-
Flexibility is the name of the game for ASTs.
Some may think CO is best combo-ed with cards, others may think CO-LA is the bomb, whichever's superior is an argument for another time.
Cards have a base duration of 30 seconds, LA have a duration of 24 seconds.
My main point is try your best to see if any of these buffs duration may overlap each other, and that will be the best time to pop your CO, do not just LA/Cards -> CO immediately, use the 30 seconds (if you're in the card camp) or the 24 seconds (if you're in the LA camp) window to your advantage.
-
Yes I agree, that's the "bonus" aspect which I was referring to which requires flexibility in judgement.
Sometimes, when you're about to pop LA, you'll have royal road buff and your draw is coming off CD. It's better to hold CO until you see what you get after draw, if it's balance/arrow, then you have 40 seconds of cards with 34 seconds of LA together. Generally, as long as you pop CO within the 24 seconds of LA, all is good.
-
To an extent I agree with this. You should fit as many buffs in with a CO as possible. I always shoot for AoE card buffs+my LA minimum. If I know a rough part of a fight is coming up, I'll save CO to use with Synastry. I DON'T think you should pop a bunch of buffs purely just to use CO to its "maximum effectiveness". There's still a time and place for each buff in most fights. (Least that's how I plot out my fights.) If I can save my CO for those times I do, but if I draw AoE Balance way beforehand, I'll most likely extend it with CO to get the most out of the card buff.
-
Whenever you pop Celestial Opposition, remember to pop sprint. With the 10 second increase, that means it'll be up again as soon as it wears off. There's no downside unless there's some way for AST to use TP that I don't know of.
-
My method has always been use Aspected helios > AOE Card > Aspected Benefic to tank > Collective Unconscious > Aether (if needed or boss fight) > Celestial Opposition. Usually more than enough to burn down without needing to worry about healing the tank at all. Never thought about synastry though, will need to keep that in mind.