After the first short break in the May 2024 Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer Live LXXXI, FFXIV Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida revealed the main characteristics of the new Viper job introduced in the upcoming Dawntrail expansion. He also shared a gameplay showcase during the presentation.
In FFXIV Dawntrail the Viper is a fast-paced and aggressive job that wields dual blades to attack, and can combine them to create a single double-bladed sword during their combos and abilities. While describing the job, Yoshida jokingly compared the double-bladed sword to the character Darth Maul from the Star Wars series.
Viper will have a similar number of actions in other jobs. However, it is designed so that fewer actions are needed to be set on the hotbar. This means that the actions and skills will fluidly and automatically change in the hotbar during gameplay. During the gameplay demonstration, Yoshida played as a Lalafell wearing the iconic Viper armor that the Director himself wore during the 2024 FanFest.
As players continuously perform actions and skills, the class gauge will accumulate. When enough is accumulated, Vipers enter Reawaken mode (or Aura Burst, as the developers also called it.) During this Reawaken/Aura Burst mode, the Viper class will be able to perform the double-bladed abilities, as well as seemingly gaining a massive increase to attack speed. Yoshida mentioned that while playing the game, players will understand why Reawaken is called such.
The gameplay for Viper might seem simple due to low number of buttons to track, but players will need to keep track of the different enhancements and enfeeblements Viper acquires during play, in addition to performing their rotation. Viper was also shown using a situational ranged attack skill.
Final Fantasy XIV is readily available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Dawntrail expansion debuts on July 2, 2024.
