Revelations from Patch 5.4

[KageTokage]

I'm kind of wondering if they're going to tie the Werlyt quests into the MSQ at some point.

Considering that we have a start of a new primal issue rearing its head and Garlond Ironworks now has multiple disabled Weapons in their possession, I could see them either fixing them up or reverse-engineering them into another sort of anti-primal/eikon weapon so we can focus on cutting off the problem at its source while others deal with the lesser primals.

They'd also be handy for getting rid of those towers that are liable to be scattered across the whole of Aldenard.

[Iscah]

And there's Iscah, with the obligatory wall.

Ahaha. >_>

That took a fair chunk of my Sunday.

So, this isnt a big deal at all, but its about a certain characters clothing in the Eden raid and how it might be a model error.

...

And as I said, this isnt some lore breaking massive plot hole or anything, and indeed there is even the possibility it was on purpose, but on the chance it wasnt I have two questions.

1: Has Square ever patched a characters appearance before in the event they were somehow given the wrong gear?
2: If it was an error is there anyway to actually let SE know? Would using a support ticket be the way? Or something else?

Firstly, an interesting theory and it could quite possibly be the case.

As for patching a character's appearance, it wasn't gear, but they actually had to fix a thing in 5.3 - specifically one instance of the Exarch somehow didn't have the white highlights in his hair. (It was kind of interesting to see and he looked more like his younger self, even though everything else was still his older appearance.) I didn't spot it the first time through in the middle of the crowd, but noticed when doing it on my alt and got a few screenshots - unfortunately with him looking up at a bit of an odd angle, but still. It was a thing and I have pictures.

And yeah, I'd be interested in the best way of alerting them to character appearance errors too - there's an older oddity that I think needs clearing up as well. Not a mistake on an actual character as such but a "borrowing" of a character model where it shouldn't be. Specifically there are a couple of scenes during the Leviathan arc, first the Echo flashback with Y'shtola accompanied by some Maelstrom soldiers spying on the Sahagin, and one of those soldiers is distinctly Curious Gorge from the WAR quests. (He's a Sea Wolf customised to look like a Hellsguard so he's quite unmissable.) That far, all good and possibly a neat little crossover because you're told he's working with the Maelstrom. Not so good when the same "random soldier" turns up later as one of Leviathan's tempered and apparently gets killed by Thancred and Yugiri.

So, I don't know what happened there. Either they grabbed a random existing model to use as a bit-part character and accidentally got a really recognisable one, or it was supposed to be him in the first scene and he just shouldn't have been used again in the second.

Anyway, yeah. Localisation is supposed to be just for text; bug reports might not appreciate the deep lore ramifications. I'm not sure which is better to go for.

About [Matoya's Relict]...

Not quite correct - I went as DPS but G'hara actually does solve it last second, and by then it's too late.It was pretty hilarious though as the other trusts were just standing around. I noticed G'hara run to the spout and get on the platform but by then the spouts have stopped

Ah well, if any of the trusts was going to solve it, G'raha seems like a good choice to be riskier. And I guess having him "solve it but too late" is a good way to clue in a player who hasn't worked it out for themselves by that point, while still giving them plenty of time to make the discovery on their own.

MSQ

why the hell weren't Ga Bu's parent's corpses cleaned up from the navel? They've been there at least a week in game.

It's not them, we just can't tell kobolds apart, and the implication is that they're making sacrifices for every summoning of Titan now.

Void quests

Now...why can't we push Eden through a portal to the void and fix it?

Eden isn't running any more. It turned into a tree.

----

Random thoughts on Matoya's Relict:

The water frog totally missed the opportunity to say "Step in the spring to put a spring in your step".

Also the Nixie is patterned very like the Pokémon Marill. Reference? Coincidence? Something else they're both independently referencing?

[Kuroka]

It's not them, we just can't tell kobolds apart, and the implication is that they're making sacrifices for every summoning of Titan now.

(Kobolds)

Actually the little tokken we got at that quest - https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Primal_Focus already stated that it seems to be made from each's race bones, suggesting that's the case since every Lv. 50 version...

[Seraphor]

Eden

Eden still there after the restoration of the elements. I find that quite worrying. I also think we should hand it over to the folks in the Void quests, if it can restore a light blasted wasteland, why not a dark one...?

Werlyt

So...will diamond weapon have Zenos or not? Valens wants something he can control, rather than a beast. So he'd have to go for a different garlean really.

Eden

It's literally Mitron's dead corpse. It's powerless as his soul has returned to be recycled/reborn, and as previously stated, is now a tree.

Werlyt

My guess is something a little more out of left field, although I guess in some ways it's predictable fanservice, so I don't know.
He wants an obedient supersoldier to provide the combat data for Diamond's oversoul. This is likely because he knows the Au Ra that's going to be piloting it may not be so obedient.
The Weapons are taken straight from another Final Fantasy title, that also happens to prominently feature an obedient supersoldier, with the same colour hair no less.
It might be along shot, but I'm thinking the oversoul data might be an as of yet unknown deceased Legatus called something like... Sephiroth van Gast, or whatever, but you get the picture.

[Iscah]

Actually the little tokken we got at that quest - https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Primal_Focus already stated that it seems to be made from each's race bones, suggesting that's the case since every Lv. 50 version...

That too, though by the Lv60 quests they seem to have moved from "ritual focus fashioned from the bones of a willing sacrifice" to just outright killing people who didn't think the summoning should go ahead.

[Kuroka]

"ok, who wanna die this time for a 30 sec fight?" "uhm.... i dont think we should---" "ok thanks for volunteering!" xD

But we know they dont need willing ppl, anyone does, as further proofen by Ilbert...

[Exodus-E]

I really enjoyed this patch's story on all fronts.
That said, I do have a couple of minor (major?) gripes regarding some story choices/details.

MSQ

While it was appropriate that they used Sephirot as an example for explaining the inner workings of tempering, I felt like there could've been better candidates for doing so.
The reason being that, when they showed what would happen if a Primal/Eikon were to "overtemper" someone, they showed said person becoming a Cochna/Binah.

Are we meant to imply that those weren't actually "lesser aspects" of Sephirot (like Titan's Granite Gaolers), but rather, overtempered victims?
If not, then that was kind of a big oversight.

Using Sophia as an example would've made more sense, considering her "faithful" were really "overtempered" victims (her 3 "Demiurges").

Eden

Choosing the Cloud of Darkness (an interpretation of it, at any rate) as a dark Primal was rather baffling to say the least.

So has the WoL never faced a dark Primal before? Really?
What about Odin, the "Dark Divinity"?
Or how about Tsukuyomi, "Goddess of the Moon and Divinity of the Night"?

If those don't qualify as dark Primals, then they really must explain which aspects (or lack thereof) each post-ARR Primal represent...

[Iscah]

I Eden

Choosing the Cloud of Darkness (an interpretation of it, at any rate) as a dark Primal was rather baffling to say the least.

So has the WoL never faced a dark Primal before? Really?
What about Odin, the "Dark Divinity"?
Or how about Tsukuyomi, "Goddess of the Moon and Divinity of the Night"?

If those don't qualify as dark Primals, then they really must explain which aspects (or lack thereof) each post-ARR Primal represent...

I don't think it's that strange a choice.

Odin is an optional trial still, and while Tsukuyomi might theoretically work as a dark primal by her title, her theme is more about a duality of dark and light.

You could also suppose that the WoL's thoughts are already tipped towards remembering the World of Darkness by recent events - as well as discussions within the Eden quest line itself, they've been reunited with G'raha and have also had at least some discussion of the Thirteenth with Cyella, possibly even undertaking the recent Void quests already.

And ultimately I'm not sure if it really matters what form the Eden-primal takes as long as it reminds us of the element and allows us to picture it and draw it out.

[Exodus-E]

I don't think it's that strange a choice.

Odin is an optional trial still, and while Tsukuyomi might theoretically work as a dark primal by her title, her theme is more about a duality of dark and light.

You could also suppose that the WoL's thoughts are already tipped towards remembering the World of Darkness by recent events - as well as discussions within the Eden quest line itself, they've been reunited with G'raha and have also had at least some discussion of the Thirteenth with Cyella, possibly even undertaking the recent Void quests already.

And ultimately I'm not sure if it really matters what form the Eden-primal takes as long as it reminds us of the element and allows us to picture it and draw it out.

Fair enough, I guess.

Still, I can't help but feel like there could have been other candidates for creating a dark Primal, even if we weren't limited to them originally being Primals at all.
Tiamat or Nidhogg come to mind, for instance.

(Now where's my Cloud of Darkness-Egi...)

[Rosenstrauch]

To offer an out-of-story explanation:

The Crystal Tower is mandatory now, and the writers have not been shy about using what they can derive from it as a building point for 5.4's content. By contrast, Odin, the so-called Dark Divinity, is entirely optional.

Also, I believe she uses her Dissidia NT model, so there's a good chance not having to create entirely new assets from scratch played a factor in the decision.

As for other possible options:

There is no single being—sans perhaps Zodiark—that embodies Darkness as well as the Cloud of Darkness. The literal personification of the flood of darkness, and the void itself, that consumed the Thirteenth reflection.

Nidhogg is less about Darkness than he is about Blood and Fire. He's also not a primal, so there's little reason to go for him over something more fitting. Tsukuyomi's powers are tied to Moonlight, and Tiamat... was never fought, so we have no idea what she's capable of.