Dawntrail, the next expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, launches into early access this week, but before you can dive into the adventures that await on the gorgeous continent of Tural, the game will be down for roughly 48 hours. That means it’s time to do any last-minute tasks before you’ll have to leave Eorzea alone for two days.
The pre-expansion maintenance begins on June 26 at 2 a.m. PDT across all platforms. While maintenance is underway, the version 7.0 patch will be made available to download at around 4 a.m. PDT on consoles, and on June 27 around 8 a.m. PDT for PC and Mac players. As always, maintenance may be longer or shorter than Square Enix’s estimate but you should expect the 7.0 patch to go live around Friday, June 28 at 2 a.m. PDT. This means that the game will be down for two days across all platforms. Once the game is back up, those who have pre-ordered Dawntrail will be able to dive into the expansion. The regular release is one week later on July 2.
Per Live Letter 82, we know that the patch will be around 55GB. In addition to the game itself, the online store, Lodestone, and official companion app will all be undergoing maintenance at different periods between June 26 and June 28.
Ahead of maintenance, there are some things you should do to prepare for the game to be down. The Yokai Watch collaboration event will run until maintenance begins, so if there are any more weapons or mounts you’re trying to get, you must do so before the game goes down on June 26. Make sure to travel to your home world if you’re visiting another world or data center, as those travel systems may experience issues when Dawntrail launches.
Other things to check off ahead of maintenance include logging into your house (if you own one) to refresh the housing timer before the congestion of a new expansion. If you intend to switch your race to female Hrothgar when Dawntrail launches, use a Fantasia before logging out ahead of maintenance (remembering to unequip your gear first) as this will let you immediately change races when logging back in once patch 7.0 is live. Finally, log out in a sanctuary to get the rested EXP buff to help you level quickly once starting Dawntrail’s story quests. All you have to do now is find something to do while the game is down. Read a good book, try out knitting, or play another game on your backlog. Once Dawntrail releases, you won’t have free time for a while.
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