FFXIV Patch 7.5: All the Preparations You Need to Make Before April 28th Release

On July 28, 2026, Final Fantasy XIV received Patch 7.55. While only a small patch, it included enough new gameplay elements to keep players entertained for a long time.

Among the most anticipated features were the introduction of the final enhancement stage for Phantom Weapons and the new North Horn area in Occult Crescent.

If you enjoy collecting weapons or exploring new areas, completing the crafting prerequisites for Phantom Weapons and leveling up your Phantom Jobs and Phantom Mastery are your most important tasks right now.

Below, I will explain the new gameplay elements in detail and the preparations you need to make.

Phantom Weapons Final Enhancement Stage

First, FFXIV Patch 7.55 brings us the final enhancement stage for Phantom Weapons. Phantom Weapons are a type of very powerful equipment that players can craft, significantly enhancing their builds.

Previously, its crafting process consisted of three main stages. In Patch 7.55, it enters a new and final stage. This means that if you haven't completed the previous stages, you cannot perform the final upgrade of Phantom Weapons.

Stage One

The starting point for Phantom Weapons is in Tuliyollal. Players need to talk to Expedition Messenger to accept quest One Last Hurrah to unlock Phantom Village.

Subsequently, through the quest Arcane Artistry, players meet NPC Gerolt to officially begin the weapon crafting process.

The weapon for Stage 1 is called Phantom Penumbra. The core requirement for crafting it is to collect six types of Demiatma at once, three of each, for a total of 18. These materials can be obtained in two ways:

First, by completing FATEs and Critical Encounters within southern part of Occult Crescent. According to official FF14 data, the drop rate for Critical Encounters is approximately 20%, while the drop rate for FATEs is approximately 5%.

Second, by obtaining them from FATEs in wild throughout Tural continent. Each Demiatma corresponds to a specific region.

You can farm Azurite Demiatma in Urqopacha; Verdigris Demiatma in Kozama'uka; Malachite Demiatma in Yak T'el; Realgar Demiatma in Shaaloani; Caput Mortuum Demiatma in Heritage Found; and finally, Orpiment Demiatma in Living Memory.

Phase Two

After completing Phase One, players must continue the questline to enter Phase Two - Phantom Umbrae.

This phase requires players to collect five crafting materials. It is recommended to obtain these directly using Gil and trading with other players in FF14, as they are not expensive.

The real challenge of this phase lies in Aetherwell Array's charging mechanism. Players must accumulate 10,000 energy points for each of the four containers by completing four different types of Duty Roulettes.

To achieve this, players need to complete a certain number of Trials, High-Level Dungeons, Normal Raids, and Alliance Raids.

While completing each Duty Roulette for the first time each day grants an additional daily bonus, the energy gained from different dungeons varies significantly. Therefore, most players will need approximately two weeks to complete this phase.

Phase Three

Phase Three, named Phantom Obscurum, is mechanicically similar to the first two phases, but with a significantly increased difficulty.

Players first need to acquire Umbral Clay using 500,000 Final Fantasy XIV Gil and collect three crafting materials.

Subsequently, players must collect a total of 1,200 Crystal Pastes through various content within FF14, delivered at four milestones: 100, 200, 300, and finally 600.

While this phase demands a huge amount of Crystal Paste, fortunately, there's no daily limit on its acquisition - players can farm it freely according to their own schedules, theoretically completing the process within a few days.

Once you've completed the above three phases, you can craft the final enhancement stage for Phantom Weapons in Patch 7.55.

Occult Crescent New Area: North Horn

Occult Crescent is a large-scale open-world exploration feature in FFXIV, officially launched in Patch 7.25. Similar to the previous Eureka and Bozjan, it's a standalone dungeon area accommodating up to 72 players.

In Patch 7.55, it opens a brand new area - North Horn - along with new bosses and mobs.

To explore this new area, players must pay attention to Phantom Jobs and Phantom Mastery.

Phantom Jobs

Phantom Jobs is a second job system unique to Occult Crescent gameplay. Upon entering this area, players will retain their original combat class and receive an additional Phantom Job, granting them a unique set of skills and traits.

However, you still need to manually unlock Phantom Jobs through certain actions, such as completing specific quests, acquiring them with specific currencies, or participating in specific Critical Engagements.

Phantom Mastery

When a player's Phantom Jobs reach their maximum level, they will be marked as Mastered.

For each Phantom Job mastered, players gain one stack of Phantom Mastery, which permanently increases damage and healing across all areas of Occult Crescent.

This means that when North Horn opens in Patch 7.55, players who have mastered multiple Phantom Jobs will have a significant advantage.

Conversely, if players enter Occult Crescent with zero mastery, they may experience severely insufficient damage against new bosses, significantly diminishing their combat experience.

Therefore, players should stack as much Phantom Mastery as possible before entering North Horn.

The above outlines the new gameplay features in Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.55 and what players need to do. If you're interested in Phantom Weapons or Occult Crescent, you can follow this guide to prepare.

In FFXIV's long-term progression system, Relic Weapon has always held a special place. It's not just equipment that enhances stats, but also a long-term progression path that records player investment and growth. Therefore, every adjustment to Relic Weapon system sparks considerable discussion.

From Endwalker to Dawntrail, Relic Weapon has gradually shifted towards a lighter design, relying heavily on points for progression. Before the announcement of Evercold, the producer hinted that the next expansion's Relic Weapon system would take a different approach, but the official changes have not yet been announced.

While the answer to the new system remains to be seen, Cosmic Exploration in the current expansion may have already revealed some design concepts worth learning from for the future Relic Weapon.

Inspiration from Cosmic Exploration

A closer look at Cosmic Exploration reveals that it actually integrates the strengths of several past large-scale progression systems.

Similar to Eureka and Bozja, it features dedicated areas, recurring quests, and long-term progression goals. However, it doesn't completely replicate the high-intensity grinding of the past, instead striking a better balance between efficiency and investment.

In FF14's Cosmic Exploration, players continuously complete quests to earn Research Points and gradually upgrade their Crafting and Gathering Tools.

As tool levels increase, players not only gain stronger equipment effects but also unlock new progression stages. The biggest advantage of this process is that players consistently feel their investment is yielding results.

Compared to simply accumulating Final Fantasy XIV Gil to exchange for equipment, Cosmic Exploration offers a more defined progression experience. Players aren't endlessly repeating tasks for a last reward but gradually improving their equipment as they complete objectives.

I believe this is precisely the design philosophy that the future Relic Weapon should adopt. Relic Weapons don't necessarily need to revert to the lengthy and stressful crafting methods of the past, but it should at least make players feel like they are cultivating a special weapon, not completing a routine exchange.

Relic Weapons Need a Sense of Progression

Currently, in FFXIV, Relic Weapons are typically crafted after reaching the level cap, creating difference of opinion between crafting and character progression. Players often need to level up and upgrade their equipment before investing time in crafting Relic Weapons.

However, by referencing the progression system of Cosmic Exploration, future Relic Weapons could be integrated into the character progression process.

For example, Relic Weapons could gradually strengthen as the character's class level increases, allowing players to advance their weapon's progression while leveling up their new class. This would give sub-class development an additional objective, rather than simply grinding for experience.

Of course, this design needs to avoid forcibly binding characters to a specific class. Past Relic Weapon quests required players to use a specific class to complete content, which could feel restrictive.

A more reasonable approach would allow players to gain basic progress regardless of their class, while equipping and using the corresponding Relic Weapon would provide greater efficiency.

This design retains freedom while allowing Relic Weapon to truly become a companion throughout the character's progression.

Point Redemption Isn't the Final Answer

In recent years, FF14 has increasingly relied on the point system, its biggest advantages being stability and freedom. Players can acquire resources like Final Fantasy XIV Gil through various content, without being confined to a single gameplay style.

However, for Relic Weapon, relying solely on point redemption always presents a problem: a lack of independent experience.

Relic Weapon is special because it represents the completion of a long journey for the player. If it ultimately boils down to daily quests, accumulating resources, and then redeeming upgrade materials, the entire process easily loses its sense of ritual.

Future expansions don't need to completely abandon the point system. A more ideal solution is to make points the basic path, while adding gameplay content specifically designed to support Relic Weapon's growth.

Players who prefer a relaxed progression can complete the game at their own pace, while players who want to focus on developing their Relic Weapon will have clear and challenging goals.

If Evercold were to reintroduce similar special areas, the design focus shouldn't solely be on repeatedly grinding FATEs or defeating special enemies. Truly excellent Relic Weapon areas should possess their own quest logic and exploration value, making players feel like they're embarking on an independent adventure.

Addressing the Crafting Pressure of Multiple Classes

As the number of classes in FF14 continues to increase, the crafting pressure of Relic Weapons becomes increasingly apparent. Future expansions will feature many combat classes; if each Relic Weapon requires the same amount of time, most players will ultimately only craft a few.

Research Bonus mechanism in Cosmic Exploration provides an excellent solution to this problem. As players complete more tools, the crafting speed for subsequent tools will significantly increase. This design effectively rewards long-term investment and encourages players to continue trying new goals.

A similar mechanism could be adopted for combat Relic Weapons. After completing the first Relic Weapon, subsequent weapons should receive an efficiency boost, making collecting weapons for multiple classes a positive cycle rather than constantly repeating the same tasks.

The core of Relic Weapon system should be to encourage players to explore more classes, not to discourage them due to high costs.

Enhancing the Collectible Value of Weapons

In FF14, the appearance of equipment has always been more important than its pure stats. Many players craft Relic Weapons not because of their combat advantages, but because of their unique design and collectible value.

Therefore, future Relic Weapons may not need complex combat mechanics. More promising than minor stat boosts are exclusive visual effects.

As new expansions add more animation-related content, if Relic Weapons possess independent skill effects, special attack animations, or richer visual effects, it will undoubtedly become a significant motivation for players to craft multiple weapons.

For FFXIV players, a truly collectible weapon is the greatest reward in itself.

A Relic Weapon shouldn't just be a piece of equipment in an expansion, nor should it become a challenge only a few players can persevere in. It should be a personal growth experience for the player, and this is perhaps the correct direction Evercold Relic Weapon system should strive for.