Alongside the expanded character creation options coming to Evercold, the expansion promises a new way to personalize your Warrior of Light: Character Action Skins. First teased at Anaheim FanFest, we got a new look at how the system works during the Berlin keynote. What kinds of actions will the system work with? When will they be released? Here’s what Yoshi-P revealed over the weekend:
What are Character Action Skins?
The idea is simple: new animations that replace the default ones for your character’s various actions. This includes job actions, general actions like teleport, and even emotes. With Evercold’s emphasis on player-focused design, it’s another way to make your warrior of light stand out. In the initial preview image at Anaheim, two Dragoons were shown side by side performing the same attack, but in different poses. That was the only image players had to speculate on for months, but the Berlin keynote gave us a more detailed look.
Animation Preview and Release Schedule
On the main screen we got to see three versions of the teleport animation (when warping to different town Aetherytes). The first was the standard animation every XIV player is used to seeing. The second one showed the player do a spin before a soft blue light traveled up their body, covering the player as they warped out. The third one had a sigil appear behind the player before purple flames began coursing around their form.
The keynote promised the more animations to choose from when Evercold launches, albeit gradually. Additionally, Yoshi-P teased that players will be able to assign animations to select general and job actions. It’s not impossible that you might be able to replace your job skill with an emote, but that’s only speculation. New character action skins will be introduced on Evercold’s launch, with the initial set reserved for general actions. Pach 8.1 will add the first set of job action skins, albeit with a limited selection. Yoshi-P promised consistent updates to the set of skins available, not a “one and done” approach.
There was one more tease that’s sure to please long-time fans. Yoshi-P said they may be able to return some of the animations from long-dead job actions as custom animations. So, if you’re a Dark Knight main who wept for plunge in Dawntrail, there’s a glimmer of hope now. And as a final disclaimer, changing your animations, will not in fact change your DPS.
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