System Changes in FFXIV Endwalker

Endwalker is FFXIV's most ambitious expansion to date, and the developers have had to change some core game systems to continue delivering content at such a high quality. Some of the changes are standard fare, but some of them are also unprecedented. We will go over all the changes on this page so you will know what to expect come expansion launch. If you wish to view changes regarding other things like jobs, visit our Endwalker Changes page.

As with any expansion, the level cap will be raised by ten levels from level 80 to level 90. This will apply to all Disciple of War, Disciple of Magic, Disciple of the Hand, and Disciple of the Land jobs except for the limited job Blue Mage. All Endwalker main scenario content will be for levels 80 to 90, and endgame content will be for players who have finished the main scenario and are at level 90.

As an MMORPG with vertical progression expands, it is inevitable that numbers increase to a point where it becomes unsustainable to proceed. Therefore, the developers at Square Enix have decided to downscale all stat values across the board. This downscaling will apply to equipment stats, overall health and damage values, experience, and anything else that gives stats, such as consumables and materia. This will apply to all values from levels 50-90, and it is estimated for the downscaling to be around a fifth of current values.

Experience numbers will be downscaled. This will not change the time players need to level, as the ratio for EXP rewarded and EXP needed will still be roughly the same. Dungeon experience points will also be shifted heavily towards bosses, and regular mobs will no longer grant EXP, although the total EXP earned in the dungeon will still be the same.

Due to the experience adjustments, all current experience values will be reset to 0. This reset will apply to players, Trust NPCs, and retainers. This reset will not remove any levels but instead set the experience of all classes to 0. Players should aim to finish their leveling goals by the start of Endwalker.

As this has never happened before in the game's history, Square Enix has stated they will adjust all previous content according to the new values. There will also be a new duty finder option, Enhanced Echo, which aims to bring the balance of the fight in line with how it was in previous expansions. Whether or not this will affect these fights negatively is yet to be known.

In Endwalker, the Waist equipment slot will be removed. Gear will be adjusted to reflect this change. All existing belts will remain, but belts will no longer be obtainable in any form of content. Currently equipped belts by either the player or their retainers will be sent to the Calamity Salvager NPC, where they can be retrieved. It is a good idea to retrieve all materia from belts before the expansion so players can discard, desynthesis, sell, or use them for Grand Company delivery missions.

If you have the rare Speed Belt item from Eureka, fear not - it will be exchangeable for a new item, the Speed Ring, instead.

To save server space, certain items will no longer be available as HQ in Patch 6.0. HQ items will no longer have effects on initial crafting quality, and if players already have HQ materials, they will still exist but have no bonus effects like HQ items have had previously.

• Items acquired from gathering;
• Mob drops;
• Items exchanged with tokens and tomestones;
• Non-craftable materials obtained from certain content.

Items crafted will still be able to be obtained as HQ. This includes crafted gear.

In Shadowbringers, female Viera and male Hrothgar were released as new races. At the time, there were no plans to make both gender options available. However, in Endwalker, male Viera will be made available for creation. Players will immediately be able to Fantasia their character into a male Viera upon Endwalker's release. Players can already create male Viera through the FFXIV Endwalker benchmark.

Originally slated to release before Endwalker, cross data center travel will be implemented sometime after Patch 6.0x due to issues with server congestion. It has been confirmed that players will be able to participate in duties in other data centers. It will be initially locked to data centers within the region.

A new data center serving the Oceanic region, Materia, is slated to open in February 2022. All worlds in Materia will be treated as new worlds, with free world transfers and additional incentives to go there. As always, data centers are not region locked, so players can choose to play wherever they want.

There is a whole slew of miscellaneous quality of life changes and other various adjustments. We have listed all of the ones we currently know, and more are likely to follow as more details about the expansion is released.

• Ground targeting functionality will be improved - there will be an option to use the action again to place the target circle.
• Players casting spells on other party members will have the target denoted in the party list.
• The Achievement UI will be updated, showing tabs for achievements near completion and recommended achievements.
• Conditional enhancements such as proc-type buffs can be separated from other HUD elements and displayed by themselves.
• The FC action Back on Your Feet will be replaced with an action that increases Sprint duration in cities. This is because the developers feel the action is too strong in a progression raiding environment.
• Items containing a random minion or mount will be added to the Grand Company seal exchange.
• A purchasable add-on from Embody will be added, which adds immersive 360-degree personalized spatial audio to FFXIV.