The second weekend for early access players of Final Fantasy XIV's Endwalker expansion is now over. I have not completed the main story questline (MSQ) as I have spent time leveling my crafting and gathering classes at the same time. From Friday through Sunday I played content the MSQ from the middle of level 85 to level 89. Now for the mandatory spoiler warning. This post contains spoilers. I want to record my thoughts as I travel through the expansion, which requires some spoilers. I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, because the expansion really picked up steam in the second half of the MSQ.
Login Savage: I think the login situation is much better compared to the first day or two after the launch of Endwalker. I personally have not encountered a queue over 2000 players, and have not heard anyone in my FC complain of a queue over 4000. However, the numbers do seem to tick down slower, but steadier. I also was not kicked from a queue over the last three days.
Level pacing: For those wondering, I did reach the level cap of 90 on my white mage job. I did so when I completed the level 89 dungeon. Basically, I never was more than a level and a half over the level of the quests I did.
Flying: So far, I have unlocked flying in every zone I adventured in except on the moon. I assume the moon is my next destination in the story, but I don't know for sure.
Gathering: I spent Saturday raising the leveling my gathering classes. I raised the levels from 85 up to 89 for botanist and miner and level 90 for fishing.
The story and group content: The dungeons and trial I played through are so closely tied to the story I am rolling the two subjects into one. While I will limit the number of spoilers, this section contains major spoilers!
From the Thavnairan capital of Radz-at-Han, the story leads us back to Garlemald. Two significant events happen associated with a single-player duty in the zone. The first is Fourchenault begins to realize Alphinaud and Alisaie are no longer the defenseless children he always imagined them.
The second goes back to my least favorite villain, Zenos. In his only appearance over the weekend, he laments the fact the Warrior of Light has no time for him. In truth, I have considered him insignificant and little more than an annoyance since the end of Stormblood. Finally, Alisaie shoves a rhetorical boot up his ass and voices my opinion of the oaf. I needed that.
In the Scions' search for a way to forestall the Final Days, the Warrior of Light winds up going back in time to the root cause of the calamity. Our journey back in history not only explains the creation of Hydaelyn, but the mechanics behind the original Final Days as well. The region's story is capped off with the Ktisis Hyperboreia dungeon. I recommend running the content at least once using the Trust system. The Warrior of Light's companions during the fight are inspired and I am glad I did so.
The Scions continued to push to save the inhabitants of all the shards and not just the Source. They ran into a roadblock and needed to consult with Hydaelyn. The only problem? The Sharlayan Forum controlled access to her. In order to gain access, the Scions needed to solve an engineering problem. After investigating the technical issues, the Scions realize the real issue involved obtaining resources, not improving technology.
Incredibly, Alphinaud managed to solve the problem with a single link pearl call. The result of the call demonstrated the influence Alphinaud and the Scions had built up over the last 8 years of Final Fantasy XIV's story. Perhaps more importantly, any resistance Fourchenault had to the Scions' plans crumbled as he finally accepted his kids were all grown up.
I concluded the weekend by running the level 89 dungeon and trial. The dungeon is The Aitiascope, notable for the return of the terrifying boss of Cape Westwind, Rhitahtyn the Unshakable. The Aitiascope is notable for finally ending the story of Fandaniel. All that is left afterward is to clean up the mess he made so long ago.
I'm not really sure the level 89 trial, The Mothercrystal, counts as group content. The purpose of the trial is to convince Hydaelyn to allow the Scions to travel to the edge of the universe to combat the ultimate bad guy. The Scions pass the test, but as a result Hydaelyn is no more.
The Mothercrystal did have a new mechanic to make completing the trial easier. Each time the player dies, a buff is placed on the character allowing the player to die that many times before failing the trial. I wound up getting the counter up to 5.
Conclusion: At this point, I believe all I need to do is complete the trip to the edge of the universe. I think I need to stop off at the moon first, but I'm not sure. The only outstanding question I have is, "what about Zenos?" Natsuko Ishikawa, the lead writer for both Shadowbringers and Endwalker, has done a great job tying up all the loose ends in the Hydaelyn/Zodiark story arc. As far as I can tell, Zenos is the only major outstanding loose end from previous expansions left to resolve.
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