Ignore me..I am just salty that a handful of characters are surviving it, while all my favorite ones stay death T_T)

His arms are completely bandaged.

I have a feeling the Shadow Hunter's identity won't remain a secret for that long. It's generally best to not maintain a mystery too long past the point where enough hints have been dropped for observers to draw the correct conclusion, and he introduced himself with Gaius van Baelsar's entire moveset and a bunch of Ascian masks on his hip. Conversely, if it is kept secret for longer than this upcoming patch, the chance that he isn't Gaius will steadily increase. But he's probably Gaius.

But really, first Xelphatol, and now the Burn. Really wish they'd stop turning areas that should be fully-explorable zones into one-off dungeons, though I guess we should be grateful that the eternally-underutilized Azys Lla wasn't just a dungeon.

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Moving on past MSQ, we also have Omega: Alphascape coming up, don't we?

The name is... troubling, though we already knew Ironworks guest characters have the biggest targets on their backs. I had thought the story had finally gotten over that fixation after Gosetsu did his thing in 4.0, but after Heaven-on-High I wouldn't put it past the the writers (or Yoshida) to have Alpha defeat Omega once and for all with the magical power of sacrifice. Prepping a monument next to Mide's...

On a lighter note, we've done 5 and 6, so numeric progression dictates 7 will be next. Sephiroth already has a bit of a reputation as a bonus boss, so it would be a fitting tribute. More importantly, I wanna hear a Soken cover of "One Winged Angel." Perhaps we'll go Proudclad -> Jenova -> Sephiroth, with the fourth and final stage saved for our showdown with Omega itself? (Bonus points if Jenova gets a form change that gets one-shot by Knights of the Round.)

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Originally Posted by Theodric

As long as they don't bring Haurchefant or Ysayle back, I'm content.

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Haurchefant, I'm pretty sure is gonna stay dead. Ysayle, I'm not so sure... In her case, we never recovered the body (or even held a funeral, to my recollection). On a more personal note, I wasn't really satisfied with her sacrifice. It seemed pretty pointless, as all it did was slow the Garleans down a bit and temporarily cripple one of their flagships. They still got to Azys Lla and set up shop, so all it really did was give us a minor head start. It really didn't feel like her character arc had come to a satisfactory conclusion, either, regarding her angst at having the rug yanked out from under her with the revelation that Primal Shiva was just a poor copy of the original, rather than the original reincarnated. Additionally, the way she died was just weird, shattering into crystal fragments. I don't think any other individual, including other folks who've been defeated after transforming into Primals, have died the same way. A clever writer could definitely take advantage of that.

She's probably dead, but if she were to make a reappearance, it would not shock me.