Final Fantasy XIV’s Challenging New Content “Eureka” Will Bring Back Good And Bad Memories From FFXI

In the latest Letter from the Producer broadcast, Naoki Yoshida shared info the new content called “Forbidden Land of Eureka” that is coming in Patch 4.25, and its features remind us a lot of Final Fantasy XI.

 

Here are some details on The Forbidden Land of Eureka from the Live Letter:

 

The Forbidden Land of Eureka

An unexplored, untamed, wild where the very elements are constantly in flux. While exploring Eureka and growing in strength, players will have the opportunity to obtain and enhance Eureka gear and weapons.

• Up to 144 players can occupy a single instance.
• Players are encouraged to cooperate with one another to progress.
• Players may form and disband parties with other players at will.
• An alternate form of progression exists within Eureka.

 

The above is a look at the “Magia Melder” where you can slot in points for different elements. You can use it to insert points into an elemental attribute of your choice for your character’s “Magia Board.”

 

Below are more details on how it works:

 

Player Progression

• Within Eureka, player strength is measured by their ability to endure and harness the elements, represented as their elemental level.

 

• All players begin at elemental level 1 and may attain a maximum elemental level of 20.

 

• Elemental level and EXP accrued will be retained between visits—progress will not be lost when players depart Eureka.

 

• Elemental EXP gained may be affected by the number of players in a party and the difficulty of the enemies they defeat.

 

Magia Board and Magicite

• The Magia Board can be used in conjunction with Magicite to strengthen a player’s affinities with the six elements while exploring the Forbidden Land, Eureka.

 

• Stronger affinity with a given element will increase the damage a player deals certain enemies, as well as reduce the damage he or she receives from others.

 

• By spinning their Magia Boards, players can quickly change their elemental affinities.

 

The Elemental Aspects of Enemies

• Enemies encountered in the Forbidden Land, Eureka are imbued with powers aspected to a particular element.

 

• Through judicious use of the Magia Boards, players can fight these enemies more effectively.

 

Penalties Incurred When KO’d

• When players are KO’d in the Forbidden Land, Eureka, they will lose elemental EXP. However, if they are revived by another player within ten minutes of being KO’d, they will not suffer an elemental EXP penalty. Furthermore, if a player’s current elemental level is five or below, he or she will not lose elemental EXP when KO’d.

 

• If a player’s elemental level is eleven of higher, this penalty may reduce his or her elemental EXP total below zero. Should this happen, the player will lose an elemental level.

 

During the live stream, Yoshi-P said “Those of you who played FFXI probably never wanted to see it again (the “level down” screen) but they’ll be seeing those words in Final Fantasy XIV. Foxclon also made the horrid sound effect that accompanied the message.

 

At this point in the broadcast, we got a look at some live demonstration, which you can check out at the 1:31:09 mark of the video in the above embed.

 

During the footage part, a few details were shared on Eureka. You can always go back to your base to check out the Magia Melder at any time to change your elemental attribute points. However, keep in mind that the goal isn’t to simply put all your points under one attribute, but to play with the numbers instead since you can rotate it.

 

For example, you can add 3 Magicite points in one and 2 points in another or all five in one. You’ll get to spin the numbers around using the Magia Board but there’s a cooldown that comes with it. The monsters are super strong, so you won’t have to worry about not having enough time for cooldowns since the fights can take a while.

 

If you’re wondering about Magicite allocation, it’s mostly up to you. Yoshi-P said that for example, tanks might want to go with all 5 in one so they can rotate it to always have the elemental defense against whatever monster your party is fighting.

 

The mode will have a focus on killing NMs and they’ll drop rare equipment. There will be certain requirements to make them spawn, but unlike the NMs in Final Fantasy XI, it’ll be handled more like a FATE in Final Fantasy XIV, where all parties can join and fight the NM, so you won’t have to stress out about getting the “first hit” on the monster to claim it for your party.

 

While it sounds exciting to take on NMs, Yoshi-P shared a humorous story about a time they were testing Eureka with the development staff. When the FATE showed up, everyone got excited shouting “the NM is here!” and ran in to fight it. However, the FATE was surrounded by monsters that preceded to wipe the group. Yoshi-P told them “I told you! It’s different than normal!” When a healer tried to save one of the members, they took hate and got attacked by all the monsters… and you can guess how that ended.

 

Unlike the rest of Final Fantasy XIV where monsters leave you alone after making enough distance, the aggro in Eureka handles more like the way it did in Final Fantasy XI, where monsters would chase you until what felt like the end of time. They’ll even go all the way to the base in an effort to take you down. Yoshi-P demonstrated just how strong they are and ran across the field, and we saw how he was taking over 60k damage from simple auto-attacks.

 

Since players will get to drop in and out of parties in Eureka, you can search for parties while in Eureka to put your “invite flag” up. Party leaders can also search within Eureka to look for players to invite. That said, you’ll really have to work together with your party in order to survive out there in the field, just like the good ol’ days of Vana’diel.

 

Lastly, here are some details on the rewards you can get in the Forbidden Land, Eureka:

 

Eureka Gear and Weapons

• Eureka Gear and Weapons – While exploring Eureka, players may obtain Protean Crystals. These crystals may be used to obtain and enhance Eureka gear and weapons with the aid of Gerolt. However, in order to fully upgrade Eureka weapons, players will need to obtain a different item from a notorious monster somewhere in Eureka.

 

Here’s a look at some of the gear you can get, based on the AF equipment with some added effects:

 

 

Notorious Monsters

• In the Forbidden Land, Eureka, players may encounter exceptionally powerful enemies. Players will need to cooperate with others in order to defeat them. Should they succeed, players will obtain significant elemental EXP and other rewards.

 

The above is a look at one of the Notorious Monsters you’ll face in Eureka.

 

Final Fantasy XIV is available on PlayStation 4 and PC.  The Forbidden Land, Eureka will launch in Patch 4.25.

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