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Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Free Until Launch of Shadowbringers


Posted on May 2, 2019 by Rae Michelle Richards

FFXIV’s first expansion Heavensward was released back in 2015 but if you haven’t experienced the story of the city state of Ishgard, the Dragonsong War and a Warrior of Light on the run then now you can by claiming a copy of the expansion on either PC or PlayStation 4 up to a day before Shadowbringers launches in Early Access on June 28th.

In order to begin adventures in Ishgard players will need to clear the level 50 Main Story Quest between 2.0 (A Realm Reborn) and 2.55 (Before The Fall). To qualify for a free copy of Heavensward players must have the Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition on either Windows PC or PlayStation 4. Also it appears that this offer doesn’t extend to the Steam version of XIV.

Reka Ai’a and her companions explore Azys Lla

Despite being 4 years old, Heavensward adds a lot of content that extends XIV’s gameplay in a number of ways that provides Warriors of Light with months, if not years of playable content including:

  • Main Scenario Expansion (Heavensward Base Story 3.0 + 3.X Patches)
  • Three New Jobs – Machinist, Astrologian and Dark Knight.
  • Increased level cap to 60 for all DOW / DOM / DOH / DOL Jobs.
  • Open World Content: The Diadem (although it does require quite a bit of organization to play this content nowadays.)
  • Seven new trials: Ravana, Bismark, Thordin, Sephirot, Sophia, Zurvan and Nidhogg. Plus each trial also has an extreme variant that can reward really sparkly bird mounts.
  • Six new zones: Foundation / Pillars (Ishgard), The Churning Mists, The Dravanian Hinterlands, The Dravanian Forelands, Azys Lla and Ideshire.
  • 12 Eight Person Raids – Alexander.
  • 3 Twenty Four Person Raids – The Shadow of Mach Series -“The Weeping City”, “Dun Scaithe” and “The Void Ark”.

Ozma, one of the most impressive bosses of the 24 person raid series.

I thoroughly enjoyed FFXIV: Heavansward and often find myself returning to its locations quite often. This is true for normal gameplay, whether doing the Alexander Raids or various trials while levelling alt jobs or to collecting rare crafting materials to fashion the shiny primal weapons. Heavenswards’ areas have also been a sort of inspiration for my character as well, as she’s a Machinist, you can often find her hanging out at the Skysteel Manufactury during RP time or just downtime in general.

Source: FFXIV Official Twitter


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FFXIV Sephirot Fight PAX East Gameplay


Posted on May 10, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix brought the latest primal battle from Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward to PAX East last month, giving non-subscribers and newcomers to the game the chance to take down Sephirot on the show-floor.

The newest threat to Eorzea might be several months old – being introduced in late February – but the fight took center stage at Square Enix’s PAX East booth. Two rows of 4 demo stations were lined back to back with one player’s screen being broadcast on a large screen facing the crowd outside Square’s booth.

Check out two minutes of my favorite class, the bard, taking on this behemoth!

[youtube id=”OiXP5VNfSWI”]


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This year was great, but when can I play all of these games?


Posted on December 31, 2015 by Chelsea Richards

Let’s be real, 2015 was a fantastic year for gaming. Of course, there were some misses like the monetization for Battlefront and EVOLVE, and… whatever the hell happened to the PC release of Arkham Knight. But, stepping away from those, it’s after Christmas, so let’s look at our definite hits that we have, and enjoy 2015’s gifts to us.

We were rewarded with not-one-but-two solid MMO expansions, through Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, and Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, both building significantly on the groundwork by their previous launches and content updates. Keeping in the multiplayer line, we were graced with StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, Rocket League, Heroes of the Storm, and Nintendo’s smash hit of Splatoon.Read More


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Final Fantasy XIV Patch 3.1 Release Date, Producer Q&A and Trailer


Posted on October 27, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix’s first huge update for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavansward, patch 3.1, arrives on November 10th the publisher has announced. Alongside the announcement of the release date Square also provided a Q & A during the most recent Letter From The Producer Live and a very informative 7 minute trailer giving players a rundown of everything that will be included in 3.1!

Patch 3.1 As Goes Light So Goes Darkness brings with it a lot of brand new content. The story threads left hanging after the completion of FFXIV: Heavansward will be continued in the new main story quests,  New exploratory missions for free-companies (guilds) will be available, the first of which is known as The Diadem.  One brand new dungeon will be added for level 60 players as well – Saint Mociane’s Arboretum.   Possibly one of the most exciting additions, which we detailed previously when it was unveiled is the new 24 man raid known as the Void Ark.

Make sure you check out the trailer I’ve included in the embedded player before the jump. I’ve also included some of the details from the official Q&A thread from the Letters From The Producer Live that I thought would be of interest for returning players. I know that I’ll be re-subbing for the new raid content, and hey new story quests are always welcomed 😀

If November 10th sounds familiar – it is also the same day that Fallout 4 and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void are released. It’s going to be a big day for games!

[youtube id=”dkRTO7co_Yc”]Read More


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FFXIV: Heavensward – Early Story Impressions


Posted on July 29, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

It’s been about a month since the last time I wrote about my experience with Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. Unfortunately I forgot to write a new entry in my proposed series of articles about Square Enix’s latest expansion. Since the early access period expired at the end of June my bard, Reka Ai’a, has ventured through the Dravanian Forelands, brought an end to the DragonSong war and is now heading towards the final encounter with the Holy See.Read More


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Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Benchmark Released


Posted on April 28, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

An official benchmark for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward has been released by Square Enix. As we outlined last week this new benchmark brings players to the snowy land of Coerthas, the setting for the upcoming expansion for Square’s newest MMO.

New features available only in this benchmark include our first peek at the Direct X 11 client, the ability to select the Au Ra race in the character creator and of course while the benchmark is running we are able to get a really good look at some of the new jobs in action.

No minimum specs were posted to the FFXIV: Heavensward benchmark official site, so presumably they are very similar to the original FFXIV: A Realm Reborn minimum specs. The benchmark software clocks in at about 1.6GB so it is a pretty hefty download. You can grab it here – and when you’re done running it make sure to post your scores in the comments section!Read More


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New FFXIV: Heavensward BenchmarkTrailer Gets Us Excited


Posted on April 24, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix has released the full trailer for the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward benchmark which will be released to the community this coming Monday. It’s our first look at a lot of the new abilities available to existing classes, possibly some of the upcoming raid content among other hints of things to come. Needless to say FFXIV players will be picking this benchmark apart until the full expansion drops this coming June.

For the uninitiated FFXIV: Heavensward expands on the original Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn with entirely new zones set in the northern snowy planes of Coerthas, raising the maximum level cap to 60, introducing three new jobs (Machinist, Astrologain, Dark Knight) and the promise of new 4 player / 8 player dungeons and of course 24 player raids.

Get your PCs ready because it looks like FFXIV: Heavensward might take a bit of additional horse power.

[youtube id=”RGOIF_7vuLw”]


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