Stormblood Arrives This Summer

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood will be releasing for PlayStation 4 and PC on June 20, 2017 — with pre-orders starting on January 24, 2017. The second expansion of the game includes new playable jobs, swimming and diving, “The Bend of Time — Omega” and “Return to Ivalice” raids, exploration area “Eureka”, housing area, dungeons, beast tribes, primals, relic questline, and naturally, a brand new Final Fantasy storyline. The theme song for Stormblood will be by Nobuo Uematsu.

Fight with Style and Elegance while Dealing Massive Damage — Introducing Red Mage

Red Mage is the first new job announced for Stormblood and will be filling a ranged DPS slot in a party. It is a skilled rapier wielder combining magic and close combat attacks into beautiful rose petals blooming chains. Alongside his rapier, Red Mage uses a Magicked Crystal Medium which can be combined together with the sword – turning it into two handed staff for magic casts. This hybrid of ranged and close combat is achieved by high speed positioning. Red Magic is also a combination of White and Black Magic meaning that the job can also offer party support. Starting level for Red Mage is 50lv.

Watch Red Mage premiere gameplay clip here!

Swimming and Diving

Stormblood will be introducing a new traveling mechanic — Swimming and Diving! By entering in an accessible water area, the player will automatically start swimming and diving without any loading times. You don’t have to worry about drowning because magic. There will be walk (Breast Stroke) and sprint (Crawl) options available. Already existing flying mounts can also swim and dive without an issue, and Stormblood will be introducing even more – such as Syldra from Final Fantasy V. Swimming will be available in limited Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn areas such as Costa Del Sol. There won’t be combat in the water areas but interactions with NPC and gathering locations, especially for fishers. Diving is unlocked through a special quest.

Mermaids Discovered in Eorzea

The Ananta will be a new beast tribe in Final Fantasy XIV. These mermaids are female only and have existed since the time of the Allagans, and are very well known from their skill in spell and gem craft. Currently they are being oppressed by the Garleans. Their primal is known as “Lady of Bliss – Lakshmi”.

Return to Ivalice

The 24-man raid will be very Final Fantasy XII inspired. Not much was released about this new massive raid but it be written by Yasumi Matsuno (Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics). Illustrations and character designs will be by Keita Amemiya (Shin Megami Tensei IV).

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood is set for release for PlayStation 4 and PC on June 20, 2017.