Pick your path through a subterranean venture
Final Fantasy XIV received patch 6.25 today, which adds a surprising amount of content to dig into on the MMO’s peripheries.
The variant and criterion dungeons make their debut in patch 6.25. These activities offer both new challenges and rewards for players, as well as a deeper dive into the lore behind one of Final Fantasy XIV‘s starting areas, Ul’dah.
Variants and criteria
You can start the quest chain in Old Sharlayan, by starting the Keys to the Past line by the docks. I won’t go into too much detail on where it goes from there, but longtime players will likely be pleased to see a certain character take the focus on this adventure.
The actual variant dungeon itself is a forking encounter, which you can complete with anywhere from one to four players. Different class combinations are also permitted. I ran it this morning with another player, both on DPS. The system lets you compensate by allowing players to use extra variant skills, so you can have a healing ability or barrier on stand-by.
These quests offer plenty of rewards, like the new emote and glamour set, as well as different branches within the dungeon. Basically, there’s good reason to comb back over this content, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far.
Criterion dungeons, meanwhile, offer more challenge compared to the casual experience of the variant dungeons. These require a configuration of one tank, one healer, one melee DPS, and one ranged DPS.
New relic weapons in patch 6.25
New Hildibrand quests have been added. And there’s the Manderville weapons quest, for this expansion’s special weapons.
Add on the new tribal quest line, more furnishing options, and some changes to the Pandæmonium raids, and it’s a big patch. Between all of this, and island care that some of you might need to get back to, there’s quite a bit to explore in the post-Endwalker phase of Final Fantasy XIV.
You can find the full notes for Final Fantasy XIV patch 6.25 here.
