Fair warning: there are potentially significant story spoilers for FFXIV and the Shadowbringers expansion below, so proceed with caution! By the time we get to Shadowbringers, we’ve heard a hell of a lot about how great the light is. We are the Warrior of Light, after all – it’s kinda our whole deal. But Shadowbringers turns all that on its head. Turns out, you can have too much of a good thing. Norvrandt is a dying world where night never falls, and its people are stalked by powerful beings of light. Sin Eaters have interesting appearances that combine typical angelic themes with monstrous elements. They’re predominantly white in color, and represent a really sharp left turn from all the dark, twisted things we’ve slain thus far. Yet despite their appearance, there isn’t a heavenly or religious aspect to their story – they’re mostly just mindless monsters who exist to consume, driven by instinct. Our quest in Shadowbringers focuses on taking down the biggest, meanest Sin Eaters there are. These are known as the Lightwardens, and you’ll typically face them as bosses at the end of dungeons, or as the sole focus of trials. Take down all the Lightwardens, bring back the darkness, and restore order to Norvrandt. Just another day in the life, right? XIV’s story has been so heavily focused on the battle of light and dark up to this point that it’s actually quite refreshing to see another take on it. Two fundamental forces, both equally devastating if the balance shifts too far. Not that much changes for us – turns out being the Warrior of Darkness is more or less the same job we’ve been doing all along. Still saving people, still putting the hurt on the Ascians. I did go and give my character a suitably moody hairstyle, though.
Where Do Sin Eaters Come From?
Sin Eaters are parallels to the voidsent – basically XIV’s massive bestiary of bad guys. As the voidsent were twisted by darkness, the Sin Eaters have been warped and corrupted by the light. Without going into too much detail, there was a big fight, and as usually happens in XIV, somebody turned into an incredibly powerful being and used their new strength in a very stupid way. They rid the world of darkness, and flooded Norvrandt with an infusion of light. Minfilia stepped in to save the day (she’s got so much energy now she doesn’t give us every single quest in the MSQ), but the damage was already done. The people lost to the Flood of Light turned into these Sin Eaters, just mindless beings driven by instinct. They eat aether – the magical energy that flows beneath everything in XIV – and turn their victims into more Sin Eaters. They’re basically magical light zombies. When we first arrive in Norvrandt, the Sin Eaters are dominating, controlling multiple territories and growing their forces every day. The world is on the brink. And unless we can take down all the Lightwardens, it’s going over the edge.
What Are Lightwardens & Why Are We Hunting Them?
Lightwardens are the biggest, toughest Sin Eaters. Other Sin Eaters are drawn to their power, resulting in powerful strongholds of light. In order to stand a chance of restoring the balance, the Lightwardens have to go. But there’s a bit of a problem with that. Lightwardens can’t be killed. In death, they just transfer themselves to the nearest living creatures, turning them into a new Lightwarden. This is where we come in. As the Warrior of Light, blessed by Hydaelyn, we can safely contain the Lightwardens’ energy upon killing them, preventing them from coming back and dispersing the Sin Eater forces. You’ll fight most of the Lightwardens in dungeons and trials. The fights are about as intense as you might expect – I was still a relatively new player when I got to Shadowbringers, and in my experience, the difficulty shot up quite a bit. And sure, this is to be expected for current content. Just be prepared to make a real effort to bring them down. By taking down every Lightwarden and absorbing their energy, the Sin Eaters will no longer gather in concentrated numbers. Norvrandt can begin to fight back in earnest, and balance will return to the shattered realm. As for how well that works out – you’ll have to see for yourself.
