The Astrologian Wish List

[Muahbec]

I know devs are reading this thread and I thought I'd post my ideas for changes to AST as someone who plays both SCH/WHM as well. I was thinking about making my own thread but there's enough out there already.

Cards

Cards typically drawn from draw (Bole, Balance, Spear, Arrow, Ewer and Spire) are "Action Cards" that AST can select to use.
Base duration is 15 seconds.

When you use a "Action Card" e.g Balance it is placed on a 1 minute cooldown
When you use a "Action Card" e.g Balance, the remaining cards are placed on a 30 second cooldown.

Draw, Spread, Royal Road, and Shuffle Function:
Draw instead, allows plays to draw for buffs (20 second cooldown)
This includes;

• Potency - Increases potency by 50%
• Duration - Increases duration by 15 seconds
• Extend - Spread action card to players within 15 yrds
• Reduce - Reduce the CD of played action card by 10 seconds
• Aura - Effect emits from player (10 yrd radius)

Royal Road instead, allows plays to gamble for improved buffs. (no cooldown)
This includes;

• Potency - Increases potency by an additional 100% (total 150% potency)
• Duration - Increases duration by an additional 30 seconds (total 45 seconds)
• Extend - No yrd restriction (covers entirity of room)
• Reduce - Reduce the CD of played action card by an additional 20 seconds (total 30 seconds)
• Aura - Effect emits from player (25 yrd radius)
• Fumble - You lose the card

Spread and Shuffle can remain relatively the same - instead you shuffle and spread buff cards, and you can't shuffle and retrieve the same card.

Utility and DPS Spells (work in progress)
If its green it's new.

- Luminferous Aether (No MP cost; Duration 15secs): Reduces Emnity Generation, Refresh potency by 80

- Lightspeed (No MP cost)

• Diurnal - Duration, 10 seconds - Reduces MP cost by 25%, spell cast time and GCD reduce by 2.3 seconds.
• Noctural - Duration, 25 seconds - Reduces MP cost by 75%, increases healing potency by additional 10%

- Essential Dignity (No MP cost - CD:40s) - Restores target's HP. Cure Potency: 400 Potency increases the lower the target's HP. (Scales linearly up to 1000 potency).

• Diurnal - 15% chance aspected benefic will cost no MP (duration: 12 seconds)
• Noctural -25% chance aspected helios will cost no MP (duration: 12 seconds)

- Synastry (No MP cost - CD:120s) -Generate an aetheric bond with target party member. Each time you cast a healing spell on a party member not under the effect of Synastry, the party member with which you have the synastry bond will also recover HP equaling 50% of the original spell.

Duration: 20s

• Diurnal - Regen with a cure potency of 40 on both targets
• Noctural -Erects a magic barrier on both target - 10% chance when barriers are struck, the striker will do 10% less damage.

- Combust (535mp - Instant) - Deals unaspected damage over time. Potency: 40 Duration: 18s

- Combust II (618mp - Cast 2.5) -Deals unaspected damage over time. Potency: 45 Duration: 30s

- Stella (No MP - Cast 2.5 - CD; 30seconds) - Spread a targets combust and combust II to nearby enemies. Restore 5% MP.

- Collective Unconscious (No MP cost - CD: 90s - 15y) - Creates a wheel of fortune around the caster. Effect granted to party members upon entry differs depending on active Sect. Can only be executed when a Sect is active.

Refresh with a potency of 60

Effect ends upon using another action or moving.

• Diurnal - Regen with a Cure Potency of 200 (duration: 12 seconds)
• Noctural -Damage taken is reduced by 10% (duration: 12 seconds)

- Celestial Oppossition (No MP cost - CD:120s) - Stuns all nearby enemies. Duration: 4s (PvP 2s) Also extends duration of beneficial effects cast on self and party members by 5 seconds.

• Diurnal - Restores own and HP of nearby party members (Potency:350)
• Noctural - Damage taken of nearby party members is reduced by 10% for 10 seconds

Healing stances - Nocturnal & Diurnal

Still thinking a bit more about this - Need to do some potency crunching. Will edit later after work .

Just found this on another thread and, i think the individual card idea is pretty good, since well, we are buffers so we need to have full control on our buffs right?

[Muahbec]

Also, found this.
Although i don't quite agree with some of the timers or effects, this suggested changes are quite unique.

I agree with Bmattattack, the job “NEEDS” its own identity because while in theory a hybrid healer seems like a great idea it’s actually not because you will always be subpar to the specialists. While the cards are a great idea it’s not part of their main role because first off there is no support role in the game, and our main job is to heal the party. The cards should remain a selling point of the job; however, they also need a unique healing style that is on-par with their competition. Sure we will never be as good as the white mage in the healing department because they are the standard healer, but we need to be on par with Scholar because they are basically bringing the same utility as us just in a different way since they deal damage and use their fairies to make up the difference. Here is a new healing/skill kit which I think could potentially solve the identity crisis the job is currently up against. The new kit is supposed to make them a quick/time based healer that uses Healing overtime to give them the opportunity to focus more on providing their secondary role (Cards) to the group. The New/Changed Mechanics have been bolded and changed to a green text. New Spells are in a blue font.

1. Malefic (Level 1)
-Unchanged

2. Benefic (Level 2)
-Restores target’s HP. Cure Potency: 300. Additional Effect: Grants a healing over time effect with a cure potency of 150 to target for 12s.

3. Combust (Level 4)
-Unchanged

4. Lightspeed (Level 6)
-Reduces MP cost for spells by 25% and cast times for spells by 2.5 seconds. Additional Effect: Removes the GCD of all spells. (NO PENALTY)
-Cooldown Reduced to 120s

5. Luminiferous Aether (Level 8)
-Removes the MP cost of all spells. Additional Effect: Gradually creates a storage of MP based on the amount of healing you output while under the effect of Luminiferous Aether. The stored MP is transferred to your MP pool when the “sublimation” ability is used.

6. Sublimation (Level 8)(NON-REPLACMENT)
-Transfers the MP stored from the status effect “Sublimation” This ability can only be used if you are in possession of the Sublimation status effect the storage remains on your status bar until used, K.O., or if level sync is used.

7. Helios (Level 10)
-Grants yourself and all nearby party member a healing over time effect with a cure potency of 200 to targets for 30s.

8. Rewind (Level 12) (Replaced: Ascend)
-Resurrects target to a weakened state.

9. Swiftly Forward (Level 15) (Replaced: Essential Dignity)
-Transforms the “Regen” status effect on the target into an instant HP recovery cure equaling the amount of HP intended for the healing overtime effect. (Maximum Healing Potency: 1000)
-Recast: 40 Seconds

10. Expel (Level 18) (Replaced: Exalted Detriment)
-Removes a single detrimental effect from target.

11. Stella (Level 22)
-Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100. Additional Effect: Inflicts target with slow +20% for 12s. (Effect gets weaker with each application)

12. Benefic II (Level 26)
-Restores target’s HP. Cure Potency: 400. Additional Effect: Grants the target “Energize” which is a status effect which provides an instant healing effect with a potency of 200 when the status effect expires. (Energize 6s)

13. Draw (Level 30)
-Ewer: Refreshes target’s TP & MP.
-Spire: Increases Critical Hit Rate

14. Diurnal Sect (Level 30)
-While in this stance your Casting Speed increases by 10%. Cannot be used with Nocturnal Sect. Effect ends upon reuse.

15. Stop (Level 34) (Replaced: Aspected benefic)
-Freezes the enemy in place. Additional Effect: Time Compression (Prevents the reapplication of Stop for 60s) (Duration 4s) (Similar to Stun/Petrify but separate effect)

16. Royal Road (Level 35)
-Returns the currently drawn Arcanum back to your deck to enhance the effect of the next card. Additional Effect: Lowers the recast of the next draw to 15s.

17. Disable (Level 38)
-Reduces the potency of the target’s next special action or spell by 5%. Additional Effect: Pacification for 6s (Pacification useless on bosses)

18. Spread (Level 40)
-Unchanged

19. Helios II (Level 42)
-Restores own HP and the HP of all nearby party members (Cure Potency: 200). Additional Effect: Grants the party “Energize” which is a status effect which provides an instant healing effect with a potency of 100 when the status effect expires. (Energize 6s)

20. Shuffle (Level 45)
-Return the currently drawn Arcanum to your deck and draw another. Additional Effect: Cannot redraw the same card that was in your possession.

21. Gravity (Level 46) (Reassigned Level)
-Deals unaspected damage to a target and enemies near it with a potency of 200. Additional Effect: Heavy +40% for 10s

22. Nocturnal Sect (Level 50)
-While in this stance your Healing Potency increases by 10%. Cannot be used with Diurnal Sect. Effect ends upon reuse.

23. Synastry (Level 50)
-Generates an aetheric bond with target party member. Each time you cast a healing spell on a party member not under the effect of synastry, the party member with which you have the synastry bond will also recover HP equaling the same amount healed, and receive any cards/enhancements provided by the Astrologian.

24. Combust II (Level 52) (Reassigned Level)
-Unchanged

25. Malefic II (Level 54)
-Unchanged

26. Time Dilation (Level 56)
-Additional Effect: Allow it to work on all enhancements not just the user ones.

27. Collective Unconscious (Level 58)
-Creates a wheel of fortune around the caster stopping time allowing any beneficial effects used by the Astrologian to continue within the aura after they expire until the party member exits the aura or collective unconscious ends.

28. Celestial Opposition (Level 58)
-Creates a beacon of light Instantly Transforming any “Regen” status effect on the party into an instant HP recovery cure equaling the amount of HP intended for the healing overtime effect. (Maximum Healing Potency: 500)
-New Recast: 180s

[Blueyes]

- Stella (No MP - Cast 2.5 - CD; 30seconds) - Spread a targets combust and combust II to nearby enemies. Restore 5% MP.

This idea for Stella is an interesting one and something I hadn't considered. Since you learn Stella at level 22 it would start out working only with Combust which would keep it's power at a reasonable level for low level content, but then by level 46 its effectiveness passively increases to a substantial level. It would address a couple issues that I have with one being the lack of any AoE for level 50 content and also the lack of an MP efficient form of AoE damage. I do think it's a fun idea, but unfortunately it also sounds too good. While this version of Stella would be weaker than Bane and their "Holy" lacks utility, it's still quite a bit of power for a job that can also exponentially increase the output of one or more DPS using an AoE attack.

With that said, I do still think Stella should function as an AoE offensive spell. An idea I present earlier would be for it to work more or less like the Astrologian version of Shadow Flair. (The Heavy effect would be removed and given to Malefic, thus giving that spell a specific niche use after learning Malefic II.)

Stella - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 50 to target and nearby enemies. Additional Effect: Unaspected damage over time w/ 20 Potency/30s Duration & Slow +5%

I know boosting the AoE damage of Astrologian is nowhere near the top of the of the priority list (and really this is less about boosting power and more about MP efficiency) but considering this is a wish list topic it is the kind of change that I wish will happen somewhere down the line.