Love is in the air in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn! As expected, February’s seasonal event is a tie-in with Valentine’s Day. In keeping with the game’s tradition of “re-imagining” the names of real-world holidays for the game world, though, they’ve added an “o” to Valentine… I suppose it’s meant to sound exotic?

As always, the Lodestone illustration for the event is simply gorgeous. Honestly, I’d probably be happy if Square Enix did away with events all together and just posted a new illustration every month! Okay, that’s definitely an exaggeration, especially if they do more awesome outfits like the one you get for completing the Valentione’s Day quest line!

Full event details at the Lodestone

There is absolutely no combat in this event, and it’s quite straightforward, so I’m going to try to make the tutorial as snappy as possible. That means I won’t have screenshots of absolutely everything, but all the info will be here for those who want it!

You’ll first need to speak with Larsonient, who is located at X:11, Y:13 of the Limsa Limonsa Upper Decks. As usual, the seasonal even quests are only level 15, so most people should be able to participate. After speaking with him, you’re immediately directed over to Lisette De Valentione, who gives you the first item in the Valentione clothing set, completing the quest. This unlocks three different quests, “Sweet, Sweet Love,” “Right Here Waiting,” and “Love Is a Battleground,” which require you to spread love to the inhabitants of each of the three main cities. I suggest talking with Lisette to initiate all of the quests before setting out to complete them, as it saves time in the long run. I tackled the Limsa Limonsa quest, “Love Is a Battleground” first, but it doesn’t matter what order you do them in.

The first NPC you’ll need to talk to for Love Is a Battleground, O’kalkaya, is located right near Lisette at X:12, Y:13. The following tasks are extremely straightforward, so just follow the quest icon on your minimap. Completing the quest will net you two bitter heart chocolates if your character is male, or two pure heart chocolates if your character is female. Hold onto these for later!

Next, let’s head over to Ul’dah! Again, the order in which you do these quests doesn’t matter, as long as all three get done. The NPC you need to speak with to initiate the Sweet, Sweet Love quest is Yellow Moon, located at X:14, Y:13 in the Weaver’s Guild. She wants a bunch of odd ingredients for her concoctions, so you’ll need to speak with all of her admirers to acquire the required items. The first pair of admirers are located at X:11, Y:11, and the second pair are at X:10, Y:8. Completing this quest will reward you with two more chocolates.

Finally, it’s off to speak with Nemoh Mainhov at X:12, Y:6 in Gridania for Right Here Waiting. She’s looking for her lost lover, so you’ll need to go talk to three men who look like him around X:9, Y:9. After returning to Nemoh, you’ll then need to head to the North Shroud to Gwayne at X:28, Y:26. After jumping back and forth between Gridania and North Shroud, you’ll finally complete the quest for another two chocolate hearts. Now you can finally return to Lisette De Valentione in Limsa Limonsa!

Your final quest, Never Say Farewell, requires you to turn in one bitter chocolate heart and one pure heart chocolate to Lisette. The only way to do this is to trade with a character of the opposite gender who has also completed the first three Valentione’s quest. If you hang around Lisette, you should find others looking to trade, so be sure to let everyone know in the chat! Since I did the event quests the day they were released, there were plenty of people around looking to trade. Be sure to only trade one of your chocolates for the one you need to complete the quest, though, as you’re going to need the rest to trade for the remaining items in the Valentione’s outfit! Completing the Never Say Farewell quest will get you your Valentione’s top and an achievement for finishing the seasonal event.

Now, the in the areas decorated for the seasonal event in each of the three cities are a House Valentione Butler <Purveyor of Love> and a House Valentione Maid <Purveyor of Love>, but the most convenient ones to access are located right near Lisette in Limsa Limonsa. No matter where you find them, make sure to trade your chocolates to the Butler for the rest of the Valentione’s set and purchase some limited-time items from the Maid! The left and right Prismatic Hearts are very cute for using in screenshots with friends, so I made sure to stock up.

I’m really liking how Square Enix is switching up the formula with each event quest – the last one was very FATE-centric, so it’s a nice change to not have to do any FATEs this time. And look at that outfit! All the running around was certainly worth it to see Chive in such cute garb.

The Valentione’s decorations themselves are nothing special, though they are featured in every city. I don’t think they really compare to the winter holiday decorations, but I suppose you can’t have both a great outfit and great decorations, eh? At least I got to spend some time with other folks in their Valentione’s gear. My only complaint about the event is the fact that it was a requirement to exchange chocolates with someone of the opposite gender in order to complete the quest. Really, Square Enix, it’s 2014!

As I’ve said before, it’s great to see monthly events, but I’m not sure how much longer Square Enix will be able to keep it up… I wonder what the next seasonal event will be?

Hell of a title, eh? Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped, as Square Enix decided to launch two tie-in events in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn this month: a Dragon Quest X event, “There’s Golems in those Hills!” and a Final Fantasy XI event, “That Old Black Magic.” It’s great to see near-constant events since the Lightning event began in November, but these two quests are rather short, so you should be able to knock them off rather quickly.

First, you’ll need to initiate the Dragon Quest X event in Ul’dah and the Final Fantasy XI event in Gridania, so I’d suggest hitting up whichever one is closest to you at the time. Both events end on February 3rd and won’t take you very much time at all to complete, though, so you may want to wait a few days until the initial rush is over! I started with “That Old Black Magic” in Gridania, but it doesn’t matter what order you do them in.

You’ll find the quest giver, Khloe Bajhiri, at X:10, Y:11 in New Gridania. This level 10 quest is very straightforward: after accepting it, you’ll need to go complete two FATEs that happen in succession. The easiest FATE location to get to from Gridania is in East Shroud at X:12, Y:26, but you can also find it at South Shroud (X:15, Y:30), Western Thanalan (X:25, Y:19), Southern Thanalan (X:14, Y:38), Middle La Noscea (X:15, Y:12), or Eastern La Noscea (X:30, Y:34). That’s a lot of FATEs, but remember you only need to go to one location to complete the quest, so you can take your pick.

The first FATE located in East Shroud is level 11 and will find you fighting a bunch of large Spriggans, while the second FATE features the unnamed “Monstrous Sorceress” (though anyone who knows Final Fantasy XI should recognize her!). Since I did the FATEs the day the event went up, it was hard to see much of anything, and I was worried I wouldn’t get a gold medal since I wasn’t in a party. I only hit the Monstrous Sorceress a couple times, but I still got a gold medal! I’m not entirely sure, but I think you just have to participate in the event in order to get the item required to complete the quest.

The item in question is a Dainty Doll, which you’ll need to turn in to Vorsaile Heuloix in New Gridania (X:9, Y:11). You’ll then be treated by a very fun cutscene, after which you’ll get your reward! I don’t want to spoil too much of the fun for those who will be doing this quest themselves, but here are a couple screenshots that gave me a chuckle:

In awe of the giantess

Two of them?!

After you encounter Shantotto, you’ll be gifted with a Wind-up Shantotto minion.

I gotta say, the minion’s pretty cute:

Puff puff fans rejoice!

The expression on Chive’s face is priceless

Love how it looks cel-shaded!

Goes pretty well with Chive’s Monk garb, eh?

Happy New Year! By now I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be doing tutorial/impression posts for all of the special events in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and what better way to ring in the new year than with a special in-game event? Since this was my first time taking part in the Heavensturn festivities, I was excited to see what was in store for the quest line.

Just looking at the Lodestone promotional art for the event, it seems that chocobos are involved in some way. This year is themed around the horse (uma), 2014’s animal according to the Chinsese zodiac. Of course, that goofy horse helmet, or kabuto, is the main attainable item.

Here is the complete list of rewards from the official Lodestone page that will be attainable until the event ends on January 14th. Square Enix is kindly offering past years’ zodiac-themed kabuto, as well! Great for those like me who only started playing FFXIV with the release of A Realm Reborn and enjoy collecting the seasonal items.

Unlike the Christmas event that had FATEs near each of the three main cities, Heavensturn is a specific quest line that can only be activated by speaking to Damaris in Old Gridania. Also, the quests are all level 15, which is great for folks with lower level characters, and you don’t have to worry about reaching a higher level to complete it before the deadline like I did with the Lightning event.

After speaking to Damaris, you’ll simply need to walk a few more paces to Uma Bugyo to embrace your inner horse and complete the first quest in the event, “A Horse for Heavensturn.” This nets you the extremely posh Uma Kabuto, which you’ll want to keep equipped for a while – you’ll need it for the duration of the next quest.

Completing the first quest should immediately unlock the second quest in the event, “Thank Heavensturn for You.” Speak to Uma Bugyo again to undertake her mission of spreading the glory of the horse throughout Eorzea. Get ready to do a lot of traveling, as this quest requires you to go to all over the map!

To get the first of the three colored Uma Kabuto, speak to Golden Uma Yoriki standing next to Uma Bugyo. After accepting the quest, you’ll be directed to Bentbranch Meadows to demonstrate the beauty of the majestic horse. You’ll find Golden Uma Doshin there at X:21, Y:21 who will ask you to pose for and rally some nearby chocobos.

Complete the required tasks and Golden Uma Doshin will reward you with a Majestic Carrot, which you then need to bring back to Golden Uma Yoriki in Old Gridania for the Golden Uma Kabuto. Put it on and speak to Uma Bugyo to activate the next part of the quest!

Hop on an airship to Limsa Limonsa (or teleport, if you’ve got gil to spare) and head to X:11, Y:13 to speak with Red Uma Yoriki while wearing your Uma Kabuto (the original one, not the yellow one) to be sent you off on a wild carrot collecting chase to prove the might of the horse or somesuch in the “Heavenly Power” quest. I think I sense a pattern…

But don’t run off too fast! Located just opposite Red Uma Yoriki is is Red Uma Shonin, who just so happens to be selling the kabuto from past Heavensturn events, along with seasonal Zoni soup, so stock up if you’d like any of those items! You will receive one Zoni for completing the “Thank Heavensent for You” quest, though, so you can skip purchasing that if you feel you don’t need more than one.

Next it’s off to speak with Red Uma Doshin in Lower La Noscea (X:30, Y:18), who gives you the arduous task of collecting some carrots for a local botanist. Your reward will be a… Lusty Carrot… which you can then bring back to Red Uma Yoriki for your Red Uma Kabuto reward. Then it’s back to Old Gridania donning your new Red Uma Kabuto to once again to speak with Uma Bugyo.

Finally, put that Uma Kabuto back on and hoof it to Ul’dah to see Black Uma Yoriki (X:10, Y:9), who wishes for you to demonstrate the blinding speed of the horse. Head to the Eighty Sins of Sasamo (X:28, Y:24) and you’ll find the first of four sets of markers you’ll need to run through to complete the quest.

As if these quests weren’t weird enough

By the time you reach Black Uma Doshin (X:15, Y:29), you should have completed the requirements to receive the Sleek Carrot. Bring that back to Black Uma Yoriki to collect your Black Uma Kabuto prize! Once again, it’s back to Old Gridania to show off that shiny new kabuto to Uma Bugyo.

If you were hoping that was all… well, it’s not! Now you need to convince more people in Gridania of the greatness of the horse (while wearing the Uma Kabuto, of course) along with the Chief Chocowacker, who thinks you’re off your rocker. When all that’s said and done and you’ve reported to Uma Bugyo, it’s off to the North Shroud (X:28, Y:28) to convince the Chief Chocowacker that horses are superior than chocobos.

After watching the silly cutscene, return to Uma Bugyo’s usual spot in Old Gridania to complete the quest! You’ll even get a nice achievement, “Horsing About,” for your efforts, along with a bowl of Zoni.

And there you have it! At the beginning of the event I was very happy to have something different from the usual FATEs, but by the end of it I have to say I was a little sick of all the running around. That said, I rushed things so that I could do this post, and I can see completing it a little bit at a time as you happen to find yourself in those areas for other things a more fun way to go about it. However, the dialogue throughout the event was so cheeky and full of puns that I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face throughout! At the risk of repeating myself, I have to say Square Enix has got an ace localization team working on this one.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a FFXIV seasonal event post without a few photos! Here a a few of my favorites:

I hope this guide was of some help for those of you who are playing the game, and for those of you who aren’t, hopefully you at least enjoyed the pictures! I can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store for Final Fantasy XIV!

Leave it to the lady writing the tutorials to forget the actual dates the new chapters of the Lightning Strikes Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn event started! It feels like just as I was posting my impressions of chapter one, chapter two was going up, and before I knew it, chapter three was out, too! But since the formula of each chapter is pretty predictable, it makes sense to combine these two middle chapters into one. Yeah, that’s it, I was planning it all along…

Vega Knuckles

First, here’s a shot of the Pugilist weapon that I got from chapter one of the event. They look pretty neat/massive, but as I mentioned in the last post, they’re too low level to be useful.

To participate in chapter two, players must complete the chapter one quest “For the Winsome” and be level 26 or above. The quest NPC for chapter two, “Seeking the Scoop,” is Dural Thural and can be found in Uldah, Steps of Nald (X:11, Y:8).

I had the wonderful luck of forgetting that my inventory was full when I did the FATE, so I wasn’t able to receive the item the first time I completed it (for the record, the very first time the FATE spawned I was too busy trying to get screenshots to even participate). Since it takes a good 30 minutes for the FATEs to appear, I was rather grumpy at this revelation.

Luckily Mog had my back once again and got a really great screenshot of the beast in this FATE! But “Armored Beast,” really? Can’t we think of a cooler name? Anyway, I’m glad they brought in an enemy from the Final Fantasy XIII universe, as it makes things a bit more interesting.

After I went and got rid of some items in my inventory, I decided to hop over to Little Ala Mihgo to try the FATE there. The beast you fight is the same, but I love this shot I got of my baby imp minon with Lightning! It was fun to see people follow her as she waked away after the FATE was completed.

Chive and Lightning battling side by side!

It’s high time I went back to my Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn coverage, wouldn’t you agree? Last I spoke of the game was on episode six of Chic Pixel Plus, and though I was loving the experience, I wasn’t sure if I’d go all in for the full three month subscription. Well, I’m happy to report that I did (my wallet is less happy), and I play it nearly every day! As a first-timer when it comes to MMOs, I find the allure of seasonal/special events very strong, regardless of how cheesy they might be. Luckily for me, FFXIV is already on its 3rd special event since its official launch, this time commemorating the impending Japanese release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

The special event, called Lightning Strikes (I see what you did there, Square Enix), finds Final Fantasy XIII‘s Lightning spirited away to the world of Eorzea for reasons unknown. The first chapter, For the Winsome, released on Thursday, November 14th, and rewards those who complete it with a set of gloves modeled after either Lightning’s or Snow’s, depending on the gender of your character. That means Chive wound up with the Bohemian’s Gloves, even though Snow himself doesn’t actually appear anywhere.

To initiate the quest, players must make their way to an NPC named Petyr Winsome, located at the Lower Decks of Limsa Limonsa (X:9, Y:12). Luckily, for the first chapter, players only need to be level 12, but subsequent quests will have increasing level requirements, culminating in level 45 for chapter four.

So, who’s this Winsome fellow? Let’s take a closer look…

Apparently he’s a reporter looking to gather information about a mysterious traveller from another world (Lightning, of course). Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to… find and observe her, really.

As an added touch, the “quest accepted” font is actually the font from Final Fantasy XIII! I didn’t get a screenshot of that, but we’ll see it again later on.

After accepting the quest, you need to go find Lightning in a FATE (Full Active Time Event). She appears in two: Sister Crustacean (Middle La Noscea, X:16, Y:12) and Tender Buttons (Western La Noscea, X:32, Y: 28). Both of these FATEs already appeared in the game before the Lightning Strikes event, and Lightning only shows up every other time the FATEs spawn, which averages out to be approximately once every 30 minutes. I ended up going for the Tender Buttons FATE because you get to fight a giant Dodo (Sister Crustacean is a giant crab battle, so whatever floats your boat).

As you can see, there were a lot of folks eager to participate in the event! It’s clear when Lightning is present, as the music will change to the Final Fantasy XIII battle theme (very cool), and she’ll say a few lines of dialogue. Many thanks to Mog for taking these screenshots, as I wasn’t able to actually see Lightning on the PS3 with so many other players running around.

Dead Dodo!

The Final Fantasy XIII font lets you know you’ve done the right FATE

Lightning will stick around to exchange a few words after the FATE is completed. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to see her – unfortunately for me, things were so crazy I never got to actually see her in my game! I’m sure it’s just unusually crowded since it’s the first couple days of the event.

After heading back to Petyr in Limsa Limonsa and handing him an Other Worldly Parcel, you’ll be gifted with either the Guardian Corps Gauntlets or the Bohemian’s Gloves. You’ve just completed the first step towards a full Lightning or Snow cosplay! Unfortunately, if you’re a higher level, the gloves themselves are pretty useless since they’re only level 13. In fact, all of the subsequent items in the event are level 13, which is a bit of a shame.

Now, if you have any extra Other Worldly Parcels, you can head over to… er… Syngiwyb to exchange them for whichever weapons you want (she’s standing right next to Petyr, you can’t miss her). You won’t be able to move these out of your inventory, so unless you’re a big collector you may not want to go for every single weapon.

Interestingly, the official website states that by completing Chapter 1, players will gain access to a new hairstyle (presumably Lightning or Snows’s) in patch 2.1. This isn’t actually mentioned anywhere in the quest, though… Here’s a shot of the full outfits obtainable in the event, including the hairstyles:

And there you have it! That’s the end of chapter one of Lightning Strikes. Chapter 2 will be available from Saturday, November 16th at 12:00 am PST in Uldah, and you’ll need to be level 26 or above to participate. All of the chapters will be available until the event ends on December 9th, and the whole event will occur again in February alongside the English release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. You can find the full details on the official website.

All in all, this event so far has been rather tedious. I couldn’t stand to just get one of the weapons, so I waited around for the FATE to respawn so I could get at least 5 packages… and it takes quite a while! It seems like rather poor planning on Square Enix’s part to have Lightning appear every other time. And why couldn’t they make a unique FATE just for the event? I imagine we’ll see that as the event goes on, though, especially with that Final Fantasy XIII-esque beastie pictured in the promotional screenshot at the top of this post. My other nitpick is it’s odd to have items designed after Snow be the reward for male characters, but he doesn’t seem to actually appear anywhere in the event. Hopefully he’ll show up to fight alongside Lightning later on…

If I’d been smart, I’d have taken shots of Chive with some of the weapons from the event! I’ll add those to the Chapter 2 post on Sunday if anyone is interested. Even though it’s tedious, there’s no way I won’t try to get every item available! Now let’s see if I can get to level 45 before December 9th…