Why people says AST is bad?

[Evilkitten]

I'm only 54 atm so can't comment fully but I have been keeping all 3 of my healers at the same level. Atm I feel that ast is sightly weaker compared to my whm & sch. I feel like it needs something to make it all round solid. I keep having that feeling like something is missing the more I level up but will wait until I am level 60 to see what it may be.

[Eudyptes]

I just saying no one is going to take very many AST to end game raiding imo...

If a raid group is so bad that they need to rely on a class being better by such a small margin to make up for their lack of skill, they have no business raiding.

[Rajeme]

I just saying no one is going to take very many AST to end game raiding imo...

If that's the case, they are making this less of a game than ever.

And my friends are ready to take me to anywhere regardless whichever class I'm rolling, AST or MCH... Cause not everybody is such petty...

[Ceta_pls]

If a raid group is so bad that they need to rely on a class being better by such a small margin to make up for their lack of skill, they have no business raiding.

Not true at all.
If you aim to do high-end PVE and aren't overgeared as **** like everyone was in 2.55, you need class synergy and a good strategy.

It's a nice philosophy that every class matters and it doesn't make a difference in raiding, but the reality isn't like that. If a class is more reliable and does the same thing as another class with less effort, there's no reason for a progress guild to pick the weaker class if they want to succeed with their raid.

That said, the AST isn't horribly bad and shouldn't be taken into raids. It's just that WHM/SCH do the job better than the AST and the cards are a very minor factor which can almost completely subbed with Selenes buff.

[Vlady]

Maybe royal road could be turned into a toggle that let's you keep buffs out as long as it's on but drains tp at a fast fate. So much potential for combos with dps using mana and casters making use of tp.

[Krixus]

We all saw those solo heal whm and sch vids.
Question is can ast solo heal? Lol....
Ast life the hard life. The bastard child of healing if you must lol.

Astro already solo healed ravana ex, you failed this thread.

Astro is fine, I welcome tweaks and buffs, but I already feel its a strong job. People I've run into have been surprised at what I can do, and will say "oh I heard astro wasn't very good". It all comes down to the player, most ffxiv players are bad, and should stick to easy mode whm.

[Miiu]

Astro already solo healed ravana ex, you failed this thread.

Astro is fine, I welcome tweaks and buffs, but I already feel its a strong job. People I've run into have been surprised at what I can do, and will say "oh I heard astro wasn't very good". It all comes down to the player, most ffxiv players are bad, and should stick to easy mode whm.

@Krixus
The day you can make a valid point without insulting players (directly or general) I'll admit that Astro is fine as it is. >.>

[Krixus]

@Krixus
The day you can make a valid point without insulting players (directly or general) I'll admit that Astro is fine as it is. >.>

The title of the thread asks why people think astro is bad, no one has said the core reason. So now he has a point of view from multiple types of people, I'm just a bit more direct. And that wasn't really that insulting...it's well known this game has a heavy emphasis on casual players. But I'm also quite alright with you not admitting astro is fine lol.

[Miiu]

The title of the thread asks why people think astro is bad, no one has said the core reason. So now he has a point of view from multiple types of people, I'm just a bit more direct. And that wasn't really that insulting...it's well known this game has a heavy emphasis on casual players. But I'm also quite alright with you not admitting astro is fine lol.

Just wait it will eat away at you. ;P

[Seryl199]

It's not that Astrologian is a bad healer, it's a nuanced healer that requires a lot of planning, smart application of Draws, it's unforgiving for patching up serious missteps, and generally requires a lot of work to be about as good as other healers. If you don't plan or Draw well, and people are making mistakes, that's when AST becomes difficult to play.

I, for one, really want the oGCD abilities of AST to stand out more than its ability to heal, including Draw. AST has a lot of abilities it uses that are instant cast, Aspected Benefic gets frequent use, instant cast DoT's, Enhanced Benefic II, Lightspeed casts (this has it's own problems, but nevertheless allows for instant cast spells with oGCD opportunities), Swiftcast. There are so many opportunities where AST can start popping buffs without slowing down its healing tempo in the slightest, and have high mobility at the same time. It's just that the payoff isn't often worth the effort of setting up a chain of instant casts, I end up just Drawing oGCD, or popping Luminiferous Aether. I haven't gotten these abilities yet, but Time Dilation seems pretty useful, though I've heard, and can see why, that Collective Unconscious leaves a lot to be desired, and Celestial Opposition seems wonky and underwhelming.

On the subject of card buffs, I think they're mostly fine. What I'd like to see for them is minor tweaks, not to buff the cards necessarily, but to make them less situational. Since RNG is such a prevalent factor when Drawing, and Drawing is the main caveat of AST, it shouldn't find itself in a scenario where its Draw is useless. Every card should have an application once you start combat.

Spire is one of the main offenders here, I curse it every time I'm solo and I Draw it when RR is already prepped, Shuffle it away and Draw it again. I know that's a shared pain, and it's frustrating to use two CD's, one of which is a 90 sec CD, and still end up with a useless Draw. Even in dungeons, the chance that your tanks or DPS will run into TP issues during the window that you Draw Spire is quite slim, and if they're already desperately low, all you can do is ease their pain while they wait for in combat ticks to replenish TP, it doesn't refresh anything. Maybe it would be useful in Alexander, to save your BRD some time spent in Paeon, but it's not something you can rely on.

Ewer is good on a BLM, or if you find yourself shouldering a heavy rez burden, but I dislike using cards on myself, since my abilities should be enough to sustain me so that I can hand out buffs to others instead. Again, it's a situation where the card is only strong in specific scenarios, Drawing it without a BLM around usually means you put it on yourself, which means it's at least a full minute before you end up handing out a buff to someone else, more so if something is RR'd. It's a card that can always be played, but not always meaningfully.

I've seen others suggest that these cards should refresh TP/MP instead of reduce the cost, which would help make them less situational, since replenishing resources is always useful, as opposed to cost reduction where you need to apply it preemptively, and its value is only as high as the cost of what you use. It would make it less painful to use Ewer on myself, since Luminiferous Aether is the only other way to recover MP, and would allow me to be a little more aggressive in either DPS or potentially overhealing without needing to apply Ewer first, a later Draw would help just as much as a preemptive one. However, this still leaves Spire in hanging in the balance, since TP based classes are often able to manage their TP without difficulty outside of AoE or protracted battles. Again, will probably prove more useful in raids.

Spear is another card that's not quite up to par. 20% reduction of cooldown time is quite strong. This is a card I will use on myself with no other target available, and it's a card I've had great effect with when used on DPS that are aware of what I'm doing. However, DPS aren't going to hold buffs for Spear, neither will tanks, and you can't rely on RNG to have Spear up, or even to have it Spread, when you reach a burn phase where CD's will get used. Having it effect CD's already in use would be more of a buff than a tweak, but will go a long way towards making the card less situational and making it one of AST's stronger cards.

I like Bole how it is, though others are less fond of it, due to when you're going to need a defensive buff, you probably need it now, not when you happen to Draw it by chance. The way I see it, someone is always going to be taking damage in battle. If you happen to draw it before a spike damage mechanic, you can apply it to save the tank a CD, or soften a blow even further so that patching up is smoother. Worst case scenario, you Draw it in a lull, put it on the tank, and DPS, or minimize healing to restore MP.

Balance and Arrow are considered by and far the best draws. These cards effect the battle every time you draw them. The feeling that you get when you Draw them, "Great! How can I use this to our best advantage," should be the feeling you get whenever you Draw. Even if the cards end up tweaked an entirely different way, it should be something you can Shuffle off, and not be upset to see if it turns up in another Draw or two.

TL;DR:

Their healing is weaker than the other two healers, but for nothing in return. At the moment, the buffs are not potent enough, too random to be consistently decent at the current potency, and there are too many that are too situational and usually end up useless.

AST is not "bad", but it's weaker than the other two healers, with nothing granted in return.

Also, Crevox's longer post echoes a lot of similar points, had I noticed it before posting.