Patch 6.1 trailer speculations

[Cleretic]

That's definitely the eye in Radz-at-Han, so it's absolutely a Thavnairian region.

[Turethir]

Looks like G'raha is our point-of-contact for the new 24-man, so people wanting him to get an MSQ break appear to be getting their wish (unless he's only going to be as involved as Y'shtola was with Alexander).

It looks like he's going to be involved in MSQ to at least some extent since he's shown in the dungeon and the scene which is presumably afterward with Varshahn (the room is the same as the boss room with the blue floor and "spike pits"). Urianger is also there, which is interesting.

As much as I love the Scions I was hoping for focus on maybe 1-2 of them per patch, so I am hoping the main focus will be on Y'shtola and Estinien this time and that G'raha and Urianger's roles will be small here. At least a couple of the G'raha shots in the trailer are definitely from the AR (him in Rhalgr's Reach at the start, and the two of them disappearing over Silvertear Lake which fits in perfectly with the revealed AR screenshots) so I am hoping for a more narrowly-focused MSQ, character-wise.

[Lyth]

I was also hoping that they would let the individual plot threads all slowly unravel for a bit before starting to converge them down, perhaps a couple of expansions down the line. They've dropped a lot of lore hooks, and I worry that they might be tempted to burn through them too quickly.



But maybe they just want to get all of the not-Scions' respective storylines moving a bit before they start individually focusing on each of them.

[MikkoAkure]

Given the kangaroo minion, I'm wondering if there might be some link to Meracydia happening somewhere.

I actually thought so until I remembered we already have koalas, platypus, and frilled dragons so it probably doesn’t mean anything. I just hope it has an idle animation where it gets on its tail and kicks.

That's definitely the eye in Radz-at-Han, so it's absolutely a Thavnairian region.

Vrtra is in the corner of the map too on the eye so I wonder if it specifically has to do with dragons and that’s why Estinien is so interested. There’s still one missing First Brood wyrm out there.


As far as the role-quest capstone, I feel like locking the mystery of why the Tower of Babil is still glowing red behind having multiple jobs leveled up means we’re not getting any sort of wider, more accessible Garlemald reconstruction effort behind the city wall and viewable from the rest of the zone. We can take the other train/path via an NPC to get to the top of the Tower and teleport to the Moon right now so I guess that big, ugly, spiky tower is never going away.

The only way I can see it now is if something happens like “oh, we got power to the train now and cleared the tunnel further down” so we can take it to a Doman Enclave-type area a few stations over and deeper in the city where we donate items to build up small industries to get people back up on their feet again.

[JeanneOrnitier]

I assume the kangaroo minion is more in celebration of the Oceanic data center than anything.

If we're going to get Meracydia acknowledgment this patch I'd honestly expect it in the Arkasodara quests because of all the hippos. The already existing hippo minion's description says they're native to Meracydia and came to Thavnair via trade.

[Zero-ELEC]

The Answers cinematic was very explicitly summoning them as Primals. That's why Louisoix had everyone praying to them, Primals are prayers + aether. That was what Gaius's whole rant in Praetorium was about.

We also know the myth of the Seven Hells/Heavens is false because we've seen the afterlife in this very expansion and it's just the aetherial sea. As is the legend that Midgardsormr was told to watch over Lake Silvertear by Althyk and Nymeia, because it was actually his pact with Hydaelyn that had him doing that. And back in 5.3 Urianger set up the idea that Azeyma was inspired by Azem.

I've never gotten the impression we were supposed to think they actually existed. So I doubt this raid is "really" them any more than Ysayle's Shiva was "really" Shiva.

If I remember correctly, it's explicitly not Primal summoning, but something close enough that Louisoix felt conflicted about performing. Indeed, it's not the inherently flawed Primal summoning that was taught by the Paragons, and, while Gaius compares it to Primal summoning, there's no indication of tempering or even manifesting a physical form. It might not be appropriate to call them Primals as they were presented, but then again that is not to say they were "real".

Certainly they're as real as anyone else's gods as far as the game is concerned. No more fake than Ifrit or Garuda. Both gods that we "know" the origins of, but nontheless presented as valid belief (excluding the whole "summoning them to enslave others to their will and drain the land of aether" bit). The game really doesn't care about what makes gods "real".

[YianKutku]

If I remember correctly, it's explicitly not Primal summoning, but something close enough that Louisoix felt conflicted about performing. Indeed, it's not the inherently flawed Primal summoning that was taught by the Paragons, and, while Gaius compares it to Primal summoning, there's no indication of tempering or even manifesting a physical form. It might not be appropriate to call them Primals as they were presented, but then again that is not to say they were "real".

Certainly they're as real as anyone else's gods as far as the game is concerned. No more fake than Ifrit or Garuda. Both gods that we "know" the origins of, but nontheless presented as valid belief (excluding the whole "summoning them to enslave others to their will and drain the land of aether" bit). The game really doesn't care about what makes gods "real".

I'm wondering if the summoning at Carteneau, which is described as Louisoix asking the Twelve to "lend their power" (as opposed to summoning them fully), might be akin to the case at the end of the Xelphatol dungeon, where the last boss "summons" Garuda, except only a portion thereof and only for a moment. In Xelphatol as well, there's no commentary about the dangers of tempering, so presumably the idea is it's too short a time to temper anyone.

I actually like the way FFXIV presents belief and faith, and what that means for cases where the truth of the deities' origins are known. I would think that if a sailor needs to embark on a voyage, they would certainly pray to something for safety, and even if we learn Llymlaen is actually some non-divine construct or person, that sailor might as well continue to pray to her. It's not about the gods, but rather about being human.

[KageTokage]

I'm wondering if maybe we'll finally learn why Midgarsormr was watching over Lake Silvertear in Myths of Realm, given that multiple scenes seem to take place there.

It almost seems like the Twelve exist in another realm entirely; perhaps some manner of pocket dimension akin to what the Ancients used in facilities like Ktsis Hyperboreia and the entrance of which was hidden at the lake.

[YianKutku]

I admit if the Myths Of The Twelve raid is taking place in or around Elpis, it would be very difficult on my suspension of disbelief.

Elidibus: "You should not and cannot change the past."

WoL: promptly involves themselves with Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus, creates a closed time loop with Venat, rampages through Pandemonium, beats up the concepts that would later be worshipped as the Twelve

[KageTokage]

I'm feeling like it's probably not in Elpis now that we know G'raha and other NPCs are involved, since they can't get to the First, much less use the time portal.