Astrologian or White Mage

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Originally Posted by _slowpoke_

Haha, no. (D.)AST has no replacement for Assize (neither offensively nor defensively), nothing even remotely as powerful as Cure III, no instant aggro dump (though their general enmity issues have been addressed in 3.2), no real replacement for Benediction (ED is more of a replacement for Tetra), no freely placeable HoT bubble (CU doesn't even allow you to do anything while maintaining it), no knockback, no repeatable AoE stun, no AoE DoT, no E4E, and D.AB is weaker than Regen. Plus, AST has no Stoneskin II, and their multi-target heals have some minor range issues (Medica II has 25y range, both Helios and AH are 15y).

Unique things that AST has is their cards (which are heavily RNG based), Disable (WHM's Virus only works on physical attacks), Synastry (which, granted, is often almost too good), their two time manipulation abilities and the fact that CU also functions as a Sacred Soil if needed. Lightspeed serves somewhat similar purposes as PoM (minus the ability to use it as a DPS cooldown), both have Swiftcast and a way to apply Heavy. Also, AST's two DoTs can't miss.

Look, I like AST, I play it myself and basically consider it my secondary job, but in terms of raw overall utility, WHM still completely destroys AST and I'm pretty sure this won't change in the future. AST is an extremely cool job and an absolutely viable healer in general, but when compared to WHM in an endgame progression scenario, it's just way less consistent, because it lacks the safety nets and raw healing utility of a WHM.

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Yeah but WHM has no equivalent of draw>spire>shuffle> spear. Wait 30. Draw>spire>swear a little>royal road. Wait 30 secs. Draw>ewer>shuffle>spire>die a little inside.


Hang about

My argument

Its not really that good......

Hmmmmm

Well whm has no equivalent of Noctural.Aspected Benefic >time dilation> shield still gets used within 5secs anyway>wonder why shields interact with time dilation like this..........

Hang on

That doesnt work either

.............

Your WHM staff looks silly.

*runs away*

Strictly speaking about raids and trials, I think AST is slightly better than WHM, tbh. Not like, SO MUCH BETTER THAT WHM IS POINTLESS of course, as was the case with Paladin vs Dark Knight at early 3.0 (a situation which was heavily exaggerated if you ask me), but I do think the non-healing raid-wide utility AST offers to the party is super valuable in comparison to White Mage's half-Virus and E4E. Sure, you're left to the mercy of the RNG gods, but let's be honest, whatever thing you get (save for a Spear, which I guess is what Royal Road is for), will be of some use for someone. Yes, even Spire :P.

It is because of the cards that I think AST is the best solo healer. Not only can they choose which playstyle they are more comfortable with on their Sects, but they also can keep on buffing the party throughout the battle and increasing raid-wide DPS if they get lucky. Even on Diurnal they possess a form of mitigation in CU, and it works the other way, having a Regen in Nocturnal, so they have an answer to Scholar's Whispering Dawn and Sacred Soil, even if it's not as convenient as WD, SS and Assylum.

I will say, however, the lack of Stoneskin II is a pain in the ass when you get an AST+SCH combo. At least the PLD can help? :P

That said, White Mage is definitely the safest of the three healers. What they lack in alternative utility they make up for in their security and simplicity. It's an equivalent to the Paladin being the "no-nonsense" tank.

In any case, Scholar master race :D

Actually play them all so you'd learn synergy with co-healers down the road. You'd better answer your question of which to main after you do that.

ASTs answer to Assize is the ability pick up an entire near-death party by yourself while running and dodging AoEs and at a reduced MP cost with Lightspeed, which has the added bonus of being a flexible utility for a variety of situations. Those scenarios where everyone's down to a couple hundred HP, AoEs are happening, and maybe one or two players have a bleed and are about to die, is a situation where a quick AST is your best bet for saving the entire party. That sounds like a very specific scenario, but I'm just making it more elaborate for affect (though I've been there repeatedly).

AST has unique and practical utility that the other healers don't have, and we have an answer for any healing situation that the other healers can handle. From here when considering a healer for a raid it comes down to wanting the buffs from AST vs whatever benefit the other healer might bring, such as DPS. The only circumstance where AST will fail to WHM is if you measure straight HPS, but HPS doesn't measure the healers value like DPS does because healing has FAR more to do with preparing for damage and adapting to mishaps, we don't stand there casting.

The two can hardly be compared shot for shot because of their differences in utility; WHM can Cure III, AST can solo heal 2 tanks comfortably. WHM can Assize, AST can manage an entire party while disregarding the need to stand still and cast (a regular cause of deaths) at reduced MP cost. WHM can AoE stun repeatedly, AST can AoE stun oGCD and isn't dependant on accuracy. WHM can cast a regen bubble and continue to move, AST can shield and regen simultaneously at the cost of movement (which continues to work when ravana flies you all into the air or shiva freezes the party, etc.). Whm can drop aggro in an instant, AST produces less aggro. Whm can knock back, ast can assist party DPS, mp, TP, and mitigation needs.

Maybe it's just because my favorite job is Black Mage, but I prefer White mage. I feel as if I am throwing out minor nuclear explosions.....Of healing, lol.
I also think that the level 50-60 skills of White mage looks more powerful and appealing, while Scholar and Astrologians feel more '' floaty ''. Kinda like how I feel about BLM vs SMN.
I still love SMN, I just prefer the BOOM feeling of BLM.
As for which one is better in raids, I dunno. I kinda feel as if WHM is better in dungeons at least, but that's an entirely different ballpark.
I feel like it's just tiny bit easier and safer as WHM in dungeons, and the damage is way better.

This post has helped me to decide that instead of getting into the vs. argument I have decided to become a healer/crafter with all the intended challenge ahead of me. This seems the best way to make the most of the game.

Thanks