Revelations from Fan Festival Around the World 2021

I'm actually scared for Alisaie a little bit.


Bonus points if one of our Scions goes the way of Tellah, and over exerts themselves in an effort to kill a bad guy with an insanely powerful spell. M-Meteo... Meteo!

Riol's actually interacted several times with us directly in the MSQ. All I can remember about Hoary is the exhibition match in front of the children. I could see Riol filling into Thancred's spot quite easily.

The others, I'm not so sure. Kinda hoping that some of the world leaders hang up their political office and come adventuring with us finally in 6.1. *Cough* Aymeric *Cough* I still haven't forgotten the only guy to ever take me to dinner. It was such a nice dinner too!

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Originally Posted by HiraishinNoJutsu

The Reaper familiar in the showcase trailer and in the art seems to just be chilling with/Embracing the WoL. My little pet theory is that this is a reflection of us from the 13th shard. Maybe they couldn't fully rejoin themselves but still want to keep fighting for the salvation of the world so they teamed up with us? I like them! They're nice!

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I wouldn't be so sure of that, as it's already in the lore that voidsent can be rather easily bound by magic anyway - several of the minions are voidsent and we have at least one voidsent mount (aka the ahriman, which it's description text outright says it's "bound by magics guaranteed to never fade"), so the Reaper's familar could easily just be bound by magic too to be just the Reaper's slave essentially. It doesn't need to be overthought quite so much.

I feel that if any of the scions were to continue on (assuming no deaths), it'd be Alisaie and Graha. They both are definitely the types to follow us on adventure, and definitely would want to see the world's mysteries. I would add Alphinaud, but I figure he'd prefer to get Sharlayan back in shape and have it re-enter the political stage of the world, something he has incredible skill at. Y'shtola...I have a feeling she'll be entering retirement soon, probably of her own volition, and likely to work on a way to reach other Shards for the sake of the possible knowledge that could be found on them (something Urianger would likely help with). Estinien and Thancred are both wanderers in a sense, so we'd likely meet them elsewhere, but they wouldn't remain with us for long.

I could picture in general a re-branding of the Scions after 6.0, or at least an offshoot for adventuring. Something Tataru would likely come up with not only as a way of bringing in money, but also to make everybody happy since every single Scion is an adventurer at heart. Plus I feel like she couldn't bear to see everybody just up and leave, she'd have something up the sleeves to keep things going, probably with exclusive partnership of the Garlond Ironworks and Rowena's House of Splendors. And we both know the Ironworks would help on our adventures just for knowledge, while Rowena chases the profit (and the profit follows us, unfortunately).

Krile has been suspiciously absent from everything in regards to EW besides going to Sharlayan to talk to the Forum, and given what certain Forum members have done in the past (Ast questline), Krile could be facing death or incarceration, which could be why we go to Labryinthos to free Krile, but perhaps this time we are too late.

Y'shtola is going nowhere she is the premier character for FFXIV in other FF games and they'll keep the marketing girl around for as long as she is profitable.

Urianger, Alisae and Alphinaud I feel are safe.

Thancred though he has had a very final moment with his arc in Shadowbringers, I can certainly see him going out on a heroic sacrifice like what happened (a lot but not really) in FFIV.

G'raha is probably safe they had the perfect moment to kill him off but choose not to so I doubt he will die.

Now retirement I can see happening for all of them apart from Y'shtola, Alphinaud and Alisae.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

I wouldn't be so sure of that, as it's already in the lore that voidsent can be rather easily bound by magic anyway - several of the minions are voidsent and we have at least one voidsent mount (aka the ahriman, which it's description text outright says it's "bound by magics guaranteed to never fade"), so the Reaper's familar could easily just be bound by magic too to be just the Reaper's slave essentially. It doesn't need to be overthought quite so much.

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Aren't the Voidsent from the Celestium also bound by Magic? Except Ultros, who seem to be content to help with the whole BLU business as long as he get paid.
Some voidesent also show some semblance of long term plan, for instance Diabolos. It could very well be a voidsent helping us willingly to reach his own goal of getting rid of more voidsent / feeding on the free Aether we'll find him through our travels.


On another note, if someone is interested in the Nightfall Company they asked about in the Gillionaire panel, here's the only mention Rocl and I found, in Omega recordings:

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Magitek Terminal: <blip> <buzz> Military Division, designation 151737. Initial archive recording for the “Omega Enterprise.” It is the Year 1098 of the Allagan Empire.
Magitek Terminal: Our campaign in the southern continent of Meracydia has succeeded in revitalizing our ailing society, stagnant as it was from long years of peaceful reign.
Magitek Terminal: The expansion effort itself, however, has encountered unexpected resistance. Rather than submit, the beast clans of these southern lands have begun performing rituals to call forth their tribal deities.
Magitek Terminal: One such “god” is proving particularly troublesome─the resurrected form of the wyrm Bahamut.
Magitek Terminal: Though we dispatched this formidable creature once already, the prayers of its worshipers have returned it to life with a power orders of magnitude greater than before.
Magitek Terminal: We must be thankful, then, for the grand vision of our emperor. In his infinite wisdom, he sees potential value in even the most deadly of foes.
Magitek Terminal: The capture and containment of eikons has proven well within our capabilities, and such will be the fate of Bahamut. We shall imprison this entity along with its faithful, and siphon its energy to fuel our latest technologies.
Magitek Terminal: At present, the emperor leads his Nightfall Company in an inexorable advance across the continent, and the battle shifts in our favor even as the crystal supplies of our enemies continue to dwindle. If we are to strike at the wyrm god, there will be no better time.
Magitek Terminal: Omega is the key to victory. We will awaken the weapon sealed away in centuries past, and command it to subdue the unsuspecting Bahamut. History shall know this moment as the Omega Enterprise.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

I'm actually scared for Alisaie a little bit.

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With all the FFIV references flying around I'm scared for both of the Twins, considering what happened with Palom and Porom.

I could see one of the twins meeting their end if it's used a catalyst for convincing their father and Old Sharlayan as a whole to abandon their isolationist ways and help bring a stop to the Final Days.

They explicitly stated that they don't want any deaths strictly for shock factor and want them have more weight.

Oh I'm sure will see some deaths, but retirement/ new career is going to be for the majority for sure.

People will die, but there not going to put an axe to most of the Scions.

As for upping the JV squad to the new Main Scions, definitely. And assuming he doesn't die Arenvald is basically the perfect character to use for the transition. He's much more well known and fleshed out then the rest of the B team, players know him but not so much so that it feels like they have done all they can with him. Having him and maybe Fordola become the new familiar faces pushing the New Scions forward with the WOL would be a nice clean way to do it if they wanted to.

I want to put my money on Labyrinthos being on the moon.
When revealed they said it was 'underground somewhere, but where?' As if the obvious conclusion of it following on immediately from Sharlayan was a red herring.
When introducing Mare Lamentorum, they specified that it wasn't the only location on the moon.
Hummingways, I mean Loporrits are going to be on the moon for sure, and the theme tune for Labyrinthos had a very whimsical, Il Mheg style to it, so the quirky cute little beast tribe being there seems a pretty good call.

This gives us three known zones on Hydaelyn, and two on the moon. With the sixth and final zone remaining secret, other than the artwork we saw for something like looks a bit like the Sea of Clouds, Azys Lla and Il Mheg all rolled into one...

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

This gives us three known zones on Hydaelyn, and two on the moon. With the sixth and final zone remaining secret, other than the artwork we saw for something like looks a bit like the Sea of Clouds, Azys Lla and Il Mheg all rolled into one...

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Perhaps a "Land of Summons" type deal in Hydaelyn's Core? Where we get to speak not only with Venat and those who made up Hydaelyn, but with others who became primals or "deified" and were later summoned as them (like Ifrit perhaps)? It'd be a way for them to bring back some characters like Ysayle and also give some major exposition.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Perhaps a "Land of Summons" type deal in Hydaelyn's Core? Where we get to speak not only with Venat and those who made up Hydaelyn, but with others who became primals or "deified" and were later summoned as them (like Ifrit perhaps)? It'd be a way for them to bring back some characters like Ysayle and also give some major exposition.

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It does look like somewhere the Occuria from XII would hang out.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

I'm hoping that it'll be a hierarchy-shift, myself. We've got Hoary, Ochre, Coultenet, Aenor, Riol, etc. hanging around as the "JV Squad". What if we let our main roster retire and let them shine? Let them struggle and grow and learned about them for a while, all while we recruited a third tier to replace their "stand around and say neat stuff" positions and make it feel like our purpose was growing and evolving as we accomplished our main purpose and re-branded for whatever we'll be in 6.1+

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I HAVE been saying that it's time for the "B-Team" Scions to step up into the spotlight. Hoary had said they would back in 4.55 and then they stayed in the back while the main Scions ran around Norvrandt with the WoL. Hoary and Coultenet completed the TRIALS OF THE BRAVE, for the Twelve's sake! They're already familiar with Thavnair! Of course, since I'm also betting on some of the 6.0 areas to be more prominent for the "Season 2" storyline in 6.1+, and Radz-at-Han as the "small city" is most likely to be the endgame hub, that could be the "in" for our new adventuring crew.

Also, slightly selfish, but considering all the Dancer imagery in Thavnair, I hope the job gets some time to shine there.

I'd be fine with some of the current cast being benched after 6.0; they've had a lot of time in the spotlight and there's only so much you can do with their character. Eventually they just become plot devices... better to have their stories conclude on a high note than drag them around as figurative zombies.

Wouldn't mind if the B-Team took center stage either. They're all likable characters and I've been saying for years Riol deserves more screentime. (Spymaster rivaling Thancred? Echo-less primal slayer?! Former member of the Company of Heroes?! Why doesn't this man have more screentime?! Then again if he were more center stage he couldn't do his job as a spy very well.)

Apropos of nothing, I found the "Gillionaire" segment kind of funny. Most of those questions were pretty easy but they had such a hard time with it.

Reaper...

Although I don’t usually play melee dps except as secondary jobs (I'll probably pick it up along with DRG, and ditch SAM), I am pleased with Reaper’s vibe and aesthetic, as well as the fact that they make no bones about the fact that it is drawing on the Void. One of my ideas on how they could do Necromancer is through drawing on Voidsent and forcing them into corpses, and this isn’t too far off from that, with the Reaper channeling this Voidsent avatar’s power into their own body, as well as the dark power of that world. There’s strong parallels here to the way DRG draws on the power of dragons. I liked some of the art it inspired, like:
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I hope this puts to rest the idea that they won’t introduce darker jobs, and I also hope we will one day see a caster in a similar vein, be it Necro or something else – assuming BLM doesn’t embrace its darker lineage. The get up Yoshi was in also had some strong Bloodborne vibes. While we don’t know its lore yet in full, I believe what was shown was sufficient as a door for other jobs of a similar ilk.

Also, the ghostly foe fought in the Reaper showcase looks a lot like a certain Voidsent (the Persona), but with a lighter shade (and going purple from below.) Reminds me a lot of the changes we saw in the Thavnair zone.

The last reference to the Reaper I recall is from here.

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Fearless creatures, we all learn to fight the Reaper
Can't defeat Her, so instead I'll have to be Her

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Guess Zenos got the memo. :D

Estinien...

Really enjoyed Estinien’s presence in the trailer. Reminds me a lot of the guy in the free trial vids, almost like a case of art imitating life given his CGI design. Curious to see how they’ll explain him partnering up with Vritra (apparently toungest of the brood) but with Tiamat about I think we can guess. It was also a highlight that his lines followed on from Emet’s. Likewise, Thancred and Urianger look as good as ever.

For those who say the derplander could never be a caster in a trailer because it wouldn’t be exciting enough or whatever, we’ve had a trailer where the most action scenes come from a RDM, a Sage and a DRG using their most aetherically heavy attacks. Perhaps they wouldn’t do it for other reasons, but IMO their style of trailers could easily allow for it, even without resorting to the usual panoply of defensive/control spells casters tend to use.

New city...

The best part of the trailer was confirmation that we’re going to old Sharlayan. They couldn’t really wrap up the story without touching on it. I’ve long wanted to see it, and it is every bit as beautiful as the colony led me to think it’d be, with a very Greco-roman style to its architecture. Catchy song too, although this stab at the lyrics (though I think it's saying vows rather than foes, but anyhoo) does make me think back to the following in the Fiend:

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Necessity is an inventive mother
Promising sanctum that She cannot provide
She is the hand that rocks the cradle
The wind that breaks the bough and leaves you to die

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But also Zodiark from XII (thanks to Kizuya for bringing this one to my attention.)

The re-creation of Amaurot on the moon (the product of the Ascians’ longing for their ancient home?), and Labyrinthos, have me intrigued. Sea (in the moon sense) of Lament or Sea of Sorrow I guess is the intended meaning – wonder if it’s what Fandaniel meant by moldering memories. The Allagan junk on there means they must’ve got there at some point, but maybe were sent packing by Elidibus.

One thing the trailer did, which I found cool, was tying in lines from prior expansions’ themes, giving them a fresh meaning, especially with the “two-toned echoes” line playing as Y’shtola, still clad in her sorceress outfit, snake jewellery and all, confronts the Forum.

Fourchenault, though said to be a powerful member of the Forum, is far from the only one. His lore blurb mentions he respects the right of others to make their own decisions even where he disagrees, which reminds me a lot of Emet-Selch’s own stance towards his own brethren, for example with Elidibus’s approach not to draw on his memory crystal. The wording used in the key note suggests we will learn more of him as early as part 2 of 5.5, and that he has an important role to play, which I guess is obvious enough; but I can’t help but wonder if the NPC said to appear this patch, with the crucial role to play in the H/Z arc, is someone else. My hope is that he will be used to explore Sharlayan’s stance and convictions, rather than writing them off as obstinate and foolish. He seems to be in a difficult situation, what with the fist clenching... and there was also this, which seems clearly to tie back to him. Also of interest is that in the French version of the trailer, Fourchenault says even if the star dies, they will live on, so what they have in mind is curious. They study the stars - have they got some destination in mind? In turn, is that what Labyrinthos is being outfitted for?

Between the shell designs (Amaurot one here), the scholarly focus, the Greco-roman names, its system of governance (also stumbled on this) and its non-warlike policy, there’s plenty of parallels to Amaurot – aside from the fact that Amaurot was working on a way to stop the problem and halt it via eikons like Zodiark. There may have been debates in Amaurot about the suitability of intervening, but it ultimately was a very outward-looking city. Sharlayan is going with a different approach. I’m keen to see what has pushed them in this direction.

New character...

On the new character at the top of the artwork, my current guess is Venat, especially with her hand position on the chest being like that of Venat and the Word of the Mother. That said, the mask is unmistakeably ancient, if not more ornate (some similar curls to the slab attached to Anima in its design as well as the book G'raha holds), and the white robes remind me a bit of this third scene from the murals. While another possible association is the white robes of an Emissary, given who I think this is, the former interpretation makes sense. Probably will have a better idea by 5.5 part 2. With Moon Amaurot and sky Amaurot in the picture, it could be something else, but with the crystal behind her, I believe Venat is a good guess. I'm also wondering if she is the [redacted] Ishikawa alluded to with regard to Fandaniel. If the "Venant" etymology for Venat checks out, there is this link:

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In ancient persian mythology, Venant (Vanant) is one of the Four Royal Stars (modern designation Regulus) who worked for the good under Ahura Mazda, is the guardian of the summer solstice, and is known as the Watcher of the North.

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Regulus in turn being linked to Leo. So if we assume that all holds up, it seems like a possible link. Thanks to ShadowMeowth for pointing me to this.

Either way, I wonder if she's going to have an active role in Sharlayan, given its ample Amaurot references, maybe seeking to recreate something of it after she (inadvertently?) sundered the world. My current view is that any links to Fandaniel will be relevant to the ancient world rather than present but I'm not ruling that out.

Other zones...

Thavnair certainly seems very vibrant and colourful, with very bright colours. It would seem the Iifa-tree styled dungeon, with the Matanga busts, is indeed located in Thavnair. The tower there is putting out energy closer to a shade of purple, so I wonder if that marks a transition phase in the plan, with the red part being to bring on the Final Days (corresponding to the “sound” and panic it caused), and the purple to begin channelling aether into whatever thing Fandaniel is planning on summoning, feeding off Zodiark’s (and Hydaelyn’s?) power. The large elephant statue makes me wonder if Ganesha will be making an appearance. The Magus Sisters are described as the other big foe, besides Anima, and yet they’re shown in the dungeon art, so are they just there to cause mischief? I’m wondering if they’ll be invoking Ganesha in some sense, given the theming of the dungeon.

As always, the music is a treat, with both Thavnair’s and Sharlayan’s themes bound to immerse in their respective zones. Again, the use of lines from prior expansions makes me think they could reflect this in the final boss fight, going through the MC’s journey.

The question of the final zone remains unclear. We’ve seen Garlemald, Labyrinthos, the Moon, the (artificial?) sky islands (again with structures not unlike Amaurot’s, and a bit similar to Zeal from the Chrono series – Giruvegan could also be a source of inspiration; I suspect these are the islands above Garlemald on the map), and Thavnair. Have to wonder if what the Forum is looking at on the map is the floating islands, a callback to Thordan and his search for Azys Lla. The usual assumption is Sharlayan will get its own surrounding zone, but my intuition is that it may be linked to Labyrinthos in that respect, wherever it is ultimately “underground” – apparently it’s some manner of artificial training ground (Mount Ordeals ref maybe – fitting given the MC’s travel companions - however, I suspect it could also be for whatever they have in mind to survive the Final Days v2.0.) If so, that leaves one final zone. At this point it’s looking like everyone besides the bumpkins on the three main continents knows about Amaurot. :`) Mare Lamentorum’s purple hue reminds me of Pandaemonium from Dissidia but given what's stored in the moon, maybe what's inside it. The paraphernalia inside it looks similar to some stuff in Anamnesis Anyder. That may provide some hints as to whom it could link to.

Other things...

Didn’t expect much on Pandaemonium, and the new raid relating to the Twelve (possibly in a similar way Eden handled things) picks up on another loose thread that so far has been left unexplained

The dungeons, with Golbez’s theme (Clad in Dark) playing, had me intrigued, especially the design of the living biohazard sector created by Fandaniel. The shell like patterns in it (reminiscent of the spirals on Lunar Bahamut but also Sharlayan’s emblem) have not gone unnoticed. I’m wondering if the train we see running between them connects the towers in some way. The second looks like a Garlean facility with bone like, metalic structures woven through it. The Amaurotine styled dungeon, with the concepts. Strong Zeal vibes with sky area. Just need something like Lavos now for the Sound!

Also another interesting point noted here (image) which, in my mind, ties into the whole “to begin we must first see the end” line in To the Edge!”).

Going back to Anima, I found the commonality between this and this (and for more likely Amaurotine inspired things, see this and this.) If we assume an Amaurotine common thread in all these designs, it does look like Anima may link in some way to Zodiark and his bindings - my speculation being that it's his lingering consciousness. but we'll see what is done with him.

Lastly, with the surprise addition of male Viera, I am keen to see the lore they’ll be using to bring them in, though with the world now faced with an apocalypse, I’m guessing the Green Word is okay with them stepping outside the forests. Existing lore here.

As for Fandaniel, the part where he’s addressing Zenos shows some facial tension. Thinking Fandaniel might be having doubts as to whether Zenos is going to play his role in his plans effectively. I still believe that Fandaniel is ultimately in control here and is playing the role of the mummer, biding his time carefully, but he’s a little more anxious there than we’ve seen him so far. With Zenos… at least he’s transitioned from sitting to moon-gazing, so that’s progress. I suspect his avatar will tie to the souls he plans to gorge on more than anything else, and with this reference pointed out, I am wondering if he is going to rely on some manner of soul cage with an avatar as the "vacuum".

I’m intrigued enough to see where the expansion is going, and how they intend to try top the SHB base story, but it’s a pity it’s going to be a long 6 month wait. I had hoped to see something of the current jobs' new actions, maybe some AFs, and some more on Sage, but I suppose they'll need to stretch it out to alleviate the wait.

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Originally Posted by JeanneOrnitier

Penelo (aiming) and Basch (tank) glamour from Bozja. They didn't show the others armor types.
BALTHIER HOVERBIKE MOUNT

Also Belias and Shemhazai were shown as critical engagement fights which implies the IVth has some more auracite.

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I couldn't help but notice in that segment; when they were showing the duel with the Inferno looking monster that they added some red to the metal portions of the model... And Dabog wears a full suite of red armor when you spot him out in the field in Bozja. I'm getting some very bad vibes for Dabog's ultimate fate because of that image...

Honestly with all the zones and artwork showcased, I'm a little curious about whether we'll still be going with the "six zones per expansion" thing. We already have Thavnair (the area around Radz-at-Han), the floating sky islands, Labyrinthos, and Mare Lamentarum on the Moon, with the assurance that Mare Lamentarum is not the only area on the Moon we'll be going to. Maybe some of the zones will have drastically different styles within a single zone, like the Tempest containing the seabed and Amaurot. Labyrinthos is the obvious suspicious locale: when I heard that it was supposed to be underground, I immediately thought "Lunar Subterrane".

Then again, maybe we're being trolled and the Zeal-like floating islands is actually where we'll be doing our Harvest Moon farming life.

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Originally Posted by Lauront

The dungeons, with Golbez’s theme (Clad in Dark) playing, had me intrigued, especially the design of the living biohazard sector created by Fandaniel.

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I thought it was Golbez's theme as well, but I've since been told that it's actually the Tower of Zot theme. Which is Golbez's theme sped up and dungeon-ified, so still technically correct. Certainly fitting for an infiltration into a tower.

If they have to kill off a scion, I hope it's y'shtola. Nothing against her, it's just that she's cheated death too many times and I'm tired of them teasing it. Just get it over with and move on.

I'm honestly super excited for all the maps they have shown so far, especially the moon based one, which was a surprise. I honestly thought they wouldn't reveal anything specific about the moon but that just tells me that the final map will go against our expectations ?

Reaper looks amazing, very interested in how the WoL will aquire that very...questionable soulstone. They said we will have 5 jobquests as in Healer, Tank, Meele, Phys. Ranged and Cas. Ranged I assume? Which is honestly a shame, I loved the individual questlines for the jobs pre-SHB (summoner was really interesting and drk of course was a joy to play through) So I'm a bit sad that they will be abandoning those questlines, I understand it would get too convoluted so they had to trim it down.

On another note, I'm one of the few who really love Zenos and the Endwalker Art where he's being lined up with the Scions is super intriguing to me. From a design standpoint, you wouldnt really portray one of your villain in those mellow colors, let alone make him center line up with the other "good guys". I saw people saying that we had Emet and other Villains/Antagonists in the title artwork before, which is true however symbolically they were always placed seperately from the heroes. Endwalker stands out because this time only the scions are portrayed except from our newbie at the top and Zenos at the left, it's certainly something to take note of. Which is good, I cannot wait to see what the writers came up with and hope they will go against expectations!

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

Honestly with all the zones and artwork showcased, I'm a little curious about whether we'll still be going with the "six zones per expansion" thing. We already have Thavnair (the area around Radz-at-Han), the floating sky islands, Labyrinthos, and Mare Lamentarum on the Moon, with the assurance that Mare Lamentarum is not the only area on the Moon we'll be going to. Maybe some of the zones will have drastically different styles within a single zone, like the Tempest containing the seabed and Amaurot. Labyrinthos is the obvious suspicious locale: when I heard that it was supposed to be underground, I immediately thought "Lunar Subterrane".

Then again, maybe we're being trolled and the Zeal-like floating islands is actually where we'll be doing our Harvest Moon farming life.



I thought it was Golbez's theme as well, but I've since been told that it's actually the Tower of Zot theme. Which is Golbez's theme sped up and dungeon-ified, so still technically correct. Certainly fitting for an infiltration into a tower.

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We have 5 zones shown and one hidden zone. That’s how they’ve always done it i believe.

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Originally Posted by Nanchi

On another note, I'm one of the few who really love Zenos and the Endwalker Art where he's being lined up with the Scions is super intriguing to me. From a design standpoint, you wouldnt really portray one of your villain in those mellow colors, let alone make him center line up with the other "good guys". I saw people saying that we had Emet and other Villains/Antagonists in the title artwork before, which is true however symbolically they were always placed seperately from the heroes. Endwalker stands out because this time only the scions are portrayed except from our newbie at the top and Zenos at the left, it's certainly something to take note of. Which is good, I cannot wait to see what the writers came up with and hope they will go against expectations!

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I really don’t think his positioning means anything. SB art had Yotsuyu and Fordola next to Hien and Lyse. Also they’ve always had the expansion’s main villain in the artwork, so it stands to reason this is no different.

Well if they do retire/die I fully expect B-Team to stay B-Team the only one I could see & would hope gets come to main group is Riol he's been just as important as Arenvald even more over the years so I'd like him to finally be voiced, the others just really have little to no presence in the MSQ.

I expect any new Scions group to be WoL, Twins, Graha, Fordola, Arenvald if he lives, Estinien I don't think he'll go back being a lone wanderer & possible Zenos if story goes where I think it is going.
I really want a Babyface turn from Zenos he can be Estinien No.2 start out as foe & become friend.

As for deaths I may be reading into it too much but Y'sthola & Thancred both looking older then all others in the trailer I think her spell from all years ago in Ul'dah is finally killing them both.... but might just be covid cg work why they all looked a bit off.

I think Uri will be our retiree to a spot on Sharlayan Council & usher in a new age of Co-operation between Sharlayan & rest of Eozera.

As for Reaper I'm dreaming but I hope LB3 is just summoning Cloud of Darkness.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

Apropos of nothing, I found the "Gillionaire" segment kind of funny. Most of those questions were pretty easy but they had such a hard time with it.

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I think there's a reciprocal dynamic when it comes to designing events like these, and finding it funny was the goal. If you create an explicit goal ("answer trivia") and exclusively get people who are good at that goal, you're going to get Jeopardy - a serious tone where you might not know anyone and they might not have a good time, and who wins is considered "the best." That doesn't achieve the actual, implicit goal: create a Fan Festival panel that is entertaining to watch. You achieve the latter goal much easier with familiar people who are used to making content, even if some might not be very good at trivia, lol. Even me; I'm used to writing and researching. Random off-the-cuff instant-recall trivia is not necessarily my strength, but playing off of Ethys and trying to make things fun, that I can do.

tl;dr if the goal was "Make an Exciting PVP Competition" you might not know many of the players if you recruited the best of the best, but the competition would be fierce and meet that goal. If the goal was "show off the PVP system in an entertaining way" you might actually be better off forming 2 PVP teams of casual content streamers and making them fight, lol.

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

Then again, maybe we're being trolled and the Zeal-like floating islands is actually where we'll be doing our Harvest Moon farming life.

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Might be, but the buildings definitly look like Amaurot... the spirals and stone patterns... idk..

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Originally Posted by Tracewood

That does sound possible. Though I wonder if that revelation will be revealed at the end of the job questline at 80? The shade does merge with us for extra abilities, even if its temporary.

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Wouldnt the end of the quest line technically be 90 with EW?

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Originally Posted by Sathona

Wouldnt the end of the quest line technically be 90 with EW?

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No we have Role Quests instead of Job Quests moving forward; everyone's expecting a Role Quest for Reaper (and Sage) to help introduce them for 70-80, though.

Personally I'm not sold on the idea of the shade being the PC's soul fragment from the Void; it's certainly possible, but if the only way Reapers' arts work is to use their unjoined soul shard from the Void that's... going to limit the number of people who can use it and stretch the plausibility of anyone being able to teach the art, given almost nobody knows about the sundered shard worlds or the Void's relationship to them.

I only just now noticed that Reaper's voidsent channeling mode changes your outfit.

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Originally Posted by JeanneOrnitier

I only just now noticed that Reaper's voidsent channeling mode changes your outfit.

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Yep it is what in certain games call a Avatar Form which usually a short time burst mode that changeds the appearance of the character, turns all attacks into stronger attacks, and give players access to Ultimate skills that can only be used during the Avatar Form.

If it follows this basic set up for Avatar Forms then we should also expect that the strongest skills for Reaper may only be accessed in this Avatar Form.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

No we have Role Quests instead of Job Quests moving forward; everyone's expecting a Role Quest for Reaper (and Sage) to help introduce them for 70-80, though.

Personally I'm not sold on the idea of the shade being the PC's soul fragment from the Void; it's certainly possible, but if the only way Reapers' arts work is to use their unjoined soul shard from the Void that's... going to limit the number of people who can use it and stretch the plausibility of anyone being able to teach the art, given almost nobody knows about the sundered shard worlds or the Void's relationship to them.

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The job doesn't necessarily have to be widely available, considering that we're canonically the only true BLM in existence due to the soul stone being needed to use the job safely.

Nor would prior practitioners of the job have to know that the actual reason they can control/resonate with the voidsent is because they're technically one and the same. They may simply go on a hunt to find a "compatible" familiar without knowing the finer details.

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Originally Posted by JeanneOrnitier

I only just now noticed that Reaper's voidsent channeling mode changes your outfit.

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It also strips away racial features like the Au Ra horns and tail...which hopefully is just because they're not done designing the job.

It's worth noting, though, that the game has a significant number of role-players - many of whom are pretty interested in whatever new jobs and playable races are added to the game. With that in mind, I'm not overly fond of such things being super rare and exclusive. Especially not in an MMO with countless players.

Perhaps Reaper will start out as something rare, but much like how the Warrior and Summoner jobs began to become more widespread I hope to see such treatment given to pretty much every playable job eventually.

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Originally Posted by Kuroka

Might be, but the buildings definitly look like Amaurot... the spirals and stone patterns... idk..

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Possibly. I'm also mostly wondering why we'll be going there, that requires it to be a full zone. (Or is it even a zone? Could it be just a dungeon?) If it's Amaurotine in nature, that might suggest we're there to look for something from Amaurot to handle the current crisis.

The floating islands could also be related to basically any other revealed zone: a bastion of lush greenery in the barren landscape of the Moon, or that suspicious floating landmass on the map of Ilsabard, or Thavnairan exotic magic, or Sharlayan went "yeah, we raised a few islands and kept some stuff there". The only one I suspect is not related is Labyrinthos, since I don't think there's enough "underground" on those islands.

Hence my questioning about the number of zones: in other expansions, while there are six zones, generally at least half of them are connected to others in some close manner: the Fringes leads to the Peaks (leads to the Lochs), the Ruby Sea leads to Yanxia, the Coerthas Western Highlands leads to the Dravanian Forelands leads to the Dravanian Hinterlands (with the Churning Mists attached to the Forelands), and so on. Here, we're apparently being sent across two continents, with Thavnair, Old Sharlayan, and Garlemald, and then we're going to the Moon as well, and we know the Moon, Thavnair, and Garlemald have their own zones. Whoever our companions to these places will be must have as much teleport anima as we do to blip back and forth.

Speaking of spirals and teleporting, I did notice that in the art for the harbour of Thavnair (and presumably Radz-at-Han), there was a Sharlayan-style aetheryte. This wasn't seen in the other pictures of Radz-at-Han, which had their own (pointy, rather than spiral) aetheryte style.

I could see Sharlayan being connected to a good number of the zones, with Labyrinthos being immediately adjacent, Thravnair accessible via the docks, and Mare Lamentorum via the fancy spaceship we seem to be getting as per the Endwalker logo.

Garlemald and those floating islands might be sectioned off into their own portion accessible via airship from Thravnair. I kind of feel like we might be using the latter specifically as a stop-over point before we go to the capital assuming it has proper towns and such up there.

It occurred to me that Forchenault apparently isn't important enough to get onto the poster.

It was also really odd that they didn't want to call him by name when his image and profile have been available for years.

They have, but not within the game itself. Not really too odd of a decision imo.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

It occurred to me that Forchenault apparently isn't important enough to get onto the poster.

It was also really odd that they didn't want to call him by name when his image and profile have been available for years.

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I hadn't thought of the poster thing, but you're right. I wonder if his role will be relatively minor in 6.0 and only expand post in 6.X? It's weird he's in the trailer then.... that is very curious—gods I hope this doesn't mean he's been an Ascian or something for a while now.

As for why they didn't want to name him.... while it's clear to most people who frequent this forum and what-not, I think it does drum up some hype from people who're less loremongers. I know quite a few folks asked me who it was after Yoshida made those comments and got remarkably more excited than I was. (That's not to say I wasn't excited! It was just "ah, yes, that makes sense" versus "oh!!! awesome! WOW!") There's no way they could've expected it to remain a secret, but I suppose they might've also just not wanted to overload people with information. Fourchenault is a "new" entity for most folk, like Vrtra. (Had Estinien not spoke his name, you can be sure it would've been sussed out soon enough.)

Speaking of Vrtra I didn't see it mentioned here but during the Producer Letter Live with Ishikawa I think it was, she mentioned that Vrtra was the youngest of the First Brood. Additionally, when asked what content she'd tell people to do before Endwalkers she replied with Binding Coil and Interdimensional Rift, and her later comments

"If you do Omega in particular you might be able to figure out how you're getting to the moon..." or something to that effect
EDIT: Since claims without citations are naught but theory here's the best I can do, and forgive my paraphrasing! https://youtu.be/W-ZBHbnAcTs?t=7648 Hopefully you forgive my editorializing and can get to the timestamp indicated.

imply he might be a bigger player in the story than I'd initially guess.

As in, spaceship be damned, we're going to go to the moon on dragonback much like Midgardsormr ferried his eggs to Hydaelyn

make me think we really are getting to tie-in a lot of loose lore-ends. Which is only fitting, given the scope of Endwalkers.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

It occurred to me that Forchenault apparently isn't important enough to get onto the poster.

It was also really odd that they didn't want to call him by name when his image and profile have been available for years.

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Koji Fox: "We're not going to reveal who he is just yet, but you might find out in 5.55. Also, players who have read the Encyclopedia Eorzea might know who he is."

Me: "NO SHIT, KOJI."

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Originally Posted by Nanchi

Reaper looks amazing, very interested in how the WoL will aquire that very...questionable soulstone. They said we will have 5 jobquests as in Healer, Tank, Meele, Phys. Ranged and Cas. Ranged I assume? Which is honestly a shame, I loved the individual questlines for the jobs pre-SHB (summoner was really interesting and drk of course was a joy to play through) So I'm a bit sad that they will be abandoning those questlines, I understand it would get too convoluted so they had to trim it down.

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If I recall correctly when they confirmed the role quests they said: Tank, Healer, Melee Physical, Ranged Physical and Magic.

Might be just a coincidence but the odd phrasing of melee physical did make me think the new melee job would be very magic focused, which turned out to be fairly accurate.

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Originally Posted by Slatersev

I just wanna say I love how Estinien has gone from

"I hate Dragons so much I will literally walk around bathed in there blood for days refusing to just wash it off"

to

"I am like 1/5 Nidhogg at least and swear by the Fury that I will actively becoming besties with every single member of the First Brood I come across"

It's legit one of the best character arc's the games history.

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There is a difference between a stain on his armor and not washing it off. Stained is stained, it was made very painfully clear his armor was stained, not filth. To which even in HW he showed open and clear disgust by it, so much so he wanted to get rid of it and forge his armor anew.

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Originally Posted by Jandor

If I recall correctly when they confirmed the role quests they said: Tank, Healer, Melee Physical, Ranged Physical and Magic.

Might be just a coincidence but the odd phrasing of melee physical did make me think the new melee job would be very magic focused, which turned out to be fairly accurate.

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I think you're adding the emphasis to the wrong part.
It's Melee Physical and Ranged Physical.
Nothing to suggest that we're getting a new Magical Melee role, just that there are two distinct Physical roles. Reaper will still very much be considered a Physical DPS.

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

Possibly. I'm also mostly wondering why we'll be going there, that requires it to be a full zone. (Or is it even a zone? Could it be just a dungeon?) If it's Amaurotine in nature, that might suggest we're there to look for something from Amaurot to handle the current crisis.

The floating islands could also be related to basically any other revealed zone: a bastion of lush greenery in the barren landscape of the Moon, or that suspicious floating landmass on the map of Ilsabard, or Thavnairan exotic magic, or Sharlayan went "yeah, we raised a few islands and kept some stuff there". The only one I suspect is not related is Labyrinthos, since I don't think there's enough "underground" on those islands.

Hence my questioning about the number of zones: in other expansions, while there are six zones, generally at least half of them are connected to others in some close manner: the Fringes leads to the Peaks (leads to the Lochs), the Ruby Sea leads to Yanxia, the Coerthas Western Highlands leads to the Dravanian Forelands leads to the Dravanian Hinterlands (with the Churning Mists attached to the Forelands), and so on. Here, we're apparently being sent across two continents, with Thavnair, Old Sharlayan, and Garlemald, and then we're going to the Moon as well, and we know the Moon, Thavnair, and Garlemald have their own zones. Whoever our companions to these places will be must have as much teleport anima as we do to blip back and forth.

Speaking of spirals and teleporting, I did notice that in the art for the harbour of Thavnair (and presumably Radz-at-Han), there was a Sharlayan-style aetheryte. This wasn't seen in the other pictures of Radz-at-Han, which had their own (pointy, rather than spiral) aetheryte style.

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Well Tataru has an airship now doesn’t she? We’ll probably be using that. In regards to the floating islands, it’s above Garlemald. So kind of connected.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

I think you're adding the emphasis to the wrong part.
It's Melee Physical and Ranged Physical.
Nothing to suggest that we're getting a new Magical Melee role, just that there are two distinct Physical roles. Reaper will still very much be considered a Physical DPS.

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I don't think they're going to add another sub-role for DPS, it's just that they've never really felt the need to specify physical for melee before. If I remember right they also said Magic DPS and not Magic ranged DPS.

I was mostly just wondering if Reaper might primarily deal magic damage and get lumped in with the Magic DPS for the role quests.