The drip feed of Final Fantasy XIV Evercold reveals just got a lot more interesting. At the European leg of Fan Fest in Berlin, producer and director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida took the stage and confirmed the first of two new jobs coming to Final Fantasy XIV Online in the next expansion: the Bastion, a tank class that mixes medieval plate armor aesthetics with mounted firearms on each arm.
Shield on the left. Gun on the right. Repeat for both arms. The Bastion is exactly the kind of "wait, what?" reveal that gets FFXIV players talking.
How the Bastion plays from what we've seen so far
The Evercold trailer extended for Berlin's keynote gave the first real look at the Bastion in motion. Here's the thing: it doesn't just plant its feet and absorb hits like a traditional tank. The footage shows a mix of close-quarters shield slams and mid-range gunfire, suggesting the job can flex between aggressive melee pressure and a bit of standoff distance when the situation calls for it.
The visual design blends high fantasy plate with something distinctly mechanical, which is a first for FFXIV's tank lineup. Paladin, Warrior, Dark Knight, and Gunbreaker all sit firmly in the fantasy or dark fantasy camp. The Bastion feels like a step sideways into a different design space entirely, which tracks with Yoshi-P's earlier promise that both new Evercold jobs would be brand new to the Final Fantasy series rather than callbacks to existing archetypes.
From vibes alone, it looks like it'll hit like a truck.
Yoshi-P's t-shirt clue, decoded
The community had been theorizing about this reveal for weeks. Back at the American leg of Fan Fest in Anaheim, Yoshi-P appeared wearing a t-shirt featuring Rhitahtyn sas Arvina, the A Realm Reborn antagonist, with a "guess who's back" caption. That image set off a wave of speculation.
Fans quickly connected the dots to a tank job, with theories ranging from a gunshield user (accurate, as it turned out) to more elaborate ideas involving hammers, since Rhitahtyn sas Arvina's name translates to "judge" in the Roegadyn language and the expansion carries a Norse mythology theme. Yoshi-P himself acknowledged at the time that some fans had already correctly guessed both new jobs. He declined to confirm which guesses were right, naturally.
One job down, one still to come
The second new job, confirmed to be a DPS role, remains under wraps. Square Enix is saving that reveal for the Japanese leg of Fan Fest. Given how methodically Yoshi-P has been rolling out information across each regional event, expect a similar trailer treatment when that announcement lands.
What most players miss in all the job speculation is how significant it is that both Evercold jobs are genuinely new to the series. FFXIV has historically leaned on Final Fantasy job history when expanding its roster. Dawntrail's Viper and Pictomancer were fresh additions, and Evercold looks set to continue that pattern rather than reverse course.
Final Fantasy XIV Evercold launches in January 2027. If you want to get caught up on everything already confirmed for the expansion and the current state of the game heading into it, the FFXIV Patch 7.4 Into the Mist content guide covers the latest raids, dungeons, job changes, and more. The full collection of Final Fantasy XIV Online guides is also worth bookmarking ahead of the expansion drop.
