"Certain quests?"

[RiversideGuy]

Read here that even though I bought AND pad for EW, I will not be able to PLAY it (I can just play Early Access because I pre-ordered) until I get another email, supposedly on the 7th giving me the full game code. For the life of me I can NOT figure out WHY it is this way, it makes no sense and introduces a LOT of potential troubles if x percent of those emails go astray.

Nor can I guess why "Early Access" lasts until Friday, 12/10 when the official launch is 12.7... well unless they are ever so graciously giving paying customers a few extra days to put in another code. All the mode unnecessary work/effort both by SE and customers.

And yeah, then real answer it all this is that it's Square Enix.

However, I do have an actual question... caught this line on a Se page:

"In order to enjoy all aspects of Endwalker, players need to have played Shadowbringers and have completed certain quests."

Does this mean complete each and every single MSQ quest, or just through the 5.0 closing quests (which I think kinda officially end ShB)? Just curious...

[MistakeNot]

The MSQ is pretty much one big linear chain of quests, so you will need to have finished all of the MSQ so far. 5.0 may have ended ShB (well it didn't actually - ShB story did not end until patch 5.3), but the rest of the 5.x MSQ sets the stage for Endwalker.

[Frizze]

You didnt actually ask, but yeah the reason "early access" goes past the official launch is to give people extra time to find their codes(or pick up their physical versions, or whatever). Anyway.

"In order to enjoy all aspects of Endwalker, players need to have played Shadowbringers and have completed certain quests."

Does this mean complete each and every single MSQ quest, or just through the 5.0 closing quests (which I think kinda officially end ShB)? Just curious...

So the answer is that it depends on which part of the expansion you are trying to access. New race? Just registering the expansion is enough. New class? Registering and getting any combat class to level 70 will allow you to do the Sage/Reaper unlocks. If youre wanting to start the Endwalker story, you need to get to the start of that story. Which is the end of patch 5.55. A lot changes between the final quest of 5.0 and the final quest of Shadowbringers, and going straight from the fight at the Dying Gasp to how we presume the expansion is starting would make zero sense. Ill give one mild example to illustrate the point, but ill spoiler tag it so no one accidently sees. So whats up with Krile?

At the end of 5.0 she is in a side room at the Rising Stones caring for the lifeless bodies of the Scions whos souls had been summoned to the First. After you save them and bring them home she first helps hunt down Estinien one more time to ask for help, then when the new threat presents itself she leaves the Scions and goes back to Old Sharlayan to ask for help. At the end of 5.55 she is already in Old Sharlayan and working to arrange for us to come so we can find some answers. And we know from multiple sources(trailer, patch notes, hype website, live letters, etc) that at some point in the expansion we will be going to Old Sharlayan, so she must eventually get the paperwork or whatever sorted out for our journey. Something she would be unable to do if she were still stuck in the infirmary.

[Jeeqbit]

You need to complete Shadowbringers and all of its patches. That includes 5.0 and 5.1 through to 5.5. It's a linear story, so the expansion wouldn't make sense without the patches.

[Iscah]

Completing Shadowbringers and patches is just a matter of having access to Endwalker's MSQ in the first place.

What I think it means is that, at very least, your understanding of what is happening in parts of the storyline may be enhanced by being familiar with certain other optional story arcs, and it may affect the dialogue you get from other characters and even your own dialogue prompts at key moments.

Compare Shadowbringers and its relationship to other story arcs.

Most pressingly, the Crystal Tower, which was optional at the time. Familiarity with the story gave you a good heads-up as to what might be the truth of a major character, recognise him at a key moment, and basically unlocks the "best ending" by giving you an extra dialogue choice after the final battle.

But also lurking in the background, familiarity with the Alexander and Omega storylines will let you catch references, particularly in the Twinning, to understand how it all played out. You hear the music and you recognise it. The final boss of the Twinning isn't just some weird machine thing.

When the story writer for Endwalker was asked at Fan Fest for similar recommendations this time around, she said there wasn't anything quite as important as the Crystal Tower but that basically every side story in the game would have some significance, and particularly emphasised the Binding Coil and Omega.

Yoshida repeated these in another interview and also added Alexander to the list, though it may have been generically listing "important side stories" over Endwalker particularly, and Alexander is key to Shadowbringers.

So if you've done those three optional stories, you are probably all set. If not, then I would certainly do Coil and Omega at least, though I have no idea what the queue would be like. Coil is best done undersized through PF anyway.