The thirty-first Letter from the Producer Live debuted during a special fourteen-hour stream celebrating Final Fantasy XIV‘s third anniversary of service.

Tonight we learn that Patch 3.4 is called “Soul Surrender” and will release on September 27th, 2016. Director Naoki Yoshida ran through the major contents we’ll see in the new patch and brought lead UI designer Hiroshi Minagawa on to detail a new Double Cross Hotbar system for players that use controllers.

• New Main Scenario Quests
  Soul Surrender will see the reunion of siblings Alphinaud and Alisaie Leveilleur and herald the return of the Warriors of Darkness. The script will vary depending on whether you have cleared The Final Coil of Bahamut, a raid that was introduced back in Patch 2.4: Dreams of Ice. The team encourages you to try and clear it before Patch 3.4!

• New Side Quests
  Players will return to Ishgard to continue the quests revolving around Saint Endalim’s Scholasticate, embark on further adventures with the Gentleman Hero Hildibrand, and continue the Anima Weapon saga to craft the ultimate combat arm.

• New Raid Dungeon: The Creator (Story, Savage)
  The final tier of the Mechanical Fortress Alexander raid series arrives with Patch 3.4, and will conclude the storyline. In our interview with director Naoki Yoshida at this year’s Gamescom, he revealed that this tier of Alexander will be tuned easier than Gordias or Midas. They’ll also be working in some fun mechanics, perhaps something to do with time manipulation…

• New Trial: Containment Bay P1T6 (Story, Extreme)
  The Warring Triad scenario continues with an encounter with Sophia, The Goddess. The team put a lot of effort into the fight’s graphics, and they’re excited to show more at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.

• New Dungeons: Xelphatol, The Great Gubal Library (Hard)
  Our new dungeon Xelphatol is quite intriguing as it takes place in the northeastern reaches of Eorzea. It may come as no shock that the Ixal seem to dominate the area. We’ll also return to The Great Gubal Library, perhaps at the behest of Matoya.

• New PvP Updates
  A Duel Mode has been added where players can take each other one-on-one at a public area located at the Wolves’ Den Pier. The team hopes you have fun with this feature while waiting for PvP queues or for community events. In Custom Matches a Light Party leader can request to fight another Light Party. A Spectator Mode has also been added, and you’ll be able to watch from the viewpoint of a player. The team adds that while it may be unwieldy to control at first, they will further refine it.

• Battle System Changes
  — Cooldown timers for abilities will reset when the party wipes.
  — Auto-attacks are being changed so that your range will matter rather than what direction you are facing.
  — The face target feature will become inaccessible while moving.
  — The Minstrel’s Ballad: Thordan’s Reign will be added to the Raid Finder.
  — The team is introducing an official countdown timer feature.

• Deep Dungeon Updates
  Starting in Patch 3.45, more floors will be added to The Palace of the Dead, raising the total count to 200. The story will continue through Floor 100, and the later floors will be extremely challenging and will have elements of grind. The team will be adding a scoring system based on your Job and will further refine the dungeon based on feedback.

• Grand Company Updates
  In Patch 3.4, a new type of content called Squadrons will arrive. It can be enjoyed solo and is a simulation-type content where you will recruit NPCs into a squad. The team will gradually introduce more content around this system in the future. In addition to that, a new Grand Company rank will become available, as well as new gear to exchange for company seals.

• Wondrous Tails
  This content involves a Miqo’te child NPC that can be seen around Idyllshire. While we were only told to use our imagination as to what the content really is, we know that you will relay stories to the child in order to have her create something.

• Gold Saucer Updates
  — A special room for each data center will be used for Triple Triad – you’ll be able to move there from the Duty Finder.
  — Lord of Verminion will now be supported by the Duty Finder.
  — You’ll now be able to purchase three Jumbo Cactpot tickets a week.

• Housing Updates
  Apartment buildings have been added, and will cost 500,000 gil for a room. They include shared spaces and have a chocobo stable, but do not have access to a garden. Aquariums have been added as a special furnishing which can hold fish — they come in different sizes and the team is planning to add to the list of fish you can place inside. A Playlist feature will be added to the Orchestrion as well as a furnishing to house your Calca and Brina dolls.

• Miscellaneous Updates
  — Matching rates for Exploratory Missions will be adjusted as well as the exchange rate for spoils. The team advises that if you still have any, you should probably exchange them before Patch 3.4. Item level 235 equipment will also be added.
  — A new tier of Allagan Tomestones will be added called “Scripture”.
  — Weapons that can undergo advanced materia melding will be introduced.
  — An icon that displays a special status for in-character roleplayers will be added.
  — Players will be able to use a hyphen in their name.

• Double Cross Hotbar Feature
  A new feature that will be added in Patch 3.4 is the Double Cross Hotbar. For players who use a controller to play, the system is designed to allow further access to additional ability slots. They can be activated in the settings menu and accessed by double-tapping the trigger buttons on the controller. Check out the full description here.

• Miscellaneous Announcements
  The mystery outfit hinted at E3 with purchase of Fan Festival stream tickets is Tidus and Yuna’s outfit. The next tier of Veteran Rewards will include a Squall outfit, though the team didn’t have any images to show as of tonight’s Live Letter. An Odin statue will also go into production, and will include a yet-to-be-revealed in-game bonus as well as a “Zantetsuken” emote.

For the full digest, you can hit up the official forum here.