Astrologian or White Mage

This is my first post - Hello everyone :)

I've played Astrologian and White Mage (Both are currently 56) but can't decide which one to "main". Each class has a little something that I like but...I CAN'T DECIDE!

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts and opinions, or perhaps which you main (If you do) and why so :)

Regards,

Ashe Snowfall

Play both? It was a minor concern with left side Esoterics gear being job-locked but now you'll be able to switch back and forth completely freely as they'll share all gear except weapon. With time and experience you'll be a better judge of which you like the most or want to play on specific occasions.

I pesonally "main" AST and SCH and play WHM significantly less often, but it's strong and a lot of fun.

Astrologian.

Thanks for the reply :)

That's good news about the gear

This will probably sound a little weird but I just have this "thing" where I feel I have to have a "main" class. That's not to say I won't pop back and play the other, but yeah...

Thenk about it this way, your main class is healer ^^ after all apart from few specific gear tiers you always gear for "healer" and if you really can't decide, just play both and excel in them. If at some point it feels that one comes more naturally to you that'll be your answer then :)

I agree with the other
It's the same as the black mage who need to play smn too

Each heal must try the other and see in which one he is the most confortable
For me... Speed running = whm (4man instance)
Healing and speed need = AST (alex1sav)
DPS and protection = SCH (a2s, thorEx, A3S)

I switch whenever the need change x3

Level both and just enjoy whichever suits your fancy at the time. :)

Yeah, as others have said, get both to 60 as you'll get the whole package of skills to mess with then. Over time you'll find yourself gravitating towards one over the other.

I play all 3 healers, and I honestly can't decide either, especially with the new Astrologian changes, it has become much more viable, at least for my play style, than it was before and I have been favoring playing it since. Typically I'll run all 3 in a day. I take Sch through my lvl 60 roulette, AST through trial roulette and my Alex runs, and WHM is still only 53 so I do leveling roulette with that. I feel most comfortable running new content for the first time with SCH, that fairy saves my butt all the time when I mess up boss mechanics, once I have a better handle on the fights I'll take my AST through because it's more fun. So in a nutshell, play them all!!

I prefer AST (Diurnal) because it's got a faster global cooldown, it brings extra dps support and it's easier to manage mp with (even before the buff). Having long dots, an ability to extend heals and buffs and easy mp management, AST is about sustained healing and dps and less about burst. AST can also take up the mitigation healer's role, although it lacks the free fairy heals which SCH has.

WHM brings some utility too, especially in 4 mans, but in raids they won't benefit from cross classed Virus and Eye for an Eye as much because the SMN/SCH will use them. Holy stunning is nice though and in general WHM can put out more burst damage. In longer fights the dps difference isn't as big because AST can extend heals for free and gain time to dps longer, as well as providing party buffs.

The best thing about WHM is the glamours. The Animus (ARR) weapon glow is ridiculous and I haven't been able to find a weapon I like more in this game. It tears me apart not being able to show it on my AST. :D Both jobs have some sick looking animations so you aren't losing out on that part no matter your choice.

So in short. If you are more about steady output + party support + faster casts + flexibility, go AST. If you like big hits and heals + all around good toolkit + slower casts + regen healer role, go WHM.

Personally, I chose WHM over AST as a main healer so to speak. Not sure how helpful this will be, but here is a reason I went with WHM:

Surprisingly, the WHM's 4 man / overgeared raiding performance played a major role for me in this decision. WHM will typically outperform AST here (esp 4 mans). As such, when I: queued for a roulette, responded to a fc member's request to join a duty in-progress, joined a farming run, etc. It would be on WHM.

In more difficult content, I end up choosing WHM because I've been keeping that job familiarity the freshest having used WHM for just about everything else earlier in the week.

I went with AST just because I feel it is more engaging... Not better, or more used in (x) situation. I tell people it is like healing with a little mini game going (cards). So that keeps my ADD in check will running content. So if you tend to get a bit bored with WHM, I would suggest going AST.

Every tool that WHM has, AST has something similar (assuming Diurnal sect). As a bonus, AST has cards and a lower GCD. Since the last patch, I think it's safe to say that currently AST is a WHM + more utility, making it a slightly better healer in the current meta.

I prefer Astrologian, obviously, but I do think WHM is the more "new-player-friendly" healer by far. This might just be my impression because I was a WHM main for some time pre-3.0, but it seems seems like WHM has the more forgiving healing cooldowns of the two, and less "distractions" to be had via the lack of the card mechanic.

As others have said, though, this gear tier will make it very possible for you to use and gear both, and see which playstyle you prefer.

(In terms of spell effects/aesthetics, I think AST wins hands-down. >__> Sorry WHMs.)

Astrologian requires some depth of knowledge into all other jobs in order to use your support skills properly (you can't just throw a buff on someone for example, it can screw up their rotation). Whm is a job that's a bit easier to pick up, but rest assured if you're someone that wants to be great at your role there's plenty of depth to whm, which you can work on mastering over time.

Up until lv54; an AST plays somewhat similar to a WHM, but with the card buffs. I play both, but I prefer WHM as my main healer while AST is reallly there to just take a break as a WHM and/or more casual content.

The card buffs are quite fun, but they're very ranged based. To the point of near uselessness for the duration of a quick Trial roulette

I think I like WHM the most because there's no variables. SCH Fairy I can only control to a degree; if it's not in the right place when it casts a buff, it'll miss party members, and her logic isn't the same as mine. With AST you have RNG cards; you never know what you'll get or what impact it will have.

With WHM I feel in control of all my variables (except accuracy -_-;; ).
I do think it's guilty of a lot of over-healing (especially with medica II or regen), but as long as it's not at the expense of mp management and/or dps I don't see that as a problem. ABC's - always be casting.

To be fair though, my SCH is only 47, and I haven't really touch AST much other than to unlock it. I will eventually, because I want to understand the full mechanics about each for 8-man stuff and/or to be able to switch if I'm partying with someone who only has a WHM. So my opinions might change, but I still think I'll gravitate towards WHM for the lack of variables.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Velox

Every tool that WHM has, AST has something similar (assuming Diurnal sect). As a bonus, AST has cards and a lower GCD. Since the last patch, I think it's safe to say that currently AST is a WHM + more utility, making it a slightly better healer in the current meta.

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AST still lacks WHMs safety net, which is why most groups still take WHM for progression. The gap is definitely smaller then it's even been though.

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Originally Posted by Ashe_Snowfall

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts and opinions, or perhaps which you main (If you do) and why so :)

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Welcome to the forums!

I also mained WHM and switched to AST. I prefer AST, although that's mostly because I like the way it looks and the fact that it keeps me busier during dungeons and raids. I loved that I could switch between healing and DPSing with WHM, but AST also lets you fiddle a lot with your cards and makes you decide what cards would best suit the party at any given moment. So if you like staying very busy and multitasking, go with AST. It's healing may not be quite as powerful as WHM, but it has other abilities that you can use to make up for this, which gives you more healing options. But if you'd rather have something more straight-forward with not as much micro-management, I would recommend WHM.

I will admit that I occasionally miss a beat with AST because I might get too focused on trying to draw the right combination of cards and not notice something simple, like an enemy's tankbuster loading up or that someone has a debuff they really need to have removed. So that might be something you want to keep in mind when deciding. Either way, both are really fun jobs.

Hope that helped!

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Originally Posted by Velox

Every tool that WHM has, AST has something similar (assuming Diurnal sect). As a bonus, AST has cards and a lower GCD. Since the last patch, I think it's safe to say that currently AST is a WHM + more utility, making it a slightly better healer in the current meta.

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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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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