Square Enix is about to release the first major expansion for the rebooted Final Fantasy XIV. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward expands Eorzea with new areas, flying mounts, and the ability for free companies to create their own airships. Siliconera sat down with director and producer Naoki Yoshida to talk about the three new jobs, the new Primal, and the importance of cool looking loot.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward has three new classes, one for each kind of role. We’ve seen the Dark Knight before in the Final Fantasy series, but how does this class differ from the Paladin or Warrior as a tank? Will you have to sacrifice HP to do special attacks?

How does the Machinist class work?
It’s going to be a ranged DPS. This class has different gadgets that strengthen or help itself or the party members. The first kind are the attachments, you can use these to raise your DPS to make yourself stronger. We also have turret type weapons that you can set up to buff your allies or debuff your enemies. This class is kind of like a ranged DPS meets buffer/debuffer.

There is a command that the Machinist can do to reload. It’s kind of tricky to put into words, but you may want to look out for that too. And if you’re familiar with Final Fantasy Tactics how you can aim for an arm or other areas. You might take note of that when looking at what the Machinist can do.

And for the Astrologian? What makes this class different from say the White Mage
This class has the capability to drastically change your current stance. This class has the ability to draw cards and depending on what card you get you can buff your allies or support your party members. It’s a very different mechanic compared to the Scholar or White Mage.

This job will require quick reflexes to determine which situation you’re in to execute moves. Once you’ve mastered that, the Astrologian would be a very effective and useful type of healer. When you draw a card you have to decide whether you want to immediately use the card or if you want to save it and draw another card to combine it with, that’s where the quick reflexes come in. That’s a big element to the Astrologian.

For players that do not purchase the Heavensward expansion, how are you going block access to the new areas? Will there be an invisible wall, a story explanation, a giant banner held by a moogle that says "buy the expansion?"

The areas will be blocked off, but the graphics data will be there so certain elements will be visible just like the new jobs that will be added, as well as the new race, the Au Ra. You can form a party with people with those new jobs and the new race. Hopefully, we won’t have anyone standing guard [to the new areas], but by being able to see the new elements in Heavensward players will think that looks cool and maybe I want to take up playing Heavensward.

There is a grand bridge hat connects A Realm Reborn to the Ishgard city-state. It will be there, but the A Realm Reborn players will not be able to access it. That’s another place where you can see it right in front of you, but you can’t access it so it kind of incentivizes the player to want to go there.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn borrows ideas from the series history like materia, the Golden Saucer, and Triple Triad. When you were trying to reboot Final Fantasy XIV, it makes sense to have familiar elements that fans love, but now that A Realm Reborn has become successful and since each Final Fantasy installment adds new ideas, what elements to do you want to add to the series with Final Fantasy XIV? When will we get to see some of your ideas on how to expand Final Fantasy?

Final Fantasy XIV is not only a MMORPG, it is also part of the Final Fantasy franchise that has a history of almost 30 years. We’ve got people playing Final Fantasy XIV and that is there first Final Fantasy title they’ve experienced and there are people like me that have played Final Fantasy since its original iteration on the Famicom. Yes, there are people coming with passion for the franchise. There is such a big variety of people that gather to the game.

Also, there is a lot of original content already in Final Fantasy XIV. There are many different elements within the game, but also because there are so many different people that gather to this Final Fantasy title we want to make it like a Final Fantasy theme park where there is something for everyone to enjoy. You can share your nostalgia and maybe you can be introduced to legacy content that you never realized was there that still belongs within the Final Fantasy world.

With that being our foundation, our next steps expanding this title with Heavensward we are taking to the skies. That is one of our main themes with the expansion. We will introduce free company crafting where you can have your own workshop space and your free company friends can build an airship. You will be making it in parts and you can collaborate to make it your own. Before, airships and mounts were something you could obtain through a quest or as an item drop. Now, you can build your own airship and customize the parts. You will be able to send it on different quests or you can ride it to explore uncharted areas. Free company crafting is a new challenge we’re taking on and it’s one of the elements never done before in the franchise.

Not only with item drops with different dungeons, but for crafters too – if one person created a sailor suit and you realize everyone is wearing that suit you created as a designer you would be really proud of what you’ve done. Being able to offer that, making a trend for characters in the world is an important element.