Airship travel has been a staple in every Final Fantasy game, and this extends into Final Fantasy XIV. Square Enix’s previous MMO, Final Fantasy XI, used an airship travel system that required waiting in real-time for the ship to reach its destination. Luckily, this has not carried over into Final Fantasy XIV, but that isn’t to say air travel isn’t part of the game.
New players will gain the ability to travel by airship between main city hubs simply by progressing the main story quest. A short cutscene will play when the character uses this travel system, and they will then appear in the destination of choice shortly after. The first unlock comes around level 15 when traveling from the player’s starting city to one of the other two locations. Later on, the player will gain the ability to travel to Ishgard and other expansion cities simply by progressing the story in those areas. The First, an entirely new world in Shadowbringers, continues to have an airship system unlocked through the main story.
Players who join a Free Company, the equivalent of guilds in Final Fantasy XIV, will also gain the ability to send custom airships out for Exploratory Voyages through the workshop in their Free Company house. These excursions require a fixed amount of time and grant the Free Company random rewards. Free Company Airships require a host of materials, and each airship has unique stats and will rank up as it completes explorations.
