The official Final Fantasy XI Test Server has been updated! As a follow-up to recent changes to the aura effect from the Indi- line of Geomancer spells, the Geo- line of spells will be seeing a revision to the animation to make them less visable to reduce lag. Reives will also be seeing adjustments, with various areas seeing further reductions in difficulty while others seeing an increase to experience points and bayld rewards. New information and capabilities have been added in terms of the new Item Level system, including spell interruption rate and shadows absorbed by certain attacks from the Utsusemi line of Ninjutsu.

Lastly, a number of additions have been made to the Monstrosity battle system, including quests, new areas, new monster types, and much more.

Let us know what you think of these Test Server updates over on the ZAM forums!

From the official Final Fantasy XI forums:

[dev1155] Geomancy Special Effects Adjustments (Geocolure Spells)

• The visual effects of Geocolure spells will be adjusted to be less visible.

Pre-adjustment

Post-adjustment

From the official Final Fantasy XI forums:

[dev1154] Colonization Reive and Lair Reive Adjustments

• The HP of the obstacles for both lair reives and colonization reives in the following areas has been reduced:

  Yahse Hunting Grounds / Ceizak Battlegrounds / Sih Gates / Moh Gates / Foret de Hennetiel / Morimar Basalt Fields

• The amount of bayld issued after the successful completion of lair reives and colonization reives in the following areas has been increased:

  Foret de Hennetiel / Morimar Basalt Fields / Marjami Ravine / Yorcia Weald / Dho Gates

From the official Final Fantasy XI forums:

[dev1153] Item Level Adjustments

• The stats on equipment with item levels displayed will be adjusted.
  　
• If both item level and "combat skill+" are present on the item you equip as a main weapon, the following will be affected:

  • The number of Utsusemi shadow images consumed from physical AoE attacks
  • The interruption rate on spell casting

  　
• The strength of enemies level 100+ will display differently when inspecting them while having an item with item level 100 or above equipped.

From the official Final Fantasy XI forums:

[dev1141] Monstrosity

Monstrosity quests have been added.

• Quests can be undertaken by speaking to the NPC "Suspicious Hume" located in Pashhow Marshlands (E-12).

• While possessing a monster in Monstrosity, a special icon will appear in front of your monster's name.
• Descriptors for one's monster name can be selected via Customize in the main menu.

• The NPC "=TEST=Monster Playing" has been removed from Northern San d'Oria, Port Bastok, and Windurst Waters.
  　
• By moving from the lobby to the field or selecting "Challenge the same area again" after being KO'd, a special effect known as "Gestation" will be applied for a certain period of time.
  Gestation has the following effects:
  • Enemies will not detect the character
  • "Invisible"
  • "Sprint"
  • Makes the character unable to attack
  * The location where the character spawns in the field is random.

• New areas have been added to Monstrosity.
• HP and MP will gradually recover when out of combat. The amounts recovered vary depending on maximum HP and MP values.
  * The amounts recovered are subject to change.
  
• New monster types have been added.
  　
• New monster types are now playable and monster "instincts" can now be equipped.
  * Instincts with a cost of 255 cannot be used.
  * Instincts that have not been implemented yet cannot be used.
  
• "Base Instincts" that act as defaults have been added.
  
• The maximum amount one can spend on instincts will increase along with the level of the monster selected.
  
• The monster players wish to possess and their attributes can now be selected from the Equipment section of the main menu.
  * Selections can only be made while an adventurer is in the lobby.
  * The EXP of the previous monster selected will reset to zero once a new monster is selected. However, the level of the monster will not reset.
  
• The NPC “=TEST= Monster Playing” has been removed from the lobby.

Test Server Only

• Locations where PCs appear when moving from the lobby to the field will be fixed.

Refer to this thread for information about testing this content on the test server and methods on providing feedback.