Rework to AST card mechanics (Idea)

[Yhisa]

Currently to me the card mechanics are ok but they need serious changes to make them work BETTER to me astrologian is an active healer and should be active with pulling out cards at a fast pace to buff the group and this is my grand idea

Shuffle / Spread / Draw / Royal Road all needs to be rework and this is why and how

DRAW
=20 sec recast
= Cards hold last 20 sec longer


SPREAD
= Reduce recast again
= Auto apply Expand Buff
= Expand buff only works with Spread
= Allow Spread to draw a new card

Royal Road
= Auto apply Duration buff
= Duration buff only works with draw
= Allow Royal Road to draw a new card

Shuffle
= Reduce recast

with this we will now have more control over our card and be able to bang out more card buffs more frequently without having problems so in theory it should work like this

(Card name) << New card drawn from revamp skill

Draw > Bole > Royal Road > Royal Road (Spire) > Shuffle > Shuffle (Balance) > Spread > Spread (Ewer)

So now i have Balance in my spread with auto expand and ewer in draw with double duration....... now with this i can wait 15 seconds to use Royal road again to draw a new card or use ewer on a player.... with balance it is held safe until i use it at my own will so through that line i have drawn 4 cards within a short time and can shuffle or Royal road to get new cards

this mechanic is just an example of and idea it would need tweaks for this to work.... but in my eyes AST is a pro active healer and always need to be active in healing and drawing cards.... for this i would for go any healing buffs because with this mechanic u can change the cards to improve AST utility through our cards rather then giving us new skills so for example for card changes

Spire = TP regen + TP reduce
Ewer = MP regen + MP reduce
Balance = Damage increase + minor Haste
Bole = Damage reduction + minor healing increase
Spear = Cooldown reduction + minor damage increase
Arrow = Healing increase + minor haste

So now we can help the party alot with these buffs because now all our card are useful because of these reasons

= 2 support (Spire, Ewer)
= 1 healing (Arrow)
= 1 mitigation (Bole)
= 2 damage (Balance, Spear)

this will help us in both dps and healing through our cards and there mechanics but this will need tweaking for this to work this will also stay true to the AST role to heal and buff the party and have our own identity as a healer and rather being mimics of SCH and WHM this will need alot of thought and planning but this would be the right direction to take

[Mikedizzy]

I just think that they did not give interesting enough card abilities to make the job more fun to play. They lowered their potencies because they can buff but it is just awkward.

[Shurrikhan]

Currently editing due to large post so please be patient

One thing I tend to do for this is to just ctrl-X what I've posted, write 'editing...', then edit, ctrl-v, done. The post is only up for a few seconds max before the real text is there.

I look forward to seeing what you've written.

Edit: My suggestions for AST are mostly as written on the shortlist in sig.

• Spread and Draw have been revised, the majority Spread's effects integrated into Draw by default. Upon drawing a card, Draw will now begin cooling down immediately, showing its cooldown radial atop the icon for the card drawn. The drawn card can be held infinitely, rather than being discarded after 15 seconds. However, Draw will only cool down for up to 15 seconds before the card already drawn must be used to continue the cooldown. At level 40, AST receives the ability Spread, with no cooldown, into which a drawn card can be saved. It no longer uniquely has the advantage of holding a card while charging another, but does allow the latter half to cooldown and allows AST, essentially, if preparing over 75 seconds to deploy 2 cards instantly and another within 15 seconds without using a single CD.
• A player can only receive one of each AST buff, but may carry any number of different AST buffs simultaneously, even from the same AST.
• Casting Collective Unconscious in Nocturnal Sect also places a 75-potency shield on all affected party members.
• Shuffle can no longer draw the same card.
• Balance now also affects healing done, by 6%. (Anywhere from 5% to 7% would be fine.) (Ideally I'd actually like to switch that to 10% Attack Power and Attack Magic Power and 7% Healing Magic Power, for a bit more added fun in synergy with physical self-heals.)

• Too complicated, but fun: Bole's protection is now dealt through a shield, absorbing 14% of damage done to the target until broken, at which point Bole's effect decreases to 8%. This shield has a maximum health of 50 potency of your healing and regenerates each instance of damage done to it over 5 seconds, while also healing the target with a regen effect of up to 40 potency (will not overheal), to a maximum of 300 potency of your healing. Max shield health increased by 50% in Nocturnal Sect and maximum healing done increased by 50% in Diurnal Sect. [This both gives it a small increase to burst effectiveness and especially its longer term smoothed healing. It can basically only take barely more than an non-crit Adloquiem's worth of damage up front, but as long as it isn't damaged too severely or quickly, it will also heal the a bit over time.] -- Design copied from an idea I had for how to make Graniteskin (traited Stoneskin) unique if Stoneskin was returned to a 2.5s cast universally.

I feel like the Cards are fine as is aside from Balance and Bole. Arrow can improve heals while Balance can not, and Bole just feels a bit too lackluster on anyone but the MT to make it feel like a decent card compared to the rest. That being said, Balance's bonus to healing, here, has been reduced because (1) I wanted to make DPS targets as viable as healer targets, especially given that (2) hps, when spamming, will out-parse dps by a fair margin iirc, and (3) increased speed means increased mana drain, which synergizes with Ewer, while Balance does not. As AST's cards are primarily a support function, I did not want it to be used constantly on oneself. Arrow already has that option, even if less worthwhile than support uses when not using every GCD immediately.

Job Adjustments Shortlist: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Vlady]

If they buff healing then the chess buffs well get nerfed. Fix a few cooldown is the main thing the astro seems to suffer with.

[GideonHighmourn]

If they buff healing then the chess buffs well get nerfed. Fix a few cooldown is the main thing the astro seems to suffer with.

You come into a thread before it's even posted and reply with "everything is fine, your idea won't work"? Great job!

I actually like to see people's ideas for changing AST or any class, for that matter.

[Yhisa]

just finished the write up :P

[GideonHighmourn]

Your take on Spread is very interesting. Originally, when looking at the list of AST skills, I remember there being one to "expand" buffs from cards onto other people, but it wasn't RR. The name also seems odd for a skill that should have been something closer to "Hold", since it doesn't actually "Spread" anything. Unless there's a separate meaning to "Spread" in Tarot cards or poker-like games that I'm not aware of, at least.

[Yhisa]

Your take on Spread is very interesting.

yeah i just went by the names ... Spread = AoE , Royal Road = Duration (due to long roads) this is my logics lol and i would prefure if shuffle was our skill to draw new cards...or make new skill with called *HOLD* and throw away shuffle and make Spread act as Royal road Expand and have Royal road be Double duration this way we can always pull out new cards

[Ariel_Valmont]

Spread, or the spread, is a term used in cards and the tarot, generally it involves more than one card, but usually it involves seeing said cards. The one that doesn't fit to me in card lingo is royal road. But maybe that has a hidden meaning too!

[Ariel_Valmont]

The actual word Tarot is made up of the two Egyptian words, 'Tar' meaning 'royal' and 'ot' meaning 'road' – the Royal Road