First, beta phase 3 will start on June 14, 2013. The first part of phase 3 will only be conducted on weekends, but the latter half of the phase will involve longer testing periods.
The big news, of course, is that the Scholar will be implemented at the release of A Realm Reborn as a job. This has been rumored for ages, and it is great to finally get confirmation.
Lots of new content will be available in phase 3 in the beta, many of which we have discussed before. Among the new mentions are companions. You will be able to select from different “stances” for your companion, and each stance will prioritize certain actions from the companion (i.e., healing, attacking). The companion will gain skill points, which can be spent on its skill tree to teach it new abilities.
Good news for everyone: changing jobs on the fly will be much easier in ARR. As FFXIV allows you to change jobs by changing your equipment, ARR will implement a feature called the Armory Chest (or “Armoury” if you type funny), which will allow you to store equipment separate from your general inventory. Most importantly, you will be able to group equipment into gear sets in order to quickly select a new set to equip.
The battle system has certainly changed dramatically since 1.0, and all of the jobs look fun. I have to say, though, that the Dragoon and Bard look especially exciting. What do you think?
Quick hits from the rest of the event:
• Linkshells can carry over from 1.0 if the LS leader goes to the same world as the rest of the LS. Friends list will also carry over, sort of, by automatically sending out a mass-invite to everyone on your 1.0 friends list.
• The worlds from FFXIV 1.0 will carry over to ARR and become the Legacy Worlds; new player worlds will be announced shortly.
• For housing, it will be possible to have a storefront, including retainers. Some houses will also have balconies.
• More limit break information will be released at E3.
