Ast rework

4 cards that are essentially damage up. Which is what they did in shb however simplified. Taking out variety and rng made people who didn't parse or fish for balance leave the class for something more fun. By trying to make both the min maxers and casuals happy they instead made it into what it is now and the number of ast mains or parties accepting ast is proof enough their changes failed.

I suggest these changes to give AST it's own identity:

-Remove Noct and Diurnal sects.
-New Job gauge: Star Globe
Star globe consists of a circle with two hemispheres, Nocturnal and Diurnal. There is a star that circles around the globe when AST is in combat in cycles of 60s.
-When star is in Diurnal or Day, potency of healing spells increases from 1% to 10% as the star makes its way to Noon then wanes back to 1%.
-When star is in Nocturnal or Night, potency of damage spells increases from 1% to 10% as star makes its way to Midnight then wanes back to 1%.
-Aspected Benefic and Aspected Helios heal for X potency initially and after 15s they heal again for same potency.
-Celestial Opposition is an AoE heal and allows the AST to move the Star to a point diametrically opposed to its location with a cd of 60s.
-Combustion deals X damage at the beginning and then deals damage again 15s later.

Position of the star also affects which cards you are able to draw.
In nocturnal you'd draw offensive cards and in diurnal you'd draw defensive ones.

-All cards grant a base 3% damage increase plus an additional effect.
Diurnal cards:
-Balance Damage reduction
-Bole Increased healing recieved
-Ewer MP recovery
Nocturnal cards:
-Spire Direct hit increase
-Spear Crit increase
-Arrow Skill/spell speed increase

AST would still retain its identity as a Buffer but with the delayed effect mechanic it would play around aligning its healing/damage spells with the cycling buff to damage and healing.

I'd love to see more of the Time Mage theme in AST.

After the rework they've just done? If that's the kind of thing we can expect then hell no.

If they actually listen to player feedback and somewhat revert it and buff potencies? Sure.

I think they need to do something more radical than just potency boosts and just scrap Diurnal and Nocturnal sects all together. Having a rip off “WHM or SCH” mode is severely hampering the potential for AST to shine in its own area. Double down on the time mage aspect and have powerful wide-ranging instant heals. Let’s WHM’s shine with HoT’s and Scholars with Shields, and have AST specialise in fast heals contrasted with delayed time heals like Earthly Star. Just spitballing ideas I guess.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AhriSazame

I'd love to see more of the Time Mage theme in AST.

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SO MUCH THIS!!! Time Dilation and 4.0 Celestial Opposition were such amazing abilities that were both versatile in their use and really helped to set AST apart from the other healers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cled-cat

I think they need to do something more radical than just potency boosts and just scrap Diurnal and Nocturnal sects all together. Having a rip off “WHM or SCH” mode is severely hampering the potential for AST to shine in its own area. Double down on the time mage aspect and have powerful wide-ranging instant heals. Let’s WHM’s shine with HoT’s and Scholars with Shields, and have AST specialise in fast heals contrasted with delayed time heals like Earthly Star. Just spitballing ideas I guess.

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I also think this would be a great way to differentiate the healers. SCH kind of has the "Insta" healer thing going for it atm, but I definitely feel like more Time Release heals would be fantastic. If Horoscope popped at the end of it's timer this would help to add more of this kind of flavor.