Final Fantasy XI : Vision of Abyssea Final Fantasy XI : Vision of Abyssea is the first of three " Battle Area Add - ons " for " Final Fantasy XI " released in 2010 . It is set in a parallel universe to Vana ' diel whose inhabitants are fighting for their lives against a powerful force known as the [ Abyssean Hordes . Players can fight off these hordes and complete quests in three new areas to acquire a variety of new equipment , as well as the fabled Empyrean Weapon s . This is the first add - on to " Final Fantasy XI " that does not formally include new missions , although it adds many new quests and countless new monsters and equipment for players over level 75 . " Vision of Abyssea " requires players to have both " Rise of the Zilart " and " Wings of the Goddess " expansions registered and installed to play . Characters must be level 30 or above to access Abyssea - related content . Service for " Vision of Abyssea " commenced on June 22 , 2010 ( JST ) . New additions . Quests . " Vision of Abyssea " does not formally include missions , but contains quests that mark the main storyline of the Abyssea add - ons . Unlike previous expansions and add - ons , " Vision of Abyssea " does not come with any battlefields or special Notorious Monster s . Instead , the notorious monsters that are required to progress in the storyline come from NMs that are part of Abyssea battle system . Other new quests are also available for players to undertake . Areas . New regions . Abyssea Enemies . This list does not include reskinned enemies of the same genus or unique bosses . Characters . The adventurer , who drives the storyline forward , there are a number of other non - playable characters that take on significant roles in the " Vision of Abyssea " storyline . Story . In Port Jeuno , the adventurer encounters a flash of light in the sky and blacks out . He is attended to by a man named Joachim who says that the adventurer has " potential " . Joachim explains that the flash of light was a phenomenon known as " noise " caused when one dimension brushes irregularly against another , and that ordinary people are usually not able to see it . Joachim surmises that the adventurer has natural attunement to the phasic alignment of their dimensions . Without explaining further , Joachim relinquishes a traverser stone to the adventurer and gets him to see something with his own two eyes by visiting a cavernous maw . The adventurer ventures to a maw to discover it is a portal to an alternate dimension similar to Vana ' diel . Returning to Joachim , the adventurer is told this alternate plane of reality is known as Abyssea , and that Joachim hails from that realm . He explains how Abyssea was overrun by monsters the day the blue sky turned blood - red . Joachim explains they have crossed over to Vana ' diel to seek help from the adventurer , as their struggles in Abyssea have reached a dire state . The traverser stone he gave the adventurer served as a key to enter Abyssea as well as an anchor for the adventurer in the other dimension . After the adventurer rescues three Abyssea areas from the vile creatures that menace it , Joachim informs him that there is someone who wants to meet him at the stone circle in La Theine Plateau . This man turns out to be Gilgamesh from the Abyssean realm . As the pirate leader of Norg , he cannot visit a town without stirring up trouble and thus chose La Theine Plateau as a meeting place . In the dire state that Abyssea is now in , he has become an officer for the resistance effort . He had been assigned by the " lil ' mistress " to measure the adventurer ' s suitability in aiding Abyssea , a test he has passed with flying colors . Gilgamesh leaves and looks forward to their next meeting . Back in Port Jeuno , Joachim explains that the situation in Abyssea is still dire . Abyssean hordes continue to pour out from the crevices to attack the people . He feels that the adventurer is their ray of hope . Music . " Vision of Abyssea " introduces two new tracks to " Final Fantasy XI " . The first track is " Abyssea - Scarlet Skies , Shadowed Plains " , which plays throughout Abyssea , and the second track is " Melodies Errant " , which is the party battle theme in all Abyssea areas .