FFXIV 6.4 Release Date and what is to come for The Dark Throne! Live Letter 77 Summary

There we have it! The Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter 77 just ended and we got all the details. Find out the FFXIV 6.4 Release Date and more here in our Live Letter summary!

The latest Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer Live has just wrapped. And we got lots of info on the upcoming 6.4 patch, The Dark Throne.

Expect the usual FFXIV big patch goodness, tons of quality-of-life enhancements, a new raid tier, new dungeons, and finally some good content in the form of Blue Mage and more Ocean Fishing.

So here is our detailed summary of the 77th Live Letter!

FFXIV 6.4 Release Date

Let's start with the important, good news. Patch 6.4 will release on May 23, 2023, around the usual time. There won't be a 24-hour maintenance this time around, but keep an eye out on the loadstone for more details.

Like last time, the release of the Savage Raid Tier will be delayed by a week. That means the last tier of Pandaemonium Savage will open its doors on May 30, so you have plenty of time to gear up and prepare.

Quest Content

As for normal, casual content 6.4 seems to follow the same trend as all post-Endwalker content with all the usual staples.

First, there is a new chapter in the MSQ that might or might not be the finale of the post-Endwalker story. We venture back into the void to finish our business with FFV villain Golbez.

We'll might finally uncover Zero's mysterious past and find a way to undo the woes of the 13th. But who knows that secrets and terrors hide on the dark side of the moon?

Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida has previously teased that 6.4 will give us the first hints for the upcoming 7.0 expansion which is expected to be revealed at the next Fan Fest in July.

There'll also be another entry in Tataru's Grand Endeavor questline. This time we're heading back to Werlyt to check in with Gaius.

To accept this quest you need to complete Tataru's Grand Endeavor's intro quest and finish the Shadowbringers Sorrow of Werlyt's trial series by completing the quest “Forever at your Side”.

With the 6.45 patch, we'll see the addition of Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures which feature the beloved detective trying to solve outer space's greatest mysteries.

This will also come with the next step in the relict weapons with Further Mandervillle Weapons. (Also released with 6.4).

Like the previous two steps, you'll only need to grind for Tomestone currency to upgrade your weapon, Yoshida stated that there won't be any surprises here (yet).

And last but not least the next step in the relict tools for crafters and gatherers will also release with patch 6.45. Splendorous Tools go into the next round but don't expect any changes to that grind either.

Pandaemonium Anabaseios

With an even-numbered patch, we get a new Raid tier. This one will be the final part of the Pandaemonium series of raids and is called Anabaseios.

After the 6.2 quests ended on a cliffhanger, many of us are eager to find out how we're gonna resolve the crisis our ancient colleagues have left behind.

On stream, Yoshida showed off the first boss Cocytus. The visuals were a treat, a Black Mage died and the music slapped hard. And if you want to dig into the lore a bit, Cocytus has a very interesting Wikipedia page.

As announced earlier, the Anabaseios Savage tier will be delayed by a week. There are also some changes to loot distribution which go as follows (only for this Savage tier):

• Coffers will no longer reward duplicate armor pieces for the same slot
• Body Gear can be earned from Anabaseios: The eleventh Circle (Savage)
• Only a single treasure coffer will appear at the end of each encounter (loot quantity will remain the same)
  • Rewards will be adjusted if 1 to 4 players have completed the duty and there'll be no rewards if 5 players have completed it.
• The exchange rates for Anabaseios Mythos have also changed as followed:
  • Body Gear can now be exchanged for 6x Mythos III instead of 8x Mythos IV
  • Leg Gear can now be exchanged for 6x Mythos III instead of 8x Mythos III
  • Accessories can now be exchanged for 3x Mythos I instead of 4x Mythos I
  • Mythos IV can now be exchanged for Mythos I – Mythos III at a 1:1 exchange rate

New Dungeon and Trials

With a new entry in the MSQ, we'll also get to visit a new dungeon. This time it's the Aetherfont which seems to be located somewhere in the vicinity of Old Sharlayan.

Since most of it seems to be subjective to spoilers, we have little to go by aside from what was shown in the trailer.

The dev team was however very eager to show off the trial of this patch. And we're indeed going to fight Golbez on the moon on the 13th. This trial is called The Voidcast Dias.

It looked very mechanically complex as we fight on a cube that seems to change depending on the phase of the fight. If the 6.x trials are anything to go by, expect this fight to be messy and fast.

As always the encounter will also come with an extreme encounter, The Voidcast Dias (Extreme) which you'll be able to grind on the party finder for a new weapon and or the mount.

And we'll also go into the next round of Unreal Trials. This time players will challenge the Containment Bay Z1T9 (Zurvan) for all kinds of rewards from Faux Hollow.

New Variant & Criterion Dungeon: Mount Rokkon

Patch 6.2 introduced a new kind of content for FFXIV, the Criterion/Variant Dungeons. Which are self-contained optional challenges players of all skill levels can enjoy.

Variant Dungeons are a chose your own adventure dungeon that you can play with up to 4 players without any role restrictions. They are meant to be run over and over again to get all the story bits as well as a secret ending.

The Criterion Dungeon's on the other hand are more curated challenges for 4 player teams that make use of light party mechanics and lots and lots of CC. They come in a normal and Savage Difficulty.

This time around we venture back to Hingashi and follow the ever-trustworthy merchant Hancock on his latest endeavor, exploring Mount Rokkon and finding its valuables (we think).

The Pinewood mountain range features some beautiful vistas, an amazing re-rendition of Kugane's theme, and probably some cute boss that turns out to be evil incarnated.

Duty Support for Stormblood

The penultimate effort to make all of FFXIV's MSQ playable with AI companion will arrive with patch 6.4.

After the rest of the mandatory Heavensward dungeons were added to the Duty Support System last patch, Stormblood will get its due.

With patch 6.4 the following dungeons will be added and receive some visual overhaul: Sirensong Sea, Bardam's Mettle, Doma Castle, Castrum Abania, and Ala Mhigo.

The rest of Stormblood aka. the 4.x dungeons will be added come 6.5.

PvE Job Adjustments

There'll be no major overhaul of the combat system. We can probably expect some bigger reworks (if they ever come) whenever 6.5 or 7.0 rolls around. But there are still some adjustments.

Efforts will be made that damage is balanced around each job in their respective role, Yoshida mentioned the tanks specifically since Dark Knight is in a very distinctive lead as of writing.

But across the board the radius of several party buffs will be extended to 30 Yalms, meaning they'll probably cover entire boss rooms now. Which allows the team more wiggle room with spread mechanics.

Some jobs will also get increased usability of certain job actions, the explicit examples named were Paladin and Dragoon.

Paladin's Execution of Atonement will no longer interrupt combos and Dragoon's Jump and High Jump abilities will no longer displace the player. Meaning they'll no longer lock your animations and let you jump into AoE's.

The complete list of changes will of course be in the patch notes on May 23.

PvP Updates

As for regular PvP, you can expect the usual. Balance adjustments to the current meta as well as the start of the new Season of Crystalline Conflicts and PvP Series Four.

New is however that players within the top 100 rankings and or the diamond tier will receive additional rewards, like an item that'll allow you to apply a special effect to the Hellhound PvP weapons.

The biggest changes are coming to the Frontlines though.

There'll be a UI overhaul that'll make the scoreboard more readable, as well as adjustments to the way the Limit Gauge fills as well as the way damage is dealt and taken scales.

Frontline will now also reward Series EXP. The Borderline Ruin's will be taken out of the rotation for the time being and Fields of Glory (Shatter) is receiving a massive overhaul.

The Map layout will be completely changed and Allagan Tomelith's will be removed. Plays now have to compete by only destroying Icebound Tomeliths. The way Data is acquired will be adjusted across the board.

Blue Mage Update (Finally Good Content)

The blue wave is back, after what felt like years of waiting, Blue Mage finally get its current level 70 cap increased to 80. That means you'll soon be able to skip through Shadowbringers content with destructive glee.

You can expect New Spells and Gear, New challenges added to the Masked Carnivale, and new duties added to the Blue Mage Log.

And we hope that all of you are looking forward to learning Light Rampart and become a menace to society. You sadly have to wait till July/September, as the Blue Mage update is scheduled to roll out with 6.45.

Ocean Fishing Update

More good content. The ever-popular Ocean Fishing, the only content everyone actually cares about gets an update! Now you'll also be able to embark on a fishing trip to Kugane. You can also expect new rewards to be added with this update.

Island Sanctuary Update

And the goods just keep coming. After being added in 6.2, the Island Sanctuary will finally receive its first big content update.

6.3 added two more ranks and a couple more animals to catch and veggies to grow. With 6.4 the Island Sanctuary will receive an entire new Area with new stuff to father and wildlife to tame.

With that of course come new recipes to craft, new buildings to build, and more ranks to level up. All of this will of course be rewarded with new glamour, minions, and mounts.

But most importantly, from 6.4 onwards you'll be able to place up to 90 outdoor furnishings around your Sanctuary (the hideaway part). While sharing the same furnishings as housing the system is a little different.

Instead of placing the furnishings, you'll cast glamour on them. It will eat out a resource but allows you to place items out of your inventory (this will still lock them to your character and make them unavailable for reselling).

This functions very similar to the way the Glamour dresser functions, just with housing items. But you can also store up to 120 items at your Island sanctuary if you feel like changing things up.

Another thing to note is, that only need to register an item once, then you can place it as often as you want. And they're also dyable.

Miscellaneous Updates

As per usual, 6.4 also brings a slew of quality-of-life enhancements as well as clever little changes to the UI.

With patch 6.4 the game will implement a new Tomestone currency in the form of the Allagan Tomestones of Comedy. They will replace the current weekly currency with a similar cap.

Scholars will finally be able to glamour their Faerie. Instead of being able to select between Selene and Eos who both do the same now, you can simply choose between the two or your trusty Carbuncle.

There'll also be a change to the Gearset system, it'll now be available from the moment you create a new character and you'll be able to store up to 100 gearsets per character.

A little UI change, Job Icons will now be displayed in the party chat next to the player name (option will be togglable) and the player nameplate.

You'll finally be able to see what the total price of items on the market board is, transaction fees will now be included in the total price listings.

Glasses and Wing Fashion accessories will now also be displayed in combat when you're participating in open-world content, so you have a chance to show up during the next hunt train.

You'll also now be able to cast glamour from and on items stored in different locations. Meaning you can on the fly adjust your glamour by having items stored in your armory, retainers, or the glamour dresser.

And if you're a proud owner of the optional Immersive Gamepack, with 6.4 it'll roll out its 2.0 update and feature some overall improvements to the way the game simulates sound in 3D space.

This wraps our summary of the recent FFXIV Live Letter. The next Live Letter will be part of the Las Vegas Fan Fest on July 28th, 2023.

For everything more FFXIV, visit us here on ESTNN