Astro in savage

[SuzakuCMX]

I am curious. How does the damage compare between the three healers? Are AST behind on that too?

Slightly behind SCH in terms of attacks that don't check accuracy. Far behind if you do check Accuracy as they only gain Malefic II/Aero vs. SCH getting Broil + a 3rd DoT + Shadowflare + Aero and WHM getting Stone and their DoTs.

AKA AST is behind SCH/WHM in terms of every single measure.

[Parawill]

*sigh* A1S second clear, but this time with our full group. First clear had almost the same setup but since our Scholar was away, I took her role (first time progression raiding as SCH!) and we took in a WHM. Sadly I don't have screenshots of parses for WHM&SCH vs. AST&SCH, but I when I Scholar'd, I ended with around 400 DPS with the only death.

Anywho, in AS1 despite it being unfortunately cleared during Week 4... Lots of growing pains. Most wipes were due to minis, people eating lasers or me getting a Benefic II proc before preys (I've learned to click it off). I hate the instant cast into 2 second GCD lock on top of 1.8 second cast time e_e That's basically 4 seconds of no healing and was an issue I kept coming across today. But anywho, yay it's done. And yay, I healed more than the Scholar! I think there's a lot of room for improvement on my part though.

Unmerged DPS by our monk.
http://imgur.com/8gzBJjy

Unmerged DPS in video by me o/ & My PoV
https://youtu.be/BB12yhvnn78

EDIT: 12:38 AM EST 8/13/2015. I literally just uploaded the video... So HQ is probably not up yet. o/
EDIT 2: 12:40 AM EST 8/13/2015. 720p up c:
EDIT 3: LOL I just realized the video cut off randomly. Let's see... Tank whatever dropped as shown in video and aiming ring.
EDIT 4: I'll reply to Dyvid and Suzaku later It's going to be a long post and I'm at work... And I have to do work boohoo. \o/

[Dyvid]

Winning Snip

Congrats on victory. So as an experienced AST now, what focus do you feel the devs should work on?

[SuzakuCMX]

Congrats!

Do you have any tips? I've been having trouble with AST when heavy damage comes in because there's not much more I can do than...spam Benefic II and hope whoever I'm healing has some defensive cooldowns....

[Lumis]

I've cleared A1S multiple times and A2S once on AST now, both times while in Nocturnal sect. I've been doing progression on SCH so my group doesn't feel like there's more pressure on them -- however I wanted to know if anyone has cleared A3S on AST in Nocturnal sect?

[Assirra]

I've cleared A1S multiple times and A2S once on AST now, both times while in Nocturnal sect. I've been doing progression on SCH so my group doesn't feel like there's more pressure on them -- however I wanted to know if anyone has cleared A3S on AST in Nocturnal sect?

This hurts so much to read

[LycorisSelunis]

Did any of the A3S clears have an AST? I know the two A4S didn't.... It's a shame really. Buffs coming tomorrow, no idea how good or not good they will be. Either way, with A4S being down does that make them "too late"? Or is it since barely anyone's beaten A3, and literally only two groups A4, it's still ok?

[GideonHighmourn]

Did any of the A3S clears have an AST? I know the two A4S didn't.... It's a shame really. Buffs coming tomorrow, no idea how good or not good they will be. Either way, with A4S being down does that make them "too late"? Or is it since barely anyone's beaten A3, and literally only two groups A4, it's still ok?

One A3S clear had an AST, but it was on the week following the first few clears, IIRC.

[RichardButte]

Did any of the A3S clears have an AST? I know the two A4S didn't.... It's a shame really. Buffs coming tomorrow, no idea how good or not good they will be. Either way, with A4S being down does that make them "too late"? Or is it since barely anyone's beaten A3, and literally only two groups A4, it's still ok?

Eh, it's not a big deal.

They had to make sure there wasn't some bizarre way to use AST to cheese savage mechanics. I WANT savage world firsts to be a big deal in FFXIV because that makes the game more popular.

AST was going to have to sit this one out either way, but the buffs will be here shortly.

[Tashim]

While I might not be the best AST around, as I usually play scholar instead... A few things I've noticed that can help.
Suggestions for healing AS1 on AST:
When double prey comes out, put Synastry on a tank, and heal the dps getting prey. Halfway through the prey damage, the tanks eat a cleave, and when prey is done, you have about 3s (i.e. one gcd) before the tank buster hits. Using Synastry here, will let you spend an extra gcd on prey targets, without risking your tank's life too much. Synastry can be used every 2 minutes, and thats how far apart tank busters are, so you can use it for each of them.

Ideally, have group regen out before double prey happens, give them each a single regen/adlo on each once the marks go out, and that can give you an extra gcd to heal to them if needed.

Disable works well on plasma, as its a long cast with no other attacks happening to eat it.

If you can find time here and there for 2 spare GCDs, like during the 3000 ton missile launch, you can pop cleric stance, and use combust and combust2, neither of which can miss.

Essential Dignaty is perfect for healing a holmganged warrior after a plasma hit, lets your partner save bene/lustrate for actual emergencies.

After the initial opener, don't bother trying to save up your cards. if you get a useless spire card, by all means royal road it, but don't spend time trying to line up expanded balance after the opener. Just toss out your cards as you can, while realizing that they're a secondary effect. When I draw a balance card in a fight, I look for a dps that has a cooldown active, a summoner with dreadwyrm, anyone with raging strikes or blood for blood up, etc, and boost their damage with it. if I had a "useless" card that I royal roaded earlier, then fine, but if not, get what you can from it now, rather than trying to save it. The dps effect is fairly minor.

Use your spread for things that you know you'll need. I like to spread an arrow for myself as a burst healing cooldown, I can always hand out to a dps if I end up not needing it, but currently, self-arrow is the only way to increase your healing-per-second on a single target. For example, when double prey happens, you'll get 3 hits to dps, a tank cleave, 3 more hits to dps, 3 seconds to breath, and plasma to the tanks. Thats a very busy time, so if I toss myself an arrow when the Gunnery Pod happens just before Prey, I have time to toss out a group regen, and then I'm hasted and ready for the busy time. If mana gets tight, I'll save a spear for my next Luminiferous Aether/Celestial Opposition, etc. Anything that can be a benefit now, is best used now, so you're not left holding cards without getting any benefit from them.

*Granted, how I use cards might change based on how SE updates things, but for now, that approach has been more reliable for me.