The Heavensward Story Finale – FFXIV Patch 3.3 Retrospective



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25 thoughts on “The Heavensward Story Finale – FFXIV Patch 3.3 Retrospective”

  1. Couple corrections, as previously mentioned the last relic step was not light. They did not put the aether wind things in msq, they moved it from the very last quest in a side quest chain to the first quest which is how it’s been sense. And finally, ixali and moogle were both crafting only, sort of. Namazu was the first fully gatherer option and leveling method. This part I may be wrong on but I know there was one or two gather quests in ixali but I think you still had to pick them up and turn in as crafter, but I’m ready to be corrected on that cause I’m at work so not as quick to look up.

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  2. It's worth noting that, although not on as grand a scale as the later expansions, 2.3 is a conclusion to the story arc that was started in ARR. Ramuh was the last of the Primals brought up in base ARR and the story was winding down, leading into the next story segment. 2.4 was the start of the lead up into Heavensward. Things don't feel like they would in later expansions, because there isnt a "hard line" like later X.3/X.4 patches, but 2.3 still fits the theme.

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  3. 100% agree on how good it is when they do "in-between" quests to keep plots moving along in patches that don't actually add the next raid/trial series. Going 8 months without revisiting the stories just grinds the momentum to a halt and makes most players forget half the plot details by the time the story actually picks up again.

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  4. And here I am actually being happy if I get the harder alliance raids, because to me that is more fun than just zerging stuff like in Crystal Tower…though I don't like the Nier raids that much, so I could live without them😂

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  5. The Nidhog fight was so poignant in that the emotional investment was extensive. We had seen Ishgard struggle to recognize their future was changing forever. The Estinien and Alphanaud brother-friendship hit a crescendo in the stakes. The pre-fight and post-fight cutscenes were remarkable. And hearing the Dragonsong vocals while waiting to queue hit home. This was mimicked incredibly well in Stormblood 4.3 with that climatic end. Shadowbringers missed this with Elidibus in that the final boss fight was with a villain we had no real emotional connection.

    I think Heavensward, while technically weak with mechanics and job changes, was an amazing storytelling experience. It’s been overshadowed by Shadowbringers since. But for those of us who have been around since ARR release or 1.0 days, we have fond memories for Heavensward in how it stepped up the emotional pressure, and we haven’t seen that huge of a step up from xpack to xpack. Perhaps Stormblood to Shadowbringers, but SB was not a bad story
it just had Lyse and mediocre music.

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  6. I know another trap a lot of people fell into with Mhach was a specific attack from the final boss. Basically everyone is knocked back by an attack while also given a debuff that sends you flying the direction you are facing. So everyone would turn back to face the center of the room where there were a bunch of AoEs about to go off. They'd all come flying in and just get annihilated. It was so hilariously trolly.

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  7. I started FFXIV back in 6.3 and I like tkaing my leisurely time doing all the optional content. Coincidentally, your retrospectives come out shortly after I finish every patch, and I appreciate knowing the deeper meta-context behind each new addition to the game.

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  8. Man, 3.3 was such a great patch. Final Steps of Faith, Aquapolis, cursing my luck at crafts – I mean making millions of Glass Fibres (and still cursing my luck at crafts with them in it)…fun times, fun times.

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  9. I never thought of these changes to the 4 man duties like Sohr Khai as being for new players, but more the pure limitations of the trust system? Maybe I'm wrong about that, though.

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  10. I think this was the first major patch I remember being at current level for after I started playing. The story culmination for HW was phenomenal. Mhach series remains my #1 24-man series with Wiping City having so many memories in particular.

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  11. I remember the Moogle tribal quests being my impetus to level a crafting job because I had a mighty need for the Wind-Up Dragonet minion you could get as a trade reward.

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  12. i got the wyvern mount before i started the moogle quests and while i do love the mallow mount, i feel cheated that the wyvern mount does not have the roar command like the moogle quest wyvern has.

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  13. Someone will have to confirm this but I swear somewhere around this point there was a MASSIVE focus on the need for Fieldcraft Demimateria III through desynthesis.

    I remember going to the vendor in Ul'dah that sold the fancy shoes and desynthing for hours. I made hundreds of millions of that little trick lol

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  14. 3.3 was my favorite patch until 5.3, and Nidhogg is still one of my favorite trials to this day <3 I also love that when they redid Aery, they basically turned that Nidhogg fight into Final Steps (Light), hehe.

    also don't forget: his name is kyle 🙂

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