The new Shadowbringer expansion brings an abundance of new content, including a new player race, multiple new jobs, an increased level cap up, sprawling new areas, adjustments to the battle system, as well as a variety of new battle, crafter and gatherer content. In addition to these core features, a number of new systems will be introduced with Shadowbringers. 

• NPC “Trust” System – Players will now be able to fight alongside familiar NPCs.
• New Game+ Feature – A feature that allows players to “replay” the Final Fantasy XIV main scenario stories.
• World Visit System – Players will be able to travel to other servers on the same data center and interact with more players than ever before. 

Players can also look forward to numerous new features in Shadowbringers:

• New Jobs – Including the gunbreaker–master of gunblade.
• New Playable Race – The Viera–rabbit-like wardens of the wood.
• New Alliance Raid: YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse–from the minds of renowned NeiR creators Yosuke Saito and YOKO TARO.
• Level cap increase from 70 to 80
• Sprawling New Areas – Expansive new areas, such as the Rak’tika Greatwood, Amh Araeng, and Il Mheg.
• New “Trust” System – Tackle Shadowbringers dungeons solo while fighting alongside prominent characters with the new Trust system.
• New Game+ System – Relive the adventures from your past with your current level and gear via the New Game+ system.
• New Beast Tribes and Primals
• …and much more.

Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida hosted a Letter from the Producer LIVE stream detailing updates coming with the latest expansion pack. A variety of new information and assets were revealed during the stream, including a new dungeon walkthrough video and post-launch content release information.

Details on other Shadowbringers content and the post-launch release schedule were announced:

• Introduction of Shadowbringers’ Key Characters – Familiar allies such as Thancred and Y’shtola will join the Warrior of Light as they encounter new characters such as Ran'jit and Vauthry. Additional details on the key characters of Shadowbringers can be found here.
• Updates to Crafting Classes – New actions and adjustments to current actions, major updates to the crafting UI, and easing requirements to unlock existing recipes.
• Updates to Gathering Classes – New actions and traits for all classes, updates to the gathering log—including spawn time information and the ability to quickly add an alarm to remind players of spawning nodes, as well as easing requirements to unlock existing gathering points.
• System-related Updates – Increase to the glamour dresser storage capacity, updates to the retainer and achievement UI, the addition of new tomestones and gatherer/crafter scrips, and much more.
• Addition of New Worlds – The addition of the Spriggan World to the Chaos data center, and the addition of the Twintania World to the Light data center.
• Post-Release Patch Schedule
  • July 16, 2019: Patch 5.01 – Launch of the normal difficulty high-level raid, Eden.
  • July 30, 2019: Patch 5.05 – Launch of the savage difficulty Eden raid and the new treasure hunt dungeon, Lyhe Ghiahl; release of the Allagan tomestone of Phantasmagoria currency.

Shadowbringers takes players to the First World and the realm of Norvrandt. This marks the first time Warriors of Light will journey across dimensions and into a land similar, yet different. Here they must become Warriors of Darkness to restore night and save the world from the apocalypse the Flood of Light promises.

New Features:

• New Job – Dancer: Dancer joins gunbreaker as one of the new jobs in Shadowbringers. This ranged attacker not only unleashes powerful attacks using throwing weapons, but also performs dances to execute abilities and provide beneficial effects to their party.
• New Player Race – Hrothgar: The Hrothgar player race compliments the recently announced Viera as the second new playable race in Shadowbringers. The Hrothgar and Viera will both have unique, customizable features specific to their races
• New Player Cities – The Crystarium and Eulmore: Located in Norvrandt, the former will serve as a player hub, while the latter—an affluent city ruled by the elite will play a key role in the Shadowbringers main storyline.
• New Raid – Eden: This new high-end raid content will feature multiple challenging bosses, as well as a new character—both designed specifically for this raid series by KINGDOM HEARTS® Director and FINAL FANTASY series veteran, Tetsuya Nomura.
• New Beast Tribe and Primal: The bearded dwarves and the ”sin eater,” Innocence.
• New Field Area – Lakeland.

These features add to the list of exciting previously announced content, including a level cap increase to level 80, the Trust system—which provides a new opportunity for solo play, a new 24-player alliance raid series entitled “YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse”, New Game+, and end-game content for crafters and gatherers which sees the Restoration of the Holy See of Ishgard.

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is scheduled to release for PC and PS4 on July 2, 2019.