#patch 7.3

[deathflare]

aaauu he looks like he grew his hair out and put it in a little bun in the new patch art...

[napthyme]

VARIOUS HEAD GEARS WILL NOW BE ABLE TO BE DISPLAYED ON VIERA AND HROTHGARS IN 7.3?!?!

WITH THE OPTION TO HIDE VIERA EARS?!?

OH. OH. LOVE FOR YOU SE. LOVE FOR YOU FOR 1,000 ERAS!!!

[zylphiacrowley]

Erenville likers when Erenville shows up in the LL

[anominous-user]

devs released more info relating to part 2's gacha and equipment changes and the catch is that they're making max-level part two stigmata a whale thing and they added weapon refinements

[sheyshen]

jotted down a little bunch of games i know i wanna work on to give myself something to refer to when i get stuck on deciding something (i can just rng something then) and I have a bunch that i want to replay or get back to after so long

somehow, even if i don't use it in the end, making lists kinda helps me sort some thoughts out

[maeljade]

Talking about the "a show of good faith might go a long way toward earning their trust" I feel very confident in saying that this good faith will be the curing of the thunderblight that is quite literally paralyzing parts of the citizenship. It sounds like good old overaspected aether and she has the inventors and world experts in curing worse cases of this in her friendgroup and as advisors.

Unlike Ala Mhigo, Doma and especially Garlemald Alexandria is in the unique position of still having a mostly functioning government and bureaucracy. Sure, its missing its royal family but with the exception of Zoraal Ja leading the military they felt mostly as figure head instead of actual part of the political machine. And since the governmental district didn't suddenly get abandoned it seems like most of the day to day business is still ongoing and functional.

One point of conflict I can see happening is that the contacts of Tuliyolal and the Scions is the resistance group. In fact they are the de facto only named NPCs left in town that we interacted with during the MSQ. So Wuk working with a group that had been fighting against regulators might add oil to the perceived fire of a foreign government trying to take over Alexandria.

I'll be interested to see what further developments happen in the patches with Alexandria, but so far I think Wuk Lamat is handling the situation very delicately, and very smartly.

Alexandria is, undeniably, an invading force in Xak Tural. It's a foreign nation that has moved onto Turali land and claimed that land and its people under its own sovereignty, with the intent to harvest a resource from it at the direct expense of its people. This is, obviously, wrong, and needs an answer.

Wuk Lamat as the Vow of Resolve has, with the help of her allies, already achieved something pretty significant and challenging here: she has defeated the invading government (Sphene and Zoraal Ja) without directly declaring war on Alexandria's people (most of whom probably had little to no say in the invasion). Her diplomacy during her initial introduction to Alexandria has probably gone a long way here; she has not given the people any more reason than absolutely necessary to believe she is a threat to them.

Declaring the very young Gulool Ja Alexandria's new king feels undeniably weird in more ways than one, but I think that politically it's probably the smartest thing Wuk Lamat could have done.

Her goal, as it's always been, is to maintain peace for her people. A good number of her people are now directly entangled with Alexandria. A rebellion against Tuliyollal rule by the Alexandrians is a direct threat to her people, particularly the ones living in Heritage Found. Even with Sphene gone, Alexandria is still possessed of substantial military power and weapons technology that could conceivably be commandeered either by existing military personnel (because even an army of robots requires some level of manpower to maintain) or by a civilian militia were one to arise. Bottom line: even with the head cut off, Alexandria still poses a threat to the safety and sovereignty of Tuliyollal. And even if the Dawnservants could be reasonably certain their own forces could overpower the Alexandrians--which they conceivably could based on sheer numbers--there would still be a bunch of their own people caught in the crossfire.

Furthermore, the defeat of Sphene and the shutting down of Living Memory means that the end of regulators and spare souls is coming. (The new raid series suggests too that the Warrior of Light may have a hand in ending the use of souls.) This is going to be highly disruptive to the Alexandrian way of life, and probably really fucking scary to a people who have become reliant on this technology. There are bound to be objections. While it's unclear to me at this time how many people knew what Sphene was actually doing, it's not inconceivable that more could find out, and that someone might seek to put her plans in motion once again in order to preserve the soul economy.

This is, in short, a pretty precarious situation politically, and a lesser Dawnservant would already be looking at a city teetering on the edge of revolt.

So, how do we convince the Alexandrians we aren't a threat to them in the short term, while we figure out how we're going to handle this in the long term?

Well, a good first step is probably to give them their king. Alexandria is, at least in name, a monarchy. By the rules of that system, Gulool Ja is a rightful heir to the throne. By allowing him to claim that birthright, you make a show of respecting Alexandrian "sovereignty." You also declare him family--he's your nephew, after all. Now you have a familial connection, the stuff of which royal alliances are made. And of course, the new king is just a child. He's going to need advisors, a regent, and a lot of guidance. You can have a hand in that.

Sure, the Alexandrians are going to notice your influence over their ruler and might still have feelings about that. It's not a perfect solution. But by the same token, snatching their one living heir away from them and openly declaring them under your rule now is probably going to go over a lot worse.

Like I think the game kind of downplays this being a calculated choice, especially since Wuk Lamat doesn't come across as a calculating person. But if we were to observe this scenario in any other fantasy setting... that's how you install a puppet king. I don't especially like to use that term in this case, because I think Wuk Lamat genuinely cares about her nephew and isn't simply using him to maintain power. Nonetheless, it is an undeniably political move, and one that benefits Tuliyollal.

It's likely the Alexandrian people are here to stay--thanks to the dimensional compression, they're in the unique situation where the land they live on is both theirs and not theirs, and that is a problem, but forced relocation also isn't a great solution.

Judging by Wuk Lamat's goals, ethos and the example of her father, I think her hope is probably to bring Alexandria under the banner of Tuliyollal without having to shed blood for it, not least the blood of her own people who would be caught in the crossfire. She understands now that sometimes there's no more room for diplomacy and you have to fight your enemies head on, but if there's a chance she can do this peacefully, through diplomacy, then she's going to try, because that's who she is. She also probably understands that most Alexandrians had no choice in this, and a show of good faith might go a long way toward earning their trust as they adapt to the loss of their queen and the changes that will inevitably follow.

It's a bad situation without a doubt, and one that's already been very destructive to the people of Xak Tural. Gulool Ja Ja sought to unite rather than to conquer. I think Wuk Lamat's hope is to do the same, for the practical purpose of limiting further damage as much as possible.

[whatsthisascianbullshit]

Want to try a different look beyond what Jandelaine can manage? Don't want to spend money in the cash shop to do do? Good news!

This moogle will give you a fantasia for free as of patch 7.2! Located in Apkallu Falls in Old Gridania. No fetch quest and no questions asked, just free potion!

Available until patch 7.3

[starrysnowdrop]

Sohna x Calyx Ship Headcanons

((As of Patch 7.2))

So if you’re reading this, then either you’re caught up with the patch 7.2 MSQ or you’re okay with spoiling yourself, and therefore you must be familiar with our new antagonist: Calyx, the Founder of Preservation and the mastermind behind all of the shenanigans that are happening right now with turning the Alexandrians into Endless.

Now, I don’t know how he managed to do this, but I’ve become obsessed with him in a minimal amount of time, and I have started to think about shipping Sohna with Calyx, even though we don’t know all that much about him.

Therefore, I have a bunch of headcanons that I’ve come up with in terms of a ship, but obviously a lot of this, if not all of this, could be way against canon. Obviously I don’t know what actually will happen in 7.3 and beyond, and I don’t know if I’ll end up tossing all of this away or keep it later, but I’m writing all of this out anyway, and hopefully someone out there reading this will enjoy it too.

Anyways, enough of my babbling. Onto the Sohna/Calyx!

First of all, let’s quickly recap Sohna’s story so far, as it’s important to know that for all of the rest to make sense.

Sohna is not a Warrior of Light in her canonverse, but I am planning on her becoming a Scion nevertheless. She shares a canonverse with my other two OCs, Hali Aloke and Yume Aino (@firelightmuse), who are both my WoLs along with my friends’ OCs (shoutout to @goodappleapyl and @traveler-of-light). Sohna also doesn’t enter the story until 7.0, and she is a Hhetsarro from Shaaloani. She is currently 23 years old in my canonverse, and she is the same age as Alphinaud and Alisaie.

To make a long story short, Sohna’s mother was killed in the first attack on Tuliyollal, and thankfully Alphinaud was there to not only save Sohna’s life, but also he destroyed the soldier attacking Sohna’s mother before it stole her soul and aether from her. During her recovery, Alphinaud is always at her bedside taking care of her and keeping her company, so it doesn’t take too long before Sohna falls in love with Alphi. The other result of all this is that Sohna is out for revenge on her mother’s life and the others killed in the attack, so Sohna begins to hate the Alexandrians and their entire way of life. She won’t stop until she kills all of those responsible for Alexandria being fused with the Source and those who had a hand in the attack on Tuliyollal.

So you’re sitting there probably wondering, well, with Sohna’s motivations being that she’s out to kill everyone responsible for her mother’s death, how in the hell would Sohna/Calyx work exactly, if he’s the one that she would want to kill the most?

Good question! A lot of it is leaning on my current headcanon for Calyx that is 99.999999% likely to not be canon, but I want to approach it with the idea that Calyx is Alphinaud’s shard from the 9th. I just think Calyx gives me evil Alphi vibes, and he could be an example of how Alphinaud could have turned out if he wasn’t humbled by the Crystal Braves and the Bloody Banquet.

So let’s get down to the actual Sohna/Calyx stuff! I imagine that Calyx can just watch anything that is happening in Alexandria proper with access to the entire system. That means that he would have been watching Sohna arrive in the Dome, and he would figure out her motives and know how to exploit it.

Calyx knows what Sohna wants the most: to be reunited with her parents, whom are both deceased. He then teleports Sohna to the Underkeep and gives her an offer: He would take Sohna’s memories of her parents and create Endless versions of them for her, and in return, she must get the key from Hali and give it to him. Normally for Sohna, she would refuse without a second thought, but for some reason, she feels as if she’s having Deja vu when looking at Calyx, and she hesitates before breaking down and refusing his offer.

Though Sohna doesn’t go along with Calyx’s offer, she oddly feels conflicted about him. On the one hand, she still wants her revenge, and is frustrated that she can’t just kill him easily due to him being an Endless. On the other hand, she can’t help but be attracted to him on some level, as he reminds her a lot of Alphinaud.

After Sohna refuses Calyx’s offer, she starts having dreams about Calyx, including some that are rather steamy, and she is mad at herself for thinking about her enemy in that way. She feels torn, and though part of her wishes she could defeat him and then her mother would be avenged, another part of her yearns to understand him, and is curious about his past and wants to see if they could come to an understanding.

Now this was all about Sohna’s conflicting feelings for Calyx, but what about Calyx?

Well, I don’t presume to be some expert on him or anything, especially with what little we got of him in 7.2. But I’m going to go out on a limb here that there’s more to him than meets the eye. He’s acting cold and emotionless, but I think he’s being ruthless when it comes to his goals, and either he hides his emotions deep down inside, or somehow living as an Endless for hundreds of years has made him lose his emotions perhaps.

Either way, this next part is purely self indulgence, and I would love it if Calyx begins to develop feelings for Sohna, and he then tries to manipulate her into becoming an Endless so she can stay with him forever. Now, I don’t know at this point if Sohna will choose Calyx over Alphi, but Calyx certainly doesn’t make Sohna’s choice easy, as he still hangs her parents’ memories over her.

So yeah, to sum it up, lots of sexual tension, guilt on Sohna’s part, confusion and anger on Calyx’s part, and Calyx trying to tempt Sohna into giving into him. That’s about it until more is revealed in 7.3, and/or I get really crazed and think of more. Anyways, if you’ve come this far, then I thank you so much for your curiosity and for sticking around to read this new purely cursed ship of mine. Thank you so much, and hopefully you enjoyed it!! 💖

[paopuvanitas]

Patch 7.3 looks incredible guys

[otto-apocalypse]

Am I the only one who distinctly remembers Hoyo saying that Part 1 was over and Part 2 would *focus* on a whole new cast? And yet most main cast now is made of Part 1 characters and all battlesuits, weapons and AstralOPs are made by or for Part 1 characters?

I mean, 7.3 introduced Part 2, 7.4, 7.5 and 7.6 got all new characters, but then 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 8 and we know 8.1 too all have Part 1 character banners (+collab)

Even excluding 7.9 as collab patch, we have the same number of Part 1 and Part 2 focused banners, so much for new cast

[terramythos]

as for next expansion well. so when you leave Zero's home area during the endwalker post-patches I seem to recall getting a warning like 'you won't be able to return here for quite some time' and sure enough we have not been there since. Presumably this means we will in fact go back there. Eventually. Jury's out on whether that was all setup for an expansion a la the Warriors of Darkness subplot in heavensward setting up Shadowbringers or if its just a side story we'll get back to later. Have seen speculation that the azem key/fusion thing in dawntrail is setting something up on that front but afaik the dawntrail story wraps up in 7.3 and the remaining patches set up the next expansion and it would be wild to somehow conclude all of that in a patch. Soooo who knows

[sullustangin]

Fluffy February 2024 Master List

Huzzah! I wrote 29 things for Fluffy February (ok, 28 things plus one very fluffy chapter for my bigger fluffy fan fic).

Highlights: I developed my canon for both Lenn Teraan and Cole Cantarus. I wrote another Akaavi/Mako piece (someone needs to write them an epic Carbonite Years fic). I posted my most explicit work so far (is that a low light?). Dr. Oggurobb has decided to weigh in a lot lately.

I'll post the round up list, and then reblog with the AO3 link.

Snow -- 10 ATC - the smuggler crew lands on Alderaan

Eavesdrop -- 22 ATC -- Someone is spying in the cantina.

Entertain -- 21 ATC -- Theron and Eva do an intel drop at a casino.

Learn -- 10 ATC -- Eva learns how to dance from Lenn Teraan.

Planet -- 29 ATC (chronologically "now" in canon) -- Eva buys a planet. Because.

Fire -- 36 ATC -- Eva, Theron, and the big family on Odessen roast marshmallows.

Recovery -- 24 ATC -- Eva recovers from the Nathema Conspiracy. Risha makes sure of it. CW for untended anorexia.

Smile --over the years -- Theron's teeth may not be real, but his smiles are.

Storm -- 5 ATC -- Eva meets her first magnetic storm.

Care -- 21/22 ATC -- After Theron is injured, Eva makes sure he gets the care he needs.

Quest -- 39 ATC -- Theron and his band of adventurers... need to go to bed.

Discipline -- 40 BTC -- the Grand Admiral headcanon/backstory that's been rattling around.

Splurge -- 25 ATC -- Eva buys Theron a gift that isn't exactly what he wanted.

Free space! I added to Elysium, for a little while.

Craft -- Carbonite Years -- Akaavi knits something for Mako for the first time; in terms of the relationship, that's a big deal.

Spontaneous --- Theron and Eva rope Lana into one of their schemes.

Pleasure -- 22 ATC -- Eva speculates on some of the alternative universes in which she met Theron differently.

Pain -- sometime between 25 ATC and 29 ATC -- Bit of a kinky piece wherein Theron has his old scars replaced by Eva. This is Explicit for sexual activity, biting, bruising, and blood.

Shadow -- the legend of the Voidhound, from a child's perspective.

Partners -- 21 ATC -- A Theron/Eva heist fic, with their radio comms as cover

Reward -- 40 ATC -- Dr. Oggurobb finally retires... or so he thinks, thanks to Bowdaar.

Sacrifice -- 29 ATC (between patches 7.2 and 7.3) -- Theron sacrifices one of the few things to survive from his childhood. Eva is a pregnant person in this fic, so CW for that.

Dance - Eva dances with Jace Malcom. This is a continuation of an eventual post-Nathema fic about a party.

Apology -- 28 ATC (Between Elom and 7.3) -- Theron liberates Arcann from his job at a fast food join in Dromund Kaas by punching him in the face. No, I will not elaborate (I will totally elaborate).

Kiss -- 21 ATC -- Theron thinks about the his views on good morning kisses in the early days after Eva's return.

Rain -- 21 ATC -- Theron finds Eva out in the rain after Koth is worried about her. It's not as bad as it looks.

Protect -- 14 ATC -- Dr. Oggurobb meets the Voidhound on Makeb.

Shy -- 13 ATC -- Cole Cantarus becomes friends with benefits with Eva (she pays at the bar).

Fresh -- anytime after 23 ATC -- C2-N2 tries to start spring cleaning on Virtue's Thief. "Tries" is the operative word here.

Taglist

@fluffyfebruary, @ayresis, @starlightcleric, @ermingarden, @blueburds-but-swtor, @vihola, @commanderlurker, @sarpndo, @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond, @vexa-legacy, @grandninjamasterren

[atlaslucis]

My 7.3 pre-patch list! Timelapse here!

[discountdps]

I went from 25,485 in-game points and 24,270 Lalachievement points up to 25,580 in-game and 24,355 on Lalachievement. I was at 17th last month, but I slipped to 18th this month, with 80 points separating me from the person ahead of me. It's kind of hard doing the hardcore focus on the achievements like I used to when I work lol.

PICTURES

Total points gained: 95 (85)

I finished getting 50,000 points for Cosmic Exploration with ALC, WVR, LTW, GSM, BTN, and BSM. Everything is at least at 50k points now! In fact, everything is at 125k so I'm done with things there until 7.3 at the earliest, since my crafting gear can't handle the A-3 rank crafts and we'll be getting new stuff next patch.

All that moon crafting got me my DT BSM achievement as well! That's every DT crafting achievements done.

I did Make It Rain. Not much to say beyond that lol.

I started in on the new Mamool Ja Allied Society and reached rank 5, which means two achievements! I'm a little behind on this one because I can't actually do it every day since it's hard to do on days I work.

I also got a bunch of Occult Crescent achievements. I've done 10 Critical Encounters and Fates, opened 10 treasure coffers, and mastered 1 phantom job. I also completed the map!

[soundrodweek2025]

Voting results for today and yesterday

For day 1, insatiable 18.2%, bodyguard 20%, ghost, 12.7%, music 12.7%, nightmare 7.3%, hurricane 7.3%, paint 3.6%, crystal 3.6%, scar 12.7%, proposal 1.8%

For day 2, lingerie 25.4%, storm 12.7%, body swap 20%, race l0.9%, bakery 5.5%, rhythm 9.1%, banter 1.8%, war 3.6%, abandoned 7.3%, babysitting 3.6%

For day 3, the cortical psychic patch 25.5%, marriage 23.6%, blindfold 10.9%, meteor 9.1%, stimming 7.3%, enemies 5.5%, competition 1.8%, young 5.5%, safety 9.1%, beach 1.8%

For day 4, stuck 22.2%, loop 11.1%, tentacles 22.2%, rescue 7.4%, protection 9.3%, home 7.4%, war 9.3%, flame 7.4%, celebration 1.9%, finding 1.9%

For day 5, possessive 32.7%, casseticons 29.1%, flames 7.3%, amnesia 7.3%, stars 9.1%, vulnerability 3.6%, cult 5.5%, trapped 5.5%

For day 6, biting 20.4%, injured 16.7%, celebration 11.1%, sea 5.6%, disability 9.3%, wound cleaning 16.7%, sports 1.9%, neck kissing 9.3%, promise 9.3%

For day 7, magic 16.4%, birth 16.4%, choice 9.1%, protected 12.7%, fairy tale 5.5%, desk 5.5%, fieldtrip 10.9%, rescue 16.4%, clothes 1.8%, destiny 5.5%

There is still time to vote, so make sure you do that. We'll try and keep you updated.

[snow-system-wol]

Some loose early thoughts on 7.2 after finishing it today:

We really liked it! I think the emotional storytelling with Sphene was pretty strong

I can't believe they undoomed the Yuri. There's gonna be a "you can call me Lamat'yi" point eventually and it's gonna kill me, calling it

The first time mortal Sphene calls her Wuk Lamat at the start of the patch feels so. Ough.

I want to know more about wtf is up with Calyx but also I will say, his custom face mold and make up makes me think of like. Ouji red eye make up so much.

I wonder if the port on his neck is required (is he projected onto a mechanical body like Endless Sphene, or something else?) or if it's a part of his prior appearance that he can't quite let go

The song that seems to be possibly his theme is literally not acknowledged by a song by the game Apparently, and it's kind of unsettling me. What do you mean [insert tool] doesn't even say a song started to play during this scene.

I don't usually have S'ria use his Azem crystal tbh, but I feel like doing so in front of Calyx was such a bad idea that it may later be revelant (and thus need to be canon)

I do really want to see if they do something interesting with like. Alexandrian SCH or something? With her referring to grimoire casting and wanting to relearn healing first

If we had a nickel for every time Menphina has tried to heal people in Solution 9 after a crisis, we'd have two nickels --

But yeah S'ria really does feel for Sphene and how adrift she seems. I imagine he'll be checking in on her often during the next handful of days or so until 7.3 starts

(We feel for her a bit personally. Sometimes a new alter, being put into a life and existence that wasn't theirs, can feel a bit... Out of place and lost.)

Is S'ria okay??? He's chronically ill (ShB) and has some serious physical disabilities (end EnW). I really can't imagine being struck with a potentially lethal bolt of lightning (which clearly Hurt) is not going to cause/worsen any issues for him. (Honestly, I'd be surprised if he remained conscious for the remainder of the cutscene). His body already sucks a bit, he doesn't need bonus nerve damage. ... it's fine, Calyx wants them to go to Underkeep, nothing bad is gonna happen if they wait an hour to give S'ria some medical care before lobbing him into a dungeon

Y'all I was out of it at the time, to be fair, and trying to play Viper which we have barely played in months. But we absolutely FLUBBED that trial so hard. It's fiine, I'll learn it and redeem myself. (Since I tend to heal trial roulette, so.)