Ast card system change

That's why I say probably in CO, I could see them bringing that part back, it's pretty much totally useless as is. But I think they're also wanting to avoid a situation where CO ONLY gets used with Divination. (I personally don't see the problem here considering making it a heal was very uninspired at best.)

Old AST definitely had issues with the cards, but it mostly came about because WHM was so weak, AST brought so much, and SCH was so strong. Of course we can't tell now, but I wonder if simply making WHM better and leaving AST as is would have been enough to shake up the meta.

Yeah. It's hard to tell what the hell the devs are really thinking right now. I'm still confused why instead of bringing WHM in line with SCH and AST they brought the other two down to WHM. Seems a bit backward. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for WHM mains because they finally have a place in the sun after 4 years, but it just feels like these changes are like one step forward two steps back. Watch, we end up getting Time dilation and old CO back in 6.0 with new spell names. They've been doing that to WHM for two expac now.

I'm mostly novice level when it comes to AST, but I really enjoyed it before 5.0. The cards felt diverse and interesting, unique buffs and situations for them that you had to marry on the fly, based on your party. Hella fun. More diverse and interesting than almost the same buff six times.

I really don't want to memorize which give what lunar/solar/whatever and which are ranged or melee focused, the symbols/colors of those symbols don't have rhyme or reason to that end to help out at all. While some looked a bit vague before, many, like mana/tp/damage/defense, were representative *enough* to be ok.

Give back old cards. Nerf or change balance, Make spire give Direct Hit.

Keep everything else mostly the same. This would honestly fix the job for me. Buffs would all not be as strong anyways, because no more RR, and I'm FINE with that.

Maybe something like:
Card that gives Dmg buff to Melee/Tank. If on Melee give dmg buff, if on Tank some dmg rdc.
Card that gives Dmg buff to range/healer. If on Range give dmg buff, if on Healer some heal potency.

This could help with some of the issues people are saying they are having at 80 healing as well as still provide the dmg that all the cards give, with the option of more dps or more healing/mitigation.

I don't think we're going to be seeing any changes to the card system anytime soon. If there are any changes, it will be to Divination. That's the gimmick now. They are not going to revert the system back to what it was and also give us Divination on top of it. Your expectations will also be better placed on the improvement of Divination rather than the old system coming back. It is unfortunate if AST mains have not been able to adjust, or just outright hate the changes so much that they dropped the job. I truly mean that.

I'm not opposed to changes to the cards, but my idea of the mechanic probably wont have much favor either. What I propose is that on top of the 3/6% general buffs the cards give, they also buff the AST as an additional effect. Some of these buffs could be increased mana regen, haste, increased movement speed, make next GCD instant, draw or lightspeed CD timer reset, ensure next GCD is a crit (restorative or offensive), def^, mdef^, I probably could go on and on with this list. This could then tie into Synastry so that who ever you share the aetherial bond with also receives your buff.

Hopefully something like that would give back AST some of the flavor that has been lost with the card effects. I try to think of those cards from the PoV of an Anime trope where an imposing character will change the tide of the fight and give that little smirk when he/she draws just the right card from their deck giving them just the powerup they needed for the given situation.

My big issue is that I would just like some kind of unique utility added to the cards. I like the focus on single target buffs, and I like the seal system. Mechanically, I'm okay with the new system if not enjoy it more, my issue is that I can literally remove the card from the Arcana Gauge, and it actually improves it:

https://i.imgur.com/UgZGbFw.png

It's actually better without the cards. :O Why? This is literally what I see with the new system. I'm not a big lore guy, but I loved the character of each card and the emotional response they elicit. But this is all I see now. The fact that this is much easier to read without the unnecessary clutter of colors, symbols, and names, hurts. :(

Heck, I'd be happy if they keep the system how it is, but simply add additional utility onto it. Each card would give their melee/range damage, and then an extra effect like mitigation, mana regen, movement speed, surecast/arm's length, north star, etc. You can still just go for damage in raids, but it at least opens up nice opportunities and brings that fun card identity/flavor back. Plus, it'll give me more of a reason to hold onto a card now. Like, if I happen to draw a Bole, I might want to hold it for tank buster coming up or if someone is going to/takes avoidable damage, as long as I don't elapse the 30 seconds (Draw/Play act like a 30 second spread now).

I do feel like something should be done with Sleeve Draw as well. Feels pretty clunky as it stands, though no clue on what you'd do.

I don't have a lot of time to play nowadays so I'm slowly working my way up in levels but I'm... divided on the cards. On one hand I like the fact that every card is legitimately useful, on the other hand the fact that they are all the same is meh. Perhaps giving each card a small rider effect to it would work. the primary benefit remains the damage increase as is now but add a small unique buff for each one. Honestly my biggest annoyance with the new card system is the seals. I hate systems that have only a single use for a resource like that (Also hate BRD Soul gauge for this same reason). I would like there to be some other skill that utilizes the seals, especially since its such a long cd as is. Celestial Opposition is trash tho, yes its instant and has no mp cost but its weaker than aspected helios on a big cd. Compare to WHM Assize which is much stronger, does dmg, has a small MP recovery, and is on less than half as long a cd. It needs something to fix it because its very underwhelming.

Hey great replies everyone! Im glad were talking about this as clearly people are not happy with some of these changes. Lets keep thrse discussions going as some of your proposals to card changes are really great! SE needs to see this