New Playable Class and Race Coming to Final Fantasy XIV's Next Expansion
Last weekend, Final Fantasy XIV's director Naoki Yoshida made some big announcements about the game's next expansion: Shadowbringers. It included more information on what we can expect to see at the expansion's launch and it's guaranteed to please some long-time Final Fantasy fans.
New Playable Class
Fans of Final Fantasy VIII can rejoice because Shadowbringers will see the introduction of the game's next tank class - Gunbreaker. This class will wield a gunblade as their main weapon and its design is similar to the arms used by FFVIII's Squall Leonhart. As mentioned before, the class will be a Tank but it will not use ammunition as projectiles, instead the weapon will inflict slashing damage and the ammunition will be used to enhance the sword in combat.
Like Final Fantasy XIV's previous expansions, this new class will not have a base class but it is likely to start at level 60 and will require a player to have at least one character leveled to 60 as well.
New Playable Race
Fans had been asking for this new playable race for years but finally it has been confirmed that the Viera, bunny ears and all, will be playable in Shadowbringers. The game will now have two animal eared races to choose from when the expansion releases on 2 July 2019.
It is expected that details on the male Viera model will be announced at Tokyo's Fan Festival on 23 March.
New Alliance Raid
In the latest Alliance raid, Return to Ivalice, the Final Fantasy XIV development team brought in guest creator Yasumi Matsuno who is known for his work on Final Fantasy XII and the creation of its world of Ivalice. In the next 24 player raid, creators Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro will be working on the raid series called: YoRHa: Dark Apocolypse.
For those familiar with the NieR franchise, these new raids will follow after NieR: Automata and it will be interesting to see how both Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro weave the NieR universe into Final Fantasy.
Beast Tribe and Primal Details
The land of Pixies, Il Mheg is set to be one of the new areas to explore in Shadowbringers. As the next beast tribe to be announced, the Pixies are described as mischievous beings, proficient in magic, and who may or may not help you on your journey. But with every beast tribe is their very own primal and this time the pixie primal will be their own regent, Titania. There are little details on how Titania will play into the story but Yoshida has stated that her role in Shadowbringers won't be revealed until the expansion's release.
Extended Trailer
Back in November, the first trailer for Shadowbringers was released at the Las Vegas Fan Festival. This time around, we see a few familiar faces in the extra scenes that have been added to the original trailer.
Collectors Edition
With the game set to be available for preorder on 7 February 2019, new details on the Shadowbringers Collectors Edition were also revealed at the keynote address. It will include original artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, a dark knight figure, a deck of playing cards, plus plenty of digital items. Plus, those who preorder will be able to jump into Early Access on 28 June 2019.
Finally, all the details on Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers are available on its official website and if you want to catch-up on the game's latest Fan Fest, it's available to watch on Twitch.
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