Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood

Stormblood is the second expansion to Final Fantasy XIV Online, and comprises the game's 4.x patch series. The Eorzean Alliance has finally chosen to aid the nation of Ala Mhigo in its fight to gain independence from the Garlean Empire, and the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn plan to play a key role. One of their number, Lyse, is an Ala Mhigan refugee who is distressed to learn that her years spent away make her unable to relate to her countrymen's plight. As the scope of the conflict expands, the Scions will find themselves drawn towards Doma, a city-state in the Far East fighting its own war for independence. While Lyse struggles to find her place in the independence movement, the Warrior of Light attracts the attention of Zenos yae Galvus, the bloodthirsty prince of Garlemald.

In addition to its new story content, Stormblood's initial release increased the level cap to 70 and added two new combat jobs, the melee DPS Samurai and the magical DPS Red Mage. Later patches would implement a third job, Blue Mage, which has a unique playstyle that involves copying spells from enemies. As the game's first limited job, Blue Mage adheres to a fundamentally different design philosophy than other combat jobs, and therefore is restricted in how it is able to participate in instanced content.

Other major content additions for the 4.x series include Omega, an 8-player raid series in which players battle against iconic foes from across the Final Fantasy series, including the recurring superboss Omega; Return to Ivalice, a 24-player raid series that retells the story of Final Fantasy Tactics; Four Lords, a series of 8-player trials in which players battle against bosses based on the Four Auspicious Beasts; Heaven-on-High, a roguelike dungeon with 100 floors; and The Forbidden Land, Eureka, a series of open world instances in which up to 72 players explore the corrupted Isle of Val and solve the mystery behind its disappearance and reappearance. Stormblood also introduced Ultimate raids, 8-player battles that serve as the most difficult content Final Fantasy XIV has to offer. Two Ultimate raids, The Unending Coil of Bahamut and The Weapon's Refrain, were released during 4.x.