Why people says AST is bad?

[h0tNstilettos]

I think AST is fine. At first I agreed with most of the forum until I've started learning how to play it better. The problem with AST is that it has a higher skill cap, and in my opinion has the highest skill cap of any job in the game.

Also, yes AST can heal like a WHM if you are in Nocturnal Sect. Did you know that in Nocturnal Sect, a Benefic II is 1 potency higher than a WHM's Cure II? And Benefic I and Cure I are the same potency. In Diurnal Sect the potency is lowered. After I have gotten a lot better with AST, I actually think it is on par with WHM and SCH, possibly better by a tad. I even use to think mana was an issue, but then I realized I was playing the job efficiently and now I don't find myself ever having mana issues in long fights, unless it's a really bad group I'm with.

I am at 60 and have done comprehensive research on the job, including reading some AST guides, theorycrafting, watching vids of how others are playing it, closely examining my skills and comparing them to WHM and SCH, etc.