Revelations from Patch 7.3: The Promise of Tomorrow

[Iscah]

It's that time again – the Patch X.3 final showdown!

As always, keep your thoughts on different sections of the story (MSQ, alliance raid, etc) under spoiler boxes with a label to indicate the subject, at least for the first couple of weeks after release.

Spoiler tags are: (HB)Spoiler goes here(/HB)

Just replace the brackets with square brackets.

[Layte_Aeon]

Well we know what a certain someone’s job is: Zoemancer. Zoe from life, like the Sage skill.

[Iscah]

Only had time for the first bit of MSQ...

Dear goodness they need to sort out their quest jingle settings so we don't get the cheerful fanfare every time. Or maybe just make the whole patch one giant quest from start to finish.

Geode is presumably only mostly dead, but regardless, I'm a bit confused about this "new tactic to drain the victims' aether" approach because that means the life force they were previously draining to run Living Memory is another thing again. Plus previously the people sacrificed to run the Garlean Resonance-imbuing machine were being drained of their aether but still apparently ended up as corpses rather than dust.

Also it really bugged me that the other Oblivion guy who died wasn't referred to by his name. They're a small organisation; surely everyone knows everyone.

[17cupsofcoffee]

Just finished the MSQ - pretty good! Some scattered thoughts:

• Investigating the lab was a really nice change of pace from the usual questing - I hope they do more stuff like that in the future.
• The director's locker is the hardest this game has made me laugh in a very long time.
• The key being the crystal rather than the sippy cup enclosure seems obvious in retrospect, but I hadn't thought about it until now.
• The post-trial cutscene was extremely cool - have they ever done class-specific animations like that before (aside from the 'healer WoL helps other healers' ones)?
• It's not massively surprising given the amount of hate she's gotten, but the goodbyes from Wuk (and to a lesser extent Koana and Erenville) felt pretty final to me. I suspect she's going to get Lyse-ed and only show up at political meetings from here on, which makes me a little sad
• I've found Calyx a little sauceless as a villain so far, but I absolutely loved his "oh fuck I nearly died" crashout in the final cutscene - having his smugness/composure be a facade on top of an absolutely crippling fear of death is a good angle for him, I think.
• Speaking of which, I'm glad we're back to traumatizing the villains like we did with Thordan.
• Not sure how I feel about yet another Ascian showing up - but then again, I had the same thoughts about Fandaniel, and he turned out to be one of my favourite villains so far. Willing to let them cook on that.

[EdwinLi]

For Main Story quest.

In the end....

it always goes back to Ascians.

Considering what was said, the one he was talking to was just a messenger. I am curious who is the Winterer and what position was he or she among the Ascian society. Not to mention their goal since it seem these are just the left over members who refused to accept the end result that happened in Endwalker. I am guessing they may be seeking a separate method to bring back their people since the Zodiark plan failed or they always had this second plan developed just incase the Zodiark plan did fail.

I found it strange since Shadowbringer, that they did not have a backup plan incase Zodiark plan failed but guess we are now dealing with their backup plan with the surviving members of the Ascians.

Not to mention Calyx being a low ranking Ascian is a bit unsurprising. Certain things pointed to this but mostly how he knew far too much about things only Ascian can do.

[Fenral]

Only had time for the first bit of MSQ...

Also it really bugged me that the other Oblivion guy who died wasn't referred to by his name. They're a small organisation; surely everyone knows everyone.

That bugged me, too.

Hells, we know the name of the freaking Backrooms' doorman! It's not one of those cases where the by-name introduction was dropped in the English script either.

Rest of the MSQ

The new antagonists arrive! Well, the old antagonists with a new name. Name in Japanese is just "Winterers," so at most we know there's a group of them. My current guess is just leftover overlords from the list (or possibly lesser ascended as last seen in *checks notes* Heavensward).

I seem to recall someone in a tinfoil hat flailing wildly at the Regulators and screaming that they looked like Necron. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you deserve a cookie. Not the weirdest summoning we've seen, and it answers the big question of "what's the point in sowing fear just to get people to use the new Regulators?" that's been around for a while.

I was wondering what was up with all the bloody violence suddenly, but it was to get people in the mindset to recognize it when Wuk Lamat started bleeding from her hands trying to bust down the first wall she couldn't take on her own. Better late than never. That entire cutscene was pure cinema. I swear I heard a quiet "We're sorry" at the end, too. May this upswing in quality continue for at least a few more patches.

Also glad that Calyx was deemed interesting enough to keep around. He was a bit too much for a one-off villain, even for post-Endsinger power scaling.

[OdrN]

Kinda interesting...

I have the feeling they tried to "fix" the Interphos trial by reversing the roles this time. It's not Wuk Lamat unceremoniously interrupting our fight to steal the show for no reason but we who take control over her to deliver the final blow. Kinda satisfying.
I also found the lab exploration refreshing and cool and the new Living Memory looks really nice now.
Great MSQ even if it's not the most memorable X.3 patch we had, can't wait to finally dig into the mysteries of the key.

[EdwinLi]

That bugged me, too.

Hells, we know the name of the freaking Backrooms' doorman! It's not one of those cases where the by-name introduction was dropped in the English script either.

Rest of the MSQ

The new antagonists arrive! Well, the old antagonists with a new name. Name in Japanese is just "Winterers," so at most we know there's a group of them. My current guess is just leftover overlords from the list (or possibly lesser ascended as last seen in *checks notes* Heavensward).

I seem to recall someone in a tinfoil hat flailing wildly at the Regulators and screaming that they looked like Necron. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you deserve a cookie. Not the weirdest summoning we've seen, and it answers the big question of "what's the point in sowing fear just to get people to use the new Regulators?" that's been around for a while.

I was wondering what was up with all the bloody violence suddenly, but it was to get people in the mindset to recognize it when Wuk Lamat started bleeding from her hands trying to bust down the first wall she couldn't take on her own. Better late than never. That entire cutscene was pure cinema. I swear I heard a quiet "We're sorry" at the end, too. May this upswing in quality continue for at least a few more patches.

Also glad that Calyx was deemed interesting enough to keep around. He was a bit too much for a one-off villain, even for post-Endsinger power scaling.

I think this may also be their way into giving us who Azem is in the past....

Calyx reaction maybe a bit more than just a fear he developed during 7.3 ending for WoL and not to mention we only learn bits of who Azem was through only people who were friendly with Azem during the old era.

We never met people who developed a opinion for Azem in other points of view which we may see in this storyline if they are making the antagonists the ancients that have lesser opinions of Azem, neutral, or awe for him/her due to only knowing Azem through stories told by others.

[Cilia]

Power washed the driveway or I'd have been done a little sooner.

MSQ

Nothing super shocking. Geode dies, lots of putzing around a Preservation lab for padding, and then the showdown with Calyx who predictably summoned a Necron primal. Dude's not been keeping up with recent events. 5,000 people? Maybe if he brought a planet or two's worth of peoples' fear of death, he might have had a slight advantage. But 5,000 people's? I don't even feel it!

Ahem. Yes, very predictable, but that's what happens when you ape a previous entry in the series! Mildly disappointed Sphene won't become a travelling companion but it was a long shot anyway. Go, ah, stuff about the future and legacy or whatever. Quality's been on the upswing since 7.2 but still very obvious how things were going to end. What an obvious conclusion to a disappointing (overall) plotline...

Rest of the MSQ

The new antagonists arrive! Well, the old antagonists with a new name. Name in Japanese is just "Winterers," so at most we know there's a group of them. My current guess is just leftover overlords from the list (or possibly lesser ascended as last seen in *checks notes* Heavensward).

"Winterers" is the same term they use in the EN script as well. I'm not sure what it means, other than they've "been away." It would certainly explain Calyx's supergenius, him being in cahoots with the Ascians (or being one himself).

[mallleable]

Post 7.3 MSQ thoughts

Ohhhh please don't just be Ascians again... I really hope these 'Winterers' are a bigger faction that happen to have an Ascian in their number, and not just another Ascian-lead group.