Patch 3.4
Introduction
Patch 3.4: Soul Surrender is the fourth major content update introduced for Heavensward.
Notable Features, Additions, and Changes
New Content
- Main Story: Soul Surrender (10 quests)
- Side Story: Further Hildibrand Adventures (2 quests)
- Side Story: Saint Endalim's Scholasticate (4 quests)
- Normal Raid:
Alexander: The Creator and Alexander: The Creator (Savage), the third and final part of the Alexander story and raid series - Dungeon:
Xelphatol, The Great Gubal Library (Hard) - Chronicles of a New Era: The Warring Triad
- PvP mode -
Dueling - Anima Weapons (3 quests) (3.45)
System Changes and Additions
- Housing: Apartment buildings have been added to every ward and corresponding subdivision, with 90 rooms per building.
- Grand Company Adventurer Squadrons
- Additional Grand Company ranks
Palace of the Dead expanded (3.45)
- Rankings added for clear times and score
- Wondrous Tails - Additional way to interact with older content
Miscellaneous
- New Allagan Tomestone currency:
Allagan Tomestones of Scripture
Allagan Tomestones of Esoterics are now deprecated and can be exchanged for 
Allagan Tomestones of Lore for a limited time.- Allagan Tomestones of Lore are no longer limited to 450 per week.
Allagan Tomestones of Law have been removed.
- Orchestrion Playlists
- Aquariums - housing furniture for displaying fish
- W Cross Hotbar - new controller scheme for additional hotbar spaces
- The Gold Saucer - Triple Triad Battlehall, Lord of Verminion added to Duty Finder, Jumbo Cactpot now up to 3 tickets per week.
- Class-specific Glamour Prisms and the
Clear Prisms made single-tier. Old grade 2-5 prisms exchangeable for the new single-tier ones.
Note: Not all content listed here will launch on the same day. This article is about the 3.4x season as a whole.
Main Story Summary (Spoilers)
Lore
After a thousand years of bloodshed and sorrow, the shade of Nidhogg, rage incarnate, fell at last to the Warrior of Light and his allies. So it was that the Dragonsong War drew to a close, and the survivors, bloodied but unbowed, could begin to pick up the pieces. A new day dawned in Ishgard, and her champions were free to rest easy—albeit for only a moment. For every ending marks a new beginning.
Shadows of the First
In the wake of the Dragonsong War, Ser Aymeric de Borel, fresh from his appointment a lord speaker of the House of Lords, extended to the singular man (or woman, according to some) known as the Warrior of Light a formal invitation to dinner at his estate. By all accounts, the evening was a welcome respite forall, until it was cut short by the sudden arrival of Thancred, bearing Alisaie Leveilleur, Alphinaud’s twin sister, who at one time decided to part ways with her brother.
Like the bard, Alisaie had been tracking the enigmatic Warriors of Darkness for some time. Alas, her efforts were rather less subtle than his, and Thancred was forced to spirit her away to Ishgard. Struck by a poisoned arrow as they fled, Alisaie teetered on the brink of death, but before being passed into the care of the chirurgeons, she mustered the strength to warn the Scions of Garuda’s imminent summoning in Xelphatol—and of the Warriors of Darkness’s plan to slay her. Fortunately, the Warrior of Light and his fellow adventurers beat them to the punch and laid low the Ixali occultist overseeing the summoning ritual, putting an end to the beastmen’s ambitions.
Before the heroes of the hour could depart, however, they were confronted by the Warriors of Darkness, whose leader claimed that he and his comrades hailed from another world—a reflection of the Source—in which the power of Light was far greater than that of Dark. There, they easily bested their Ascian counterparts, only to discover that they had upset the primordial balance in the process, triggering a flood of Light which threatened to consume all that they sought to protect. If nothing was done, their world would soon give way to a void..as did the Thirteenth, when the Dark rose up unopposed. And so, to prevent this fate, they joined hands with the Ascians and came to the Source. Here, they intended to bring about another Umbral Calamity, for only through such unbridled destruction could the barriers between planes be broken down, and the First and the Source made one. Having said their piece, they took their leave, but not before reaffirming they would do whatever they could to save their world.
One of many Ixali works found upon the walls of Xelphatol’s caverns, this charcoal painting of Garuda depicts her dancing gracefully with the wind. Any critic able to set aside their prejudices would certainly recognize the artistic merit in this celebration of celestial divinity.
Despair Made Manifest
The Scions were aware of the Ascians' renewed plot to furnish several beast tribes with a steady stream of crystals to facilitate summoning, and so began coordinating with the leadership of the allied nations to combat their efforts. Urianger Augurelt then informed his brethren of a rumor that the kobolds of Vylbrand were on the verge of summoning Titan once more, which spurred the Warrior of Light—as well as Alphinaud and a recovered Alisaie—to journey to Camp Overlook, where they were sought out by a young kobold of the 620th Order named Ga Bu.
The child beseeched the Scions and the Maelstrom to stop the patriarch from summoning Great Father Titan, and went on to explain that his parents, along with other like-minded kobolds, had spoken out against the leaders plans, only to be taken away to serve as “coke for the furnace.” This ominous turn of phrase prompted Alisaie to recall tales of beastmen fashioning ritual foci from the bones of their brethren as a means to summon more powerful incarnations of their gods, and so fearing the worst, the Scions leaped into action and infiltrated the kobold stronghold to secure the crystals and free the prisoners.
Though they achieved a measure of success, the Scions breached the Navel too late to save Ga Bu’s parents, and the sight of their bodies sent the child into a fit of despair. His wailing filled the chamber, growing louder and more intense, and then, as if in answer, the Lord of Crags was summoned forth from the aether. Strangely, the primal’s words were not his own, but those of the distraught child pleading for his loved ones to be returned to him. Nevertheless, it was a threat which could not be ignored, and so the Warrior of Light and his comrades put the rampaging avatar of grief out of its misery. Alas, even though Titan was slain, the child Ga Bu was a broken shell, which led to the fear that he may have been tempered. Realizing she could do no more for him, Alisaie then gave Ga Bu into the care of the Maelstrom, but only after entreating them to show the child every kindness, in the hope that he might one day recover.
Life For One World
Following the events in Vylbrand, the Scions identified the Ishgardian smugglers supplying the beast tribes with crystals as remnants of the criminal network established by Eline Roaille—the infamous Garlean spymaster, the Ivy. Troublingly, they had also recently aided a group of refugees known as the Masks, who were fervently devoted to the cause of Ala Mhigan liberation, and so the Scions journeyed to southern Thanalan to seek them out and discern their intentions.
At a public appearance, the Warrior of Light and Alphinaud took the measure of the Masks' leader, the Griffin. He was every bit the silver-tongued speaker, painting a picture of a homeland abandoned and of a people forsaken. His words conjured feelings of guilt, yet also offered the promise of redemption—of bloody retribution, and of glorious freedom, won with a power residing in the hearts of the brave and true. As the pair thought on his fiery words, they caught sight of the long-missing Yda and Papalymo, who after the fateful banquet in Ul’dah several moons ago, had slipped out of the city with the aid of the Resistance and escaped to Little Ala Mhigo, where they had remained to assist them with their operations by way of repayment.
After this joyous reunion, the Scions then arranged a meeting with the Griffin—or rather his double—who readily admitted to supplying the Amalj’aa with crystals in exchange for their aid in battle against the Garleans. Judging his words to be true, the Scions hastened to the Bowl of Embers, only to find there the bodies of countless Amalj’aa, and the Warriors of Darkness standing over them. This time, however, they were come not to slay a primal, but the Warrior of Light, in the belief that his death would plunge the realm into chaos and bring about another Umbral Calamity.
The battle between the Scions and their foes raged for a time, until the Warriors of Darkness unleashed a potent binding magic, all but sealing their victory. Before they could administer the coup de grace, however, Urianger appeared from nowhere and broke the aetheric chains, revealing himself to have manipulated the Warriors of Darkness as a double agent. With the odds evened, the battle resumed.
When the dust finally settled, only the Scions were left standing. However, even in defeat, the Warriors of Darkness remained defiant, drawing forth Crystals of Light and proclaiming that that which is eternal cannot be defeated. It was then that Alphinaud realized the horrible truth: these desperate men and women of the First were already dead. Bowing his head, their leader declared that they were humble adventurers chosen by the Mothercrystal to serve as Warriors of Light. They did everything that was asked of them, and yet, for all their efforts, and all their many triumphs, their world still fell to ruin. With naught left to say, they raised their crystals high, resolved to withdraw that they might one day return to carry on the fight. Seeing this, however, Urianger enjoined the Warrior of Light to raise up his own crystal, and as it glowed brighter and brighter, its radiance began to blend with that of the others, until all was swallowed by incandescent, blinding white.
The Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the Warriors of Darkness opened their eyes to find themselves in the aetherial sea, a familiar voice echoing in their ears. As they struggled to comprehend what had happened, Urianger raised his hands to the heavens and cried out to Mother Hydaelyn, beseeching Her to grant them an audience with Minfilia in exchange for this bounty of Light. In answer, the Word of the Mother appeared and addressed the fallen heroes of the First, declaring that she would travel to their world and draw the abundant Light unto herself, thus redressing the balance. Driven mad by this seemingly impossible reversal of fortunes, their leader made to strike her down, but she stayed his charge with a gesture, assuring him that she spoke true, and that his world would not fall to Light.
Turning to her former comrades, she then spoke as Minfilia once more, thanking Urianger for allowing her to see so many of her dearest friends one last time. His voice quavering, the Archon confessed to having orchestrated events to grant Minfilia her freedom, that she might then use her newfound powers to prevent the First from being lost to the void. Though this revelation prompted outrage in the Scions, she reassured them that she was happy to have been given such an opportunity. As a final gesture, she then entrusted to them Louisoix’s broken staff Tupsimati, praying that they would never have need of it.
Their journey at an end, the broken Warriors of Light had a simple request: " Take us with you . Take us home. "And so the Scions bade farewell to them, and to brave Minfilia, who promised that one day, when she had found a way to free this star of her sorrow, she would return, just as the Warrior of Light always returned from his many adventures. [1]
References
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Eorzea: Volume II, page 45-46