<THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED LEADING UP TO HEAVENSWARD LAUNCH AND BEYOND>
BREAKING! SERVERS WILL BE DOWN FOR THE HEAVENSWARD UPDATE FOR 24 HOURS!Â
Jun. 18, 2015 2:00 a.m. to Jun. 19, 2015 2:00 a.m. (PDT)
Welcome new players and veterans alike! This post is meant to be both a quick reference and in-depth reference to the changes and features Heavensward brings. There is a wide range of changes with the expansion starting from level 1.
If you are new to XIV I would suggest checking out the Progression and Level Locked guide
Ishgard
The new country that Heavensward takes place in is called Ishgard. This land of dragons, gothic architecture, traditional knights and the faithful is not an easy land to enter as a new player. In fact, to even get the chance to play in Ishgard and the greater Heavensward content you must level up to 50 and complete the Main Story Quest. It’s important to note that nearly all of the new content in Heavensward is linked to accessing Ishgard. The Au Ra race is the exception.
New Race
The Au Ra are the new race introduced in Heavensward and are available immediately. This race has several unique features immediately apparent during character creation. This race, like all XIV races, is split between two different sub types: The Raen and Xaela.
The Raen is the clan that has embraced tranquility and solitude. Although they hail from the far east, many were part of the Doman refugees that now have taken refuge in the XIV world of Eorzea.
The Xaela are a nomadic clan that roams the far east in close knit tribes. They are war like, often in conflict with other tribes in tradition of their ancestors.
New Jobs
Heavensward is bringing three new jobs that many people are excited about. Unfortunately they are not available from the start. To play as a Dark Knight, Astrologian or Machinist you must have a character class at level 50 and have completed the Main Story Quests leading up to Ishgard. I know this is disappointing to new players, but thankfully your time leveling an alternate class and job will not be for nothing.
FFXIV has a unique skill system that allows cross class skills. That means by leveling a Archer, for example, would give the Machinist access to a wider range of complimentary skills. Each Job and Class is able to  use cross class skills so your time leveling to 50 before Ishgard will not be a waste.
Cross Class table:
Machinist – Archer/Lancer
Dark Knight – Gladiator/Marauder
Astrologian – Conjurer/Thaumaturge
If you are interested in one of the new jobs I highly recommend leveling one of your cross classes to help ease you into your role and expand your skills once you have unlocked your chosen job.
Leveling to Heavensward
The development team is not deaf to the concerns of it’s player base. Recognizing that the time needed for new characters to level to 50 along with the heavy requirements needed to finish the Main Story Quests had grown too large, they have implemented an elegant solution. Instead of removing the emphasis on story the development team has eased the time requirement needed to view all of the content.
Starting at level 1, the Main Story Quests will offer double experience points and increased rewards. This greatly reduces the time that new characters and players need to invest before accessing the new content. The new rewards come in the form of armor and weapons. There are also several instances and duties required to continue on the Main Story Quests so all new characters and players will be placed in a priority queue to further reduce the time needed.
This experience boost should also help propel characters beyond level 50 before stepping into Ishgard, further easing new players into the new content.
Flying Mounts
Flying mounts will be common in Ishgard, but not immediately available. Your company chocobo as well as other mounts will be able to fly through the varied areas. To enable flight, you must collect the assorted wind currents in each zone. A full collection of wind currents must be collected before flight will be enable in each individual zone. Some mounts, like the Ahriman will not be able to fly until a later patch.
Combat Difficulty
Combat has been revamped in Heavensward with a focus on increasing the difficulty of the common enemy in Ishgard. Caution is advised when approaching hostile monsters or beast tribes as the design goal is for a single enemy to offer a moderate challenge while two enemies will push a character to the limit. More than two enemies will likely mean death. When approaching the beast tribe cities it is recommended to bring a group along. Prepare yourself, Ishgard is a far more lethal place.
Exploring Ishgard
The areas in Ishgard are dramatically larger than they are during ARR. Each area is about twice the size of the biggest ARR areas. Not only are they wider they are also taller as each area has areas, quests and enemies that can only be accessed with flying mounts.
Old Job Revamps
All of the old Jobs are being revamped in some way, shape or form. These changes come gradually over your leveling in Ishgard, so do not feel like these changes are going to dramatically change how you play right away. Do not get comfortable either, the 50-60 job abilities will alter your play style at a base level no matter which job you play as.
Crafting Revamp
All crafting classes beyond 50 will be able to specialize in a specific branch of their class. This will create a greater variety of crafters in the game as a whole.
Crafters will also be able to create company airships by banding together with their free companies!
Heavensward Raids
The new 8 man trial is Alexander. Although Alexander is an endgame raid, it will not be available until two weeks after Heavensward’s release. Once Alexander is available it follows the normal loot rules: You can run the trial all you want but can only receive one piece of loot per week. Roll carefully!
Two weeks after Alexander is originally available the Savage version will be unlocked. This version of Alexander is meant for hardcore raiders and includes rewards greater than the normal version. The new endgame currency will also unlock, allowing for high end gearing related to Alexander.
Both of the new primals will also receive end game hard mode versions. Be prepared to suffer!
BREAKING! SERVERS WILL BE DOWN FOR THE HEAVENSWARD UPDATE FOR 24 HOURS!Â
Jun. 18, 2015 2:00 a.m. to Jun. 19, 2015 2:00 a.m. (PDT)
Welcome new players and veterans alike! This post is meant to be both a quick reference and in-depth reference to the changes and features Heavensward brings. There is a wide range of changes with the expansion starting from level 1.
If you are new to XIV I would suggest checking out the Progression and Level Locked guide
Ishgard
The new country that Heavensward takes place in is called Ishgard. This land of dragons, gothic architecture, traditional knights and the faithful is not an easy land to enter as a new player. In fact, to even get the chance to play in Ishgard and the greater Heavensward content you must level up to 50 and complete the Main Story Quest. It’s important to note that nearly all of the new content in Heavensward is linked to accessing Ishgard. The Au Ra race is the exception.
New Race
The Au Ra are the new race introduced in Heavensward and are available immediately. This race has several unique features immediately apparent during character creation. This race, like all XIV races, is split between two different sub types: The Raen and Xaela.
The Raen is the clan that has embraced tranquility and solitude. Although they hail from the far east, many were part of the Doman refugees that now have taken refuge in the XIV world of Eorzea.
The Xaela are a nomadic clan that roams the far east in close knit tribes. They are war like, often in conflict with other tribes in tradition of their ancestors.
New Jobs
Heavensward is bringing three new jobs that many people are excited about. Unfortunately they are not available from the start. To play as a Dark Knight, Astrologian or Machinist you must have a character class at level 50 and have completed the Main Story Quests leading up to Ishgard. I know this is disappointing to new players, but thankfully your time leveling an alternate class and job will not be for nothing.
FFXIV has a unique skill system that allows cross class skills. That means by leveling a Archer, for example, would give the Machinist access to a wider range of complimentary skills. Each Job and Class is able to  use cross class skills so your time leveling to 50 before Ishgard will not be a waste.
Cross Class table:
Machinist – Archer/Lancer
Dark Knight – Gladiator/Marauder
Astrologian – Conjurer/Thaumaturge
If you are interested in one of the new jobs I highly recommend leveling one of your cross classes to help ease you into your role and expand your skills once you have unlocked your chosen job.
Leveling to Heavensward
The development team is not deaf to the concerns of it’s player base. Recognizing that the time needed for new characters to level to 50 along with the heavy requirements needed to finish the Main Story Quests had grown too large, they have implemented an elegant solution. Instead of removing the emphasis on story the development team has eased the time requirement needed to view all of the content.
Starting at level 1, the Main Story Quests will offer double experience points and increased rewards. This greatly reduces the time that new characters and players need to invest before accessing the new content. The new rewards come in the form of armor and weapons. There are also several instances and duties required to continue on the Main Story Quests so all new characters and players will be placed in a priority queue to further reduce the time needed.
This experience boost should also help propel characters beyond level 50 before stepping into Ishgard, further easing new players into the new content.
Flying Mounts
Flying mounts will be common in Ishgard, but not immediately available. Your company chocobo as well as other mounts will be able to fly through the varied areas. To enable flight, you must collect the assorted wind currents in each zone. A full collection of wind currents must be collected before flight will be enable in each individual zone. Some mounts, like the Ahriman will not be able to fly until a later patch.
Combat Difficulty
Combat has been revamped in Heavensward with a focus on increasing the difficulty of the common enemy in Ishgard. Caution is advised when approaching hostile monsters or beast tribes as the design goal is for a single enemy to offer a moderate challenge while two enemies will push a character to the limit. More than two enemies will likely mean death. When approaching the beast tribe cities it is recommended to bring a group along. Prepare yourself, Ishgard is a far more lethal place.
Exploring Ishgard
The areas in Ishgard are dramatically larger than they are during ARR. Each area is about twice the size of the biggest ARR areas. Not only are they wider they are also taller as each area has areas, quests and enemies that can only be accessed with flying mounts.
Old Job Revamps
All of the old Jobs are being revamped in some way, shape or form. These changes come gradually over your leveling in Ishgard, so do not feel like these changes are going to dramatically change how you play right away. Do not get comfortable either, the 50-60 job abilities will alter your play style at a base level no matter which job you play as.
Crafting Revamp
All crafting classes beyond 50 will be able to specialize in a specific branch of their class. This will create a greater variety of crafters in the game as a whole.
Crafters will also be able to create company airships by banding together with their free companies!
Heavensward Raids
The new 8 man trial is Alexander. Although Alexander is an endgame raid, it will not be available until two weeks after Heavensward’s release. Once Alexander is available it follows the normal loot rules: You can run the trial all you want but can only receive one piece of loot per week. Roll carefully!
Two weeks after Alexander is originally available the Savage version will be unlocked. This version of Alexander is meant for hardcore raiders and includes rewards greater than the normal version. The new endgame currency will also unlock, allowing for high end gearing related to Alexander.
Both of the new primals will also receive end game hard mode versions. Be prepared to suffer!
![[Image: 7h16uc3.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/7h16uc3.jpg)
