ASTROLOGIST - DPS roles for the 7.0 ?

Here, I tell myself that with all the problems encountered by the Astrologist's Job, it would just be better (and I hope that SE will look at this post), to transform the Astrologist into a DPS-Buffer (magic caster) , like the Dancer who works very well in DPS with his buffs. In addition all along since 3.0 this is what is requested: more attack spells, which is certainly difficult to achieve on a Healer, but is what people also want, in addition to corrections and utility job mechanics. I cross my fingers even if I don't really believe in it... but frankly they would do 10 times better this way and it would save them from doing a Time Mage, and would win a new DPS magic caster. :rolleyes:

Instead it would also free them up to make a new and more interesting true full healer.

If the problem presented is 'people want to have more attack spells on healers', I'd love to know how you came to the conclusion that the solution is 'give them more attack spells, and then recategorize the job to be not-a-healer', as we'd just be where we are now: healers have too few attack spells, AST randomly swaps roles (which AST mains probably won't appreciate), and in it's place we get another flat bland healer job, presumably with very few attack buttons and way too many healing skills

So OP, what would you say if I gave Red Mages some extra utility skills, since you're losing the DPS race in any case due to both your utility penalty and the ranged tax? Why not realize that you're better suited to the support slot, you can be the new magical support since you're already the best job for raises.
But -wait- you want to be a DPS? You like to help out but you signed up as a DPS, you would rather be considered like the other magical DPS? Sounds fair to me.

Well, as an AST, I would rather keep this in the healer category, I would be more than happy though if healers were given a dedicated designer to who properly assess all of the feedback and the dichotomy between the combat and job design. I don't agree that "adding more attack spells" is difficult on a job that uses less attack spells than a tank, and of them relies typically on one spell for the majority of attacks. Nor do I understand, by the way, why turning the job into a DPS would make it possible for SE to make a "new and more interesting full healer" if (for some people) that isn't the case for the existing healers.

If the AST changed roles, it wouldn't be by chance, since it would become DPS so as not to have "too many things to manage", it's also because of that that they had to simplify the cards, however by being DPS you have a lot less to manage, moreover... I was talking about the fact that people wanted more attack spells yes... it's not so specific to healers as that, the Sage (who has more attacks because he specializes in the shield) and the White Mage do well in their roles, because they are based on that simply. An Astrologian couldn't specialize in shields because that would conflict with his spells and cards anyway, it would be too much to deal with. So honest yes, putting it in DPS is the best solution but also the one a lot of people originally wanted. Adding more spells also helps to make the job varied, and especially less monotonous, especially since that's what causes the identity problems of the job. Otherwise you might as well delete the cards, do 1 single touch that simulates the buff (since that's what it is today, they all do the same buffs)... Being a healer drowns out the whole identity of the job at the current time. I don't know what they are planning, but it better hold on...


Honestly, the only thing I know for sure is that making the astrologian a pure healer was a really bad idea. If they really want to leave it as a healer, it will necessarily have to be considered as a "healer shield", but suddenly I don't see how they can, and that also means adding more significant damage spells, to the image of the Sage. We'll see in July with the Fan Festival anyway, the dice are already cast, whatever they want they have already made their decisions for a while now, we'll see if it's to have worse, or to FINALLY have a real overhaul that will please everyone.

I main AST and i actually quite enjoy how AST is atm, and i would never have wished it to be DPS..
I play healer - because i dont like playing DPS.

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Originally Posted by RylienSamildanach

If the AST changed roles, it wouldn't be by chance, since it would become DPS so as not to have "too many things to manage", it's also because of that that they had to simplify the cards, however by being DPS you have a lot less to manage, moreover... I was talking about the fact that people wanted more attack spells yes... it's not so specific to healers as that, the Sage (who has more attacks because he specializes in the shield) and the White Mage do well in their roles, because they are based on that simply. An Astrologian couldn't specialize in shields because that would conflict with his spells and cards anyway, it would be too much to deal with. So honest yes, putting it in DPS is the best solution but also the one a lot of people originally wanted. Adding more spells also helps to make the job varied, and especially less monotonous, especially since that's what causes the identity problems of the job. Otherwise you might as well delete the cards, do 1 single touch that simulates the buff (since that's what it is today, they all do the same buffs)... Being a healer drowns out the whole identity of the job at the current time. I don't know what they are planning, but it better hold on...


Honestly, the only thing I know for sure is that making the astrologian a pure healer was a really bad idea. If they really want to leave it as a healer, it will necessarily have to be considered as a "healer shield", but suddenly I don't see how they can, and that also means adding more significant damage spells, to the image of the Sage. We'll see in July with the Fan Festival anyway, the dice are already cast, whatever they want they have already made their decisions for a while now, we'll see if it's to have worse, or to FINALLY have a real overhaul that will please everyone.

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First of all, I don't necessarily agree with the "too many things to manage" as why cards were simplified. There have already been a number of posts that discuss why some players used to fish for damage cards over other cards so I won't go into that at length, also I didn't main AST at that time so I'll leave that to someone who did- but that does sound like a more likely reason.
, as opposed to some players.

I do agree with you on a few points: that the pure/barrier split was badly implemented, and I don't even think it was needed at all as well as that the AST redesign is already done.
However I don't agree on some other points- I don't see why it would be necessary to change AST to a shield healer, and consequently I don't see that it's necessary that it is necessary to change it to be a clone of SGE- which is already somewhat a clone of SCH ins some aspects.

If the best solution for the job is to turn it into something that a lot of people wanted, then we need to also rework DNC into a healer, DRK into a DPS and SAM into a tank.

No thanks. Astro is the one healer I actually enjoy playing because the OGCD cards make me feel like I'm actually doing something between the endless casts of Malefic.

I can't be mad at the suggestion. If only for the sake of not being hampered by needing to fit in the do-nothing healer role with an over-abundance of healing skills and undercooked impact of 2-4% buffs, perhaps AST would have been allowed to have more of a buffing-regimen if they were a DPS, and therefore the class fantasy would have been better off.
As for balance, let's face it: AST isn't BLM, and it wouldn't be a melee class, so the balance just wouldn't matter all that much to SE overall. Hell, at least as a DPS class, AST would probably get more playtesting.

But honestly, rather than just this, I would prefer to have it so that all jobs had the ability to function in as any role by switching out certain spells, skills, and abilities based on the role the player chooses. That way everyone could just be their favorite job(s) whenever.

But why does AST have to become a DPS job to be designed properly when they could just.....design the healer role properly in the first place?

AST mains want:

Varied cards. Period.
Better RNG mitigation
Time elements like Time Dilation back
Nocturnal Sect

None of those need nor require AST to be DPS job. They require SE to actually be C R E A T I V E in how they implement them. See PvP AST for details (and PvP versions of classes in general honestly).

If AST becomes ANYTHING it would be a straight up removal of cards and a rebranding to be Time Mage the healer.

And again, AST could be a regen healer if SE would actually play with the idea.

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Originally Posted by Aravell

But why does AST have to become a DPS job to be designed properly when they could just.....design the healer role properly in the first place?

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I mean, yes, that would be the ideal scenario, wouldn't it? Let's hope we see that happen before the game ends in 10 or so years.

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Originally Posted by MintnHoney

I can't be mad at the suggestion. If only for the sake of not being hampered by needing to fit in the do-nothing healer role with an over-abundance of healing skills and undercooked impact of 2-4% buffs, perhaps AST would have been allowed to have more of a buffing-regimen if they were a DPS, and therefore the class fantasy would have been better off.

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Yeah I'm honestly all for it. A DPS job that makes its contribution obliquely, through casting support skills on the correct targets? Throwing thorns on tanks, auto-attack enhancers on auto-attackers, damaging auras on melees, stuff like that? And better still, the buffs are to big enough to detect in the game itself without having to load up an illegal third-party spreadsheet manager, because they have to be, because they're its DPS contribution?

It'll never happen, of course, but it would be cool and imaginative and feel like an actual RPG caster.

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But honestly, rather than just this, I would prefer to have it so that all jobs had the ability to function in as any role by switching out certain spells, skills, and abilities based on the role the player chooses. That way everyone could just be their favorite job(s) whenever.

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Guild Wars 1.

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Originally Posted by vetch

A DPS job that makes its contribution obliquely, through casting support skills on the correct targets?

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In another world where NIN did not get Trick/Mug changes (and so it's raidwide utility buff is still a 1min) I'd have said that BLU would be a good fit for the role, as the 'caster equivalent of NIN'. It's got Offguard, Peculiar Light, some DOTs to manage, Bad Breath, can interrupt with Flying Sardine, can soak with Diamondback, etc. I can see a place for it to get some kind of 'buff ally with an effect that provides damage indirectly' skill or another