AST: Tips & Tricks!

Hello guys.

I decided to make this just because I want to hear other people tricks to improve my AST gameplay. If all goes well, then we'll have a bunch of cool AST things to try out.

Small WHM CC counter.

(Now this is obviously situational.)

1. Target or FT the WHM to see if they hard cast "Repose". Get close enough for "Celestial Opposition" to hit.

2. Insta "Purify" > "Celestial Opposition". If successful the stun will give you enough time to run an LoS.

This will cause some WHM's to stop healing and chase you around. Hopefully burning their "Swiftcast" too.

I'm so excited I'll share more if you share too! ^^

(Posted from my crappy phone D; )

Might not be the best idea, as that will put them on stun DR and it's only a 2s stun. Usually you can be liberal CO in solo Q but it's not the best habit. A better idea, IMO, is to just be aware of where the WHM is at all times while holding a FT on him for those repose casts. I always LoS them, and then watch them move to try and SC+R me. I often try and run myself right into the action in hopes that the unaware enemy team hits me with some sort of AOE and I wake up. You usually have enough time to do this.

Ahh Ren! I loved your post about feast feedback! Thanks if you stream I'd love to watch you play sometime! Anyway's I have been LoS them as much as possible too. :)

I know most ASTs tend to use Noc for shields, but I get more help from regens than I do shields.

I find it keeps my party alive longer than a shield in the long game.

Its decent on bursts I feel---enough that I feel comfortable. I match bursts with having quick reflexes and well placed timing of Light Speed.

Shields feel more like what noobie ASTs might use til they get reaction speed up high.

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Originally Posted by JazzofEtro

Ahh Ren! I loved your post about feast feedback! Thanks if you stream I'd love to watch you play sometime! Anyway's I have been LoS them as much as possible too. :)

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Thanks! I stream sometimes, though my computer has trouble handling it so it is very rarely: www.twitch.tv/Stefan_Delumiere

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Originally Posted by Excalipoor

I know most ASTs tend to use Noc for shields, but I get more help from regens than I do shields.

I find it keeps my party alive longer than a shield in the long game.

Its decent on bursts I feel---enough that I feel comfortable. I match bursts with having quick reflexes and well placed timing of Light Speed.

Shields feel more like what noobie ASTs might use til they get reaction speed up high.

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The Regens provide more TOTAL healing, but I feel the shields provide more effective healing in most cases. Also, due to the spammable nature of AB, the regen effect from diurnal is pretty much useless if your healing target is being focused, as you continue refreshing it. This creates a playstyle where it is more beneficial to throw up double regens and spam Benefic 2, but at that point you're just playing a worse version of WHM. Noct also enhances your healing potency, making your heals bigger. The spell speed benefit of Diurnal is not that great IMO as the greatest strength of AST is it's ability to instantly cast those AB's.

Cool tips overall! I'd like to add some:

Don't kite too hard or you'll make your ranged useless. Is is for everyone actually, but i've seen healers specially ASTs with some higher tendency of kiting too much. There is a limit on how much you can do efficiently.
Use your pvp skills, synastry is great to heal multiple targets specially when you're being attacked. Disable is great! And more importantly: Don't spam only aspected benefic.

Please.

This is pretty neat. When the enemy healer dies hit "lightspeed" + "Sprint" if you know you can out run the dps and tank. Then spam "blizzard II" in the path that are running back to their base. Sometimes you can really help finish a game if the conditions are met and/or you get lucky. :)

Another handy tip. Probably for us PS4 users

Easy access to "Stella". this macro helps me a bunch because my "synastry" is mapped close to my "Benefics".

/micon "Synastry"
/ac "Synastry"
/ac "Stella"

You will get either one depending on if your target is an ally or enemy. Works like a charm for me! ^^

Personally I would rather just have a WHM. I can't see a scenario where I wouldn't want Repose and the other oGCD heals, also AST is very poor late game and has a very hard time keeping up with 6+ stacks of vulnerability. I think good Balances and Boles make or break a good AST.

@ jubez Let's not turn this into "what healer would you prefer to play thread" I just want to share and others to share some AST stuff. If there is nothing to share so be it let this thread die.

Side note: AST can keep a tank up with 6+ stacks is you use "synasty" + the 3 Regens + Time dialation. But for all heals it's hard if you don't have to buffs to do it. It's possible and impossible under certain conditions. The spear and arrow are just as good as bole and balance. :)

I'm not saying AST is as good as or better than whm. That will throw this thread way off track. Thanks for your input though. :)

As a new WHM I am perhaps using this thread in ways unintended. :>

So today. I just found out you can "Time Dilation" the Focalization buff... Amazing.

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Originally Posted by JazzofEtro

So today. I just found out you can "Time Dilation" the Focalization buff... Amazing.

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Yep! And Celestial Opposition! I've been playing around with using CO more for buff extending than for the stun. Often I find that extended Lightspeed + LA + other buffs is better.

For 8v8 I think diurnal is better than noct. Sure noct has " increased heals" but their shields are so nerfed in PvP, that scholars tend to do more heals (now that the spell interrupts were changed.) Regens are also the heals that keep on healing when people LoS or go out of range.
My own tips for 8v8 as astro is to have your manadraw fully upgraded, use ewers on yourself when you can, and extend your luminiferous aether. (8v8 can be a huge mana sink)
Also, just before culling time, or early into culling time, spread aoe balance\ bole\ arrow on your team, aetherburst(? Er, the one that does the skill speed reduction), and use the aoe esuna move that also removes a buff on each person on the enemy team. If you are lucky enough to spot it, using that move can also be useful to remove an attunement from an almost- dead healer. Using celestial opposition to stun the entire enemy team during culling time can help give your team the upper hand.
Synastry is useful for when two people and being hurt at once and need large heals on both. This includes when you are being hit yourself and need to kite and heal yourself and another person(since the healing due to synastry ignores LoS).
I also tend to always use an aspected Helios during lightspeed, so the cast is short, and its mp cost is reduced.
I usually end up doing more heals than whms :3 sometimes by quite a lot, so I think it is by no means worse than whm. They just have different tools at their disposal. My current win ratio is 73% in 8v8

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Originally Posted by Jubez187

Personally I would rather just have a WHM. I can't see a scenario where I wouldn't want Repose and the other oGCD heals, also AST is very poor late game and has a very hard time keeping up with 6+ stacks of vulnerability. I think good Balances and Boles make or break a good AST.

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You just haven't seen good astros ;) they are excellent culling time healers.

shields didn't get that nerfed, they still are good. i still prefer noct over diurnal for 4v4/8v8/SR. the way i heal with AST is all around noct stance and it's hard to change habit for diurnal. both stances are equal.

I love my Ast for pve, it's really hard for me to use it for anything other than seal rock because I think my setup is screwy. Also being on a ps4 controller is also annoying because all the stuff you need to use might be on different tabs. I'm trying to find an efficient set up but going back and forth between tabs could be costly especially in 4v4

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Originally Posted by Evilsyndicatemember

I love my Ast for pve, it's really hard for me to use it for anything other than seal rock because I think my setup is screwy. Also being on a ps4 controller is also annoying because all the stuff you need to use might be on different tabs. I'm trying to find an efficient set up but going back and forth between tabs could be costly especially in 4v4

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I'll post a screen shot of my setup when i get home from work, and try to explain what's going on. Might help because I play on PS4 too. But i can't right now. I'll edit this post later with the stuff. :)

EDIT: Here is the screenshot

R2+Circle:
/micon "Benefic II"
/ac "Malefic II"
/ac "Benefic II"

R2+Cross:
/micon "Synastry"
/ac "Stella"
/ac "Synastry"

R2+Square:
/micon "Essential Dignity"
/ac "Essential Dignity"
/ac "Benefic"

R2+Right D-PAD:
/micon "Aspected Benefic"
/ac "Divine Breath"
/ac "Aspected Benefic"

L2+Cross:
/micon "Mana Draw"
/ac "Luminiferous Aether" (I really don't know how it's spelt off the top of my head but w/e)
/ac "Mana Draw"

L2+Down D-PAD:
/micon "Swiftcast"
/ac "Swiftcast"
/ac "Surecast"
/ac "Equanimity" (Again don't know how it's spelt ^^; )

L2+Up D-PAD:
/micon "Time Dilation"
/ac "Disable"
/ac "Time Dilation"

All of these work for me because of how I play. Also I use my arrow keys and num-pad on my keyboard too. So I have buttons everywhere. I also have ALL of my skills on my screen at all times on custom hotbars, in order of how they are listed in my macros. Such as the swiftcast one so I can see what I will get when I hit it. Macros have many flaws too but sometimes they can free up a heck of alot of space. Cherry pick whatever you want, or make your own. If it it works for you too... /thumbsup. If not... /grovel. You can always go back to what you had though. :)

I don't have a keyboard though. >_>

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Originally Posted by Evilsyndicatemember

I don't have a keyboard though. >_>

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I was just explaining a little bit about what is going on in my setup as anyone might be curious. As for you I was just sharing the macros, as some of them might help you free up some extra space for your own setup. Not saying you should use them just sharing an idea. : )