Here's the FF14 7.4 release date and everything shown during Live Letter 89, and the MMO is answering my wildest hopes

The FF14 7.4 update has just been revealed in full by game director Naoki Yoshida and community producer Toshio Murouchi, and there's a lot to look forward to. With Dawntrail's conclusion in the bag, the new patch is a landmark moment as we take our first steps on the road to the 8.0 expansion. The good news up top is that this is shaping up to be one of the most substantial overhauls in a while, including the long-awaited lifting of glam restrictions, so I've put together everything shown during Final Fantasy 14 Live Letter 89 to catch you up on all the details.

Because this is our first look at the next Final Fantasy 14 update, there are no in-game demonstrations today, but we do get lots of images to tease us. It feels like Dawntrail's divisive story managed to win back some crucial favor with the last two patches, and its combat content has been some of its best yet. Pilgrim's Traverse was a strong first trial for the new variable difficulty systems, but now it's time to prove that it wasn't a one-off.

'Yoshi-P' says he's been reflecting on the past decade and the feedback from Pilgrim's Traverse, and is ready to ensure the coming years bolster FF14's reputation as one of the best MMORPGs around. Today includes the next raid tier, updates to Occult Crescent, Cosmic Exploration, duty support, and Hildibrand, a new Variant Dungeon, and some much-requested adjustments to structure and schedule based on feedback, including a complete transformation to the glamour system.

Before we even get to the new content, there's another update on the way. FF14 patch 7.38 launches Tuesday November 11. It will remove the weekly limit on savage rewards for the latest raid tier, allow you to exchange Ordelle and Montiont coins from the Dawntrail alliance raids for Evercharged Ester to upgrade the tomestone Historia weapons, and add another furnishing item into coffers from those Return to Ivalice encounters.

The FF14 7.4 release date is Tuesday December 16. Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.4 is titled 'Into the Mist.' "It is the end of the year so we felt like we had to give a bit more time for scheduling," Yoshida explains (via unofficial translation in the FF14 Discord).

Because of the frustration around the Christmas Day launch of the chaotic raid in 2025, the Arcadion Heavyweight tier (savage) will instead launch on Tuesday January 6. "We discussed this a lot," Yoshida remarks. "Especially the western community spends their Christmas holidays with family, and we thought if we made them sacrifice family for raiding that might become a whole shit storm."

Of course, a big part of the patch will be the new MSQ, which Yoshida calls "the first step of the new plot line." He teases that "7.5 is also packed, and we hope you enjoy this new arc." While we're moving on from Dawntrail, it looks like we're still spending some time in Living Memory, and you can expect some more classic Final Fantasy nods as well.

The new dungeon, 'Mistwake,' looks to continue the FF9 themes with a setting very reminiscent of the JRPG's Treno, a city in Alexandria, and the trial is 'Hell on Rails.' That's right, we're going to be fighting FF8's Doomtrain, or at least its equivalent. Yoshida jokes that it looks like "A dark Thomas," and when pressed on how the fight will play out by Murouchi, he simply responds, "It will be all over the place - I think it's good if you pay attention to the model, there might be things growing."

Occult Crescent gets three new phantom jobs: Mystic Knight, Dancer, and Gladiator. There will also be "beneficial accessories" that you can find in critical encounters, treasure chests, magic pots, and from happy bunnies. These include four pieces each for Disciples of War and Disciples of Magic, and will boost your attributes while in the zone.

Phantom weapons can be upgraded to item level 775, with the required materials able to be obtained "from various duties, including the Occult Crescent." Yoshida says the team is thinking about how it handles these for the future. "When we consider the weapon series after this one, we might completely change it; this might be the last time for this kind of upgrade system.

Our new destination for Cosmic Exploration is Oizys, which is a fragmented, rocky world that reminds me a little of Elden Ring's Crumbling Farum Azula. Yoshida hints, "There used to be something on this planet, a civilization that found its end, and obviously it messed with gravity." Expect cosmic tool upgrades to item level 765, along with more rewards to earn from both cosmocredits and the cosmic fortune wheel. There's also a new appraisal system called Ruin Exploration.

The new Variant Dungeon is 'The Merchant's Tale,' and it'll see us transported inside a magical tome to explore a vibrant fantasy world. That's not an understatement; it might even have Pixie playground Lyhe Mheg from Shadowbringers beaten when it comes to color. We'll be joined by a Miqo'te gleaner, and like previous such dungeons you can tackle it with between one and four players. There will be bonus duty actions to cover for gaps in your group, and the challenge presented adjusts to match your number.

As before, you'll be presented with plenty of choices to change your route through the region, and each path will lead to a different final outcome. Past Variant Dungeons have held some particularly juicy lore buried in them that became relevant in later main-story content, so I'll certainly be digging through every piece of information for hints at what might be to come. You'll also be able to level jobs from 90 this time around, which is a welcome addition.

As Square Enix continues its new wave of adaptable difficulty, there's a new, intermediary step before we get to the Criterion Dungeon. 'Variant Dungeon (Advanced)' will let you challenge all three boss battles from the base version in whatever order you like. You'll earn personal rewards (specific to each enemy) for every one you bring down, and you're able to stop after a single fight if you decide that's all you want to do. Manage to defeat them all in one run, however, and you'll get a bonus payout.

This new, advanced form requires at least two players, as Yoshida says the team deemed it unsuitable for solo play, but will scale up to four. "We've made a lot of content and of course savage is high-end, but we've always had the request to be allowed to practice individual phases," Yoshida says. "We thought for this advanced Variant Dungeon, since we already have the three bosses anyway, we might add this feature."

Make it all the way to the Criterion Dungeon and you'll face your toughest trial. There's no exploration, and you'll have to fight all three bosses in a specific order "with increased strength and more punishing mechanics." There are no trash mobs, revival methods are limited, and you'll need to use the traditional one tank, one healer, two DPS composition unless you have a pre-formed party.

This all sounds like great responses to the feedback given during Endwalker's Variant Dungeons, but the rewards will need to be similarly ramped up if they're going to keep players coming back. The glamour options (seen below) are probably going to be an instant winner, as is a flying carpet mount, but Yoshida doesn't give us any more detail than that for now.

Elsewhere, patch 7.4 includes the new Arcadion Heavyweight tier, the final part of the eight-player raid series, which features a Gladiator-style "death match" and an imposing Elezen. Yoshida calls him "evil Urianger" and says, "he definitely gives off champion vibes." There's the fourth of five planned acts for the Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures. Our next unreal is Tsukuyomi, continuing the run of classic Stormblood fights in a modernized form. Duty support is arriving for two of the most notorious optional ARR dungeons, Dzemael Darkhold and Aurum Vale.

"I have a friend who recently started the game," Yoshida notes, "he was asking me, 'What am I supposed to do as a healer in Aurum Vale?'" He reveals another welcome feature coming to duty support across the board, designed to save you from those insta-wipes when your character goes down. Now, you'll gain protection stacks each time you die against a boss. These protect you from a single fatal blow, much like the ones used in eight-player trials with NPCs, and will reset when you beat the fight.

There are two new UI color schemes, in green and white, and we're finally getting the 'Strategy Board' (an official raid planner tool) in 7.4. Sick of filling up your hotbars with emotes? The new 'Command Panel' is a four-page setup with 25 slots on each, and you're able to put anything there that you could normally assign to a hotbar. You can hide each page behind a single button, minimizing the amount of HUD trickery you need to do.

The Gold Saucer is getting some love, too, with a new Air Force One track that will see you show down against the Kraken, a familiar face from dungeons such as Hullbreaker Isle. On the PvP side, we'll kick off series ten along with a range of balance changes (details on those closer to the release) and a new Frontline map with a fresh set of rules.

Yoshida saves the biggest news until last. "I did release a post about the modding community a few weeks ago, and I get that FF is changing over time, and I do want everyone to enjoy the game." The switch has been pulled: you can now use any gear for glamour, "irrespective of class, job, or level restrictions." That means you can wear White Mage robes as a Dark Knight, or gatherer gear on your Dragoon - the gloves are truly, literally off.

We'll have to wait until 7.5 for housing updates, but I think we can take this as a big win. Yoshida also closes by remarking that the team is eager to add more open-world field content, which I'd be very pleased to see. All in all, Live Letter 89 certainly shows that Square Enix is listening to actual player requests, and that's exciting.

Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.4, 'Into the Mist,' releases on Tuesday December 16. That's all for today, but it sounds like it's going to be quite a busy holiday season in FF14. Thanks as always to 'Miuna' and 'iluna minori' on the FF14 Discord [link, opens in new window] for their live translation of the presentation.

Want to make sure your raid group doesn't miss a single callout in the Heavyweight savage tier? Grab the best gaming headset in 2025. You'll also want to keep a close eye on the FF14 server status and maintenance times to know when you're able to play.

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