Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3 Live Letter 87 recap: New quests, dungeon, Unreal trial, and more

Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3 was discussed in great detail on the June 20 Live Letter from the producer. The first half of the stream was dedicated to player feedback from the Occult Crescent and Cosmic Exploration, while the second half was devoted entirely to new content in patch 7.3. It’s all very exciting, and we’re glad to see that the team are listening, and working hard to improve the state of the game.

Major details won’t be discussed, but the content itself will be. Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3 is called The Promise of Tomorrow, and the character designer for Final Fantasy IX did the key art. This will also be the finale for the Dawntrail expansion. We also have to thank YouTuber iluna minori for his translations on the spot, during this livestream.

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What’s new in Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3? Live Letter recap

Content coming in patch 7.3

• New Main Scenario Quests
• New Allied Society Quests - Yok Huy
• Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures
• New Dungeon - The Meso Terminal
• New Trial - ??? (Normal/Extreme)
• Echoes of Vana’diel Part 2 - San d’Oria: The Second Walk
• The Wreath of Snakes (Unreal)
• New Treasure Dungeon - Vault Oneiron
• More Duty Support support (Cutter’s Cry)
• PVP Adjustments (Actions, new PVP Series, new Crystalline Conflict)
• New Crystalline Conflict tiers
• Cosmic Exploration
• Phantom Weapons
• New Deep Dungeon
• Chat Bubble Feature
• Expanded Headgear support for Hrothgar and Viera
• Bangs will now display while wearing hood-type headgear.

No spoilers for the story, sorry! (Image via Square Enix)

Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3, The Promise of Tomorrow is going to be released in early August 2025, though a specific date was not given quite yet. There’s still plenty of debugging to go, according to the developers, but there’s still plenty of time between now and then. But what’s new in patch 7.3?

There will be new Main Scenario Quests, naturally. Interestingly, Sphene is holding a book as well, so perhaps she’s a summoner, or perhaps scholar! Yoshi-P said he knows people want Sphene’s outfit, but we’ll just have to wait. We also saw that Erenville is coming back to the main story, so that’s great; he’s one of my favorite NPCs from Dawntrail. There were no spoilers for the story, so we’ll just have to see what’s on the way.

The next Allied Society will unlock the crafters’ Allied Society: Yok Huy! They appear to be making some kind of mysterious device or robot. Perhaps a Gundam? The teaser screenshot could be a mount; we’ll just have to wait and see for the launch of Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3.

Get ready for crafting dailies! (Image via Square Enix)

For those who just can’t get enough Hildibrand (and who could blame you?), there will be more Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures in Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3! I didn’t realize it was so controversial to enjoy these stories, but looking at the two chats I was in, there were some very unhappy people. I, for one, enjoy the adventures of the hard-boiled Hildibrand.

We also have a new dungeon coming, The Meso Terminal, in patch 7.3. The image they showed revealed some purple glowing bars along the side, seen above. Apparently, this was before they had a collision attached to them, and Yoshi-P jumped at them and fell to his death.

There were a few screenshots offered of this dungeon, showing more than just the future tech we’ve come to know in Solution 9. It’s likely also other references to Final Fantasy IX, judging by the looks of them.

This is the only hint we have so far (Image via Square Enix)

We know there will be a new Trial, but the name of it will not be given now, nor in the patch notes, to avoid spoilers. It will be a major spoiler, so they won’t be revealing anything here. If it keeps in line with Final Fantasy IX, perhaps it’s Ozma or Necron. This is very much a “wait and see” sort of moment. To avoid spoilers, there will be no footage offered.

Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3 will continue the Echoes of Vana’diel raid, with San d’Oria: The Second Walk. San d’Oria has never looked this good, and as someone who loved Final Fantasy XI, I’m incredibly excited for this raid. The playtest has just finished today, and there’s still some debugging/updating that needs to be done.

Another new bit of contente, a new Unreal Raid, The Wreath of Snakes (Unreal) is confirmed for Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3! For those who want to tackle the Azure Dragon, Seiryu, in its most powerful form, that will be possible in this update.

I cannot wait to return to Vana'diel (Image via Square Enix)

For fans of Treasure Dungeons, Vault Oneiron will also be available for players to traverse. Truthfully, I don’t do Treasure Dungeons often, but I really think I ought to. We do know that there will be a new mini-game added in this treasure dungeon, but that was not elaborated on.

Duty Support, which was getting more dungeons added to it starting in patch 7.0, and that continues with Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3, with Cutter’s Cry! There will also be a PVP Update, where PVP actions will be adjusted, and PVP Series 9 will begin.

We’ll also see a new Crystalline Conflict be introduced: The Bayside Battleground. It has no special rules, but thematically, fits the expansion nicely. This should be a good beginner’s map, for those new to Crystalline Conflict. Players will also be able to duo-queue for casual Crystalline Conflicts, because there has been feedback that some players are nervous queuing alone.

This screenshot really gave me Star Ocean vibes (Image via Square Enix)

With a new Crystalline Conflict map, comes new Crystalline Conflict Tiers. Instead of Unranked, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crystal, two new ranks will be added beyond Crystal: Omega, and Ultima. This is truly what it’s like to go further beyond. Beyond that point, promotion/demotion is determined by Crystal Credit. Cosmic Exploration will expand as well, and players will have a new star to explore - Phaenna!

It has a real vibrant color palette to it, and the developers offered quite a few screenshots of this new planet. There will also be further enhancements for cosmic tools, and new rewards. Starward Standings stela, and Star Contributor status and effect, will also be available here, as it was on the Moon.

The next step for Phantom Weapons will also take place during Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3! There’s no telling what we’ll have to do next. We’ll just have to see what awaits us in August 2025.

For Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.3, we're going back to the land of spells and faeries for Deep Dungeon! (Image via Square Enix)

A new Deep Dungeon is confirmed as well! These are great places to level grind, use their own level system, and are randomized, so it’s different every time. I’m a huge fan of them; except the last one. That third Deep Dungeon was miserable. We also got a teaser screenshot for what the next Deep Dungeon will look like, shown above. It’s known as Pilgrim’s Traverse, and has a very regal look - it looks to be in the realm of the Faeries from Shadowbringers.

Instead of going “deeper” or “higher” between floors, players will be going to different layers or rooms to go to instead. I’m not really sure how this is going to work, but I’m curious, if nothing else. In order to access this, players will need to complete the Endwalker scenario, and progress to floor 50 of Palace of the Dead, as well as at least be job level 91. You will access it in Il Mheg, by speaking to an NPC.

There will also be a harder version of the floor 99 boss battle, which is accessible from the dungeon entrance NPC. This is after you complete the whole Deep Dungeon, it sounds like, to offer players a greater challenge than before. It can be challenged at level 100, with a party of four. More information will be given in part 2 of this patch 7.3 Live Letter for Final Fantasy XIV, which will be done at a later date.

The Chat Bubble feature was talked about a lot (Image via Square Enix)

The developers also pointed out that while there’s no new Ultimate Trial, they are working on the next one. It will be in a future patch. A new quality-of-life feature was added for this patch though, Chat Bubble.

You’ll be able to see what players are saying in chat bubbles over their character. It sounds like the North American and Japanese players aggressively requested this feature. It is an optional feature though, so you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to, and is off by default. You will still see the same text in the chat log as well. They also highlighted that it can be disabled during battle and PVP, if you’d prefer.

Another reveal, arguably one of the most frequently asked things for Final Fantasy XIV, in patch 7.3, Headgear will now be shown on both Hrothgar and Viera models. Not every headgear piece will be available at this time. More headgear types will be added in the future, including helmets. This is a huge update, and something I know fans everywhere have wanted.

Viera and Hrothgar will finally be able to show off hats! (Image via Square Enix)

There will also be an option to hide Viera ears, if you want. This will likely make your ears droop down, not cut them off, or anything. You will also be able to choose whether or not you want to show your Viera ears with certain headgear. This will be done via a toggle in the character window. Another cosmetic feature, Bangs will now display while wearing hood-type headgear, if that’s something you care about.

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Content teased for patch 7.4 or later in Final Fantasy XIV

This is a future feature, but it's one I'm excited about (Image via Square Enix)

There are still other updates to come, but that will be revealed in the next Live Letter for Final Fantasy XIV. Something they teased was the White Board Editing feature which is coming later, where players can show and explain strats in-game. This is a humongous change for the game, allowing players to very easily show off what is expected in complicated fights.

They’re currently discussing if they want to make this whiteboard visible in battle, and an option to highlight certain jobs. They are also considering the ability to export/import this, so someone can share it with a raid group. More information may be available when the next Live Letter goes out.

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Check out our other Final Fantasy XIV guides and features

• Final Fantasy XIV: All new mounts in patch 7.25 and how to get them
• Final Fantasy XIV: How to easily farm Tomestones of Heliometry
• Final Fantasy XIV: Occult Crescent guide: Where to farm Demiatma for Phantom Weapons

Edited by Jason Parker