Square Enix has officially designated June 20, 2017, as the release date for Final Fantasy XIV’s feature-packed expansion, ‘Stormblood.’ Developers broke the news via Twitter, and preorders will start on January 24.
The expansion’s most talked about addition is the appearance of the Red Mage job, and also the coming of a new beast tribe to the game. Stormblood will also introduce the swimming ability for all characters, and other changes that SE has not disclosed.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is an MMORPG game that currently runs on Windows, Apple computers, and the PS3 and PS4 consoles.
Introducing the ‘Red Mage’ job class
On Thursday, the Final Fantasy XIV’s Fan Festival featured a keynote by executive director and producer Naoki Yoshida, in which he introduced the ‘Red Mage’ class for new players, a character that combines both melee and magic techniques and stats.
The Red Mage will use a rapier (a more slender type of sword) as his primary weapon, but will also fight with the aid of a magicked crystal medium. These traits give the Red Mage the ability to deal massive amounts of damage by performing spell-melee combos.
His Red Magic is a combination of black and white sorcery, which he can use for ranged attacks and then finish off with close combat techniques via “high-speed positioning.”
FFXIV characters will be able to swim
Players will also be able to swim and dive in some parts of Eorzea, but not all bodies of water will allow characters to do so. This new ability seems to limit to shallow areas, such as ponds and lakes.
When players enter the water, their characters will automatically switch to breaststroke animation and later to sprinting or crawling. Mounts can also swim, but only the ones that can fly as well.
Swimming in FFXIV will happen at a slower speed than regular walking, like in most other games. There will also be no combat options or loading times while doing it.
The Ananta tribe and Lakshmi the Lady of Bliss
Stormblood also brings a new beast tribe called the Ananta, humanoid beings with serpent tails that live in the mountains near Ala Mhigo. This ‘snakewomen’ tribe is pretty ancient but lives under the rule of the Garleans.
A new primal called Lakshmi, the Lady of Bliss, will also come to Eorzea along with a new raid called ‘The Bend of Time -Omega.’
Source: Siliconera
