BODY: Tanks in Final Fantasy XIV have always been the immovable wall at the front of the party. Bastion, the newest job revealed for the upcoming Silver Wanderer expansion, wants to be the wall that also shoots back.
Square Enix announced the job on July 25 during Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin, confirming it for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC editions of the MMORPG. Bastion is the expansion's marquee new job, and its headline feature is unusual for the role: seamless transitions between close-range and long-range combat, letting the tank hold aggro up close or reach out to distant enemies without dropping its defensive footing.
That flexibility is grounded in the game's lore. Bastion draws on the royal martial traditions of Earlsrendt Island, the setting at the heart of the new expansion, positioning it as a bespoke fighting style rather than a generic import. Players will be able to pick up the job starting at level 90, with the unlock quest available in Limsa Lominsa — the familiar starting hub for several of the game's combat jobs.
The reveal continues a busy Fan Fest weekend for FFXIV, which also detailed a two-phase overhaul of the buddy chocobo system and other quality-of-life changes bound for the expansion's patch cycle.
The insider take
From Tokyo, the interesting subtext here is how carefully Square Enix guards tank design. The community has long begged for a tank that plays differently from the existing four, and a melee-to-ranged hybrid is exactly the kind of identity the game has avoided for balance reasons. Expect the Japanese player base — historically the most vocal about job "flavor" over raw numbers — to scrutinize whether Bastion's ranged tools are a genuine playstyle or just cosmetic reach. The Earlsrendt framing also signals that Yoshi-P's team is once again leaning on regional worldbuilding to justify mechanics, a storytelling habit that has served the expansions well.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).