Where do the HW prologue quests start?

[Niwashi]

During the main scenario's 2.x patch quests, I know the story in the later ones serve as a lead-in towards starting Heavensward, setting the stage for what's to come in the first expansion. But which later ones? Is there a clear cut-off for where that arc of the story begins?

I was originally stopping at the end of the 2.0 story, and planned to wait there until I was ready for Heavensward, so I could then go through the patch quests and straight into the HW MSQ. But one of my relic quests requires a run of Snowcloak, which I don't have unlocked yet, since it's unlocked in the middle of the patch 2.4 MSQ.

Now I'm wondering whether I could do some of the earlier patch quests, but still stop short of the ones that serve as a sort of prologue to the expansion. But for that there would need to be a clear cutoff in the storyline at that point, and I'd need to know where it is. Is it just the 2.5 and 2.55 patches that are HW-related or does it begin with 2.4 or earlier? Is there even a clear cutoff point at all besides the one where I am now (end of 2.0 prior to 2.1)?

[Moomba33]

2.4 is where the main buildup to Heavensward starts.
There's a small teaser for it at the end of 2.3.
You'll know you're at the end of 2.3 when you get the achievement "Defenders of Eorzea."

The story won't exactly have a clean cut as the patches also build up a conflict in the city states which won't be fully realized until 2.5.

[Vickii]

If you unlock snowcloak then you are in the HW ramp up.. the themes and characters there are an intro to HW..

However, there’s really no clear line and honestly HW starts at HW. I personally played right up until Ishgard gate and then stayed in ARR to clean up loose ends. It doesn’t lessen the HW experience.

[savageink]

I think there are over a hundred quests between ARR and HW. I wouldn't put them off or it will feel like a total slog.

[Niwashi]

2.4 is where the main buildup to Heavensward starts. There's a small teaser for it at the end of 2.3.
The story won't exactly have a clean cut as the patches also build up a conflict in the city states which won't be fully realized until 2.5.

If you unlock snowcloak then you are in the HW ramp up.. the themes and characters there are an intro to HW..

Thanks to both of you for the answer (even if it isn't quite the answer I was hoping it would be). I think I'll just let my relic upgrades stop where they are for now, at the Nexus level, until I've finished off the rest of my ARR loose ends, and finish its last couple upgrade steps later when I'm ready to advance the MSQ. It's a little frustrating, as I've already completed most of what I need for the Zodiac Braves upgrade, but it's more important to me to keep the story together.

(And really, even if that answer doesn't mesh with my relic upgrades the way I'd like, it does sound promising for the storytelling in those patches.)

I think there are over a hundred quests between ARR and HW. I wouldn't put them off or it will feel like a total slog.

I have a hard time imagining finding any amount of questing a "slog". It may well take a long time, but I have nothing against things taking time if they're fun, and I find questing fun. Although I enjoy a lot of other things as well, story-driven content is my favorite.

[Vickii]

Your welcome!

And as someone who also enjoys story content I have to kinda agree with the slog.

The reason is, those quests were put in to give people who didn’t have anything left to do something to do and keep them occupied for a bit. They could cut the amount of quests down to a quarter to make it nicer for first timers and it wouldn’t effect the story at all - It’s mostly filler quests and probably takes a full weekend playing to do all patches and you probably will want to take breaks in between.

I think at one point you get pulled halfway across the world to pick up three boxes and walk them up a staircase, then back across the world again. That grates after a while.

The actual story does get really amazing at the end of the quests when all the threads and menial tasks tie together.. like really amazing.. but it is a bit of a grind to get to that point. Worth it though.

[Iscah]

I actually disagree with it being a "slog", or at least any more than the rest of ARR - yes there are the menial tasks, and I wish there weren't, but the story is slowly developing throughout that arc. I'm working through it now with an alt, and picking up details that I missed the first time around. And it does indeed come through to an excellent conclusion that leads into Heavensward.

Snowcloak isn't the climax of the pre-Heavensward plot though - there are definitely some other 'stopping points' for the story after that. But you can't really disentangle "pre-Heavensward Ishgard plot" from "other plot" because both storylines are running together.

Also: if you appreciate story and you're planning to level dragoon at some point, now is a good time, because there's a character in that storyline that joins the MSQ for Heavensward. If you go back and play the ARR dragoon quests after that, the story still takes place during ARR and ignores later events.

[Frizze]

To give a more specific answer, i just took a peak at the quest list. The story starts turning toward Ishgard once youve finished dealing with Ramuh. This is toward the end of patch 2.3. Patch 2.4 was originally titled "Dreams of Ice", and while the story from that point forward isnt exclusively focused on HW-buildup it is a primary concern. Of the 100 quest patch line, this encompasses roughly the last 40-45. Snowcloak comes about 1/3 of the way through that sub-section of the story. So in your case, stopping the relic now is probly fine so you can keep the story together. Afterall, for all you know the quest will ask you to do the final storyline dungeon next and thats even further in.