Astrologian "BUFFS"

[Remilia_Nightfall]

Would that really make the other 2 obsolete though? If all 3 of them were at the same level, people would play their favourite healer anyways, with non-impact card buffs adding just a tiny plus if bringing an AST. Our cards are not that game breaking and even less with their randomness.

It depends what you mean by "same level". Making diurnal pour out as much raw healing as WHM and nocturnal as much potential mitigation as SCH yes, it would make those two classes obsolete as with AST you would be able to do both of those things as well as them, and those two things are what it is needed in raids, mostly. Everything else is just added fluff.
Set aside the "people would play their favourite". No, people will play whatever is FOTM or simply whatever is more powerful/versatile.

[Codek]

It depends what you mean by "same level". Making diurnal pour out as much raw healing as WHM and nocturnal as much potential mitigation as SCH yes, it would make those two classes obsolete as with AST you would be able to do both of those things as well as them, and those two things are what it is needed in raids, mostly. Everything else is just added fluff.
Set aside the "people would play their favourite". No, people will play whatever is FOTM or simply whatever is more powerful/versatile.

People are already picking the more powerful/versatile classes....that's kind of the problem here.

I'm not sure why you think having the classes equal in potency suddenly translates to having AST be better then the other two.

And, just because AST can fit in both roles, doesn't mean we get to play both. Technically, the role AST is suppose to play is based off the other healer in the party. We don't really have much say in the matter as it's usually pre-determined before we enter an instance (let alone during a boss fight). Sadly, It just so happens that Nocturnal is so bad right now that most AST will play as a double WHM combo then pretend to be a SCH.

AST/AST combo is also another whole mess of failure to go over. It sure won't be becoming the second coming anytime in the future.

[Rubiss]

Snip

AST brings more to the table than just healing. They are also a buffing class. While their buffs don't seem to be anything special at the moment, the entire point is that they bring something different to a party. It feels as thought a majority of Astrologian threads and ideas just want Astrologian to be as good as a Scholar in Nocturnal and as good as a White Mage in Diurnal while still being able to support the party with buffs.

AST has been out for a little over a month, with Savage only being out for two days as of writing this. I don't even think players are able to properly judge how good Astrologian is. Remember when Scholar first came out?

The point is, AST seems to be a support healer type. With this in mind, I would expect the overall healing potency of AST to be lower because they ideally support the party with buffs. If anything their "buffs" need a buff.

[Remilia_Nightfall]

I'm not sure why you think having the classes equal in potency suddenly translates to having AST be better then the other two.

Not "better" per se, but versatility is still a tool that only AST has. It might not help once you are in the field, but it is still a peculiarity that must be taken into account. Of course we could argue that since we can level both WHM and SCH on the same character, this kind of versatility is useless for any serious player - but that is a different can of worms. Point is, AST needs to pay for this versatility somehow.

Mind you, I am a SCH healing alex savage with an AST. I am fully aware of its issues. I am just saying that simply boosting potency, while a possible solution to make AST more viable, would not be very smart in the long run. We need something unique that does not kill AST identity. i.e., something with cards.