Yoshi-P's Interview with Famitsu includes a few comments about AST

[AlphaSonic]

Shuffle timer being on par with draw timer is probably the right balance along with preventing double draw of the same card. The buffs in itself are not an issue as they are strong enough to merit an astrologian with the group. Most teams seem to suffer from lack of strong cooldowns for the astrologian which I hope they will focus more on then increasing potency that is not needed.

Buffs are underwhelming... Spire and Ewer are buffs that nobody should never need, if they need them is because they are mismanaging their resources. Spear is utterly useless. When you draw bole you just throw it to the tank because you can, not because he needs it. Arrow only works with BLM, the other classes have their rotation messed because of that and it's just a MP/TP sink. The only useful card is balance.

[Viviza]

Spire and Ewer are buffs that nobody should never need

Really?

You cannot fathom a scenario in which a capable player might run low on MP or TP?

Can you introduce me to these players who can maintain optimal dps while their TP does not decline?

[Sacerdos]

Its not useful because raid groups are already capable of sustaining MP/TP without an AST.

[Sidra]

Its not useful because raid groups are already capable of sustaining MP/TP without an AST.

Technically, a group with an AST healer could probably forgo a BRD/MCH allowing for a little more party DPS. It's just that there isn't a good enough reason for players to make the mental change given the overall powerlevel of AST currently.

[Sacerdos]

Ewer and Spire can't be consistently drawn though. You can plan around when a BRD/MCH is restoring resources, you can't plan on when you draw Spire/Ewer.

[Zaresin]

Ewer and Spire can't be consistently drawn though. You can plan around when a BRD/MCH is restoring resources, you can't plan on when you draw Spire/Ewer.

People want reliability in a group not random acts of the RNG gods. That is the biggest flaw with AST. They are a gamble and the pay off isn't even worth it. You can go with Sch or Whm and get the same results easier. Until their entire kit is fixed (heals and cards) they will be pushed to the sideline for old faithfuls sch and whm.

[BMattAttack]

People want reliability in a group not random acts of the RNG gods. That is the biggest flaw with AST. They are a gamble and the pay off isn't even worth it. You can go with Sch or Whm and get the same results easier. Until their entire kit is fixed (heals and cards) they will be pushed to the sideline for old faithfuls sch and whm.

I think this is the key here. The most important thing for a healer is reliability. It seems the community is a bit split on which way to go. Some people want buffs and fixes for the cards while others are more focused on the healing aspect of things. I'm firmly in the second camp.



The cards are nice and all, but they're not the most important part of our job. What good are cards if people are lying on the floor or you've wiped to something? Obviously, as we've seen, very skilled players and groups can clear most content (Savage 4 unknown) using an AST. However, it appears to require a great deal of coordination from the group as a whole and the other healer in particular. Certainly, with stronger cards, many highly organized progression groups may opt to take an AST. However, more mid-tier progression groups will probably opt for the reliable healing of WHM/SCH and security they bring. Likewise, if you're making an PF when the content is relatively new and you don't know your healers, WHM/SCH would be the safest bet. Strengthening the cards could simply leave AST being used for high organized statics and and farm groups, a marginal improvement from the current state of things.

The RNG is a gimmick. The fights are heavily scripted dances, so most healers are looking to use X cool down at N time. Bole is practically useless because you won't know if you're going to have it at the moment you really need it. If there's a possibility you won't have the card at all, then the content needs to be 100% healable without it. Therefore, it makes more sense to try to get a card that enhances DPS, unless your lucky and the bole lines up with an tank buster.

Addressing AST healing through the adjustments of CDs, or adding reliable secondary effects to the cards will increase the appeal of AST for all types of groups. As long as AST is able to fulfill it's duties as a healer and reliably keep the group up, most people won't complain about the RNG nature of the cards.

I would have preferred a new unique type of healer, but I guess that'll be for a later expansion. AST is still a fun job though and they can make adjustments that make it a worthy addition to either group. I also don't believe it should be made "easier". It's okay to have a job that is complex and challenging to play, but it needs to pull its weight. However, right now the challenge of AST isn't for the AST player, it's for the AST's group and the other healer. They don't necessarily have to make AST desirable, they just have to make sure it's not undesirable, which seems to be what most people have decided it is at the moment, fair or unfair.

[Blueyes]

Considering Yoshi-P is concerned with both the luck based party buffs and the overall lack in healing potency, but is also concerned about striking a balance between the two, what jumps to mind is to make Diurnal and Nocturnal sects specialized in the same manor that a Scholar can choose between Eos and Selene. Diurnal sect is intentionally made into the stronger healer sect while Nocturnal put emphasis on stronger damage enhancing buffs. It's a concept that has been brought up before and the exact way that such a change could be executed can be handled in a variety of ways. One such method would be to have the chosen sect have influence over the card buffs such as an additional 5-10% damage reduction to all cards while under Diurnal sect whereas Nocturnal sect would provide an additional 5-10% attack or speed buff to all cards with Bole being changed to increased healing received and Balance/Arrow changed to increased critical hit rate. The exact percentages would likely have to be adjusted accordingly to prevent buffs from becoming too strong, but the underlining focus would be to add a layer of consistency to the healing support or buff support of their respective sect.

A potential issue with such a change (increasing the healing potential of one sect while raising the damage output of the other) would be that a double AST composition would be made more viable, or at least it would seem so, but honestly the way buffs interact with each other is already pretty unforgiving. When two Scholar use Selene their Fey Wind buffs won't stack, but because of its duration and recast timer it's easy to fall into a rhythm that allows for full uptime. With card buffs being inconsistent and random it becomes considerably more taxing to stay coordinated, more so when AoE buffs are thrown into the mix. To be honest the current system doesn't feel perfect and it makes me wish that Diurnal aspected buffs and Nocturnal aspected buffs could stack, but that would only make the potential issue of double AST even worse so perhaps that wouldn't be the right approach.

Some would say SE is at fault for creating the double AST conundrum simply by way the job was designed. The main reason why doubling up on AST buffs is even a concern is because they have allowed for the job to interact with itself in a way that mimics the WHM and SCH symmetry. Perhaps more thoughtful planning could have avoided this whole situation, but by this point we have to deal with the hand we've been dealt. For the most part I believe the job will stay the way it is. The concept behind Diurnal and Nocturnal sects will stay the same, but the extent at which they interact with other abilities can be expanded in a way that helps to better define the job.

[SuzakuCMX]

*snippity snap*

I don't really want full control, because why would I ever pick anything other than Balance except in extreme cases? I'd rather they buff all the other cards to make up for it. Right now the RNG is bad because anything except Balance/Arrow and sometimes Ewer really feels like the impact didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. If the other cards actually felt like they had an impact, I wouldn't mind the fact that I didn't get Balance/Arrow at any point in the fight.

So maybe if they made Shuffle so you could recast it 3 times in the next 10 seconds, so you get 5 chances at getting the card you want (Draw + Shuffle + 3 recasts)?

Technically, a group with an AST healer could probably forgo a BRD/MCH allowing for a little more party DPS. It's just that there isn't a good enough reason for players to make the mental change given the overall powerlevel of AST currently.

Maybe if AoE Spire/Ewer wasn't awful and it wasn't up to RNG.

[Nihility]

Technically, a group with an AST healer could probably forgo a BRD/MCH allowing for a little more party DPS. It's just that there isn't a good enough reason for players to make the mental change given the overall powerlevel of AST currently.

actually due to the random nature of cards and the fact that spire is single target while you probably have multiple dps and tanks in a party. Odds are the ballad will be needed anyways for everyone that didn't get the spire making it ultimately useless.
ewer is kind of the same, the only mage that ever has mp problems is the astro himself
bole is actually really strong but the randomness totally neuters it
spear is utter trash
the arrow just creates tp issues for physical fighters and messes up their rotation and tends to have a similar effect on black mage with enochian and the "attack speed" buff doesn't seem to translate into the individual spell speed/skill speed components for boosting a summoners damage.
the balance is genuinely good but fun math, top end dps do about 1300. if you had the balance up 100% of the time it would translate into 130dps, the cooldowns on draw alone drops that to 65dps, it's basically a 1/6 chance of even getting the balance making it worth about 11dps <-- great party buff!