Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart

Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart is an expansion pack of Final Fantasy XI. This expansion pack brings several new areas, Jobs, quests, and a new mission storyline to the game.

Rise of the Zilart is the first expansion pack in Final Fantasy XI and was only officially released in Japan since Final Fantasy XI itself had not been released for other regions. As such, this expansion would come bundled together with the core game when it launched in all other regions.

Characters
Apart from each player's own character, who drives the storyline forward, there are a number of other non-playable characters that take on significant roles in the Rise of the Zilart storyline.


 * Lion is the story heroine for Rise of the Zilart and the daughter of the Norg pirate leader Gilgamesh. She was sent by her father to investigate the return of the Shadow Lord in the events of the main story leading up to Rise of the Zilart.
 * Aldo is leader of the Tenshodo, a secret organization based in Jeuno which has close ties with the pirates of Norg. He is also the brother of Verena. Aldo is dressed in Near Eastern-influenced garb.
 * Zeid is the legendary Galkan Dark Knight who defeated the Shadow Lord alongside Volker during the Crystal War. He wears a black half mask on his head and wields a great sword.
 * Gilgamesh, leader of the Norg pirates, is the adoptive father to Lion. He is very protective of his daughter and tries to keep her out of harms way.
 * Verena is a female Hume who is the sister of Aldo. She possesses a natural affinity with beastmen.
 * Yve'noile is the leader of the Dawnmaidens, a group of women who serve the goddess Altana, from the time of the Zilart.
 * Kam'lanaut, the Archduke of the Grand Duchy of Jeuno, and also the brother of Eald'narche is one of the two princes of the Zilart.
 * Eald'narche is the elder of the two princes of Zilart and brother of Kam'lanaut. He has a child-like appearance and wears an eyepatch on his left eye.
 * The Crystal Warriors are five warriors created from the crystal arks by the Zilart. They appear to resemble the five races of Vana'diel.

Story
(The story begins immediately after completion of the original Final Fantasy XI story.)

When the player arrives at Norg, he is greeted by Lion who is surprised that he does not remember the events that transpired in the Throne Room when facing off against the Shadow Lord. Lion attributes this to shock and a flashback of what truly happened there is triggered.

After the defeat of the Shadow Lord who reveals himself as Raogrimm, the Archduke of Jeuno Kam'lanaut and his brother Eald'narche appear and reveal themselves as Zilart, an ancient race that was supposedly destroyed thousands of years ago.

They plan on reviving the crystal line and opening the Gate of the Gods in order to bring about Paradise, the land of the Gods. However, they were not able to set their plan in motion twenty years prior, at the end of the Crystal War, because the "noise" caused by the Shadow Lord blocked the flow of power from deep within Vana'diel, not until now that the "noise" has ceased.

They summon forth the Warriors of the Crystal to dispose of everyone in the Throne Room. Zeid charges at the Archduke but his attack is futile. The Ark Angel HM retaliates but his attack is blocked by Raogrimm, who takes the hit for Zeid. The player is also hit by a Thunder spell from Ark Angel TT. At this point, Lion appears in the Throne Room and helps them to escape. Raogrimm uses the last of his energy to transform into the Shadow Lord and slow the advance of the Warriors of the Crystal before he is ultimately defeated.

As the player recovers from the flashback, Lion gets him to meet her father, Gilgamesh, who is also the leader of Norg. Gilgamesh sends the player to explore the Temple of Uggalepih where he met with a strange old woman who might be able to aid them. Aldo appears in Norg to inform them that his sister Verena has gone missing and this appears to be related to the recent developments regarding Kam'lanaut's plans.

After receiving a key to reach the deeper depths of the temple from the Kazham Chieftainess Jakoh Wahcondalo, the player arrives in the Sacrificial Chamber, deep within the Den of Rancor. There, they are attacked by a group of Tonberries before one of them reveals herself to be Grav'iton Berrisaci, a scholar of the lost civilization known as the Kuluu.

Grav'iton explains that ten thousand years ago, the Zilart devised a plan to bring the power of the five giant crystals beneath Vana'diel together to open the way to Paradise. They would use Delkfutt's Tower, the crags and the crystal line to harness and control the power of the crystals. This would be used to power the floating island of Tu'Lia, which would serve as the Gate of the Gods.

However, the Kuluu and followers of the Goddess, the Dawnmaidens opposed this plan and attacked the northernmost ark, sabotaging the Zilart's plans and causing a massive explosion of blinding light. This destroyed the Zilart, sank their land into the sea and laid waste to the Northlands. The Kuluu on the other hand degenerated into the Tonberry.

Grav'iton then urges the player to gather 8 fragments of light, found embedded in cermet headstones scattered across Vana'diel, and bring them to an ancient temple on the island of Zepwell. There, the Dawnmaidens would be able to guide his path. She hands over the first of the 8 fragments and disappears.

After gathering the other 7 fragments of light, the player finally arrives at the Chamber of Oracles where he faces off against a trio of Antica before meeting with the Dawnmaidens. They tell of how the five Ark Angels, as well as the five main races of Vana'diel, were created from the crystals. They explain that the elder of two Zilart princes made a "connection" with the crystal and it was from there that he saw the vision of the Zilart reopening the gates to Paradise. The Dawnmaidens then urge the player to go to Delkfutt's Tower to find the answers to all his questions and to stop the Zilart princes.

Back in Jeuno, Lion informs Aldo that she saw a bunch of Ducal Guards led by Captain Wolfgang taking Verena towards Delkfutt's Tower. Together with Zeid, the three of them go to Delkfutt's Tower to confront the Archduke.

They encounter the Archduke in the Stellar Fulcrum of the tower, who tells them of its significance. It is a control tower used to open the path to Tu'Lia once the power in its heart, the Chrysalis Core, is regenerated. He then speaks of how he had been slumbering in this tower for ten thousand years after the meltdown, until Raogrimm's contact with the crystal in the Multinational Expedition allowed some energy to flow back into the tower.

When the three of them challenge his will, he summons the Crystal Warriors to attack them. The player arrives at the Stellar Fulcrum and defeats Archduke in battle.

As Kam'lanaut laments his defeat and that the Crystal Warriors did not aid him, his brother appears and states that the Crystal has since forsaken him and that it chose him instead. Although Kam'lanaut was originally needed to revive Tu'Lia, Eald'narche claims he has found a new way to open the way. Eald'narche lets Kam'lanaut die and reveals himself to be the elder of the two Zilart princes whose growth was halted when he came into contact with the crystal.

He brings out Verena and the head of the Shadow Lord and claims she is his key to the Chrysalis Core. Because Verena's soul can resonate with the beastmen, Eald'narche could use her to tap into the "Memory of the Ancients" stored within the Talekeeper and reactivate Delkfutt's Tower's core. He succeeds in doing so and dumps an unconscious Verena. With Tu'Lia activated, Eald'narche invites the player to see paradise with his own eyes, and states that the player can do this by proving himself in Ro'Maeve. He then teleports to Tu'Lia.

Lion returns to Norg to seek help from her father and finds out that Ro'Maeve is located beyond the Sanctuary of Zi'tah. Verena is taken back to Jeuno where she regains consciousness to reveal that she is alright. Gilgamesh sends the player to Ro'Maeve and he discovers the Hall of the Gods, but his path is blocked by a grate with a crystal-shaped depression.

Gilgamesh recalls a Mithra who tried to sell a crystal she'd found in the Sanctuary of Zi'tah whilst in Norg and orders the player to find her. The Mithra, Maryoh Comyujah, is found over at Rabao and she agrees to hand over the crystal in exchange for an ancient papyrus map found within the Quicksand Caves. Although the map is guarded by an Ancient Vessel, the player returns to Maryoh with it and gets hold of the cerulean crystal.

The cerulean crystals allows the player, together with Aldo and Zeid, to pass through the grate in the Hall of the Gods and he is greeted by the Dawnmaiden Yve'noile. She explains how the Zilart divided the power of the crystals elementally and contained them in smaller crystals. However, when the Meltdown occurred, the energy from these crystals were simultaneously released and accumulated in the bodies of all living things on Vana'diel and thus all mortals are imperfect. Yve'noile states that the Zilart are bound by their cursed past and begs the player, Aldo and Zeid to defeat Eald'narche and free him from his crystal binds. Arriving at the La'Loff Amphitheater in Tu'Lia, the player proceeds to defeat all five Ark Angels - Ark Angel HM, Ark Angel EV, Ark Angel TT, Ark Angel GK and Ark Angel MR. Lion later joins up with the player, against her father's orders, and invites the player to sail around the world with her once this is all over.

When the player arrives at the core of Tu'Lia, the Celestial Nexus, Lion, Zeid and Aldo are already battling Eald'narche, but he overwhelms them easily with his power. Eald'narche offers the player one last chance at joining him in Paradise. When he refuses, Eald'narche sets himself onto his control platform at attacks.

When Eald'narche is defeated by the player, he refuses to submit and tries to restart the Crystal Line before it is completed, in order to cause a Meltdown to destroy the world, not unlike ten thousand years ago. As the Crystal Line powers up, Zeid and Aldo watch on helplessly, but Lion decides to sacrifice herself to prevent the catastrophe, throwing herself into the crystal core. As the crystals power fades, Eald'narche realizes his ambitions have failed. Yve'noile appears before him and beckons him to return to the crystal.

With Lion gone, Aldo, Zeid and the player leave Tu'Lia for good. Upon returning to Norg, Gilgamesh mourns the loss of his daughter, who he reveals to have been adopted during the Great War, but also states that he is proud to be her father for saving the world.

At the Tenshodo headquarters in Jeuno, Verena and Aldo's henchmen are glad to welcome him back safely. When Verena discovers that Lion had sacrificed herself to save Vana'diel, she states she can still feel that Lion is alive somewhere, but weakened, and encourages the player to believe in her.

Aldo tells the player to get some well-deserved rest as he feels that the adventure is just beginning.

Missions & Quests
Players are required to attain Rank 6 by defeating the Shadow Lord as a part of their nation rank missions before they are able to start on Rise of the Zilart main story missions.

The three nation's stories are also expanded upon in in this expansion, resulting in the rise to Rank 10.

New quests are also available for players to undertake.

Job Classes

 * Samurai: Samurais herald from the Far East and specialize in the use of the great katana. They are also masters of the skillchain with their ability to control TP use and generation. This allows them to use Weapon Skills far more often than other jobs.


 * Ninja: Ninjas are highly evasive fighters that are skilled in the use of the katana. They specialize in the use of ninja tools and throwing weapons in battle, using them to attack, cast magic without the use of MP, weaken the enemy and also to protect themselves.


 * Dragoon: Dragoons are masters of the polearm and specialize in using leaping attacks against their foes to both damage and elude them. They are aided by pet wyverns which can use magical breaths that can either damage their enemies or aid their masters in combat.

Enemies
This list does not include reskinned enemies of the same genus or unique bosses.

New Zones

 * Cloister of Frost
 * Full Moon Fountain
 * Korroloka Tunnel
 * Labyrinth of Onzozo
 * Stellar Fulcrum

Gameplay Systems
Listed in order of implementation.
 * Additional Orb Battles
 * Trial Weapon Skills (EVWS)
 * Abjuration
 * Tu'Lia NM System
 * Relic Weapons
 * Dynamis
 * Ballista
 * Voidwatch

Music


Rise of the Zilart marks the first major introduction of new music and also the first appearance of the Chocobo theme in Final Fantasy XI. The Chocobo theme retains Nobuo Uematsu for composer credits but is otherwise arranged by Naoshi Mizuta, who also composed and arranged the rest of the tracks featured in Rise of the Zilart.

Much of the new tracks from Rise of the Zilart are featured in expansion exclusive content. This includes new area music, party battle music for outdoor and dungeon areas as well as cutscenes. With the exception of battlefields, any form of solo play will still feature the original battle music instead of the new tracks.

A number of tracks used in the Rise of the Zilart expansion are not featured in the Original Soundtrack but have since been released on the Unreleased Tracks disc in the Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack Premium Box.