After the spectacle and excitement of July 29’s announcements about the next FFXIV expansion, Dawntrail, few thought today’s special edition of the Live Letter at the Las Vegas Fan Fest 2023 could top things. But, with Naoki “Yoshi P” Yoshida once again residing over proceedings, FFXIV fans were treated to an insight into the final major patch of Endwalker, 6.5. And we’re here to give you the rundown of everything to get excited about in Final Fantasy XIV Patch 6.5:
Everything to know about FFXIV Endwalker Patch 6.5
Here’s everything you need to know about Endwalker patch 6.5: Growing Light, from its tentative release date to the new content!
Patch 6.5 release dates
Patch 6.5 is titled Growing Light and was confirmed to be released in two parts as a larger-than-usual patch. The first part will be released in Early October 2023, just a half month later than expected, and the second part will be released in mid-January 2024, in the spot that we originally expected the new expansion, Dawntrail, to release. Dawntrail itself will be released in Summer 2024.
More Allied Tribe Quests: Arkasodara meet Loporrits
First on the bill for new content are new tribal quests. We’ve helped the Arkasodara and the Loporrits with their Allied quests this expansion, and now, for the first time, the two seem destined to meet. Inter-galaxy cooperation between the moon-dwelling rabbits and surface-dwelling elephant people seems ripe for us to get some more minions and mounts!
New story, new dungeon: The Lunar Subterrane
Of course, with a new mainline patch, that means more Main Story Quests (MSQ). And that means a new dungeon. Our next dungeon seems to be on the moon of the Void dimension, in a dark fortress run by the mysterious Golbez. This seems to be the last barrier between us and finally freeing Azdaja, the dragon.
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A new trial: The Abyssal Fracture
But where there are Dungeons, there are Trials, and we’ll need to fight one last boss before we have any hope of ending this expansion off on a good note. In this, we’ll be fighting something supremely spooky in the Abyssal Fracture. Is this monstrosity something created by Golbez’ nefarious plans? We assume so. And defeating it is the only thing keeping us from heading to the New World and enjoying some sun and fun!
The final Endwalker Alliance Raid: Thaleia
There’s more unfinished business in Endwalker’s post-game, and that’s with The Twelve, the dozen gods who make up Eorzea’s pantheon. We’ve been fighting them in the Alliance Raid series of this expansion, trying to discover their true nature. Now, we finally might have figured it out. Perhaps… Who knows? It was Emet Selch who told us to do this whole thing. Hasn’t he got around to re-incarnating and explaining this all?
A third Variant Dungeon: Aloalo!
Variant Dungeons are the new hot thing in FFXIV. They’re challenging solo content, difficult group content, and even have a Savage variety. And they have loads of drops and goodies. We expect this to come as Part 2 of 6.5, but we are happy to be proved wrong.
A new Crystalline Conflict Arena: The Red Sands
Crystalline Conflict is the beloved favorite PvP mode of the developers and has seen three arenas created for it since its introduction at the start of Endwalker’s lifespan. Now we’re getting a fourth in the form of the Red Sands. Yet another reason to grind this very popular mode!
Another Island Sanctuary Update!
The Island Sanctuary has turned even the most casual players into real-estate owners in FFXIV, giving us, allegedly, casual content to complete (although, call Island Sanctuary casual to anyone who spent hours harvesting plants, mining minerals, and trapping animals). The Island Sanctuary will get what we expect to be the final update of the Endwalker expansion, although we hope it gets some love post-Dawntrail release!
For more Final Fantasy XIV news, guides, and more, check out How to play FFXIV Xbox Open Beta on Pro Game Guides.
Michael lives in the UK, but wishes he lived in Eorzea. A life-long gamer, Four years ago, he ditched a "real" job to write about video games for a living, and hasn't looked back. When not guiding players how to get the latest mounts, crafting recipes, and in-game goodies, he spends his time nurturing an unhealthy addiction to MMOs and gacha games.