The official Final Fantasy XIV will post the expansion Shadowbringers launching officially on July 2nd. 

Announced during a "Letter From The Producer" stream, Square Enix and producer Naoki "Yoshi P" Yoshida outlined some of the big changes coming in Patch 5.0, whether you buy the expansion or not. They also released a free benchmark tool for the upcoming expansion complete with updated character creator.

Patch 5.0 brings radical changes to all players, including several class redesigns and some character skill changes. Starting with 5.0, some skills will be able to hold more than one skill at a time, and previously customizable "role" skills will now be locked, with fixed Settings for each role. The magic DPS is the simplest of the four extra moves, while the tank has to juggle seven.

The biggest changes are coming to pet classes, especially Summoner.  The pet hotbar is disappearing, summons are now instant, and their abilities are becoming part of your regular skill pool. The most dramatic change is the Machinist class, which is almost entirely redesigned. 

During E3 2019, a new launch trailer dropped after Producer Naoki Yashida spoke onstage, setting the tone for the story. Not to mention that it will be introducing the new classes Gunbreaker and Dancer, as well as the new (and gender-locked) races Viera and Hrothgar. It was also revealed that Final Fantasy XIV has a playerbase of 16 million prior to the expansion.

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers will be coming out for PS4 and PC.

The benchmark also doubles as a real-time trailer, showing off some of the otherworldly new environments, big new enemies, and culminating in a mock dungeon boss-fight. 

Patch 5.0 is coming soon, so stay tuned.

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