Hello fellow adventurers. In this guide, I want to give you an overview of what it’s like during an expansion release, specifically for casual players, by looking back at my personal experience with previous expansions. I’ve been playing Final Fantasy XIV since 1.0. So I’ve seen quite a few versions of the expansion and feel pretty confident about what to expect.

Additionally, I wanted to show off a tiny detail that people may have missed before that adds to the charm of each expansion update. There is no maximum uptime and readiness check, perfect time management and fastest upgrade experience. Just a look at the next two months, from one casual player to another.

From now on, I will go through it in chronological order until the release of Dawntrail. Before we start, I still want to remind you that if you want to have a comfortable gaming experience after entering the new expansion, it is a wise choice to purchase FFXIV Gil in advance.

Will Dawntrail Conduct A Media Tour?

First, let’s start with the media tour. By the way, all times and dates are from a European perspective.

The media tour will be held from May 15th to May 30th. This is an exclusive event for media, where invited media guests and influencers will get the first look at new abilities, trailers, and test job changes through a limited run of play, usually the first dungeon of an expansion.

Additionally, they will have the opportunity for exclusive interviews. All of this will be done in secret, and you won’t hear much about it until the embargo is lifted.

PLL

During this media tour, there will also be a letter from the producer live on May 16th. In this demo, we regular players will also see at least a job action trailer, some job changes, and possibly a new start screen for Dawntrail.

The second letter from producer live is scheduled to be sent out on Friday, June 14th. This will probably feature a release trailer.

The launch trailer is a story-focused video showcasing actual footage from the game. It will contain a lot of spoilers that many people may want to avoid, so they don’t know what to expect in the next expansion.

In the trailers, you’ll see and hear things that are completely taken out of context, and there are often a lot of red herrings.

Maintenance

The next big thing on the list is Early Access starting on Friday, June 28th and the associated major maintenance.

Every expansion release to date has been subject to 48 hours of maintenance, and this release also has one scheduled for maintenance. But there is a chance it can be extended to 72 hours.

This is because not only did we get a big software update, but the data center also got a physical update with the implementation of a new EU DC called Shadow. Obviously, preparations are already underway, but these times could still change.

On Lodestone, you’ll get actual maintenance times for your region and the usual patch notes. While these patch notes will be quite lengthy this time around, please note that some notes may contain spoilers, such as quest names, potential bosses and screenshots of cut scenes.

Typically, around half of the downtime, updates to the new launcher client and the game itself can be downloaded and installed by opening your usual launcher.

As a reminder, you must be logged in to get game updates. Simply opening the launcher will only update the launcher itself, so be sure to log in ahead of time and get game updates.

Early Access

The official release date is Tuesday, July 2, but most players will need to pay some additional fees to get into Early Access on Friday, June 28.

During this period, the logging queue will be very long. So be prepared to wait, maybe even up to an hour, for the line to finally clear up.

Frequent errors and queue crashes were common on Early Access launch day. Once you successfully enter the game, there is always the possibility of disconnection. So please be patient.

Also note that there is usually an auto-disconnect feature active that automatically logs you out if you haven’t moved for 30 minutes to avoid wasting time.

Because of new graphics updates, loading times may increase and overall frame rate and performance may decrease significantly. There will definitely be a detailed guide to the new graphics settings on Lodestone. Take the time to study them beforehand and it is recommended to set them up to your liking before jumping into MSQ.

Tips

The new main scenario quest will probably begin in Ojika Tsunjika in Old Sharlayan, where the previous quest ended.

Also, this small entrance hall can be very crowded. Check which button on your keyboard or controller is set to target the nearest NPC. By the way, please don’t stand on top of any quest NPCs so people can target them more easily.

It is important to note that one thing that can be activated to reduce the load on the server and clients is so-called instance. In the past, all new regions would have a maximum of three instances when the expansion launched. You can use command /instance to check the instance your character is currently on.

To switch to a different instance, you can go to Aetheryte in the area and select the instance you want to go to. Alternatively, if you have access to the zone border, you can exit and return to get a prompt asking which instance you want to access.

This comes in handy if you’re playing with a group of people, as party members may appear in different instances, even if you travel and teleport together.

Each extension update brings new job actions and abilities. Additionally, some may change and be updated or replaced. Please check your hotbars and the functionality there, and read the tooltip carefully to see if any changes have been made. You will read all the information about job changes on Lodestone in advance.

To unlock the latest area of flying, you may need to collect Aether Currents again. With Endwalker, Aether Compass, a device that helps you locate them, changes from a key item to a collection entry.

Once you complete all available main scenario quests in an area, the mount’s speed on land will increase. However, SDS Fenrir Mount allows you to drive faster on land in no time. If you plan on moving forward as quickly as possible, you may want to consider purchasing a store-exclusive mount before the expansion releases.

As for flying, possibly using Bicolor Gemstones or other new currencies to purchase additional riding maps will also increase flying speed.

As for inventory and items, make sure you have some form of food ready for the 3% XP bonus, as well as enough free space for all the loot and items that will drop.

Easter Egg

There may be a slight variation at the end, some even call it Easter Egg.

The extension may update images of Roulette of Duty Finder. For example, graphics of Expert Roulette and the highest level dungeon Roulette will always feature newly added jobs and races.

In Endwalker, this is Sage, Reaper and Male Viera. So in Dawntrail, expect to see Viper, Pictomancer and a Female Hrothgar appear in these images.

Now the last and most important thing is to have fun and take your time. You can only experience this new story chapter for the first time once. So you can explore new worlds at your own pace. Have a nice day!

Hello players! FFXIV Dawntrail is nearly two months away from its official release, so here I want to talk about the 5 best classes to start the new expansion to help you prepare.

In this guide, we’ll consider factors such as ease of use, versatility, and enjoyment of the game to find the class that best suits your play style. So, let’s start finding Final Fantasy XIV class that’s right for you!

1. Dragoon

Anyone who knows me knows that Dragoon has been my dominant class for the past many years, and there’s definitely a reason for that!

First, it’s easy to learn. Rotations slowly increase as you level up, and early level actions are focused on restoring health while dealing extra damage.

What’s more, with the role ability, Second Wind for emergency healing, limited support actions, and the ability to jump in and out of combat almost at will, Dragoon’s versatility is very high, while the required skill level is quite low. This is very advantageous for players who are short of FFXIV Gil early in the game.

The biggest problem with this class is that some people find the repetitiveness of the lower level rotations too boring. But if you find it fun to stab things with a stick, or enjoy jumping around an arena, Dragoon is definitely a good choice!

2. Paladin

I know a lot of players are tired of the advice to play tanks, but even if tanks aren’t for you, Paladin is a great option to help the class level up.

With excellent defense and the ability to heal himself, Paladin is the king of tanks in single-player games. Whether you’re fighting your way through MSQ, farming for XP, or guiding your Duty Support team through dungeons, Paladin is the best early-game tank class with incredible forgiving abilities.

You don’t even have to master your rotation to accomplish most things, and your various magic and physical AOE attacks make you the most powerful killer on the field early on.

Paladin is easier to learn than other tank classes and is a lot of fun with massive giant sword AOEs. If you like a class that has both survivability and damage, Paladin might be a superb choice for you!

3. Machinist

Physical ranged classes are very useful for some low-level players, as they allow you to run anywhere on the battlefield dodging AOEs and still have the ability to damage what you want.

Machinist is very good at damaging enemies and has some amazing burst damage. But they also have the benefit of having nothing expected in group content other than being the major force between battles. You don’t have to worry about supporting actions like Bard, choosing a dance partner like Dancer, or helping healers with raises like some Magic DPS.

You just jump into whatever fight you’ve got lined up and do your thing. Once you get good at understanding all of your abilities and adapting to your rotation, you can summon your Automaton Queen to the battlefield. She can ignore the mechanics because no one can tell her what to do.

You have to reach Ishgard during Heavensward to unlock this class, but when you do, it starts at level 30, allowing you to bypass the starting area as you level up. If you just want to experience immersive combat and own a Flamethrower, Machinist might be for you!

4. Samurai

If you are looking for a more up-close and personal class, Samurai is the answer. Like Machinist, Samurai is a DPS with almost no party utility. No matter what happens, your role is to deal as much damage as possible in order to end the fight faster.

Keep in mind that the rotation of each Samurai takes a little time, but once you understand how it works, the class is relatively easy to play. It’ll provide the capabilities to suit almost any situation you find yourself in.

This isn’t available until you reach level 50, though, so it’s a bit of a wait for new players. But it starts at level 50, so you don’t need to go through the usual leveling process from scratch. If you’re not interested in your current class, this is a great option to try new things without feeling like you’ve lost any progress in the game.

5. Summoner

Maybe after reading this you are still not sure what you want to choose after entering Dawntrail. If you want to try everything, but you don’t have the time to play to upgrade everything you want, then maybe you should check out Summoner.

Summoner has been reworked to be easier to learn than before, and rotation has been made easy, but there’s still some wiggle room for refinement for those with a desire to learn.

You can pick Arcanist at level 1 so you can grab this from the start, and pick Summoner as your job at level 30. You also get a raise so you can help out the healers during tough times and get some extra rewards for being a valuable member of the team.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of playing as a Summoner is that it also automatically increases your Scholar level. Even if you haven’t accepted the job yet, when you do, it will be at the same level as your Summoner.

This way, if you want to complete healer role quests in Dawntrail, or are brave enough to try a healer, you don’t have to spend time leveling up!

So what do players think? What class do you want to play? What classes do you think I’ve missed that are more early-stage friendly? See you in the game!

Recently, Final Fantasy XIV was finally confirmed to release its expansion, Dawntrail, on July 2, 2024. And in this expansion, the character’s level cap will be increased from 90 to 100. So, as the release date gets closer, it’s urgent that we quickly upgrade our characters from level 80 to level 90.

That’s where this guide comes into play. Here, we’ll provide some ways to help you farm XP and help your character reach the current level 90 cap as quickly as possible. Whether you’re new to FFXIV or a veteran returning to the new expansion, this guide will help.

Before jumping in, I want to remind you that purchasing some FFXIV Gil in advance will make your upgrade process twice the result with half the effort! Without further ado, let’s get started!

Leveling Roulette Dungeons

First, our priority is to participate in Leveling Roulette. Leveling Roulette in FFXIV contains a variety of dungeons and is one of the best ways for you to earn XP, Gil, and Company Seals.

Especially later in your journey, Leveling Roulette dungeon will also be a significant source of Allagan Tomestones. This is also key to getting powerful gear for other jobs you decide to upgrade.

In addition, this is also a good way to complete the weekly challenge log, as challenging “Feeling Lucky” and “Dungeon Master” can be a good experience point increase. Just run it every day to get rewards, and you’ll also get tons of XP from challenge log entries.

However, the downside is that you need to queue to enter the dungeon. Don’t worry though, the best way to shorten your queue is to join right after the daily reset, as this is when the most people are online.

Complete Daily Reputation

While you’re waiting for the queue to pop up, you can start with priority two, Daily Reputation quests. However, there are only two reputations you need to focus on: Pixies from Shadowbringers and Arkasodara from Endwalker. If you’re lucky enough to complete Leveling Roulette dungeon before completing your daily reputation, join Frontline Roulette now.

Frontline Roulette

Frontline is a large-scale PVP mode that features three teams of up to 24 players each.

But many friends are hesitant to join PVP, worried about wasting time because of failure. But actually joining the queue with 23 other allies, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Because no matter what, over 80% of people join this queue just to get Roulette reward.

And adding Frontline is a benefit for everyone, since it requires 72 people to start the game. So, put one of your spells in your hot bar, follow the crowd, and you’ll be fine.

Spam Dungeons Of Similar Levels

Let’s move on to the next leveling method, which is finding the dungeon closest to your level and spamming it. The only enemy here is queue time. Likewise, joining immediately after the daily reset will significantly reduce queue times.

There is an option here to use AI for teammates, which I recommend doing if you plan on upgrading multiple jobs.

Essentially, you have to level them up from level 71 to level 90 by running dungeons with them. It’s called Trust system and you can find it under Duty Menu.

Some dungeons allow you to sync them to the desired level, so you can spam a level 89 dungeon, for example, even if you’ve never accessed them before.

Bozjan Southern Front

Finally, for those of you who are complete strangers, there is a somewhat hidden place called Bozjan Southern Front. This is level 71 Field Operations introduced by Shadowbringers. What can you do there that’s worth your time?

You can do this by finding a group in chat and start doing FATEs with them. Normal FATEs, also known as Skirmishes, award you a small amount of XP, while Big FATEs, also known as Critical Engagements, award you a large amount of XP.

The nice thing about it is that you can grind as much as you want in there. I need to remind you that many people have focused on farming Bozjan Clusters but have not been awarded XP because XP only comes from completing FATEs.

That’s all for today. If you’re a veteran and find yourself here, be sure to share your own tips on how to level up effectively! Good luck!