Originally Posted by
RichardButte
And I hate to say it, but I think this is about right: AST is a support/buff style healer that can seriously swing the tide of battle with the right card combo. We can save a tank with a 25% damage reduction for 15 seconds (or a 10% for 30). We can give the whole group 15% more damage for 15 seconds, eeking out that last bit of damage in a DPS race or give them 10% damage reduction, effectively throwing another bubble on the group.
Our 40 sec cooldown "OH SH*T" button is probably the best I've ever seen in a healing class in an MMO: "You just dropped to 10% HP? Here, have a completely full instant refill!"
If AST's heals were on par with WHM and SCH, there'd literally be no reason to play anything but AST for a healer...
Yeah, our heals are going to be weaker, but we have a number of other strengths to compensate.