Patch 3.4 - Soul Surrender

[Kallera]

Sounds like both see the other as the parasite that is burning out existence.while hydelyn didn't use the exact words, it seems a similar reasoning for the banishment of Zodiark.

One fear is that the continuing cycle will cause Zodiark's revival and an end to existence as we know it. Could the other be that stopping the cyclical nature of destiny is what causes the end of existence? That without Zodiark's supposed revival there is no one to take the seat of "the mothercrystal" after Hydelyn fades totally?

/speculation

[Tenkuu]

"Soul Surrender" is quite an interesting title since it can be interpreted in that plenty of people have "surrendered" their souls: Dayun (Mide's BF) sucked into Alaxanders core, Ixal's devotion to Garuda,Minfilia giving herself up to Hydaelyn. Wonder if the WoD gave up something similar.

The name of the patch is ominous as well. Soul Surrender...

I'm so excited about this new major patch! I was honestly beginning to fear we might not see it until October. As for the title, it gave me a bad feeling from the moment I first saw it. If you have a look at the Japanese title, or subtitle depending on how you see it, it's 魂を継ぐ者, which translates to something like Soul Inheritors (or Successors), which is incidently how the Scions are referred to, ie Louisoix's successors. The bad feeling didn't go away from seeing that one, in fact it intensified, but now I'm not sure what to make of it. Is it referring to an event from the past, present or future?

Do you really want to pressure yourself to clear the Coil just for a few words changed in the script?

Given that a lot of skilled players can help those who have more difficulty clear such content with the use of the Undersize function, I doubt that it would be that much pressure. I mean I'm not very good at the most difficult content myself but with a lot of help I've managed to clear even T13 a few months back. Plus, you eventually get used to the mechanics from experiencing them yourself. I mean the video guides are helpful for knowing how things should look, but whether or not you can actually make that happen with your character is a whole other story that only your personal experience will speak to. Either way, I would say do it because it's both fun and amazing, not because of any pressure. I always wanted to do Coils, always wanted to have those cutscenes for myself, whereas with Alexander I find the story uninspired and I don't like Mide either. Coils has a greater tie-in to MSQ and so is bound to be more interesting.

[Tenkuu]

Hm Soul Surrender and we see Alisea resting on a couch.

Hmm... my fear is that it didn't really look like a resting pose and maybe she's unconscious, especially with how Alphinaud is crouching next to her.

I'd say stick with what we have in the MSQ... Let the Scions have cinematic fights, while we get actual fights in the form of instanced trials... I loved the Grand Melee and our fight with Regula for that... Perhaps our final encounter with Derplander can function a bit more like that, with some Praetorium mixed in; Lets say you go in against all of them with all our Scion buddies. We get them down to a certain %, then a cutscene triggers, perhaps Blanhaerz and Y'shtola get an involved cutscene that takes them out of the fight proper, and we carry on with them removed, then that continues until it's just us against Derplander, with the final blow knocking him back in a cutscene similar to what we saw with Gaius. Would we be involved much in those epic cutscenes? No, not at all... I don't think we need to be though...

I think one of the problems with the sort of instance that you describe is that all members of the WoD's group are supposed to be as strong as he is. At least, that was my impression. So, while the Scions are strong, would we really leave each one of them to face such individuals alone?

[Fevelle]

I... I don't like that the next trial is Sophia. I thought she would be the last one of the Triad, but nooo... Let's leave the most boring of the 3 as the last one the players will fight. I still expect a great fight like always, as well as a great OST. A Shiva-like phase where Sophia unleashes different thunder spells and charm mechanics that makes the players coordinate well where they are moving. Also her ultimate is most likely to be Cloudy Heaven.

[PArcher]

I always wanted to do Coils, always wanted to have those cutscenes for myself, whereas with Alexander I find the story uninspired and I don't like Mide either. Coils has a greater tie-in to MSQ and so is bound to be more interesting.

Just, uh, don't let your expectations get too high initially. The story honestly isn't anything special until Final Coil (which is why some of us are expecting more from this last part of the Alexander story) with the exception of the post-T5 revelation and the T9 cutscenes. Yes, the Final Coil story is really good, but unfortunately, a lot of people like to forget that most people didn't care about the Coil story until people really started to clear T12...

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it, a lot of what made the Final Coil story good was the stuff from T12...but to hear it after going through Heavensward, knowing what we do now...

I would like to hear what people who did the story in reverse (HW -> Coil) think about it...

[Rocl]

I... I don't like that the next trial is Sophia. I thought she would be the last one of the Triad, but nooo... Let's leave the most boring of the 3 as the last one the players will fight. I still expect a great fight like always, as well as a great OST. A Shiva-like phase where Sophia unleashes different thunder spells and charm mechanics that makes the players coordinate well where they are moving. Also her ultimate is most likely to be Cloudy Heaven.

It would've made perfect sense to pair Zurvan " the god of infinite time and space" with the final wing of Alexander and his time shenanigans, but nooooooooooooo.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I... I don't like that the next trial is Sophia. I thought she would be the last one of the Triad, but nooo... Let's leave the most boring of the 3 as the last one the players will fight. I still expect a great fight like always, as well as a great OST. A Shiva-like phase where Sophia unleashes different thunder spells and charm mechanics that makes the players coordinate well where they are moving. Also her ultimate is most likely to be Cloudy Heaven.

Don't dismiss it just yet. Who knows how they will spruce up Demon (don't know his real name) for this game. Hell, Sephirot's theme was awesome and I'm looking forward to the rest of the Triad.

[Tenkuu]

I doubt this. The Warriors of Darkness exist because the Warrior of Light is currently an imbalance (or so Elidibus claims).

Are they being used for that purpose? Yes. But I think saying that they actually exist for that purpose is probably a bit much, especially since we know that they were once Warriors of Light.

Just, uh, don't let your expectations get too high initially. The story honestly isn't anything special until Final Coil (which is why some of us are expecting more from this last part of the Alexander story) with the exception of the post-T5 revelation and the T9 cutscenes. Yes, the Final Coil story is really good, but unfortunately, a lot of people like to forget that most people didn't care about the Coil story until people really started to clear T12...

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it, a lot of what made the Final Coil story good was the stuff from T12...but to hear it after going through Heavensward, knowing what we do now...

I would like to hear what people who did the story in reverse (HW -> Coil) think about it...

Maybe you misunderstood what I wrote? I was saying in the same paragraph that I've already cleared T13 a few months ago. As for my expectations, they were high, and they were still surpassed in every instance, from the Binding Coil to the Final Coil. Not to say that I didn't find T10-13 to be the most interesting, but it was cool to see us actually progress to reach that point. Though if I haven't said so before, I had seen the cutscenes before on YouTube because I was afraid I might never get to finish Coils, and I didn't mind the spoilers at all in this case. I simply wanted to have these cutscenes for myself, ie with my character, because it feels more special.

As for Alexander, I had no expectations at all, not even negative ones. However, Mide proved to be an uninteresting character who made decidedly stupid choices, and the Illuminati are no more interesting to me. Not to mention that the very concept of a machine Primal is rather unimpressive and uninspired to me. Right now I just do my weekly Midas for my Midan Gear, but I care nothing for the fight or the story.

[Nestama]

Sounds like both see the other as the parasite that is burning out existence.while hydelyn didn't use the exact words, it seems a similar reasoning for the banishment of Zodiark.

One fear is that the continuing cycle will cause Zodiark's revival and an end to existence as we know it. Could the other be that stopping the cyclical nature of destiny is what causes the end of existence? That without Zodiark's supposed revival there is no one to take the seat of "the mothercrystal" after Hydelyn fades totally?

/speculation

Well she 'banished' Zodiark because he became corrupted after thirsting for more power (they coexisted, so maybe they fed each other their Aether and then one day Zodiark suddenly got a little greedy). I wonder if Hydaelyn can continue to exist without Zodiark...

Are they being used for that purpose? Yes. But I think saying that they actually exist for that purpose is probably a bit much, especially since we know that they were once Warriors of Light.

They probably/most likely know what would happen if we continued down the path of ridding the world of Ascians. They defeated Ravana, so their goal doesn't involve the death of Hydaelyn.

[Fenral]

But why did Zodiark want power? Power is something that only exists in comparison to the present self, so something would need to have happened for Zodiark to feel "weak." If Zodiark was always powerful, he wouldn't have needed to seek it.

There has to be something there that we haven't been told.