February 26, 2004 - Dynamis is implemented for the four nations. (Beaucedine Glacier and Xarcabard later receive Dynamis areas in April.)
Dynamis originally begins as an invasion-type of content allowing participation of up to 64 players at once. Relic equipment, commonly known as "AF2," is also introduced at this time.

February 26, 2004 - The quest "The Moonlit Path" is added, allowing summoners to form a pact with Fenrir. Entering the battlefield requires successfully defeating the six previous avatars and collecting the whispers.

Escort for Hire quests, a new type of quest which involve accompanying NPCs to their destinations, are added. They quickly gain tremendous popularity for their rewards, namely Miratete’s Memoirs, a consumable item which awards experience points upon use. Queues form at the entrance of the Eldieme Necropolis as adventurers wait their turn for “Escort for Hire (San d’Oria),” which is considered relatively easy to clear.

February 26, 2004 - Opaline Dress is added to the game, along with the Wedding Dress with which it shares the same design. Although Opaline Dress could be synthesized, both the dress and its materials are sold at exorbitant prices among players during its initial release.

Doll Festival, an official event based on the real-life Japanese tradition of Girls’ Day, is held for the first time, adorning the three nations with tiered displays of dolls. In the following years’ iterations of Doll Festival, participants can obtain Hume Rice Cake, Elvaan Rice Cake, Mithran Rice Cake, and Tarutaru Rice Cake, used to take on the appearance of a female child of the respective race.

Harkening of Spring, an official event themed after the Japanese tradition of flower viewing, is held where the three nations are bedecked with cherry blossom trees, and adventurers can receive the Papillion and Ouka Ranman fireworks from Moogles. Though the event is discontinued in following years, the flower viewing aspect is carried on in future Doll Festival events.

Egg Hunt, an official event themed after the real-life tradition of Easter, is held for the first time. The event introduced eggs inscribed with a letter of the alphabet, certain combinations of which can be exchanged for various rewards. Egg Hunt returns in following years and is updated with new possible egg combinations as well as rewards.

It becomes the aspiration of many adventurers to acquire the powerful Relic equipment obtained from the new Dynamis areas, Dynamis-Beaucedine and Dynamis-Xarcabard. Furthermore, those who prove their mettle by fulfilling various requirements in Dynamis-Xarcabard are able to challenge the final boss, Dynamis Lord. To prevail over this formidable foe, red mages devised the strategy of setting dark knight as their support job to wield the immensely effective combination of Chainspell and Stun.

Garrison, a new type of battle content where adventurers defend outposts from oncoming waves of attacking beastmen, is added. The imposed level restrictions make Garrison quite the tough challenge, but among the rewards for successful completion are the Mighty weapons, which are enhanced in power on certain days of the week.

April 22, 2004 - Ballista, an exercise based on San d'Orian Royal Knight battle practices, is added as the first part of the Conflict PvP content. An all-Worlds Ballista Royale tournament later takes place in 2005, held by the Japanese publisher, Enterbrain.

April 22, 2004 - A quest to take on the five arc angels from Zilart missions (commonly referred to as "AA") with an alliance is added. Rewards include ear equipment such as Suppanomimi.

Adventurers can obtain the monk-exclusive Black Belt by completing the quest “Beat Around the Bushin,” which requires acquiring items dropped by Fafnir (Nidhogg), Behemoth (King Behemoth), and Adamantoise (Aspidochelone). As of July 2004, they are alternatively obtainable from certain Kindred’s Seal battlefields, which require full alliances and only a handful of adventurers were capable of overcoming their difficulty. The required items become more widely available in 2011, when HNMs were changed to be spawned with trigger items.

Following a version update, the strange apparatuses found throughout Vana’diel become operable. Items such as Arcane Flowerpots and Rune weapons can be obtained by entering a decoded password and trading certain chips. Furthermore in 2017, the NPC Boisterous Jackal is introduced to Lower Jeuno to explain the apparatuses and their passwords.

April 22, 2004 – Multi-hit weapon skills are adjusted so that only the initial hit accumulates the standard amount of TP (the initial two hits for hand-to-hand and dual wielding) and each successive hit accumulates 1 TP. Along with this change, elemental weapon skills are changed to accumulate TP.

June 29, 2004 - The Mannequin furnishing is added, which players can dress as they like. They are obtained by completing the quest “It's Raining Mannequins,” which involves collecting various mannequin parts from seal battlefields and other content.

July 24, 2004 - The summer festival player event held in previous years is adopted as an official seasonal event. During the event, fireworks and event music can be enjoyed in the three nations and areas neighboring Rabao.

September 16, 2004 - Chains of Promathia is released as a new expansion which focuses primarily on story, and no new jobs are added. A certain rock face which appears in the opening movie could be spotted in the Tavnazian Archipelago.

September 16, 2004 - Regular monsters with the ability to see through Invisible and Sneak are added, such as Taurus. Until this point, the ability to detect players through detection canceling magic was a characteristic unique to NMs.

A large number of new BCNMs are introduced. “Operation Desert Swarm” becomes a notable favorite, as it rewards lucky adventurers with the coveted Venomous Claw to make the popular Scorpion Harness.

The NPC Parike-Poranke plops into Lower Jeuno with the offer to remove meal effects with his “brown magic,” a welcome convenience in a version update introducing food with long-lasting effects. Prior to his arrival, adventurers had relieved themselves of undesirable effects with expensive antacids or getting K.O.’d.

The treasure coffers in Castle Oztroja are changed to have a chance of yielding a Safeguard Ring instead of an Astral Ring. This reduces the heightened demand of the treasure coffers and makes it easier to obtain artifact gear from Castle Oztroja. Following the change, Astral Rings are obtained from BCNM battles such as “Treasure and Tribulation.”