Astro in savage

[Ghishlain]

I wonder if that's why they implied that CO might change to include a way to switch between sects? Maybe that was the "long cool down" he mentioned originally. I still don't see that changing the much in terms of how the class performs in healing, since you still wouldn't really swap with a SCH in the group (shield stacking), or be able to do it often enough to really matter.

Indeed, I agree with this sentiment too. Cynfael made a nice comment to this effect in a different thread:

Although Sect-swapping on the fly wouldn't address AST's issue of mostly blah card buffs and missing healing cooldowns, it would certainly be a blast to have that kind of flexibility.

And I agree with this.

I guess you could make the argument that Sect dancing would allow for more use of Nocturnal. Nocturnal is the more MP efficient sect if you're just hitting Benefic all day everyday and if a spike hits, you Aspect Benefic for the front loaded heal + oGCD and swap to Diurnal on the oGCD time, pop Aspected Benefic again for the front loaded Regen then keep hitting that Benefic / Benefic II button until all is better then go back to Nocturnal for more efficient Benefics. It would be a minor but neat change to have that kinda thought process in your healing.

[GideonHighmourn]

snip

I do think it would be cool, don't get me wrong! At the very least, would add some complexity to the class and raise the skill cap for the job, but I don't see it solving any of the problems AST faces at the moment.

[Ghishlain]

I do think it would be cool, don't get me wrong! At the very least, would add some complexity to the class and raise the skill cap for the job, but I don't see it solving any of the problems AST faces at the moment.

Indeed, I would like it too. I find AST a fascinating class now that I've gotten it up to 58 and it's fun theorycrafting all the different card uses and efficiencies one can get outta it. My thoughts behind cards and the different permutations you can get are changing every second day because of some different thought I had. Out of the three healers at this point, I would argue AST has the highest skill ceiling of the three as it's the only healer that requires you to have some knowledge of every other class/job in the game. It's a shame that the skill ceiling doesn't actually translate into overcoming the barriers that are in front of the job.

Just on the topic of Sect Dancing and CO, I have made a suggestion in the past that activating CO should also turn on both Sects for a period of time and that should alleviate some of the healing cooldown concerns.

Aspected Benefic
262 Base Potency
105 Potency HoT for 18s
262 Base Potency Shield
Total of 1,154 over the course of 18 seconds is pretty sickening and I like that thought.

Also, with both Sects online, you've effectively increased your healing output by 5% for the duration of the buff. Not the most fancy buffed compared to 30% from Divine Seal but chances are you'll be trying to make use of your Aspected spells a bit more when both Sects are going.

[Leiloni]

Am I the only one who has no desire to be able to stance dance? For one thing it feels unnecessary but on the other it sounds like a pain in the ass. The idea just doesn't sound fun at all. Just make Noct better so people can actually play in it, but can we just quit with the stance dancing suggestions. I'm so afraid they'll do it and then I'd honestly reconsider playing AST. I hate the idea that much.

[Miiu]

I would welcome that change to be honest. It just feels clunky having to choose 1 stance for the encounter.

[Leiloni]

I would welcome that change to be honest. It just feels clunky having to choose 1 stance for the encounter.

How is it clunky when WHM and SCH play the same way? Now you'll just have more buttons to press in between casts just for a bit of versatility that we don't need.

[Dante_V]

I am unsure of how many Asts have cleared a1 but in regards to the topic my team should have it down by the end of the week. We are currently running ast/sch and have them healing a drk/war respectively and all seems to be going well.

[technole]

Am I the only one who has no desire to be able to stance dance? For one thing it feels unnecessary but on the other it sounds like a pain in the ass. The idea just doesn't sound fun at all. Just make Noct better so people can actually play in it, but can we just quit with the stance dancing suggestions. I'm so afraid they'll do it and then I'd honestly reconsider playing AST. I hate the idea that much.

Not at all, it's unnecessary and especially in the raid situation since the healing partner can do the opposite job better than sect dancing can ever do. If anything it's just illogical. Plus you have possibility of regen plus a shield aspected, stacked situation which would be OP.

There is no really no good reason. People are just proposing this as a reaching solution for the "lack of healing cooldowns" which doesn't resolve that directly.

[Miiu]

How is it clunky when WHM and SCH play the same way? Now you'll just have more buttons to press in between casts just for a bit of versatility that we don't need.

Because neither version is anything to write home about yet we still lack the flexibilty to switch between them. Normally Hybrid classes are all about flexibility.
Other than that I don't see how more buttons is a valid complain. In terms of key presses you have to do AST is already really compact.
All in all if I play a class I want the most options possible that is just a personal preference and it is totally fine that you wouldn't like that. In the end it purely depends on what SE envisions for the job.

[Ghishlain]

Am I the only one who has no desire to be able to stance dance? For one thing it feels unnecessary but on the other it sounds like a pain in the ass. The idea just doesn't sound fun at all. Just make Noct better so people can actually play in it, but can we just quit with the stance dancing suggestions. I'm so afraid they'll do it and then I'd honestly reconsider playing AST. I hate the idea that much.

Not at all, it's unnecessary and especially in the raid situation since the healing partner can do the opposite job better than sect dancing can ever do. If anything it's just illogical. Plus you have possibility of regen plus a shield aspected, stacked situation which would be OP.

There is no really no good reason. People are just proposing this as a reaching solution for the "lack of healing cooldowns" which doesn't resolve that directly.

While it's true being able to swap Sects at this juncture would not have any large implications in the current AST toolkit, why don't we consider how we can make Sect selection more impactful for an AST? We already see how Collective Unconsciousness is altered by which Sect you're in. Why don't we take this idea even further?

For example:

Traited Benefic
Nocturnal - Benefic II has a healing potency bonus of 30%
Diurnal - Benefic II now adds a 9s HoT at 100 Potency

Essential Dignity
Nocturnal - Grants a shield equal to half the amount healed
Diurnal - Grants a 15s HoT of 50 Potency

Time Dilation
Nocturnal - Increases buff duration by 20s instead of 15s
Diurnal - Reduces Recast to 60s instead of 90s

And similar changes of this nature. Instead of trying to make AST into WHM jr. and SCH jr., let's try to give them unique benefits being in a specific Sect that suit their toolkit (Diurnal = faster, Nocturnal = more power). Or have specific abilities that shore up some of the weaknesses each Sect has like making Essential Dignity give a HoT in Nocturnal and a Shield in Diurnal, etc.

Right now, to me, AST is very engaging but lacks the rewards one would expect from that level of play. So, let's try to make it slightly more engaging and try to up the reward factor without having to overhaul the entire kit.