Astrologian buffs confirmed

[Vlady]

I didn't take your statement very far out of context (if at all) considering that the entirety of your post is directly above mine and you do indeed call AST healing "on par" with that of WHM and SCH and follow up with reasons why the latter are stronger. You can't claim that AST is "more than fine" or "on par" when you yourself cite deficiencies.

Besides, mana regeneration is just one aspect of healing and not even the biggest beef with AST. I don't see what AST has that makes up for its obvious lack of healing cooldowns, and it's pretty impossible to argue that AST is on par with the other Jobs in its role as far as healing goes when it falls short in direct comparison.

I stated that i felt that white and scholar mana replenishing abilities may be a tad strong that astro was just right. Then I stated that if astro was to be brought up to the level of the other two the benefic II buff being cheaper or even free would be a big step to helping which you did leave out. Astro mana issues are indeed not the biggest issue and the cooldowns are being change so the point will be ancient history tomorrow if the buffs are worthwhile. And that statement was directed at Richard which I thought was in my original quote.

And yes Astro healing is more then fine. It is a 20 potency difference not counting our stance buffs.

[Blueyes]

I used to suggest that, if the cards were made more potent, AST could get by on its ability to end phases faster.

Now, however, I've changed my tune and I feel like AST needs to be at 90% of SCH/WHM's 100% emergency healing power.

In the end, we're HEALERS. Our job is to keep the group alive, and no amount of card buffs that moderately help with DPS are going to fix that.

I do want to say that I agree with your assessment. When discussing Astrologian in comparison to White Mage and Scholar there has been a frequent comparison made to Bard and Machinist and how they compare to other DPS jobs. Supposedly the sub par healing capabilities of the Astrologian are justified due to their ability to buff and enhance the party. However that is something I don't agreed with for the simple reason that while a Bard or Machinist may have a lower personal DPS output their utility is primary geared towards boosting the DPS of the party as a whole to the point that it becomes a net gain. The buffs of the Astrologian serve a similar primary function in boosting the DPS output of the group and while in a roundabout way that helps to reduce the amount of healing required for an encounter I see their buffs as a stronger justification for making their personal DPS weaker, not their healing. If their cards were better geared towards defensive and healing utility it would be a different story, but even when looking at Bole, on average you aren't going to see that card any more often than another healer is able to use Eye for an Eye. Astrologian doesn't have any special utility to support their co-healer any more so than a White Mage or Scholar which means they should be just as capable as those jobs at fulfilling their role as a healer.

[Vlady]

I do want to say that I agree with your assessment. When discussing Astrologian in comparison to White Mage and Scholar there has been a frequent comparison made to Bard and Machinist and how they compare to other DPS jobs. Supposedly the sub par healing capabilities of the Astrologian are justified due to their ability to buff and enhance the party. However that is something I don't agreed with for the simple reason that while a Bard or Machinist may have a lower personal DPS output their utility is primary geared towards boosting the DPS of the party as a whole to the point that it becomes a net gain. The buffs of the Astrologian serve a similar primary function in boosting the DPS output of the group and while in a roundabout way that helps to reduce the amount of healing required for an encounter I see their buffs as a stronger justification for making their personal DPS weaker, not their healing. If their cards were better geared towards defensive and healing utility it would be a different story, but even when looking at Bole, on average you aren't going to see that card any more often than another healer is able to use Eye for an Eye. Astrologian doesn't have any special utility to support their co-healer any more so than a White Mage or Scholar which means they should be just as capable as those jobs at fulfilling their role as a healer.

And they are not equipped despite every fight in the game being healed with an astrologian? I have yet to see anyone parse numbers of healing in a fight with equal gear so the concept is more of a mindset that astrologians are weak because people say they are. How is a 20 potency difference in healing more then a 5% difference in strength in the overall comparison of Ben I/II against white cure I/II going to break an Astrologian?

On the contrary there are more astrologians on my server right now then scholars. By 40 people so the job is not as in dire straights as alot of people seem to place them. Summoners at the lowest level pre 3.0 you could sometimes only see 20-30 on at peak hours with every other job being 200 on search results so Astrologians are far from weak.

[GideonHighmourn]

And they are not equipped despite every fight in the game being healed with an astrologian? I have yet to see anyone parse numbers of healing in a fight with equal gear so the concept is more of a mindset that astrologians are weak because people say they are. How is a 20 potency difference in healing more then a 5% difference in strength in the overall comparison of Ben I/II against white cure I/II going to break an Astrologian?

On the contrary there are more astrologians on my server right now then scholars. By 40 people so the job is not as in dire straights as alot of people seem to place them. Summoners at the lowest level pre 3.0 you could sometimes only see 20-30 on at peak hours with every other job being 200 on search results so Astrologians are far from weak.

The potency of heals is not the problem; it's the distinct lack of healing CDs, paired with limited MP regeneration compared to WHM/SCH. There aren't any true "end game" fights at the moment, either; outside of Bismark EX, most fights require relatively little healing unless mechanics aren't being handled properly. AST having healed through current content isn't indicative of it's peak performance, nor any healers, really.

Also, the popularity of a job is not indicative of it's performance; that's a very poor correlation.

[RichardButte]

And they are not equipped despite every fight in the game being healed with an astrologian?

No one has argued that they can't be healed with an AST (or they're wrong if they have). The problem is that AST is hugely dependent on the group being good at avoiding avoidable damage, and that doesn't describe every DF group, not by a longshot.

And furthermore, the lack of emergency healing options is going to haunt AST in savage mode, either that or Savage will be a joke. It literally can't be both.

If the emergency options of WHM/SCH aren't necessary, then Savage will be cake for groups bringing WHM/SCH. If they are, then ASTs are going to be in a world of hurt.

[Vlady]

Noc aspect is quite a potent emergency ability that few talk about. Near 500 potency instant cast is powerful for emergencies. Synastry is as well. Astro is getting light speed change and I think the two celestial cool downs will allow combat stance changes as well. Regeneration plus shields at once would be our emergency. Plus the 40 second near 8k heal at low health is a strong tool kit.

[Sidra]

I do not understand the idea that AST are weak when it comes to Emergency Healing. Essential Dignity is really strong on a low HP target (which is valid when the topic is emergencies), instant and on a 40 second CD. Like the other healers, it has access to Swiftcast (and unlike on my SCH who always uses it for Shadowflare, SC should be up on an AST when the emergency happens). AND their aspected spell is Instant, with the Noct version obviously better for an emergency situation. All combined that's a lot of fast healing.

Certainly doesn't seem inferior to my SCH's Lustrate > Adlo > Emerg TActics > Adlo

I do believe Lightspeed should be buffed, but just because it's a crappy skill. But as is, AST are just fine in terms of emergency healing. The card system is meh, and they definitely seem to run into mana issues easier than the other healers - so I am not saying the job is in a great spot. I just don't really see why people think emergency healing is the issue.

[Alahra]

I do not understand the idea that AST are weak when it comes to Emergency Healing.

Part of it is that emergencies aren't always single-target situations. Essential Dignity is certainly pretty potent; however, in situations where you need a lot of burst healing to get someone back to full, it pales in comparison to Lustrate (which has the potential for 3-6 large heals in the span of a few seconds), or Tetragrammaton and Benediction. SCH and WHM have more tools to fall back on in emergency situations, as well. WHM can use Divine Seal to significantly up their healing potency or Presence of Mind to get a number of heals out faster (both of which function with both single-target and AoE heals), whereas SCH has Emergency Tactics, Rouse, and potentially Fey Illumination (though most of the time they'll probably be using Selene these days).

In short, the issue becomes that when there is damage outside of the expected damage, AST has fewer tools with which to respond to it. Once Essential Dignity is on cooldown, the AST has no options outside of Swiftcast, whereas the other healers have Swiftcast, a couple emergency cooldowns, and more options for oGCD heals.

[Sidra]

I really thing you are exaggerating the SCH - there is no such thing as more than 3 lustrates (except at the very start of the fight when there is no emergency), and even 3 is pretty rare - those stacks get used, you never make it to Aetherflow's recasts with 3 stacks still. Even an emergency it's not usually more than 1 Lustrate that goes out on a single target. Also Emergency Tactics doesn't really add any potency, it just Allows for 2 consecutive Adlo's on the same target whereas in 2.x that 2nd one would be a lower potency Physick.

Synastry allows an AST to heal 2 targets as once (basically the same as on a SCH is manually embracing a 2nd target), they still have AOE heals - and small things like using Time Dilation to extend hots to free up capacity to send heals elsewhere.

Anyway this may be moot, servers going down in 15 mins, and when they come up, there are prolly gonna be some AST changes ^.^

[Alahra]

I really thing you are exaggerating the SCH - there is no such thing as more than 3 lustrates (except at the very start of the fight when there is no emergency), and even 3 is pretty rare - those stacks get used, you never make it to Aetherflow's recasts with 3 stacks still.

Sure you do. SCH was my main for a long time and depending on group composition and the skill of players involved, I would frequently sit on them to help in recovering from emergency situations. Will you sit on them on farm content or at the highest level of play? Probably not, but the *potential* is there (which is all I said--"potentially 3-6"). Even just the potential for 3 of them is far greater burst healing than AST has access to.

Synastry is fairly strong in situations where two targets are taking damage, that much is true. It's not the best emergency skill but it can, in a pinch, offer some emergency healing if only two targets are getting hit.