Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers' next patch is a giant robot rumble
Mech my day
Now that NieR: Automata has come and gone from Final Fantasy XIV, it's time to get back to business. Patch 5.2: Echoes Of A Fallen Star arrives later this month, driving forwards the main story and returning focus squarely to gods, empires and high-fantasy politicking. Naturally, that means it's time to fight a Gundam.
What do you mean we don't get to pilot it?
Now, I've long-since checked out of MMORPGs, let alone a dense story-driven rollercoaster such as FFXIV. So when an update says something like "With Eulmore on the path to a brighter tomorrow, the Scions await such time as the Exarch might return them home", I'm lost. I reckon it'll mean more to you than it does to me, anyway.
What I can do is speak about patch 5.2 in a language I understand - the language of massive stompy robots.
Patch 5.2's nastiest new baddie is the Ruby Weapon. My FFXIV lore isn't up to snuff, but it sounds like The Garlean Empire (the baddies?) are sending this honking great mecha out to break a stalemate with the Ezoreans (the goodies?). Through new questlines and the new Cinder Drift trial, you'll eventually have a round of fisticuffs with the big red Garlean Evangelion.
Disappointingly, you won't be tasked with getting in the fucking robot, Shinji. Instead, you're tasked with stopping the Garlean's war crimes the only way you know how - by pinning it into a small arena and hurling cooldown-driven spells at it. It seems Final Fantasy XIV won't be joining Brendan's stompiest mech listicle after all, I'm afraid.
Yes, I know it's a throwback to an optional boss in FFVII. I've used Google before.
5.2 also expands upon the Eden raids with Eden's Verse, dishing out more boss redesigns by Kingdom Hearts head honcho Tetsuya Nomura. There's a new dungeon - Anamnesis Anyder - and new challenge questline "Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr". An overview of this month's new additions can be found over on the Patch 5.2 official page.
Expect full patch notes as we approach Patch 5.2: Echoes Of A Fallen Star's release on February 18th.