FFXIV: Progress and Heavensward Main Story Complete
Above is my Iwa-toshi Kai I got this weekend in FFXIV. I’m excited about this because this may be the first time in an MMO (that isn’t in the Guild Wars series) that I actually have earned fairly relevant end-game gear. I’m also very pleased with how the weapon looks. I think I’m going to enjoy the Doman Law set… just a shame we’ll be replacing it or skipping it if Alexander becomes a thing.
Low Level Progress
So, aside from finishing the Heavensward story (more on that later), I’ve also been working on Project Clean Up Old Quests with Marauder Tai. He’s now a level 27 Marauder, getting ever closer to Warrior, and I’ve happily cleaned up all quests under level 27 as I’ve went along.
Leveling an alt class under 50, at least in the early levels, has become so much easier since Heavensward. I don’t use dungeons to level, so I rely on the FATE train or leves exclusively. Cleaning up these quests has been a good move that’s made the process all that much faster.
Not to mention I’m having a lot of fun leveling Marauder. I was surprised about this because back when I attempted to level it before, I found the class pretty dull. Of course, this was a year and a half ago and I only got the class to level 15, but it still feels like the Marauder puts out a whole lot more damage than I remember. It’s slow, but hard hitting, and I like the feel (and sounds) of it. Paladin, though fun, just didn’t have the same solidity, and I’m looking forward to continuing leveling it.
I popped into Cactuar for a little while this weekend, too, to continue leveling my lancer there. She’s now level 23 (with plenty of quests to push her through), which is just a level shy of picking back up where I left off with bard. Once I get to 24, I can continue the main quest scenario and see how it’s changed since Heavensward’s launch for 2.0 content.
Heavensward Story Ending
There are spoilers ahead for those who have not completed the Heavensward story!
I sure am glad this is the last time I’ll have to use that spoiler tag for a while. But, man, please do not spoil yourself for the story ending. It’s way too much fun to see it for yourself.
We left off in the middle of Azys Lla, which turns out was not very far from the end of the story at all. Some really exciting plot twists about to happen. Oh, and while I said last time that Azys Lla was giving me old skool vibes, I was right. Apparently the place is a homage to the Floating Continent of FFVI. Interesting!
First, we discovered the bound form of Tiamat, one of Midgardsormr’s children.
She tells a sad story of how the dragons first came to Eorzea, and how Bahamut ended up the primal he became. I wish we could have done something to free her, but she seems adamant on staying chained to her prison in penance for her love-lost mistake.
Midgardsormr, however, seems to have done some character growth of his own. He’s been silent for the extent of the trip, something I’d questioned on and off throughout the whole dealing-with-dragons thing… especially slaying Nidhogg.
But now I think that he was silent for a reason. I wonder if he didn’t support Nidhogg’s quest for vengeance against Ishgard. For all of Midgardsormr’s talk, he never struck me as an angry or vengeful dragon. Rather, one who wanted to get some snarky jabs on the so-called champion of Hydaelyn.
I also think he removed his presence to watch how the Warrior of Light approached things without any influence from him. He was there the whole time, judging our actions, and only just made his choice now in seeing his daughter’s long-suffering form. I really love the tenderness he has for his children, and this scene gave me a whole different view of Midgardsormr, who used to be all about snark and testing our mettle.
We passed the test. He’s convinced we’re the real deal, and now he’s chosen to become an ally.
I love him! Just wanna give him a hug! <3
I also love the text for his mount and minion. He must always remind you that he is not the big one. Yet.
Anyhow, getting to the flagship, we entered the last dungeon, the Aetherochemical Research Facility. This had to be the longest queue time we’ve had in a dungeon during all of Heavensward. I think part of the problem is that it’s not in a roulette – at least, not that I saw.
When the party finally did pop, the tank instantly said “Oops! Wrong dungeon!” and dropped us. Knowing there was probably no way to get a tank queuing for an in-progress group for that dungone (heck, could hardly get one at all), we decided to leave and try again.
Thankfully, we had some FC folks who jumped in there with us and helped us through the dungeon.
The end boss fight was an interesting one – two Ascians, one at a time, then fused to become Sygnus Ascian Prime.
We still nailed them, and wiped out Igeyorhm… but then the real fun begins.
Archbishop Thordan VII shows up and morphs himself into a primal version of King Thordan, claiming himself to be a god king. I was a little sad that he got dibs on Lahabrea, but it is what it is.
Then it was time to face him and his knights in The Singularity Reactor. When we went to look up the video for it, the video said “Don’t watch a video, it’s more fun if you go in blind.” A FC member assured us that “It’s all spectacle.” So, that’s what we did.
I think I could have done better if I’d know what was coming, but then, reading or watching a video guide about all that happens in this fight might have made it more overwhelming seeming than it was. One way or another, we defeated King Thordan and put an end to it… giving us one of my favorite moments in this cutscene.
Yeah, you better be scared!
Of course, our victory had to be bittersweet. In regaining both of Nidhogg’s eyes (like the intelligent dragoon he is), Estinien is consumed by Nidhogg’s fury. Sad times, but I think we all kinda knew it was coming.
I’d be more sad about this, except for the fact that Alphinaud seems adamant at rescuing Estinien from Nidhogg’s influence. Even Midgardsormr was having a What-The-Heck moment there.
I theorize that maybe Nidhogg has bitten off more than he can chew, though, because I just don’t see Estinien going down quietly. This one plot alone really excites me for future patches because though Estinien was an arrogant grump sometimes, I do want to help him.
So we return as heroes to Ishgard, with Tai on Midgardsormr’s back. I’m totally surprised we didn’t get shot out the sky or something. I really love the exchange between Aymeric and Midgardsormr in this scene. These two seem of the same temperament and I think they could work together well in making peace between Isgard and dragons.
So the credits roll and we see that Aymeric is (probably) now the leader of a changed Ishgard, which is now part of the Eorzean alliance.
We also spend a moment to honor our fallen friend.
After the credits… I don’t even know. Warrior of Darkness and Ascians on the moon? Yeah. Things just got weird.
And finally, Alexander awakes! Nice tie-in to the raid, guys!
And while this may be the end of the story for me, and hopefully the end of the spoiler posts, there’s still so-so much for me yet to do in Heavensward!
I’m totally looking forward to it!