Today's Final Fantasy XIV patch (7.18) adjusts Savage Raid rewards and adds brand-new emote

Final Fantasy XIV fans received a new update today — patch 7.18 on February 25, 2025. While not a massive, game-changing patch, it does add some nice quality-of-life changes for Savage raiders and a brand-new emote that requires no grinding, no events, and no real-money currency to exchange hands. This is always a welcome thing for the players, that’s for sure.

We also have the Moogle Treasure Trove event starting tomorrow, so the patch was also likely to make sure that it can begin right on time. This article doesn't cover the patch notes, but highlights some of the more important parts — you can find the full patch notes on the Square Enix website.

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Patch 7.18 is a small but nice change of pace for Final Fantasy XIV fans ahead of 7.2

There are a few noteworthy things that came in the Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.18. The first concerns the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier raid — the first main story raid for FFXIV Dawntrail. The “Savage” version of the raid was added back in patch 7.05, giving players a brand-new challenge but with the typical restrictions on gaining rewards.

Say "Fuzzy Pickles!" (Image via Square Enix)

However, in patch 7.18 of Final Fantasy XIV, the weekly restriction on rewards obtained from treasure coffers has been removed, the weekly entrance restriction was removed, and players may not proceed directly to any area.

In addition, Treasure Coffers now always appear, with no reduction of rewards, regardless of whether any party members have previously cleared the area. You’re free to grind to your heart's content!

In addition, players have been given a brand-new emote — Photograph. Once you’ve updated the game and logged in, all you have to do is type “/photograph,” and your character will pick up a cute little camera and take a picture — in emote form, anyway. Thankfully, it’s also free!

Another great change is for players who bought a weapon with Allagan tomestones of heliometry. The item needed to enhance these, Surgelight Solvent, can be purchased from a vendor in Solution Nine.

You just need an Ordelle Coin and bring it to Uah’shepya in Solution Nine (8.7, 13.5), and they’ll trade you for an upgraded version of that weapon. The coin drops from the Alliance Raid Jeuno — The First Walk — so you just have to be strong enough to enter the raid and be lucky enough to acquire the coin.

In addition to a series of small but potent PVP changes in Final Fantasy XIV patch 7.18, the Swift Sprint status given during each Crystalline Conflict map has been adjusted. The length of the buff can be seen below:

The Palastra

• The duration of the Swift Sprint status given at each team's starting point when the tactical crystal has not cleared either checkpoint will be reduced from 5 to 4 seconds.
• The duration of the Swift Sprint status given at a team's starting point when the tactical crystal has cleared the opposing team's checkpoint will be reduced from 10 to 8 seconds.

The Volcanic Heart

• The duration of the Swift Sprint status given at each team's starting point when the tactical crystal has not cleared either checkpoint will be reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.
• The duration of the Swift Sprint status given at a team's starting point when the tactical crystal has cleared the opposing team's checkpoint will be reduced from 8 to 6 seconds.

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Check out our other Final Fantasy XIV guides and features

• Final Fantasy XIV update 7.2 will open the opportunity to get past PVP Series Rewards
• Final Fantasy 14: Best items to purchase during Moogle Treasure Trove event
• Final Fantasy XIV: How to unlock the Barreltender mount