Quote Originally Posted by Cynfael View Post
AST's comparative lack of CDs that increase healing efficiency is a glaring oversight IMO.

Additionally, if you find yourself frequently blowing cards to cast Spear and Ewer on yourself (as I hear many people around here do) that's a little sad because it mostly negates the group benefit of the entire card mechanic. The Job should be able to sustain itself adequately without having to patch up its MP issues by hoarding cards for itself.
I feel that you're as much of a party member as everyone else. If you can make the best use of a buff, I don't see why you'd choose not to use it on yourself. If I plan on using Spear on myself, I know what CD's I have on tap and how I can use them to keep the party stable, as opposed to having no clue how a pug member would use their buffs, not necessarily having kept track of CD's that they've used, or if they'd even notice Spear at all. Of course, spending all the cards on yourself is indicative of a problem, but an AST shouldn't neglect themselves when other party members don't stand to benefit from your buffs.

Their lack of healing buffs, however, is a definitive issue. Although I'm not looking to cookie cutter AST by giving them a potency buffing skill, they need some manner in which to recover from mistakes. They are more than able to sustain a party through battle, but when the balance shifts to more damage coming in than healing going out, AST has a hard time playing catch up, and with limited resources to do so.