The FF14 Bastion is our first new Evercold job - here's everything Yoshi-P announced in the Fanfest Berlin keynote

We've just been given a much bigger look at what to expect from FF14 Evercold, the upcoming 8.0 expansion that's set to send the Warrior of Light and the Scions on our next grand adventure. At Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest Berlin 2026, Game Director Naoki Yoshida took to the stage to showcase our first new Evercold job, the Bastion, and give us a deeper look at how the team at Square Enix's Creative Studio 3 is planning to take the critically acclaimed MMORPG "to the next level." I'm on the show floor to bring you a full keynote summary of everything 'Yoshi-P' had to say, so let's get started.

The Final Fantasy 14 Director comes out clad in the full regalia of the new class, complete with dual gunshields: "It's so heavy!" He's joined on the Fanfest stage by Localization Supervisor Michael Christopher Koji-Fox, who's here to handle the translations. "I see some of you have taken an interest in my gear," he laughs. "It's tough being the producer on a critically acclaimed MMO - I'm 53 years old." Before we get into all the details on our latest addition to the tank roster, however, it's time for a little recap of what's coming up in FF14 8.0.

Before we get into the real meat of things, you can enjoy the updated FF14 Evercold trailer, with an extended middle section that showed off a new character, our heavy-artillery tank companion, several shots of the Warrior of Light in full Reaper mode, and what appears to be a colossal fire giant. We'll start to get a first in-game taste of the new story when FF14 patch 7.56 lands on September 8.

Yoshida reiterates that much of our time on the reflection known as The Fourth will be spent on giant Realmships, civilization's home high above the frozen wastes on the planet below. These are known as "The Five Firmaments," and appear to each be elementally attuned. "Of course, the everlasting cold is not the only threat that The Fourth faces." If you wanted confirmation about the identity of that "Far Wanderer," he confirms that it will be our newfound identity.

Our new tank the Bastion is equipped with dual shields, and they flip around on the arms to swap between a clawed melee mode and giant triple-barrelled cannons. These are called the Skyltborg. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Bastion is a main tank in the new divided world of Evolved Mode. It starts in Limsa Lominsa at level 90, and as previously mentioned, it will be exclusively available in Evolved Mode (with no option for the classic-style Reborn Mode).

In the vast expanse of the Northern Empty, Aerslaent has long been protected by these Bastions, who have been studying the Skyltborg for generations. Along with their offensive capabilities, they're able to offer protection for the wielder and their allies in the form of both defensive and curative boons.

Onto a closer look at the world, starting with Naglfar, Realmship of Water. This area is largely wide, open fields, and also plays home to that towering white-and-gold building in the shape of a giant head resembling a snake or dragon. In case the name didn't give it away, water will also be extremely prevalent here. It's home to our first hub town, Falgarthr. While we do get to hear some new music for our tour of the streets, Yoshida notes that this isn't actually the theme that we'll hear here in the final version. Instead, it's a special piece that Lead Composer Masayoshi Soken cooked up in a single night.

Next is Hringhorni, Realmship of Fire. Yoshida remarks that these huge sky vessels will effectively allow us to explore all manner of diverse biomes throughout our Evercold journey, despite the relentless frost down below. That doesn't mean our new zones will be smaller in size, however: "They're going to be the same as the field size we've had before, or sometimes even larger." We get a few more teaser images, but that's it for in-game looks at the new regions - Yoshida says he's aware of not giving too much away.

The MSQ will of course still be very central in 8.0, but Yoshida says the team is considering a wider variety of ways for players to proceed through the content. In the past, we've typically had the two-way split at the very start of the progression, but now that's getting even more non-linear. While the introduction will be the same for everyone, you could then go onto a wider range of areas, with three zones lined up to be completed in any order. This goes beyond just an introductory quest - it'll even include the dungeons for each of those regions. Eventually, the path will reconverge as the story picks up the pace.

To account for the wider potential level ranges here, some auto-balancing will be implemented for some missions and instances, but Yoshida stresses that this is limited just to certain aspects of Evercold. Enemy and duty difficulty will be scaled based on where you're at - Yoshida acknowledges that there might be concerns around how this will work, but asks, "Trust us." Expect changes to the way gear rewards are delivered also to account for the variance in progression.

Alongside this comes that promise from Fanfest Anaheim to move to a more week-based structure instead of the existing daily resets. There's also the two-patch 'seasonal' cycle; "Again, no season passes, no additional fees." There's the new character screen, designed to reflect CS3's push for even more character customization options and ways to show off and enjoy every aspect of your Warrior of Light. Yoshida touches in again on features such as the ability to 'reflect' a capped job's item level across to another at max rank, if you want a quick way to jump into some endgame content on another class.

How about those Character Action Skins? There's been lots of rumor and speculation, but now we have our answers. These are new animations that you'll be able to earn as rewards, both for job-specific actions and more general ones. You can assign these as you see fit, giving your WoL more individual personality. Want to emote when you teleport? Now you can. To start with, it'll also be available for "select" job actions to start with, although the plan is to keep expanding things as we go. And yes, you can expect some old, lost actions to return as skins: "Please note, changing your character's action will not affect your DPS - only your emotional DPS."

We'll be starting with just general action skins in 8.0, with job actions coming as part of patch 8.1. "Early on, options will be limited," Yoshida remarks, explaining that these take quite a lot of time on the part of the animation team. "We plan on gradually increasing the number of options - this will not just be a one and done update."

As part of the improvements to character customization, you'll be able to toggle off features such as Lalafell and Viera nose shading, and Miq'ote warpaint starting in 8.1 - Yoshida notes that these will be enabled by default, in accordance with the game's lore, but if you prefer to get rid of them, you'll now have the option. Au Ra enjoyers rejoice - yes, we'll finally have the option to set horn styles independently from face shapes. There's even more to come in Tokyo, but I'm already extremely satisfied by that. Yoshida says the decision to restrict such customization options previously was his, but that he's handing control back over to the players.

After Koji-Fox does his best to draw news about 'butt sliders' out of Yoshida, it's on to the next promise: "Ever-evolving content." Yoshida says the team is currently cooking up a system called "World Raids," although notes that this name is likely to change by the time it's finished. Also on the list is the ability to automatically travel to quest destinations, and include pathing markers to help navigation around the world when making your way to an objective. This might not make the cut for Evercold's launch, but is on the cards. Yoshida says that, while the FF14 team has typically considered the journey to be important, he recognizes the benefit of such a tool in the busy modern world of gaming.

As revealed in Anaheim, we're getting a third difficulty tier for eight-person raids, sitting between Normal and Savage. Yoshida explains that 85% of all players make it through Normal raids, but just 14-20% complete Savage. This leaves a "large difficulty and reward gap" that can be intimidating for players to jump across. The new difficulty is roughly equivalent to, or slightly below, the level of extreme trials. To act as a "stepping stone," there will be a new type of 'season gear' that provides more gradual upgrades, getting slowly closer to the level of savage rewards. If you're already an savage veteran, you can skip this middle tier entirely.

The theme for that eight-man raid is a big one: yes, it's time for Final Fantasy 7, with a series titled 'Beyond the Lifestream.' Yoshida brings FF7 Remake Director Naoki Hamaguchi onto the stage. With FF7 Revelation on the horizon, he explains that "We thought this was really the perfect time together in a united front."

Before that, on October 28 (soon after the release of patch 7.56), we'll be getting an FF7-themed update to the Gold Saucer, which includes a new typing-based multiplayer minigame called Keybound Brawler. The first set of rewards for this is gear based on Barrett and Tifa's outfits, including a minigun fashion accessory. Unfortunately, if you were hoping for more news on the Evangelion alliance raid, you'll need to wait for Fanfest Tokyo, although we do get a slightly extended trailer, which features guest artist Mahiro Maeda, known for his work on both Evangelion 3.0 and Mad Max: Fury Road.

The opening up of servers via same-region player matching will begin its testing process on October 12, starting in Japan. Once that's determined successful, tests will roll out across North America, Europe, and China. Yoshida asks as many people as possible to join and help figure out the finer details.

Yoshida says that work on the dungeons is coming along smoothly, and shows off a few in-game screenshots of several of these. Of course, you can expect plenty of new gear items and crafting recipes, with some strong theming that retains classic job identity but still manages to feel fresh and thematic to The Fourth. He also reiterates that there are "big things planned" for Duty Support, and that starts with the overhaul of your Chocobo companion. You'll be able to make dungeon light parties using a pair of players and their Chocobos in patch 8.1, and in 8.2 the breeding system is being fully overhauled with new uses for Gysahl Greens and fresh commands.

That's all we have for today, although not before a quick on-stage glimpse at the collectors edition, which will get you the Valhallar Odin mount, Entreat Crystal emote, and a pair of crystal Skyltborg to use in game. This show is just the beginning of Fanfest weekend to come, with the likes of the Beastmaster Live Letter and a Q&A session with Yoshi-P and Hamaguchi on the horizon. There's a lot to sift through, and Yoshida promises that the team will be running additional Live Letters in the coming months to cover some of the announced features in more thorough detail, such as the new raid difficulty.

Final Fantasy 14 Evercold is set to release in January 2027. I'll be at Fanfest all weekend, so stay tuned to PCGamesN for even more details, all the big reveals, and behind-the-scenes glimpses at everything taking place.