Letter from the Producer LIVE XIX Summary

[Andromeda]

The Tokyo Fan Fest LIVE Letter wrapped recently and a new wealth of information came out about what players can expect coming soon. The biggest news is that the 2.5 will be split into two parts, the conclusion of the 2.x patch and storyline is so big that they are splitting it up. Most of the focus was on the part 1, but there were teases for the part 2 future as well.

The patch for 2.5 part 1 and part 2 is called Before the Fall.

The summary of 2.5 part 1 things are as follows:

• World of Darkness - Crystal Tower Conclusion
  
  • Loot drops will be changed such that the upgrade items are not tied to the gear drops anymore like with Syrcus Tower
  • Crafting materials will drop to make Crystal Tower specific weapons
  
  
• 3 new dungeons
  
  • Keeper of the Lake
  • Wanderer's Palace (Hard)
  • Amdapor Keep (Hard)
  • The reason for no hard modes for the remaining pre-50 dungeons is because they were in 1.0 and already received an update coming into 2.0
  
  
• Hildibrand may conclude, could continue if fans want more of his story
• Urth's Font (Odin)
• 2.5 part 1 story campaign
• Revenge of Gildamesh
• New unannounced trial
• New frontlines rules
• Aetherial Wheel
  
  • No information on this yet
  
  
• New crafting recipes

2.51 details already have some information as well

• New storyline progress in Zodiac Weapons
• Gold Saucer
  
  • Chocobo Racing and breeding confirmed
    
    • Chocobos will be separate from your companion one
    • Can raise and breed these specifically for racing
    • Will have unique racing stats like speed, stamina
    • Very familiar to the FFVII setup
    
    
  • Triple Triad
    
    • Can battle NPCs for cards
    • Buy cards with casino currency
    • Drops from dungeons
    • PvP card battles
    • Tournament battles
    • 80 cards at launch, more to be added
    • Changing rules will be part of it as well
    
    
  • Setzer's gear will be obtainable from Gold Saucer
  • Even more mini-games available
    
    • Basketball game
    • Strength game
    • Dancing game
    
    
  • Manderville Gold Saucer, seems it is tied to Hildibrand's family.
  
  

Part 2 for 2.5 was teased loosely

• Second part to the 2.5 story campaign
• Battle for Ishgard

The DirectX11 was also shown off with a comparison between the two versions.