Astro changes 5.1

https://i.imgur.com/SXs0GWf.png

So here are the astro changes. SO the mp cost in noct sect for aspected benefic went down and both cost of aspected helios went down too. Essential top potency is now 1100 if I am reading that correctly. Combust has been a few buffs with combust 3 being 600 pot overall just like the sch dot and malefic 4 being 250. The minor arcana change, I figured was going to be like that.

The big change is that collective. Diurnal got the regen buff from 50 to 100. Noct basically reverses the effects of the buff. You would lose the regen but keep the damage down buff, like how before you would keep the regen but lose the dmg reduction if you move. This is both a good and a bad change. It persists longer but Noct loses an ogcd regen. We'll need to see how this plays out though. I wouldn't be surprised if 5.2 brings more Noct buffs.

Combust 3 is now no longer weaker than 4's Combust 2. So the penny finally audibly dropped in the Play Balance (no relation) department.

What I love

The damage potencies: According to the balance discord, it's looking to be an approx 500 dps gain. Which is enough to make them competitive with SCH but WHM will still have the edge on certain fights.
Minor Arcana: this completely disconnects Sleeve from needing to be paired with Lightspeed outside of the opener, not to mention it allows you to throw out Lord or Ladies faster in reaction to your dps starting bursts.

What I'm neutral about:

Collective Unconscious: I love the fact the Regen has been buffed and the recast timer reduced. But I'm worried about the way the buff is going to function with each sect. If I was permitted a say, I'd reverse the effects, that way Noct has a Whispering Dawn equivalent and Diurnal has a Temperance equivalent. However despite this 20 seconds of DR every minute is fantastic.

What I'm most worried about

MP economy: while the changes to mp cost will be helpful for Nocturnal sect. I don't feel like it was quite enough. I would've also liked to at least see Malefic get this treatment as well since it's the most spammed spell in the average AST's toolkit.

Overall I'm excited. Between this and the 5.05 updates I'm def going to be maining AST.

I agree that the damage potencies are good, in terms of balance, AST needed more rDPS their way.

As for the MP I'll see how I feel when I try it, I believe it needed to be adjusted, so positive they did. But I'm also of the mind MP regeneration needn't be so good that in practice it feels like an unlimited resource and that management is a part of the way the job plays. At the same time not to feel like it's impeding on your ability to play the job. So it doesn't look like they've done that.

My worry was that Noct buffs would make playing Noct sect too easy. It doesn't seem it might be the case. Noct AST is the only healer set up I like at the moment.

I feel like they're on the right track with these buffs, now if only they could do something about the cards. Either way, I'm happy it looks well worth going back to, even if just to see what's changed in action.

So more macros for ps4 users, not to happy about that but at least is faster and I was hoping for refresh effect for mp not a small mp reduction on spells you can't spam nice.

What is good
-more pDPS eh still the same 1dot/1 nuke spam we had since SB
-increased healing for essential dignity
-reduced double weaving
-slightly better mp economy
-choice for a skill based on sect(how good compared to each other will require hands on personally)

What is meh
-100 mp reduction on noct aspected benefic

What still needs to change for this version of AST
-Neutral Sect forces Aspected benefic to be 500mp so Nocturnal sect is no longer being treated unfairly by this (it is still costing 400mp more than Diurnal for the exact same effect, i stated before and i will state again this is asinine design)
-A second mp restoration effect somewhere in its kit
-A reason to care for 3 seal divination in normal play


What we lost
-Lord/lady card animation

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wolfius

So more macros for ps4 users, not to happy about that but at least is faster and I was hoping for refresh effect for mp not a small mp reduction on spells you can't spam nice.

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Not sure what you meant by this, but if you mean AST's many buttons for controller users then -puts on Jenova's witness outfit and knocks on the door- might I take a moment to talk to you about extended bars?

Facetiousness aside. They're not a feature that's turned on by default for controller users, but since I've activated them, having many skills on my crossbars has been easier to manage. If you've not already tried, it might be worth giving a go. They feel weird as heck at first, but once you get used to it, it flows better, because holding down 1 extra button means you get access to all of your skills on your second crossbar. There are other configuration options for the controller that can help make playing with a controller more comfortable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saefinn

Not sure what you meant by this, but if you mean AST's many buttons for controller users then -puts on Jenova's witness outfit and knocks on the door- might I take a moment to talk to you about extended bars?

Facetiousness aside. They're not a feature that's turned on by default for controller users, but since I've activated them, having many skills on my crossbars has been easier to manage. If you've not already tried, it might be worth giving a go. They feel weird as heck at first, but once you get used to it, it flows better, because holding down 1 extra button means you get access to all of your skills on your second crossbar. There are other configuration options for the controller that can help make playing with a controller more comfortable.

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They are talking macros for draw/play with regards to party members in list, the minor arcana change will make it a second play button so it would need to be macro'd differently

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crushnight

They are talking macros for draw/play with regards to party members in list, the minor arcana change will make it a second play button so it would need to be macro'd differently

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Ah, I gotcha. I was not aware people macro'd that in. I figured it might be some macroing to save space on the crossbars. I'll er, put my preaching aside for one day.