Returning player

Coming back to FFXIV after Stormblood?

You saw Ala Mhigo and Doma freed, then set the game down. Three expansions have come out since, and most of what you 'missed' is optional. We'll point you at the parts that actually matter now.

Pick up where you left off

Choose the closest match and the planner opens with it filled in. You pick the goals.

I finished the Stormblood story→I finished Stormblood and its patches→

What launched while you were gone

Shadowbringers5.0
Called to the First, a parallel world drowning in eternal Light, you take up a darker mantle to hold back its ruin and unravel an Ascian's ancient design.
Endwalker6.0
The decade-long Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga reaches its climax, taking you from Old Sharlayan and Radz-at-Han to the very edge of the world to hold back the Final Days.
Dawntrail7.0
You sail to the New World of Tural as champion for Wuk Lamat in a rite of succession, exploring its cultures and chasing the mystery of a legendary golden city.

The big changes to know

›TP is gone as of 5.0. Weaponskills no longer drain a second resource bar.
›Most job kits were reworked around their gauges in 5.0, so expect your old rotation muscle memory to be wrong in places.
›A stat squish scaled the big numbers down across the board.
›Belts were removed from the game (and from gear/materia).
›High-quality crafting materials (HQ mats) were removed.
›Duty Support started covering ARR main-scenario dungeons in 6.1, and later patches kept extending it. Most story dungeons on your way to current can now be run solo with NPCs.
›Data Center Travel arrived in 6.18: you can visit other data centers in your region and queue with friends there without transferring.
›The whole game got a graphical overhaul: new textures, lighting, and character models.
›Gear now has two dye channels instead of one.
›Your rotation likely changed. A couple of minutes with a current job guide beats relearning by trial and error.
›Every endgame tomestone from before the current expansion is Poetics now: the permanent catch-up currency, capped at 2,000. Spend freely as you level.

What this planner does

We don't dump a wiki on you. You get a plan sorted into do first, do next, do if you care, and safe to skip, plus the one rule every returner needs: never gear up in an expansion you're about to leave. The story hands you better gear as you go.

Build my return plan What's in the live patch