FFXIV: A Look at 6.55
Posted on January 30, 2024 by Aywren
Two weeks back, FFXIV dropped the final story for Endwalker in the form of patch 6.55. This introduced the story leads that will carry players into the plot of the next expansion, Dawntrail. Overall, I felt like it did this fairly well.
Story Beats
We were, as expected, introduced to one of the new main characters for the next expansion – Wuk Lamat. She represents the newest offering in terms of races in the game, the female Hrothgar. They also leaned heavy on bringing fan favorite Erenville into the main spotlight. Interestingly, we only know bits and pieces about Erenville as we haven’t spent an overlong amount of time with him, but he plays the part of the familiar hook and anchor to Wuk Lamat, as he introduces the WoL to his long-time friend.
I did feel favorable towards Wuk as she’s portrayed as a spirited foil to Erenville’s more down-to earth views. She’s gung-ho and ready to prove herself, even if deep down, she’s not quite everything she tries to pass herself off as. I think this makes for a character with a lot of future development, and I’m good with this.
One of my favorite parts of the MSQ is when they send you back to a more open-world version of the dungeon in Hamm. The FATE system blurs with the NPC-follow system as you investigate this expanded area, complete with banter, which eventually culminates in a fight. I thought this was a neat use of systems we’ve seen in the game before to give the feel of exploration, even of a dungeon we’ve passed through a while back.
Of course, we also see the reveal of the new Pictomancer job, which is a nice nod to the future. There’s a good deal of mystery dropped in this patch’s story as you get the feeling there’s a lot more going on than what you’re being told. Still, the WoL agrees to help out with this battle for the throne, setting their path towards the New World.
Hildibrand/Relic
It was no surprise that we saw the (rather typically strange) ending of the newest Hildibrand series, especially since it was directly connected to relic development this time around. This did require a new trial battle – Asura – which ended up being fairly simple to clear if you knew that to do. As I have two characters that are working through relic, I did this twice, and finished up the relic on both.
I know there’s controversy about the lack of anything but gathering tomes to do relic this time. However, there’s something to be said for the fact that I’ve never finished a relic in all 10 years of playing FFXIV until now… because all it required was tomes, and not some time-consuming grind through dungeons or other content that I didn’t want to do.
Some folks didn’t like this. I didn’t mind this, especially given the fact that there is still a grind to do if you want to get this on more than one job (also per character). I’ll just leave it at this.
Tribal Alliance Quests
For those who have finished up to max reputation with all Tribal clans this time around, we did get a combined Tribal Alliance quest for this expansion. I was a little sad we didn’t see one for Shadowbringers, but glad enough to see it come around this time.
Let me tell you… they went all out in the ridiculous but fun category for these cutscenes. Not to mention the Lop Hop dance emote you get from completing it, which is just as silly as a lot of the dances you earn from other tribal quest lines.
Certainly worth doing if you have the time and motivation!
And More…
There were a few other minor things they added in, such as a small Island Sanctuary quest – which looks to be the last we get – and another quest around Tataru’s Grand Endeavor – which I still need to do. Thankfully, the MSQ didn’t force elongated role play battle instances (I’m looking at you, last patch of Shadowbringers) or anything too annoying to do on repeat as I still need to go through this on all my alts.
For some reason, the tone of this patch and the shift of story has really hit home that we’re seeing the end of Endwalker… and I’m not too sad to say goodbye to it. Endwalker wasn’t a bad expansion in terms of story, but there was a lot that was established that I did not personally vibe with. I never really wrote about these thoughts as they may sit controversial in terms of looking at the lore and the choices writers made in unveiling the Ancient world and the foundation of how things work.
I also might be a rare individual in that I’m getting a little worn out with some of the Scions as constant companions (I was not fond of one of the later acquisitions), and I’m hoping we’ll see some changes in terms of fresh new characters to bring on our adventures. It looks like that might be the case, so I’m interested in seeing where it leads.