Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail has succeeded in delivering the game’s best Savage Raid Series

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I’ve really gotten into raiding with the new Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail expansion. I rushed to complete the first raid tier as soon as it came out, using the Party Finder, so I could write my review quickly. I also covered the final raid tier for our sister site, NovaCrystallis, and shared my thoughts on last year’s Ultimate raid (you can find that article linked above).

Dawntrail’s content releases have been uneven. When the expansion launched, there wasn’t enough accessible content for most players – a simpler version of the Forked Tower raid would have been ideal, and some content like Chaotic didn’t quite hit the mark for those not focused on challenging raids. While recent additions like Cosmic Exploration and Pilgrim’s Traverse are a step in the right direction, some feel they arrived too late to fully address the issue. Meanwhile, dedicated raiders have had plenty to keep them busy throughout the entire expansion.

Light-Heavyweight felt comfortable and was really enjoyable to replay. Fights like Brute Bomber and Wicked Thunder had a good level of challenge, though the tier’s balance was heavily skewed by how powerful Pictomancer was when the expansion first launched. Cruiserweight, however, was fantastic – every fight was memorable. Dancing Green was a particularly strong opening fight, and Sugar Riot became incredibly popular, so much so that her unique adds have been turned into a mount, a minion, and even merchandise.

While it’s still new, the latest Dawntrail tier is proving to be a big hit. Aside from a few minor problems with The Tyrant and some aspects of the Lindwurm fight, it feels like a strong conclusion to the series so far. The Xtremes fights continue the trend of being imaginative and challenging, demanding more than just memorized sequences. And the ‘Idyllic Dream’ mechanic in the Lindwurm fight feels like a fresh and exciting step forward for Savage Raids – some even think it was originally designed for a different, earlier raid.

The Arcadion raid series has been enjoyable, creative, and refreshing, demonstrating that the Dawntrail expansion prioritizes strong combat design and unique job roles. Several raids within Dawntrail specifically highlighted the strengths of different jobs – for example, fights favored Paladin and Warrior’s defensive abilities, while others benefited jobs with powerful multi-target attacks. Healers also had opportunities to excel, with certain encounters better suited to Sage, Scholar, or Astrologian.

The biggest thing I’ve noticed with Dawntrail’s battles is that the developers clearly understand how to create encounters that let each job shine, even if the basic way jobs are played still feels similar. This is a great start, and it makes me optimistic about the job changes coming in 8.0. To really make jobs feel unique and satisfying, the team needed to first demonstrate they could design fights that highlight those differences – without making any jobs feel left out.

Dawntrail has been a real win for Final Fantasy XIV. With exciting story hints for patch 7.4, and a promising outlook for the future – including the North American Fanfest – things are looking great. I’m genuinely excited about what’s coming next, which wasn’t always the case during Dawntrail’s development. While we still have about a year until the next expansion is released, the team has created an incredible raid series to build upon. Hopefully, whatever they create next will be just as amazing as the Arcadion raid tier.

RPG Site received game time for the purposes of this article.

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2026-01-21 17:56