From the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team
Adjustments to Einherjar (02/06/2008)

The next version update will contain a number of changes to the Einherjar venue.

A recent increase in the number of player suggestions and concerns received regarding Einherjar has led the development and operations teams to reconsider a number of that system's features.

Particularly, many players are of the opinion that the efforts demanded by Einherjar yield too little return, that the structure of layered challenges makes it difficult to introduce new members midway into a progressing group, and that players who may miss out on even a single chamber may find themselves unable to participate in subsequent runs with their group. All of this constructive feedback has led to a series of changes whose implementation will begin in the next version update.

Ampoules of Therion Ichor

Until now, the acquisition of ampoules of therion ichor has been contingent upon successful clearing of an entire chamber. However, this will no longer be the case. Instead, regardless of whether the chamber is cleared or not, players will receive ampoules in proportion to the total number of monsters they have slain. In addition, the amount of ampoules available per chamber will be increased. Defeating the final bosses, the so-called Guardians of Asgarth, will not yield additional ampoules.

Entry into Wings

Entry into all wings of Einherjar will be made less demanding for the majority of participants. The organizing player who obtains the Smouldering Lamp and reserves an Einherjar chamber will still need to fulfill all of the same requirements as before. All other players, however, will now be able to enter any of the chambers in Wings I, II, and III regardless of previous clears or valkyrie feathers in their possession.

Entry into Valgrind

At present, entry into Valgrind, the most remote chamber in the Hazhalm Testing Grounds, requires that all participants have cleared all chambers in Wings I, II, and III, and have the appropriate key item in their possession.
This requirement of clearing all nine wings will now apply only to the player making the reservation for Odin's Chamber. All other participating members now need only have cleared one chamber from each wing, and thus be in possession of a total of at least three valkyrie feathers.
Entry into Valgrind will still result in the loss of any and all related key items in all player inventories.

Rewards

Though we are still looking into ways to increase compensation and rewards, players can expect to see a number of new items added to the Einherjar lineup. More detailed information regarding how to obtain these new items will be released in the Topics post on the day of the version update!