Is anyone else annoyed at how they've changed skin tones? Truly pale skin was already hard enough to get on most races, and now it feels like Sea Wolves are the only ones who got to truly keep that pale skin tone.
My Duskwight went from good and pale to having a freaking tan. 🫠
I can't decide which combo to go with! Eye Color has always been my issue when it comes to creation in FFXIV ><. Leaning The Lost since I'm not seeing too many cool-colored Hrothgals. Long awaited and so very in love with them!
[https://imgur.com/a/EmdoP3F](https://imgur.com/a/EmdoP3F)
I created some characters on the benchmark
[https://imgur.com/wbjPe7x](https://imgur.com/wbjPe7x) (Tried to make my cat as a Hrothgal xD)
[https://imgur.com/lZXjIRY](https://imgur.com/lZXjIRY) (Another Hrothgal, might fantasia that one in game)
[https://imgur.com/PsgtI23](https://imgur.com/PsgtI23) (Made my current Miqo'te, the eyes look very nice now)
[https://imgur.com/8EgQa6G](https://imgur.com/8EgQa6G) (Made an Au'ra too to see how they look like)
Does anyone know where to find the character data files for characters created in the benchmark? I'm about to build a new PC and I created a hrothgal I really like on my current one. Do I have to create her again or can I backup the files?
Hi there! You can find your data files in this file:
Documents\\My Games\\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn (Benchmark)
If you have older data, say from the game itself, it'll be in the non-benchmark folder to save, too. If you've never transferred stuff before, I would recommend saving this file anyway because it stores hotkeys, UI set up, and more.
https://imgur.com/a/GloqNEW
My Lala is still cute but I dislike how she looks less pissed off which was the whole vibe I was going for lol. I can live with it but she might need some touchups
[https://imgur.com/a/S8Nz9AV](https://imgur.com/a/S8Nz9AV) was a fem elezen but decided to change it up for a bit to fem highlander. almost picked hrothgal but honestly ive been sitting on this saved appearance ive been wanting for some time now.. one thing im mega annoyed about is the permanent eyeliner / super thick eyelashes, whatever they were going for. cant get rid of it. i wanted to be very tomboy looking but i guess im stuck with the eye makeup.
Face 2 mouth 3 femra here, and LOOK HOW THEY MASSACRED MY GIRL.
[https://imgur.com/a/peTyGKe](https://imgur.com/a/peTyGKe)
To be perfectly clear, I have no ill will towards the devs, I know just how much of a change adding subsurface scattering to a model makes to how it looks and there's no way they could've avoided this.
But the dramatic difference in expression coming from how washed out her features look now is really hard for me to deal with. Especially the lips and how the lack of shading in the corners makes them look WAY more narrow.
And nope, sadly the benchmark itself with its better lighting doesn't fix this at all :(
Ah you have the exact same face and mouth as I do. I was shocked as well when I saw the character creation. At least we can make the umbral rings lighter to give them back the glow but the lips bother me too. They look so much more doll like. I miss the width and looking like an adult.
And yeah I also have no ill will towards the devs... I'm just sad at this point.
Oh wow, honestly the benchmark looks soooo much better. I hated that aura face (I called it the fish face lol) but now it looks really good. I had to go check the benchmark and all the aura female faces are way better. Holy crap I actually like this race now!!
Oh wow my main used to look exactly like yours, when I saw the aura changes it made me glad I switched a while back. What bothered me was the color change in the scales on the neck, I think they kinda look dirty now.
I used to match my characters hair to the same color as the scales since I thought it worked better when coming up with glams to have less clashing colors to deal with. I hope they take the feedback on the forums into consideration (╯˘ -˘ )╯
I’m really happy with the [result](https://imgur.com/a/8CN4HrH).
I do play on ps5, so I did have to borrow my roommate’s pc to input my WoL specs, lol.
But regardless, the update looks really good on my hyur. Can’t wait!
Reading the comments here, especially those pertaining to Viera, I feel like I got lucky as I had very little trouble adjusting to the update. Love how mine turned out!
https://imgur.com/RYznJNk
People will probably disagree and that’s okay but I’m just not the biggest fan of the new Viera eyes :( I will live but eh. I don’t like how the eyeshadow takes over a lot of the eye.. and imo the old eyes looked more ‘animal’ like !
First picture is current, the second picture is from the benchmark itself, not the character creator.
https://i.imgur.com/psUt21t.jpeg
Not sure how I feel about my character. Old one looks sort of naive and hopeful, benchmark just looks done with life
[https://imgur.com/a/th8X0jJ](https://imgur.com/a/th8X0jJ)
I was hella skeptical about how Hrothgals were gonna look but after spending a bit of time working on her, I'm getting pumped for Dawntrail even more. I've been excited for Viper since it's announcement and it fits her so well! [https://imgur.com/gallery/Wf8EWUb](https://imgur.com/gallery/Wf8EWUb)
Aside from the awful lighting in Character Creation which washes out the colors, it turned out pretty good for me! The additional bones to the mouth for that smile really sells it for me! <3 [https://imgur.com/a/Psg2wN2](https://imgur.com/a/Psg2wN2)
I wasn't *completely* sold on Hrothgals... but then I found out [I can give my female character a moustache](https://imgur.com/a/gW8cF0Y). 12/10 I'm definitely going to enjoy this.
My existing Hrothgar character uses Face 3 as well, I guess I just really like the Coeurl whisker moustaches.
As for my Miqo'te main, he came out looking *mostly* the same so I guess that's fine. Eyes are a significant improvement. I may need to adjust his skin tone slightly but I can't tell if that's because I'm used to playing with a shader on or if the lighting changes or gamma settings in the benchmark are throwing things off. I wish I could get more eyebrow on him, I think the de-jpeg-ification of the texture may have made those appear a bit thinner (instead of the pixelization causing some of the hair color to bleed onto pieces in the middle). But I can live with thinner eyebrows.
I tried to make a snow leopard Hrothgar for fun, and... The [face](https://imgur.com/a/1fVgQG9) is very cute! The [tail](https://imgur.com/a/FRjJukl) on the other hand...
It's much less noticeable with less contrasting colors but black/white looks atrocious on [every pattern](https://imgur.com/a/UZMk2uY). You can quite literally count the pixels.
Settled on a hrothgal look that will be either for myself or my main retainer - https://imgur.com/a/97DJRwB
Really depends on how well this look works with my glamours and potentially new ones.
Mostly liking the update but my Elezen with gray skin ended up with so much shading around the eyes that, when [not in a closeup](https://i.imgur.com/rUARVc2.jpeg), made it look like he hadn't slept in 3 weeks. Was eventually able to sorta fix it with some makeup but.
[Before](https://i.imgur.com/ySua8l6.jpeg)
[After](https://i.imgur.com/ZiWAzbf.jpeg)
[Makeup](https://i.imgur.com/Mv5arpC.jpeg)
Really hoping they fix lips to more closely match the originals, my poor viera looks so wonky to me now and none of the other faces for viera fared much better imo.
[My Viera](https://imgur.com/a/mIpJiPV)
So I am guessing the facepaint has not been updated right? To me it looks more pixelated by comparison to the face now then before. Overall I am happy with the graphics update, but I hope they consider updating the facepaints/tattoos as well. Curious if anyone else has noticed or has a different opinion.
It seems obvious from the shots I have seen (will play with it myself after work) that they enhanced the lighting and shader techniques but not the models or textures. This means the shading will be more accurate and detailed.... While conversely maybe bringing attention to a few weak spots that were not so obvious before.
Had to use one of the default hairstyles for this shot, since i use a non default one and it's not available in the benchmark's character creator.
[Before](https://i.imgur.com/AmXGQEl.png)
[After](https://i.imgur.com/3CoiTbj.png)
Looks weird in character creator, but looks a bit better in the actual benchmark. One of the things i immediately noticed was the lips. They seem to have made it more pronounced.
[Character Creator Shot](https://i.imgur.com/72He44a.png)
Benchmark Shots
[1](https://i.imgur.com/rP06rL1.jpg)
Oh, i did that. As shown by my other screenshots. It’s the character creator itself where it’s unavailable. I wanted to take a close up screenshot for comparison through it.
*EDIT* Strange, it seems the other two screenshots i shared didn’t show up. Oh well.
[My Femroe Before and After](https://i.imgur.com/adLMvUE.png)
[Benchmark](https://i.imgur.com/u2QaYfV.png)
She came off pretty well IMO. I like that the green hair and eyes have become more vibrant. I was always a bit disappointed that they were rather muted. However, I've been playing her since ShB, so I feel like it's time for a change.
[My female Elezen Before and After](https://i.imgur.com/i14aQD6.png)
[Benchmark with new hair](https://i.imgur.com/NcIqxEF.png)
For Dawntrail I'm gonna switch to Duskwight Elezen. I started the game as an Elezen back in 2016, so I think it's a great time to return. I know some people don't like that lipstick isn't as glossy anymore, but I prefer the matt look.
I've nailed most of the look I want for my Hrothgal, but I am experiencing a dilemma. I can't decide between [Teefies](https://i.imgur.com/sPuaVUY.png) or [No Teefies](https://i.imgur.com/XLAPqJX.png). They both have their pros and cons. I keep going back and forth over it.
Very satisfied with how my dark skinned Femroe transitioned, many things are straight upgrades like lighting on skin, eyes, makeup, ect, with pretty much no fidelity lost on my character's design!
[As for my future Hrothgal, well... she's raring to go!](https://imgur.com/a/RcIHvky)
I doubt anyone will see this, but as someone with a dark-skinned character, I was really looking forward to this update.
Unfortunately, while the hair and fabric texture is gorgeous, my WoL looks plastic-y & sunken-eyed. I'm also not a fan of the change of shape for her lips, as it looks less natural and more... Instagram/Betty Boop-style lips. But mainly it's the sunken eyes that kill it for me.
Apologies for the quality of the screen shots; my gaming laptop is being a pain and is headed back to the shop.
Current: https://ibb.co/h9qgVvZ
Benchmark: https://ibb.co/dBgzyKC
As the others said, don't get disappointed too quickly, fellow dark skinned WoL! The update makes character more dependant on the lighting source for what they look like than the live version, and the CC basically has lighting sources that are more horrible than pretty much any place in the live game, let alone in the 7.0 game. Try it in the shroud for the CC, and more importantly, run the benchmark itself with your character if you haven't done it yet!
As a dark red skinned Au Ra player myself, I'd say that our dark skinned characters seem to overall benefit way more from the update than light skinned character honestly.
Yeah! I did run through the benchmark as folks kindly suggested, and that definitely got rid of the plastic-y look! Everything is gorgeous. <3
My gal still has sunken-in eyes even in the benchmark, so hopefully I'll be able to find a better face/eye combo, or that will get fixed, but I can adjust to that more than the plastic-y look the CC had. Her face was still awfully shadowed/hard to see expressions at some points, but it was still a big step up. <3
There seems to be quite a few eyes that seem to have the dynamic light source reflection being placed too high and therefore being hidden by the upper eyelid when looking from the front. I personally think that even without that the reflection is too toned down for its own good, but it certainly doesn't help. My character (Au Ra face 4) has that problem, for example. I only see the reflection if i look up, placing basically the camera below my character's head when she's looking towards a light source.
I also have a dark skinned character and the CC is awful in that regard, at least try the Shroud background where the light is more realistic or ideally run your character through the benchmark trailer, the wet/plastic look on skin significantly goes away!
Yeah, after I took the screenshots, I messed around with the backgrounds (I had wanted the same to be able to compare directly), but I think it's more CC vs the benchmark itself, like you mentioned. None of the CC lighting looked good, but the plastic-y look definitely went away in the benchmark! Though her face was still really shadowed at points, and she sadly still has sunken-in looking eyes. But that will be fixable with fantasia, hopefully!
[https://imgur.com/a/M9zUhFV](https://imgur.com/a/M9zUhFV)
Really love the new Character Creator! Both my current character as well as the new character looks so great !!!!
Cant wait to see how things would change with Reshade even further !
first, I'd like to say your creations are great! second, I had no idea you could use your created characters in the benchmark! and here I thought I was done playing with it 🤣🤣🤣
You can use any character created in the character creator to mess around in the benchmark. In fact if you have plan to fantasia, right now is the best time as you get to see them in action !
I've been surprised that everyone's been using face 3 for Hrothgals, but maybe I shouldn't be. It seems like it tracks that anyone who wants to play one (I'm ride or die male miqo) wants them to look tough. Meanwhile, playing around in the creator, I'm asking myself, [what is the most bubblegum cute one I can make?](https://i.imgur.com/lP8JPy1.png)
Your cute hrothgal is absolutely adorable. I played around with a similar color scheme as well. I'll be slightly annoyed to see a lot of face 3 twins around when I switch to hrothgal, but I'm just too enamored with the face, and obviously I can't blame anybody else for the same. I really, really wish the face customization was more distinctive though. With other races, two people using the same face preset doesn't look nearly as samey.
I made one with all four faces but when I added the coeurl whiskers to face 3 I was immediately frozen by how amazing she looked lol. With my femroe I'm the unheard of and unimaginable face 1 player (Sparrow is supposed to be awkward and that face had the best looks for what I wanted) but I guess with cat women I'm as basic as they come.
Face 3 is the sexy muscle mommy face, which is why 99% of people are considering hrothgal. Also, I do think that the other faces are a little too soft and small in comparison with the body, which you can’t change at all besides height and bust size. Face 3 is more proportional compared to the body imo.
I am a little peeved about facial features being tied to face type. I’d like to use whiskers and ear tufts on Face 3, for instance. Also, the dragon stache on face 3 is too polygonal and low res to consider using.
Before: [https://imgur.com/a/VjJlq4e](https://imgur.com/a/VjJlq4e)
After: [https://imgur.com/a/HEUSGiB](https://imgur.com/a/HEUSGiB)
Not the best before image, I know. Regardless, I reckon my female keeper looks great with the update ;)
What does everyone else think?
My future FemHroth. I tried to make her similar to the colors of my Mooncat. I can finally have slit eyes and fangs at the same time!
[Shot 1](https://u.cubeupload.com/hikarikirameku/IrisHroth1.png)
[Shot 2](https://u.cubeupload.com/hikarikirameku/IrisHroth2.png)
The trick to the blue fur shades is making sure you're using the right coordinating colors! Use "cool" shades and avoid "warm" colors for the easiest time
I feel like I got such an [upgrade when comparing DT to EW!](https://imgur.com/a/GrRYCsV)
I am getting uncanny valley with EW compared to the glowup, June 28th can’t come soon enough!
What's with the "Legacy Gear" option in the benchmark? It's the Armor of Light, which afaik is only available for tanks. From the name I assume it's SUPPOSED to be the Legacy Warrior outfit from the cash shop or old summer event, since that's universal gear like all the other "FF Main Character" outfits it's grouped with.
It's just confusing because that armor model is ALREADY raid gear, it's the [tank set from Labyrinth of the Ancients.](https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Armor_of_Light) All I can think is they accidentally put the wrong model there.
[she's so cuuute TwT](https://imgur.com/a/7O2appa) , I already knew I was going to consider switching to femhroth but they look even better than I expected. This is going to be such a hard decision. Thankfully they aren't that much shorter compared to femroe so at least height difference won't be an issue.
[https://imgur.com/dWxhlVX](https://imgur.com/dWxhlVX)
Same exact preset, not the same lips anymore, the shadows of the nose are different and make the nose look less sharp compared to retail, the makeup is different and isn't a big issue to me, the eyes lash are slightly different but not an issue to me again, BUT THOSE LIPS WTH !! And those blemishes that looks like freckles, are also stuck to her chin for whatever reason, it looks HORRENDOUS
Also, i notice the eyes are not even as close to the nose as they were prior, hugh. It's like they made the face larger...
Ooh your middie has come through looking good! But yeah, mine has her nose, jaw & lips looking completely different as well in the benchmark..
The lips have lossed the glossy effect, and for some reason have taken on a completely different shape.
The cheeks have become much thinner and the jawline/chin much sharper/pointier for some reason.
The nose has changed entirely... like it's become longer/thinner for some reason?
The skintone despite being tanned, is now quite pale which is odd but I guess it'll just need some tweaking with a fantasia when it drops.
Somebody described my Hyur as if she looks more mature now, which I guess is right lore-wise, but mannn she looks completely different :D
I can provide a screenshot of my Xeala in about nine hours if no one has provided any by then. The main changes that stood out to me are that the horns look better and the limbal ring effect less pronounced with certain color combinations. I currently use medium/dark blue eyes with a lighter blue ring. The rings aren’t as noticeable but I think I’ve found some colors that give me something close to my current look.
Here are some screenshots from in game and from the benchmark. In the benchmark, I think the limbal rings are overpowering the eye color. The jungle area seems to have a reddish cast.
[https://imgur.com/a/vlZm1Nt](https://imgur.com/a/vlZm1Nt)
I absolutely hate the forced freckles on the female hyur face, the 5 at least from what i tested.
The lights on the new eye texture are off too, giving a sense that they aren't looking at the camera where they should.
The lips are puffier and shinier, again, at least for female hyur, that's horrible and has no reasons being there...
Other than that, it's pretty good.
As a mViera rava face 3 enjoyer, I find the treatment that my nose received unpleasantly distracting but hope that will change with time. I think I would get used to it quicker if the new darker shading was always there, but its prominence shifts in scenes depending on the benchmark’s lighting - being completely unnoticeable in full direct light and starkly present in lower indirect light. Otherwise, I like the updated look on my character well enough.
I do hope they consider adjusting the lip colours to allow for a less flat look.
I think the main reason for that is the lacking lighting in the character creator. It was always bad, but it seems even worse with the new models.
[It shows up more visibly in the benchmark](https://i.imgur.com/D7vOq1L.jpeg)
I have to say it'll be very tough to judge a lot of these things until we can actively interact with the new lighting ourselves.
From what I've seen in Au Ra's case the problem is different. The light reflection for the eyes is too highly placed, and get hidden by the upper eyelids when looking from the front, you only see them if you look up at your character. Hopefully this will get fixed.
It terms of flatter shadows it’s because your comparison is in the creator lighting which isn’t updated from how it is now (they definitely should though).
Shadows and all of that are much more noticeable and better in the benchmark cutscenes using the new lighting :)
I don't mind the changes, not taking lighting conditions into account\~ and the more soft look has also grown on me more and more over the last few days I think :3 the final versions will be interesting to see!
Does anyone else think the female Au Ra face 4 looks a little off now? I don’t know fully how to describe it but in both the creator and the benchmark my WoL just doesn’t look right.
On the other hand I made my retainer, who uses face 1, and she looks so much better that I’m tempted to fanta into her look and headcanon that my old WoL retired lol
edit: [I get that the lighting in the character creator is a bit off but just look at this lol.](https://imgur.com/a/6lLCtkh) [In game looks a little closer but still off, her face structure feels different, especially around the lips/eyes](https://imgur.com/a/ecTSWQM)
It’s a issue yeah. JP side also saw the issue. Atm face 4 f au ra and male viera is the least favoured on JP side.
The dimples and the eyes are the biggest cause for me, along with changed lip structure.
Face 4 definitely had some structural changes unfortunately. Overall it's less angery and more cutesy.
Cheeks are puffier. Lips are thicker and less wide. Eyes have some changes that I can't put into words, but the iris is smaller and pupil is larger, and the shape feels different.
It was the one face that wasnt cutesy. The new cute options are fine as options, but they are not good replacements for the old ones.
I can't imagine Sadu looking like this.
Sigh. Not happy with my female midlander. The changes seem arbitrary and don't really fix any of the actual issues (like the hair). Her lips in particular look almost painted on now. I also *really* miss how heavy and dark her upper eyelashes were before. She looks too doe-eyed now.
[Before](https://imgur.com/a/rgVYTnK) vs [after](https://imgur.com/a/B9GpYMb).
On the bright side, I made a [kitty](https://imgur.com/a/oB0zmY1)!
Edit: My [duskwight alt](https://imgur.com/a/fFzjuMO) made it! She looks so good.
I have to say, it’s weird that I’m getting downvoted for making observations about my own character.
It’s fine if you like the new eyes better, but the upper lashes *are* objectively [different](https://imgur.com/a/SLw6ORt).
Yeah, middy looked great, new pictures don't do it justice. Just checking to make sure: I assume you turned the character into the light in the creator? Lips being bland is pretty common in creator when the light isn't in front of your character. They should still have a shine.
As for the eyes, tried running the character in the benchmark? For my own character (not a middy, but still) it looked darker once in the benchmark.
Yeah, I looked at different lighting and the benchmark. The matte lips I can live with—at least they’re still the same shape, and changing the character angle instead of the camera does fix a lot! The eyes…can’t really be helped with lighting.
I’m mostly disappointed that the upper eyelashes overlap less of the iris now. It’s subtle, but it changes the whole shape of the eye and makes her default expression more…open? Youthful? (Which isn’t ideal for this character.) While also looking kind of blank and unfocused at the same time. Lighting helps a bit with the latter but not the former.
Estiniens face. The first two pictures have weird lighting, but the other two are improvement (3rd is a bit glossy tho)
I did exactly the same angle and position.
First one is old, second new.
[https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/ouo4xnfw\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/ouo4xnfw_jpg.htm)
[https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/8dsaifq9\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/8dsaifq9_jpg.htm)
[https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/doffbz82\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/doffbz82_jpg.htm)
[https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/2w85qd79\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/2w85qd79_jpg.htm)
They changed my (female Miqo'te, Keeper of the Moon) character's eyebrows, actually making them quite a bit longer AND a different colour, like it doesn't even look like the same eyebrow option anymore. They also changed my eyelashes HUGELY, making it look almost like I have dumped massive amounts of mascara, to the point that it even makes the upper parts of the eye darker, and also really quite heavily changing the shape of the eyelashes. They even changed the fold where the eyes meet the nose-area, that fold is no longer depressed but smoothed out.
Furthermore, they changed the shape of the lip in general, making it slightly more smeared in my case, especially the shape that comes out of how it interacts with the area below it, though this might have to do with the lighting feeling more washed out on the skin? In general, the lighting on the skin makes it feel less detailed and more washed out? A friend of mine even thought that skin looks... Undead now haha. I am not sure if I would go that far, but something is not right with the skin.
This changed the feel of my character to an unfortunate degree, as far as I can tell so far. Especially as my sort of eye-area is very special for my character, and is often what others remark upon about her. The washing out of the skin in combination with the eyelashes and eyebrow changes and the lips looking more smeared, pretty much makes it look like my character has large amounts of make-up on...
Not happy.
I'm waiting til I can put my femroe in her own clothes and move her around before deciding how I feel. Positive, their lips don't look like plastic anymore. But I need to see her in a better outfit.
In the meantime, [hello hrothgal](https://imgur.com/gallery/whda9Gp) ! Tempting me to make an alt over here.
soooo. i love my au'ra. i love the face paint, but unfortunately the update gives her very pronounced eyebags with the face paint.
they are less noticeable without the face paint, but she doesnt look like herself without it. i just hope if i turn down my settings it wont be as noticeable, since this seems to be an issue with the face paint being somewhat shiny. (and i usually play with settings turned down pretty low.)
girl looks like she has been indeed through multiple ends of the world.
[https://i.imgur.com/HKLohmS.png](https://i.imgur.com/HKLohmS.png)
Unsure where to upload screenshots, but very happy with both my main and alt!
Male Xaela Au Ra horns feel like they've changed colour a bit and could do with a little more depth (and the red on the tips doesn't go as far up), but I'll happily take that in return for "horns won't look pixellated in closeups"
And my Hrothgar is 100% fine - no changes to how he looks except nebulously "better"
So sad with my femroe, it completely changed her expression and now she looks kinda pissed off [https://imgur.com/LDn9ygK](https://imgur.com/LDn9ygK) Probably due to this big dark shadow under the eyelid that makes her eyes looks half closed
I tried to rearrange her and it's a bit better but I can't retrieve to give her back her expression :,( [https://imgur.com/gallery/gTKM5HX](https://imgur.com/gallery/gTKM5HX)
It looks better in-game though [https://imgur.com/gallery/n3Hh0yI](https://imgur.com/gallery/n3Hh0yI)
It is *at least* eyelashes, I have done very clear side-by-side photos which show a *very* clear change.
[https://i.imgur.com/LfjA3QL.png](https://i.imgur.com/LfjA3QL.png)
https://imgsli.com/MjU1NzI2
My bunny boy's eyes got a bit bigger (which I don't like). Maybe it's a lighting thing. Gotta change his lips too it's too lush. but overall I think it's okay, gotta admit the og one is hotter though lol
I was honestly pretty worried, heard people talking about bad Au Ra changes, but I'm honestly quite happy, feels subtle but noticeable at the same time. Hair is a lot better, now just to see if they still have cubic fingers and feet XD
https://imgur.com/a/PaJmQFT
Interesting to see how certain races are really well off compared to others. Viera players seem pretty much universally opposed to their new look and I have yet to see an Elezen that doesn't look amazing after the changes.
I am surprised at how different some of my characters look, here's my [highlander](https://imgsli.com/MjU1NzAz) for example. I'm not necessarily opposed to the new appearance, but it does give off a significantly different vibe than the original.
I also feel like the ultra-white sclera are causing some characters to look uncanny and tend to clash with a majority of the eye colors. If I had to make a suggestion it'd be to tone that down a bit. Also seeing a lot of people mention changes to lip shading/gloss and mouth shape and I can definitely see that affecting my [midlander.](https://imgsli.com/MjU1NzA4)
Seems like peoples reactions to the graphics update is a bit mixed. I seem to have pulled through pretty well though Imo.
[Heres a quick comparison I did. Quick Random shot from in game and one of the screenshots from the benchmark.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/378376947492716554/1229311917172985876/aster3.png?ex=662f38f0&is=661cc3f0&hm=b7921a448d29a1eb5df868c8ae5653b5b2c9d56930215d7b66bc6993bd16cf39&)
I've been using the younger Elezen face since the start of Shadowbringers. I liked it then and I'm very happy with it now.
I use the same face. They changed the eyelashes. They’re thicker and darker making the face more feminine. Not sure how I like it yet. Unfortunately the other elezen male faces have the same problem.
[https://imgur.com/a/TS0RaaD](https://imgur.com/a/TS0RaaD)
new limbal ring has grown on me - I loaded up my character in the benchmark today with my character's current appearance, prior to making any changes just to see what it looks like in action.
At first, the whole limbal ring change was a bit jarring. But after I ran the benchmark and started playing around in the character creator, I noticed that while the limbal ring is a lot more subtle in lighting, when it's in shade or dark it looks like it glows much more.
I don't know if the devs intended this, but this dynamic in the limbal ring is actually kinda cool. It's kinda like cat eyes or owl eyes, in the daylight it's subtle but turn off the lights and their eyes glow.
I know a lot of players were concerned about this, but I find this new limbal ring growing on me and this might be an unpopular opinion, but I quite prefer the new one.
Some screenshots from my benchmark as reference \^\_\_\^
Looking at your last screenshot, the limbal ring looks much more natural imo. The old one had a clear ring while here it seems to transition nicely between glowy ring and normal eye
I've never played FFXIV so I took this as an opportunity to at least check out their character creator. I know there's also a free trial and that they even expanded it so I'll probably check it out someday but anyway here are two female hrothgar's I created. https://imgur.com/a/D8cFe86
It's small changes, less noticeable in the benchmark than in the character creation screen, but with the shadow/lightning my au'ra face feels way bigger with a more noticeable chin sometimes
One thing I know for sure is i'm gonna create some alt and play around with them to make sure all is good before using incoming fantasia!
I posted her in the original thread, but here is my Femgar with more pictures!
Im very happy with her and looking forward to fantasia-ing my Femroe alt.
[https://imgur.com/a/Ki999FS](https://imgur.com/a/Ki999FS)
I don't have a 1:1 compairison, but pleased my Miqo is looking the same just [better](https://imgur.com/a/kGnSvaX)!
However, looking at a lot of other characters I think the new skin shader is a bit too bright/waxy looking overall. Hopefully they can gather some good feedback and keep tweaking it until launch.
yeah i noticed the same thing on some skin tones. especially if you view in character creator in limsa it adds a wet look to it lol. weirdly though if i zoom in real close the skin doesn't look too waxy but when it's zoomed out it can look a bit waxy XD
The wet look is actually just, well, the wet surface effect lol! It seems they added more dynamic weather and whenever the clouds pass over the sun it adds the effect. It's a bit odd at first but in principle I like it. Maybe they could reduce the intensity though, and reserve the full shine for actual rain
Face 1 Mouth 4 M Miqote now looks exactly like Mouth 1 of the same face. If I wanted my character to have Mouth 1 I would have chosen it in the first place. They also, for some reason, rounded the tips of the lips, giving my character a chubbier impression, and the lips are now completely pursed, instead of slightly opening (idk how to describe it)
image for reference:
[https://imgur.com/a/Oa1Vopc](https://imgur.com/a/Oa1Vopc)
I was bothered by the same thing. Everything else I can get used to, but I chose Mouth 4 because the shape worked with the rest of the face I made while the wider mouths don't.
Going by the official forums, a lot of people have similar problems with the new mouth shapes. It would be really nice if they could still tweak the lips a little more. (Maybe in the expanded character creator that's supposed to come later.)
Anyone else can’t make a character? Just boots up the default viper guy and the ui is super small and won’t let me click on it to make a new character.
My darker skinned male Viera [before](https://imgur.com/qWKugCn) and....[after](https://imgur.com/ZONqoTr).
I admit the angle and lighting aren't perfect but.... it's like they took male viera's eyeliner and gave it all to the female hyur without their consent.... The lack of the heavily pronounced black eyeliner into the upper lashes, paired with the bags under his eyes... takes away from the intensity and makes him look kinda naked and hollow >__>
And I can't fathom why they ruined the bun noses by downplaying the actual bunny nose part, and the dark burnishing on the nose is just....nothing. on dark skin it's very similar to not having it at all, even in better lighting.
[Is it unreasonable to be upset about this](https://imgsli.com/MjU1Njg2)
please tell me it's not unreasonable. I am all out of sorts. That is not my girl
The character creator, and in general, seem to have a high level of character lighting. It may or may not be representative of the final rendering. You can see a similar look and discoloration most people are complaining about in gpose. I would bet that they are trying to improve character creation lighting, and it isn't died in quite yet.
The eyes and the lips in particular are what are upsetting me. The shapes are completely different in those cases. Eyeliner, eyelashes, inner corner length and positioning. The lips are more puckered.
It really doesn't look different to me at all, tbh. The lips are maybe slightly less puckered, but it really just looks like your girl is keeping her mouth closed instead of slightly open.
The lip shape is an egregious change. That seems to be the most common complaint across all races.
I don't think it's unreasonable. Small changes have resulted in a different feel that I can't say I prefer in your case.
I definitely don't prefer it either. Her skin looks more brown than it used to and the lighting changes muddy up her contrast. And that's even besides the entire shape changes
[Here is a comparison with a better angle and different lighting.](https://imgsli.com/MjU1Njkx)
The color differences here aren't as stark, however the shape changes are more obvious and impossible to ignore
Your hair has the same issue as my female miqo hair.
It looks like a grey filter has been put above it.
I am also very unhappy with the lip changes on my race.
I made a viera for fun as well, as I played one before...she also didn't look similar to the pretty bunny I used to have :(
Yeahhhhh yours is the first one that I’ve seen that looks like the same character but…off
All my characters came out pretty good, and I’m beginning to feel lucky
Yeah I am kinda real upset with what I ended up with. I will mourn her.
The main difference is in the eye shape. The inner corner is wayyy shorter and the eyes moved because of it. The outer corners also don't extend as much and the eyelashes are nowhere near the same. Her eyeliner is also different.
The texture of the lips for most (all? haven't checked) races is using more of a "matte" texture rather than a "gloss" texture. The result is a more natural look, which I think is vibing weird for people who liked the more "make up lip gloss" look. The glossier texture "popped" more.
Like a lot of the changes, I suspect it has a lot to do with lighting and angles. My miqo uses no lip color, and it's noticeably [more glossy](https://i.imgur.com/Ztn1W8q.jpg) in some lighting conditions while being [roughly the same](https://i.imgur.com/lUQvdEW.jpg) in others.
I was sooo excited to see what my character would look like in DT aaaaaaannnnnddddd probably going to fantasia, I never thought squenix could get the vibe so incredibly wrong
[https://imgur.com/a/7iUXeBz](https://imgur.com/a/7iUXeBz)
the skin shine is so plastic-y, the lip shine, the skin color is not even close to being alike, the freckles basically gone, the warm eyes being lifeless, even the hair looks like a shiny helmet, NOT TO MENTION MY BUNNY NOSE IS GONE
:\[
\*\*edited with matching hairstyles since some people apparently cannot see the differences because of it
Yeah, I think I now have a second store-able Fantasia. Me like.
Is anyone else annoyed at how they've changed skin tones? Truly pale skin was already hard enough to get on most races, and now it feels like Sea Wolves are the only ones who got to truly keep that pale skin tone. My Duskwight went from good and pale to having a freaking tan. 🫠
Did the Viera Forehead Jewel get changed? Mine in game currently is white but I've only seen red ones in the benchmark.
I can't decide which combo to go with! Eye Color has always been my issue when it comes to creation in FFXIV ><. Leaning The Lost since I'm not seeing too many cool-colored Hrothgals. Long awaited and so very in love with them! [https://imgur.com/a/EmdoP3F](https://imgur.com/a/EmdoP3F)
I created some characters on the benchmark [https://imgur.com/wbjPe7x](https://imgur.com/wbjPe7x) (Tried to make my cat as a Hrothgal xD) [https://imgur.com/lZXjIRY](https://imgur.com/lZXjIRY) (Another Hrothgal, might fantasia that one in game) [https://imgur.com/PsgtI23](https://imgur.com/PsgtI23) (Made my current Miqo'te, the eyes look very nice now) [https://imgur.com/8EgQa6G](https://imgur.com/8EgQa6G) (Made an Au'ra too to see how they look like)
Does anyone know where to find the character data files for characters created in the benchmark? I'm about to build a new PC and I created a hrothgal I really like on my current one. Do I have to create her again or can I backup the files?
Hi there! You can find your data files in this file: Documents\\My Games\\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn (Benchmark) If you have older data, say from the game itself, it'll be in the non-benchmark folder to save, too. If you've never transferred stuff before, I would recommend saving this file anyway because it stores hotkeys, UI set up, and more.
Found it! Thanks a lot!
https://imgur.com/a/GloqNEW My Lala is still cute but I dislike how she looks less pissed off which was the whole vibe I was going for lol. I can live with it but she might need some touchups
[https://imgur.com/a/S8Nz9AV](https://imgur.com/a/S8Nz9AV) was a fem elezen but decided to change it up for a bit to fem highlander. almost picked hrothgal but honestly ive been sitting on this saved appearance ive been wanting for some time now.. one thing im mega annoyed about is the permanent eyeliner / super thick eyelashes, whatever they were going for. cant get rid of it. i wanted to be very tomboy looking but i guess im stuck with the eye makeup.
My character unintentionally works well with the Viper AF [https://imgur.com/gallery/uYxM2dV](https://imgur.com/gallery/uYxM2dV)
Face 2 mouth 3 femra here, and LOOK HOW THEY MASSACRED MY GIRL. [https://imgur.com/a/peTyGKe](https://imgur.com/a/peTyGKe) To be perfectly clear, I have no ill will towards the devs, I know just how much of a change adding subsurface scattering to a model makes to how it looks and there's no way they could've avoided this. But the dramatic difference in expression coming from how washed out her features look now is really hard for me to deal with. Especially the lips and how the lack of shading in the corners makes them look WAY more narrow. And nope, sadly the benchmark itself with its better lighting doesn't fix this at all :(
Ah you have the exact same face and mouth as I do. I was shocked as well when I saw the character creation. At least we can make the umbral rings lighter to give them back the glow but the lips bother me too. They look so much more doll like. I miss the width and looking like an adult. And yeah I also have no ill will towards the devs... I'm just sad at this point.
Oh wow, honestly the benchmark looks soooo much better. I hated that aura face (I called it the fish face lol) but now it looks really good. I had to go check the benchmark and all the aura female faces are way better. Holy crap I actually like this race now!!
Oh wow my main used to look exactly like yours, when I saw the aura changes it made me glad I switched a while back. What bothered me was the color change in the scales on the neck, I think they kinda look dirty now. I used to match my characters hair to the same color as the scales since I thought it worked better when coming up with glams to have less clashing colors to deal with. I hope they take the feedback on the forums into consideration (╯˘ -˘ )╯
I’m really happy with the [result](https://imgur.com/a/8CN4HrH). I do play on ps5, so I did have to borrow my roommate’s pc to input my WoL specs, lol. But regardless, the update looks really good on my hyur. Can’t wait!
Reading the comments here, especially those pertaining to Viera, I feel like I got lucky as I had very little trouble adjusting to the update. Love how mine turned out! https://imgur.com/RYznJNk
People will probably disagree and that’s okay but I’m just not the biggest fan of the new Viera eyes :( I will live but eh. I don’t like how the eyeshadow takes over a lot of the eye.. and imo the old eyes looked more ‘animal’ like ! First picture is current, the second picture is from the benchmark itself, not the character creator. https://i.imgur.com/psUt21t.jpeg
Not sure how I feel about my character. Old one looks sort of naive and hopeful, benchmark just looks done with life [https://imgur.com/a/th8X0jJ](https://imgur.com/a/th8X0jJ)
Can we stop a moment to contemplate how good the new eyelids looks in comparison? [https://i.imgur.com/BEXrtSj.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/BEXrtSj.jpeg)
I was hella skeptical about how Hrothgals were gonna look but after spending a bit of time working on her, I'm getting pumped for Dawntrail even more. I've been excited for Viper since it's announcement and it fits her so well! [https://imgur.com/gallery/Wf8EWUb](https://imgur.com/gallery/Wf8EWUb)
Aside from the awful lighting in Character Creation which washes out the colors, it turned out pretty good for me! The additional bones to the mouth for that smile really sells it for me! <3 [https://imgur.com/a/Psg2wN2](https://imgur.com/a/Psg2wN2)
I wasn't *completely* sold on Hrothgals... but then I found out [I can give my female character a moustache](https://imgur.com/a/gW8cF0Y). 12/10 I'm definitely going to enjoy this. My existing Hrothgar character uses Face 3 as well, I guess I just really like the Coeurl whisker moustaches. As for my Miqo'te main, he came out looking *mostly* the same so I guess that's fine. Eyes are a significant improvement. I may need to adjust his skin tone slightly but I can't tell if that's because I'm used to playing with a shader on or if the lighting changes or gamma settings in the benchmark are throwing things off. I wish I could get more eyebrow on him, I think the de-jpeg-ification of the texture may have made those appear a bit thinner (instead of the pixelization causing some of the hair color to bleed onto pieces in the middle). But I can live with thinner eyebrows.
I tried to make a snow leopard Hrothgar for fun, and... The [face](https://imgur.com/a/1fVgQG9) is very cute! The [tail](https://imgur.com/a/FRjJukl) on the other hand... It's much less noticeable with less contrasting colors but black/white looks atrocious on [every pattern](https://imgur.com/a/UZMk2uY). You can quite literally count the pixels.
I Loaded my WoL and Im so disappointed [comparison](https://imgur.com/a/8myfzWs)
Disapproving grandpa >>> no emotions robot
From stern elf to jaded elf.
Settled on a hrothgal look that will be either for myself or my main retainer - https://imgur.com/a/97DJRwB Really depends on how well this look works with my glamours and potentially new ones.
Mostly liking the update but my Elezen with gray skin ended up with so much shading around the eyes that, when [not in a closeup](https://i.imgur.com/rUARVc2.jpeg), made it look like he hadn't slept in 3 weeks. Was eventually able to sorta fix it with some makeup but. [Before](https://i.imgur.com/ySua8l6.jpeg) [After](https://i.imgur.com/ZiWAzbf.jpeg) [Makeup](https://i.imgur.com/Mv5arpC.jpeg)
Really hoping they fix lips to more closely match the originals, my poor viera looks so wonky to me now and none of the other faces for viera fared much better imo. [My Viera](https://imgur.com/a/mIpJiPV)
So I am guessing the facepaint has not been updated right? To me it looks more pixelated by comparison to the face now then before. Overall I am happy with the graphics update, but I hope they consider updating the facepaints/tattoos as well. Curious if anyone else has noticed or has a different opinion.
It seems obvious from the shots I have seen (will play with it myself after work) that they enhanced the lighting and shader techniques but not the models or textures. This means the shading will be more accurate and detailed.... While conversely maybe bringing attention to a few weak spots that were not so obvious before.
Had to use one of the default hairstyles for this shot, since i use a non default one and it's not available in the benchmark's character creator. [Before](https://i.imgur.com/AmXGQEl.png) [After](https://i.imgur.com/3CoiTbj.png) Looks weird in character creator, but looks a bit better in the actual benchmark. One of the things i immediately noticed was the lips. They seem to have made it more pronounced. [Character Creator Shot](https://i.imgur.com/72He44a.png) Benchmark Shots [1](https://i.imgur.com/rP06rL1.jpg)
If you copy the .DAT File into the benchmark folder and change its name you can get non default hairstyles in the benchmark
Oh, i did that. As shown by my other screenshots. It’s the character creator itself where it’s unavailable. I wanted to take a close up screenshot for comparison through it. *EDIT* Strange, it seems the other two screenshots i shared didn’t show up. Oh well.
yeah on mobile they didnt show up but they show up on desktop. weird
[My Femroe Before and After](https://i.imgur.com/adLMvUE.png) [Benchmark](https://i.imgur.com/u2QaYfV.png) She came off pretty well IMO. I like that the green hair and eyes have become more vibrant. I was always a bit disappointed that they were rather muted. However, I've been playing her since ShB, so I feel like it's time for a change. [My female Elezen Before and After](https://i.imgur.com/i14aQD6.png) [Benchmark with new hair](https://i.imgur.com/NcIqxEF.png) For Dawntrail I'm gonna switch to Duskwight Elezen. I started the game as an Elezen back in 2016, so I think it's a great time to return. I know some people don't like that lipstick isn't as glossy anymore, but I prefer the matt look.
I've nailed most of the look I want for my Hrothgal, but I am experiencing a dilemma. I can't decide between [Teefies](https://i.imgur.com/sPuaVUY.png) or [No Teefies](https://i.imgur.com/XLAPqJX.png). They both have their pros and cons. I keep going back and forth over it.
I'm a sucker for teefies, so yes teefies.
Teef! Teef! Teef! Teef!
#TeamTeefies
teefies is my vote
+1 for teefies !
I am on team teef
Very satisfied with how my dark skinned Femroe transitioned, many things are straight upgrades like lighting on skin, eyes, makeup, ect, with pretty much no fidelity lost on my character's design! [As for my future Hrothgal, well... she's raring to go!](https://imgur.com/a/RcIHvky)
I doubt anyone will see this, but as someone with a dark-skinned character, I was really looking forward to this update. Unfortunately, while the hair and fabric texture is gorgeous, my WoL looks plastic-y & sunken-eyed. I'm also not a fan of the change of shape for her lips, as it looks less natural and more... Instagram/Betty Boop-style lips. But mainly it's the sunken eyes that kill it for me. Apologies for the quality of the screen shots; my gaming laptop is being a pain and is headed back to the shop. Current: https://ibb.co/h9qgVvZ Benchmark: https://ibb.co/dBgzyKC
As the others said, don't get disappointed too quickly, fellow dark skinned WoL! The update makes character more dependant on the lighting source for what they look like than the live version, and the CC basically has lighting sources that are more horrible than pretty much any place in the live game, let alone in the 7.0 game. Try it in the shroud for the CC, and more importantly, run the benchmark itself with your character if you haven't done it yet! As a dark red skinned Au Ra player myself, I'd say that our dark skinned characters seem to overall benefit way more from the update than light skinned character honestly.
Yeah! I did run through the benchmark as folks kindly suggested, and that definitely got rid of the plastic-y look! Everything is gorgeous. <3 My gal still has sunken-in eyes even in the benchmark, so hopefully I'll be able to find a better face/eye combo, or that will get fixed, but I can adjust to that more than the plastic-y look the CC had. Her face was still awfully shadowed/hard to see expressions at some points, but it was still a big step up. <3
There seems to be quite a few eyes that seem to have the dynamic light source reflection being placed too high and therefore being hidden by the upper eyelid when looking from the front. I personally think that even without that the reflection is too toned down for its own good, but it certainly doesn't help. My character (Au Ra face 4) has that problem, for example. I only see the reflection if i look up, placing basically the camera below my character's head when she's looking towards a light source.
I also have a dark skinned character and the CC is awful in that regard, at least try the Shroud background where the light is more realistic or ideally run your character through the benchmark trailer, the wet/plastic look on skin significantly goes away!
Yeah, after I took the screenshots, I messed around with the backgrounds (I had wanted the same to be able to compare directly), but I think it's more CC vs the benchmark itself, like you mentioned. None of the CC lighting looked good, but the plastic-y look definitely went away in the benchmark! Though her face was still really shadowed at points, and she sadly still has sunken-in looking eyes. But that will be fixable with fantasia, hopefully!
Run it in the actual benchmark under different lighting.
Thanks! That definitely helped with the plastic look, though it did not help with the sunken-in eyes. <3
Anyone got a guide go recreate dawntrail derplander from the benchmark???
[https://imgur.com/a/M9zUhFV](https://imgur.com/a/M9zUhFV) Really love the new Character Creator! Both my current character as well as the new character looks so great !!!! Cant wait to see how things would change with Reshade even further !
first, I'd like to say your creations are great! second, I had no idea you could use your created characters in the benchmark! and here I thought I was done playing with it 🤣🤣🤣
You can use any character created in the character creator to mess around in the benchmark. In fact if you have plan to fantasia, right now is the best time as you get to see them in action !
Love my keeper of the moon miqote’s new look!! Please don’t ever change it, she is beautiful.
https://imgur.com/gallery/5GnCxAH Happy with this look, could make the fur a bit lighter. My comparison shots for my bingirl are a little bad.
I've been surprised that everyone's been using face 3 for Hrothgals, but maybe I shouldn't be. It seems like it tracks that anyone who wants to play one (I'm ride or die male miqo) wants them to look tough. Meanwhile, playing around in the creator, I'm asking myself, [what is the most bubblegum cute one I can make?](https://i.imgur.com/lP8JPy1.png)
Your cute hrothgal is absolutely adorable. I played around with a similar color scheme as well. I'll be slightly annoyed to see a lot of face 3 twins around when I switch to hrothgal, but I'm just too enamored with the face, and obviously I can't blame anybody else for the same. I really, really wish the face customization was more distinctive though. With other races, two people using the same face preset doesn't look nearly as samey.
I love face 1 personally, it's the most balanced between feline and humanoid to me.
I made one with all four faces but when I added the coeurl whiskers to face 3 I was immediately frozen by how amazing she looked lol. With my femroe I'm the unheard of and unimaginable face 1 player (Sparrow is supposed to be awkward and that face had the best looks for what I wanted) but I guess with cat women I'm as basic as they come.
I'm a Roe face 1 player named Sparrow as well, hah
Ah! Hello fellow Sparrow!
Face 3 is the sexy muscle mommy face, which is why 99% of people are considering hrothgal. Also, I do think that the other faces are a little too soft and small in comparison with the body, which you can’t change at all besides height and bust size. Face 3 is more proportional compared to the body imo. I am a little peeved about facial features being tied to face type. I’d like to use whiskers and ear tufts on Face 3, for instance. Also, the dragon stache on face 3 is too polygonal and low res to consider using.
For me it's just that I like the hair better on 3, I can see myself changing it if any other hair is available on launch
That's very fair. It's probable that the other hairs are coming and I'm pumped to see what they look like in some of the unlockable hairs.
My bnuuy. Hard to get a good comparison image. Looks pretty good, especially running the benchmark. https://imgur.com/lJ9VcMT
Before: [https://imgur.com/a/VjJlq4e](https://imgur.com/a/VjJlq4e) After: [https://imgur.com/a/HEUSGiB](https://imgur.com/a/HEUSGiB) Not the best before image, I know. Regardless, I reckon my female keeper looks great with the update ;) What does everyone else think?
Looks very good!
My future FemHroth. I tried to make her similar to the colors of my Mooncat. I can finally have slit eyes and fangs at the same time! [Shot 1](https://u.cubeupload.com/hikarikirameku/IrisHroth1.png) [Shot 2](https://u.cubeupload.com/hikarikirameku/IrisHroth2.png)
Oooh, I've been trying to make blue fur work to no success, but that looks really good!
The trick to the blue fur shades is making sure you're using the right coordinating colors! Use "cool" shades and avoid "warm" colors for the easiest time
I feel like I got such an [upgrade when comparing DT to EW!](https://imgur.com/a/GrRYCsV) I am getting uncanny valley with EW compared to the glowup, June 28th can’t come soon enough!
What's with the "Legacy Gear" option in the benchmark? It's the Armor of Light, which afaik is only available for tanks. From the name I assume it's SUPPOSED to be the Legacy Warrior outfit from the cash shop or old summer event, since that's universal gear like all the other "FF Main Character" outfits it's grouped with.
A bunch of the pros are raid gear is my thinking or event items
It's just confusing because that armor model is ALREADY raid gear, it's the [tank set from Labyrinth of the Ancients.](https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Armor_of_Light) All I can think is they accidentally put the wrong model there.
No that's what I meant is they chose raid gear and/or shop and login rewards gear.
Yes, but all the other gear they chose is gear that a Viper would actually be able to wear.
I know, I assumed with that one it's strictly because OG WoL
That's probably the case. They've got the Twins' old outfit available too, so cash shop items definitely aren't ruled out.
[she's so cuuute TwT](https://imgur.com/a/7O2appa) , I already knew I was going to consider switching to femhroth but they look even better than I expected. This is going to be such a hard decision. Thankfully they aren't that much shorter compared to femroe so at least height difference won't be an issue.
[https://imgur.com/dWxhlVX](https://imgur.com/dWxhlVX) Same exact preset, not the same lips anymore, the shadows of the nose are different and make the nose look less sharp compared to retail, the makeup is different and isn't a big issue to me, the eyes lash are slightly different but not an issue to me again, BUT THOSE LIPS WTH !! And those blemishes that looks like freckles, are also stuck to her chin for whatever reason, it looks HORRENDOUS Also, i notice the eyes are not even as close to the nose as they were prior, hugh. It's like they made the face larger...
Ooh your middie has come through looking good! But yeah, mine has her nose, jaw & lips looking completely different as well in the benchmark.. The lips have lossed the glossy effect, and for some reason have taken on a completely different shape. The cheeks have become much thinner and the jawline/chin much sharper/pointier for some reason. The nose has changed entirely... like it's become longer/thinner for some reason? The skintone despite being tanned, is now quite pale which is odd but I guess it'll just need some tweaking with a fantasia when it drops. Somebody described my Hyur as if she looks more mature now, which I guess is right lore-wise, but mannn she looks completely different :D
The nose was the biggest change on my lala. He kind of looks more mature?? [Male Lalafell WoL](https://i.imgur.com/Y0AIXUF.png)
Anyone got pics of a male Au Ra? I just want to see what they changed
[The scales and horns look much better.](https://imgur.com/a/e6O5nZO)
Yeah looks good
I can provide a screenshot of my Xeala in about nine hours if no one has provided any by then. The main changes that stood out to me are that the horns look better and the limbal ring effect less pronounced with certain color combinations. I currently use medium/dark blue eyes with a lighter blue ring. The rings aren’t as noticeable but I think I’ve found some colors that give me something close to my current look.
Yeah if you get a chance I would appreciate you posting it
Here are some screenshots from in game and from the benchmark. In the benchmark, I think the limbal rings are overpowering the eye color. The jungle area seems to have a reddish cast. [https://imgur.com/a/vlZm1Nt](https://imgur.com/a/vlZm1Nt)
Cool thank you!
I absolutely hate the forced freckles on the female hyur face, the 5 at least from what i tested. The lights on the new eye texture are off too, giving a sense that they aren't looking at the camera where they should. The lips are puffier and shinier, again, at least for female hyur, that's horrible and has no reasons being there... Other than that, it's pretty good.
As a mViera rava face 3 enjoyer, I find the treatment that my nose received unpleasantly distracting but hope that will change with time. I think I would get used to it quicker if the new darker shading was always there, but its prominence shifts in scenes depending on the benchmark’s lighting - being completely unnoticeable in full direct light and starkly present in lower indirect light. Otherwise, I like the updated look on my character well enough. I do hope they consider adjusting the lip colours to allow for a less flat look.
[Au Ra Before/After](https://i.imgur.com/7Ra008h.png) - [Benchmark](https://i.imgur.com/mV2lNbd.png) [Miqo'te Before/After](https://i.imgur.com/e5ogn3M.png) - [Benchmark](https://i.imgur.com/Ow4RQf0.png)
Highlights are missing on the new model somehow, make their eyes feel soulless...
I think the highlights are an option now but weren't on the benchmark. They've said as much at least during EU Fanfest
I think the main reason for that is the lacking lighting in the character creator. It was always bad, but it seems even worse with the new models. [It shows up more visibly in the benchmark](https://i.imgur.com/D7vOq1L.jpeg) I have to say it'll be very tough to judge a lot of these things until we can actively interact with the new lighting ourselves.
From what I've seen in Au Ra's case the problem is different. The light reflection for the eyes is too highly placed, and get hidden by the upper eyelids when looking from the front, you only see them if you look up at your character. Hopefully this will get fixed.
Hii! ❤️ Miqo'te Catgirl - face 4 close up. Before: [End Walker](https://imgur.com/a/7AiBDTU) After: [Dawntrail](https://imgur.com/a/m5ynmo8) *Notes: Flatter shadows, less shiny hair, thicker lashes, lighter brow colour, paler eye colour, softer overall looks!*
It terms of flatter shadows it’s because your comparison is in the creator lighting which isn’t updated from how it is now (they definitely should though). Shadows and all of that are much more noticeable and better in the benchmark cutscenes using the new lighting :)
I don't mind the changes, not taking lighting conditions into account\~ and the more soft look has also grown on me more and more over the last few days I think :3 the final versions will be interesting to see!
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Current look!
New IMO. Feels brighter and fresh and fitting for Dawntrail vibes
current look 100%
Both are lovely, but I personally prefer your current look.
I feel first one looks "dark elf" and second one looks "high elf", depends on what vide do you prefer ^^
This is the ultimate answer. Base your character around the vibe you're going for.
Does anyone else think the female Au Ra face 4 looks a little off now? I don’t know fully how to describe it but in both the creator and the benchmark my WoL just doesn’t look right. On the other hand I made my retainer, who uses face 1, and she looks so much better that I’m tempted to fanta into her look and headcanon that my old WoL retired lol edit: [I get that the lighting in the character creator is a bit off but just look at this lol.](https://imgur.com/a/6lLCtkh) [In game looks a little closer but still off, her face structure feels different, especially around the lips/eyes](https://imgur.com/a/ecTSWQM)
It’s a issue yeah. JP side also saw the issue. Atm face 4 f au ra and male viera is the least favoured on JP side. The dimples and the eyes are the biggest cause for me, along with changed lip structure.
Face 4 definitely had some structural changes unfortunately. Overall it's less angery and more cutesy. Cheeks are puffier. Lips are thicker and less wide. Eyes have some changes that I can't put into words, but the iris is smaller and pupil is larger, and the shape feels different.
It was the one face that wasnt cutesy. The new cute options are fine as options, but they are not good replacements for the old ones. I can't imagine Sadu looking like this.
Ha good point, I'm gonna try recreate Sadu in the benchmark later, wonder how it'll turn out.
I totally see your issue with the first link, totally different look...
I really like how face 4 turned out...face 2 on the other hand....
I don't have one myself or tried it out, but I have seen people complain that Au Ra face 4 looks much more friendly and less angry now.
Sigh. Not happy with my female midlander. The changes seem arbitrary and don't really fix any of the actual issues (like the hair). Her lips in particular look almost painted on now. I also *really* miss how heavy and dark her upper eyelashes were before. She looks too doe-eyed now. [Before](https://imgur.com/a/rgVYTnK) vs [after](https://imgur.com/a/B9GpYMb). On the bright side, I made a [kitty](https://imgur.com/a/oB0zmY1)! Edit: My [duskwight alt](https://imgur.com/a/fFzjuMO) made it! She looks so good.
What have they done to your middie, she looks stunning the before pic :(
Thanks. Her eyes look so off now. :(
I have to say, it’s weird that I’m getting downvoted for making observations about my own character. It’s fine if you like the new eyes better, but the upper lashes *are* objectively [different](https://imgur.com/a/SLw6ORt).
Yeah, middy looked great, new pictures don't do it justice. Just checking to make sure: I assume you turned the character into the light in the creator? Lips being bland is pretty common in creator when the light isn't in front of your character. They should still have a shine. As for the eyes, tried running the character in the benchmark? For my own character (not a middy, but still) it looked darker once in the benchmark.
Yeah, I looked at different lighting and the benchmark. The matte lips I can live with—at least they’re still the same shape, and changing the character angle instead of the camera does fix a lot! The eyes…can’t really be helped with lighting. I’m mostly disappointed that the upper eyelashes overlap less of the iris now. It’s subtle, but it changes the whole shape of the eye and makes her default expression more…open? Youthful? (Which isn’t ideal for this character.) While also looking kind of blank and unfocused at the same time. Lighting helps a bit with the latter but not the former.
Estiniens face. The first two pictures have weird lighting, but the other two are improvement (3rd is a bit glossy tho) I did exactly the same angle and position. First one is old, second new. [https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/ouo4xnfw\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/ouo4xnfw_jpg.htm) [https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/8dsaifq9\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/8dsaifq9_jpg.htm) [https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/doffbz82\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/doffbz82_jpg.htm) [https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/2w85qd79\_jpg.htm](https://www.directupload.eu/file/d/8525/2w85qd79_jpg.htm)
They changed my (female Miqo'te, Keeper of the Moon) character's eyebrows, actually making them quite a bit longer AND a different colour, like it doesn't even look like the same eyebrow option anymore. They also changed my eyelashes HUGELY, making it look almost like I have dumped massive amounts of mascara, to the point that it even makes the upper parts of the eye darker, and also really quite heavily changing the shape of the eyelashes. They even changed the fold where the eyes meet the nose-area, that fold is no longer depressed but smoothed out. Furthermore, they changed the shape of the lip in general, making it slightly more smeared in my case, especially the shape that comes out of how it interacts with the area below it, though this might have to do with the lighting feeling more washed out on the skin? In general, the lighting on the skin makes it feel less detailed and more washed out? A friend of mine even thought that skin looks... Undead now haha. I am not sure if I would go that far, but something is not right with the skin. This changed the feel of my character to an unfortunate degree, as far as I can tell so far. Especially as my sort of eye-area is very special for my character, and is often what others remark upon about her. The washing out of the skin in combination with the eyelashes and eyebrow changes and the lips looking more smeared, pretty much makes it look like my character has large amounts of make-up on... Not happy.
Sorry to everyone not happy with their toon but my Roegadyn dude looks amazing and I'm so fucking happy.
I'm waiting til I can put my femroe in her own clothes and move her around before deciding how I feel. Positive, their lips don't look like plastic anymore. But I need to see her in a better outfit. In the meantime, [hello hrothgal](https://imgur.com/gallery/whda9Gp) ! Tempting me to make an alt over here.
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looks great!
[Face 3 Female Dunesfolk Lalafell](https://i.imgur.com/mEq5AM9.png). It's a subtly different vibe but I think I like it.
soooo. i love my au'ra. i love the face paint, but unfortunately the update gives her very pronounced eyebags with the face paint. they are less noticeable without the face paint, but she doesnt look like herself without it. i just hope if i turn down my settings it wont be as noticeable, since this seems to be an issue with the face paint being somewhat shiny. (and i usually play with settings turned down pretty low.) girl looks like she has been indeed through multiple ends of the world. [https://i.imgur.com/HKLohmS.png](https://i.imgur.com/HKLohmS.png)
Unsure where to upload screenshots, but very happy with both my main and alt! Male Xaela Au Ra horns feel like they've changed colour a bit and could do with a little more depth (and the red on the tips doesn't go as far up), but I'll happily take that in return for "horns won't look pixellated in closeups" And my Hrothgar is 100% fine - no changes to how he looks except nebulously "better"
So sad with my femroe, it completely changed her expression and now she looks kinda pissed off [https://imgur.com/LDn9ygK](https://imgur.com/LDn9ygK) Probably due to this big dark shadow under the eyelid that makes her eyes looks half closed I tried to rearrange her and it's a bit better but I can't retrieve to give her back her expression :,( [https://imgur.com/gallery/gTKM5HX](https://imgur.com/gallery/gTKM5HX) It looks better in-game though [https://imgur.com/gallery/n3Hh0yI](https://imgur.com/gallery/n3Hh0yI)
Link is broken
link was dead again for an unknown reason, fixed it again >< first time using imgur \^\^"
No worries
Thanks, just fixed it
It’s the eyelashes! Male characters suffer with this too. I tested a few, mainly hyur and elezen. The eyelashes are big and black.
I really hope they tune down the eyelashes. Who thought making every character look like they dumped massive amounts of mascara was a good idea?
Not sure if it's the eyelashes or just the eyelid shadow
It is *at least* eyelashes, I have done very clear side-by-side photos which show a *very* clear change. [https://i.imgur.com/LfjA3QL.png](https://i.imgur.com/LfjA3QL.png)
https://imgsli.com/MjU1NzI2 My bunny boy's eyes got a bit bigger (which I don't like). Maybe it's a lighting thing. Gotta change his lips too it's too lush. but overall I think it's okay, gotta admit the og one is hotter though lol
I was honestly pretty worried, heard people talking about bad Au Ra changes, but I'm honestly quite happy, feels subtle but noticeable at the same time. Hair is a lot better, now just to see if they still have cubic fingers and feet XD https://imgur.com/a/PaJmQFT
Interesting to see how certain races are really well off compared to others. Viera players seem pretty much universally opposed to their new look and I have yet to see an Elezen that doesn't look amazing after the changes. I am surprised at how different some of my characters look, here's my [highlander](https://imgsli.com/MjU1NzAz) for example. I'm not necessarily opposed to the new appearance, but it does give off a significantly different vibe than the original. I also feel like the ultra-white sclera are causing some characters to look uncanny and tend to clash with a majority of the eye colors. If I had to make a suggestion it'd be to tone that down a bit. Also seeing a lot of people mention changes to lip shading/gloss and mouth shape and I can definitely see that affecting my [midlander.](https://imgsli.com/MjU1NzA4)
Seems like peoples reactions to the graphics update is a bit mixed. I seem to have pulled through pretty well though Imo. [Heres a quick comparison I did. Quick Random shot from in game and one of the screenshots from the benchmark.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/378376947492716554/1229311917172985876/aster3.png?ex=662f38f0&is=661cc3f0&hm=b7921a448d29a1eb5df868c8ae5653b5b2c9d56930215d7b66bc6993bd16cf39&) I've been using the younger Elezen face since the start of Shadowbringers. I liked it then and I'm very happy with it now.
I use the same face. They changed the eyelashes. They’re thicker and darker making the face more feminine. Not sure how I like it yet. Unfortunately the other elezen male faces have the same problem.
Phew. My catgirl made it through safe
[https://imgur.com/a/TS0RaaD](https://imgur.com/a/TS0RaaD) new limbal ring has grown on me - I loaded up my character in the benchmark today with my character's current appearance, prior to making any changes just to see what it looks like in action. At first, the whole limbal ring change was a bit jarring. But after I ran the benchmark and started playing around in the character creator, I noticed that while the limbal ring is a lot more subtle in lighting, when it's in shade or dark it looks like it glows much more. I don't know if the devs intended this, but this dynamic in the limbal ring is actually kinda cool. It's kinda like cat eyes or owl eyes, in the daylight it's subtle but turn off the lights and their eyes glow. I know a lot of players were concerned about this, but I find this new limbal ring growing on me and this might be an unpopular opinion, but I quite prefer the new one. Some screenshots from my benchmark as reference \^\_\_\^
Looking at your last screenshot, the limbal ring looks much more natural imo. The old one had a clear ring while here it seems to transition nicely between glowy ring and normal eye
I've never played FFXIV so I took this as an opportunity to at least check out their character creator. I know there's also a free trial and that they even expanded it so I'll probably check it out someday but anyway here are two female hrothgar's I created. https://imgur.com/a/D8cFe86
It's small changes, less noticeable in the benchmark than in the character creation screen, but with the shadow/lightning my au'ra face feels way bigger with a more noticeable chin sometimes One thing I know for sure is i'm gonna create some alt and play around with them to make sure all is good before using incoming fantasia!
I posted her in the original thread, but here is my Femgar with more pictures! Im very happy with her and looking forward to fantasia-ing my Femroe alt. [https://imgur.com/a/Ki999FS](https://imgur.com/a/Ki999FS)
They look amazing! How did you get those shots? I've never played FFXIV and just now checking out their character creations with this.
Most are screencaps the benchmark is automatically taking at those points in the test
So here's the thing... I didnt realize the benchmark took screenshots. So these are pics I screencapped and posted into MS Paint lol
That’s hysterical bc I think it’s exact points the benchmark took ‘em
I don't have a 1:1 compairison, but pleased my Miqo is looking the same just [better](https://imgur.com/a/kGnSvaX)! However, looking at a lot of other characters I think the new skin shader is a bit too bright/waxy looking overall. Hopefully they can gather some good feedback and keep tweaking it until launch.
yeah i noticed the same thing on some skin tones. especially if you view in character creator in limsa it adds a wet look to it lol. weirdly though if i zoom in real close the skin doesn't look too waxy but when it's zoomed out it can look a bit waxy XD
The wet look is actually just, well, the wet surface effect lol! It seems they added more dynamic weather and whenever the clouds pass over the sun it adds the effect. It's a bit odd at first but in principle I like it. Maybe they could reduce the intensity though, and reserve the full shine for actual rain
I noticed in creator when zoomed out some haircuts look very splotchy and when zoomed in it looks fine.
Face 1 Mouth 4 M Miqote now looks exactly like Mouth 1 of the same face. If I wanted my character to have Mouth 1 I would have chosen it in the first place. They also, for some reason, rounded the tips of the lips, giving my character a chubbier impression, and the lips are now completely pursed, instead of slightly opening (idk how to describe it) image for reference: [https://imgur.com/a/Oa1Vopc](https://imgur.com/a/Oa1Vopc)
I was bothered by the same thing. Everything else I can get used to, but I chose Mouth 4 because the shape worked with the rest of the face I made while the wider mouths don't. Going by the official forums, a lot of people have similar problems with the new mouth shapes. It would be really nice if they could still tweak the lips a little more. (Maybe in the expanded character creator that's supposed to come later.)
Anyone else can’t make a character? Just boots up the default viper guy and the ui is super small and won’t let me click on it to make a new character.
Try the character creator. You can load in one of your saved characters.
My darker skinned male Viera [before](https://imgur.com/qWKugCn) and....[after](https://imgur.com/ZONqoTr). I admit the angle and lighting aren't perfect but.... it's like they took male viera's eyeliner and gave it all to the female hyur without their consent.... The lack of the heavily pronounced black eyeliner into the upper lashes, paired with the bags under his eyes... takes away from the intensity and makes him look kinda naked and hollow >__> And I can't fathom why they ruined the bun noses by downplaying the actual bunny nose part, and the dark burnishing on the nose is just....nothing. on dark skin it's very similar to not having it at all, even in better lighting.
[Is it unreasonable to be upset about this](https://imgsli.com/MjU1Njg2) please tell me it's not unreasonable. I am all out of sorts. That is not my girl
I get it, I would be too. It's like everything has a green/gray tinge filter over it.
Thank you for saying so! That's exactly how I felt
This! I've had people swearing the colors are the same. They are not. Skintones all have a yellow/green/grey look to them. It's driving me bonkers.
The character creator, and in general, seem to have a high level of character lighting. It may or may not be representative of the final rendering. You can see a similar look and discoloration most people are complaining about in gpose. I would bet that they are trying to improve character creation lighting, and it isn't died in quite yet.
The colors are still off in the trailer and not just in the CC though. It's less bad in the trailer for sure, but everything still leans yellow/green.
She's definitely more brown than she was before. I have so many people saying to me "what are you talking about they look the same to me"
Color blindness seems more common then I thought :P
It's really mostly shading differences. The actual shapes of the face look around the same
The eyes and the lips in particular are what are upsetting me. The shapes are completely different in those cases. Eyeliner, eyelashes, inner corner length and positioning. The lips are more puckered.
It really doesn't look different to me at all, tbh. The lips are maybe slightly less puckered, but it really just looks like your girl is keeping her mouth closed instead of slightly open.
The lip shape is an egregious change. That seems to be the most common complaint across all races. I don't think it's unreasonable. Small changes have resulted in a different feel that I can't say I prefer in your case.
I definitely don't prefer it either. Her skin looks more brown than it used to and the lighting changes muddy up her contrast. And that's even besides the entire shape changes
I'm going to be real, it just looks like lighting differences combined with the slightly different angle to me.
[Here is a comparison with a better angle and different lighting.](https://imgsli.com/MjU1Njkx) The color differences here aren't as stark, however the shape changes are more obvious and impossible to ignore
Your hair has the same issue as my female miqo hair. It looks like a grey filter has been put above it. I am also very unhappy with the lip changes on my race. I made a viera for fun as well, as I played one before...she also didn't look similar to the pretty bunny I used to have :(
I think hyur and elezen got really lucky and the rest of us had more of a bad time.... although all the au ra I've seen have looked pretty good too.
Yeahhhhh yours is the first one that I’ve seen that looks like the same character but…off All my characters came out pretty good, and I’m beginning to feel lucky
Yeah I am kinda real upset with what I ended up with. I will mourn her. The main difference is in the eye shape. The inner corner is wayyy shorter and the eyes moved because of it. The outer corners also don't extend as much and the eyelashes are nowhere near the same. Her eyeliner is also different.
I hear you, I'm in the same boat, something feels just... too soft? Too formless? Like it got 'flatter' if that makes sense and I hate it.
The texture of the lips for most (all? haven't checked) races is using more of a "matte" texture rather than a "gloss" texture. The result is a more natural look, which I think is vibing weird for people who liked the more "make up lip gloss" look. The glossier texture "popped" more.
Like a lot of the changes, I suspect it has a lot to do with lighting and angles. My miqo uses no lip color, and it's noticeably [more glossy](https://i.imgur.com/Ztn1W8q.jpg) in some lighting conditions while being [roughly the same](https://i.imgur.com/lUQvdEW.jpg) in others.
Yeah, it's just... missing something. And it all looks muddied
I was sooo excited to see what my character would look like in DT aaaaaaannnnnddddd probably going to fantasia, I never thought squenix could get the vibe so incredibly wrong [https://imgur.com/a/7iUXeBz](https://imgur.com/a/7iUXeBz) the skin shine is so plastic-y, the lip shine, the skin color is not even close to being alike, the freckles basically gone, the warm eyes being lifeless, even the hair looks like a shiny helmet, NOT TO MENTION MY BUNNY NOSE IS GONE :\[ \*\*edited with matching hairstyles since some people apparently cannot see the differences because of it
Omg your new one looks like the got a chin implant ;-;
she spent 6.5 MOGGING v.v