New player Au Ra question

I am trying to get a friend to play FFXIV and one the the main draws for them has been the Au Ra. They may be willing to get the game early and play as a different race until HW is released, but with that they wanted to know if they would be able to get access to the Au Ra race during early access or not.
So, My question is this: If someone starts a new character before June (on an entirely new account) would they be able to access the new race (with vial of phantasia) during early access or would they need to wait until the official launch?

Gonna start of and say I haven't seen anything official, but it should be something they can do. The only difference with Early access is that you get to start on the expansion sooner. All of the features "should" be unlocked.

There is a free fantasia that will be mailed via mog mail for purchasing but I assume it won't be delivered until after downloading > installing the new client. (Actually running HW, whether its early release or official launch day, or after even)

Or if your friend already has a fantasia or is willing to buy 1 from mogstation, they could just use that once the new client is installed if they don't want to wait for SE mail.

..assumptions can be dangerous.. but if you're running the new HW client then yes, Au Ra should be an option in character creator, which means it'll be there when you fantasia

edit:

I'm not sure if the Fantasia is given to players who buy the FFXIV:ARR+HW bundle. If they go that route they may have to buy fantasia seperately. It'll list the bonus items in SE store if you want to check.

edit2:

yep, there is no Fantasia bonus item given in the AAR+HW bundle
https://store.na.square-enix.com/pro...-xiv-online-pc

edit3:

just clarifying, if you friend buys the AAR+HW bundle on preorder he'll have instant access to ARR, he could create a character now but he can't change it to Au Ra until HW early access begins, and he'd have to provide his own fantasia to do so.

Well, there is a Fantasia given for free once you've subscribed for a month (as in paid actively for a month; not the free initial month). Your friend could start today and swap into an Au Ra once that Fantasia is available, or just buy one straight up when Heavensward hits and use it.

That said it's not 100% confirmed whether Au Ra creation will be on the date of Early Access' release, but I suspect it will be, as will everything else.

I do highly suggest the start-now-and-Fantasia route though. Why? Because Early Access is going to mean the servers are going to be overloaded as hell with players. The character creation restrictions on servers are going to be on like crazy to try to keep certain popular servers from getting overloaded. Creating now and changing into an Au Ra later means they can create the character (and even have them mostly levelled!) now. They could also get around that by setting up a trial account right now and creating the character; they can come back to and Fantasia it once they get the actual game.

Yes I'm like 99,9% sure that you will be able to use phantasia to switch to Au Ra during the early access that's what I'm planning on doing also if your friend is on PC be sure to make the Au Ra in advance that way you can instantly start playing the content instead of having to rush through the character creation I spent around 2 hours with the character maker for Au Ra before I was satisfied