If you thought that Square Enix were done with their initial reveal of the new Heavensward expansion pack for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, think again. Just a week later at this year’s FFXIV London Fanfest, director Naoki Yoshida announced that EU players can expect to see an EU datacentre put in place in the near future.
Yoshida also revealed a couple of Heavensward specific features, such as flying mounts, a new primal boss and the confirmation of the Dark Knight job.
The keynote kicked off with the announcements many EU players have been waiting for since launch: EU based servers. Currently, there are only “EU” servers are located with the NA servers in Canada, resulting in lag and ping spikes; one of few gripes I had with the game in my Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn review. While they have been announced, these new EU servers are still in the “early planning” phase, but it’s certainly nice to hear Square Enix have listened to their EU audience.
Right after a standing ovation from the crowd, it was onto the meat of the new Heavensward expansion, which is due in Spring 2015. Yoshida revealed that flying mounts were coming to the game, and previewed a mid-flight black Chocobo, along with a single-rider airship.
There’s also two new beast tribes on the way: the Vanu Vanu and the Gnath. The Vanu Vanu are burly, stout bird creatures, and their governed by a massive winged primal named Bismarck. The Gnath on the otherhand are more insectoid like, and are ruled by a four-sword-wielding primal named Ravana – he’s pictured at the top. You can safely assume you’ll be clashing with these two demi-gods in the new expansion.
The final big announcement – or more like confirmation – was that of the new Dark Knight job. They’re a tanking class that wield a combo of giant two-handed swords, and dark powerful magic. They’ll be unique because they don’t require a base class as a prerequisite, meaning you can start one from level one.
Are you excited for Heavensward?