AST: Nocturnal vs Diurnal

[basketofseals]

I've found Nocturnal Sect most useful when I have a really squishy tank. Using a Diurnal Aspected Benefic on them is almost a waste, since their health drops so much faster than the Regen can do any work, so I end up spamming Benefic II just to keep them alive. With Nocturnal Aspected Benefic, I can at least get enough of a breather to alternate Benefic and Aspected Benefic.

What is the point of alternating those two? Aspected benefic is like 10% cheaper, but has 120ish less potency then benefic 2.

[Assirra]

What is the point of alternating those two? Aspected benefic is like 10% cheaper, but has 120ish less potency then benefic 2.

The fact is instant?
It's a great "oh shit" button following a casted heal when our big instant heal is on cd.

[AlexanderThorolund]

I watched a video on YouTube of an Ast healing the last Vault boss in Nocturnal and to be honest it looked like they had an easier time with it. (Tank was DRK)

[silverhope]

I see everyone knocking Noct stance.. And here I am in love with it. I use Noct for most of Alex normal and the trys we put on faust we got the farthest while I was in Noct.

A1 I can keep Aspected Helios on everyone and the AOE does nothing to anyone this lets the other healer dps pretty much till the second add pops up. Aspected Helios + Bubble shield on the dive part is amazing as well and they again take no dmg.

A2 I am able to buff everyone and keep a aoe shield up without pulling aggro on everything. (medica II and Aspected helios Der pull so much aggro)

A3 is a toss up I like Noct but Dern takes the cake for this fight as well as A4

I think Astro could use a buff to Benefic potency so I can cast it more than Benefic II this would help with alot of mp issues. I have no issues in any experts or alex norm. I love the class and hope we can get savage done with me on astro as well. Again alittle buff would be nice to save some MP!

[Isala]

What is the point of alternating those two? Aspected benefic is like 10% cheaper, but has 120ish less potency then benefic 2.

It's not a question of potency and cost. I mostly use it to keep their HP from pingponging all over the place. On a decent tank, you wouldn't even bother, but with a really bad one, it's either constantly shield them, or watch their HP constantly dip to half or less, because they're made of paper. I do that so that the Benefic I cast after hits them as they shatter my shield, and take a smaller chunk of damage, so I can follow it up with an instant Aspected Benefic and rinse and repeat. It's sloppy, and kinda sad that I have to resort to it, but if I was in Diurnal stance, such a squishy tank would be wasting my Regen anyway, due to the constant overheals coming from the Benefic II spam just to keep them up.

[Richiealvian]

Since we're talking about stances here, actually after using it in A2 I've come to respect Noct a lot. It's a massive boost to heal, from 4.3k benefic 2 to 4.8k. I think that's even stronger than a cure II, no? If you saw the A2 clear vid,which inspired me to use noct as well to clear, you can tell it's very pwoerful and will scale more with gear.

[Leiloni]

If you have a squishy tank where a Diurnal Aspected Benefic + Benefic I spam is not enough (you should not have to Benefic II spam in most situations), pop Lightspeed, then Aspected Helios on them, Aspected Benefic, and if you have a Bole that too, and then give him Time Dilation to extend the HoTs and Buff. Time Dilation plus Lightspeed will save you mana and the HoTs should provide enough of a buffer that all you need to do is Benefic I spam with the occasional Benefic II or ED if he dips lower. Shouldn't be doing overhealing if you're doing that and also won't be using a ton of mana (just make sure never to heal to 100% with HoTs on him, since you want to leave some HP left for the HoTs to actually heal up). Also works well to heal through big pulls before bosses.

Since we're talking about stances here, actually after using it in A2 I've come to respect Noct a lot. It's a massive boost to heal, from 4.3k benefic 2 to 4.8k. I think that's even stronger than a cure II, no? If you saw the A2 clear vid,which inspired me to use noct as well to clear, you can tell it's very pwoerful and will scale more with gear.

If you use HoTs properly than Diurnal is actually more healing for less mana.

[Sidra]

If you use HoTs properly than Diurnal is actually more healing for less mana.

Yes - but the fact its slow healing over time also makes it less effective in very high damage situations where you'd rather have stronger healing this second than extended duration mana efficiency.

[Leiloni]

Yes - but the fact its slow healing over time also makes it less effective in very high damage situations where you'd rather have stronger healing this second than extended duration mana efficiency.

Not really. HoTs offer a buffer of constant healing - far more than you'd get with the shields - acting as a supplement to Benefic I/II/ED spam. They aid in keeping your target's HP up and allow you to spend less mana because you don't have to spam Benefic II as much, especially if you have both HoTs up on your tank (two HoTs is an extra 150 potency every 3 seconds which makes up for that tiny loss in potency on Benefic I/II). Plus casting them with Lightspeed, they're much cheaper as well, and getting them up instantly gets the tank the buffer they need quickly. Then you should be able to get a few cheap Lightspeed Benefic II's up before it wears off and you can go back to Benefic I with II/ED as needed. It's really a much better way to keep someone healed up. It's more healing, less mana, and less spammy. Besides, your 5% extra healing is cancelled out by the fact that I can cast 5% faster (along with having a shorter GCD) in Diurnal stance, so I'm putting out the same amount of potency/GCD with my Benefic I/II as you are with the added benefit of free HoTs rolling, and all you have is a shield that will break instantly and waste your mana.

[LycorisSelunis]

The thing about shields is they become more valuable as better gear becomes available. This is true for sch/noct ast both. my only HUGE issue with noct is the cds-noct CU isn't worth it's tradeoff except for phase changes on primals and the like, and not being able to extend shields with TD/CO (I think CO should get an assize-like effect based on stance personally, would make our lvl 60 skill not friggin terrible for a 2 and a half minute cd).