Astrologians were fine the way they were!

[Cynfael]

I do not advocate to roll back the buffs. My problem isn't AST, it's my class. WHM are supposed to be THE raw-healing force to be reckoned with, and now we can be matched.

No, you really can't. If you would level these Jobs instead of making all these assumptions, you would already realize that WHM is plenty powerful and retains the overall strongest, most versatile kit from a sheer healing standpoint. With the additions of Tetragrammaton and Assize, even their oGCD/free/emergency heal game was dramatically improved....

[Noira]

Well sorry to say SE balances jobs based on the hardest content of the game and astro was lacking there.

As it stood Astro was way behind Whm and Sch ( still are a little bit).

Also Astro cannot even touch Whm in terms of Raw healing power.

I really wish people would level a job before saying that. Just because something sounds good in theory does not mean it translates to that in practice.

[SenzorialBoundries]

Best way of fixing AST instead of this copy pasta adlo/sacred oil /cure 2 charade is to rework draw nothing more, remove RNG completley , make it order based and deck based, for example you build a deck and the order you desire example Arrow>spire>Bole>balance>spear>ewer , when you draw the arrow and use it, it goes back at the end of the deck, you cant draw the same card twice in a row and you have to cycle through all the cards before drawing the same again, give them an ability to build more decks and save them and to swap the decks in combat (limited uses per instance or very long cooldown) thats basically it , you can plan head and build an effective order of buffs for the encounter. You even have many viable choices how you can combo your buffs, for example a1s if you wish you can plan it so you draw spear for the tank buster and use it on the tank than your paladin will have sentinel again for the 2nd one, or take a different aproach and plan Bole for the 2nd tank buster when the pld doesnt have sentinel again. The problem is the comunity is very casual and those changes will raise the skill cap of the class waaay too much for the avg Joe

[Assirra]

I love how you blame "the community" when a lot of people actually wanted a rework/overhaul to be more unique.
Even now that we are more powerful this job is still a mess design wise as a healer with an akward rng buff system dangling at us.
But please keep blaming the people instead of SE.

[Fevelle]

When did I blame players?
And no, our potencies are now equalled, and one ability alone doesn't make anything unique. A sect change doesn't make AST unique either. If some people are satisfied by a little gameplay difference here and there and just "playing a little different but doing the exact same" is enough for them, fine. For me and for the people on this thread it's not. SE was lazy from the start with AST, not listening to ANYTHING the community said (I saw SO MUCH threads with great ideas for AST).

Like the event that began today said, this is the time when we differ from the point of view of SQEX and "raise our eyebrows at each other", but that's what'll make this game and both AST & WHM shine in their own, unique ways.

Really, from the bottom of my heart, I feel that this AST buff was just a remedy for something that needs surgery. I am spending ALL my little free time grinding the MSQ to acess Heavensward, and I hope that when I do get AST, it's completely unique. This is not a War of The Healers, this is a war of players who want the game content to be flawless, well worked, new, viable and fun, not re-skins with minor tweaks at gameplay. We ALL KNOW Square can do better than that. Yoshida saved a WHOLE GAME, why can't he save 2 jobs?

[Fevelle]

...

Changing AST to something unique but that requires more skill is viable because the job is locked behind a wall of content that make people learn at least enough to play Extreme fights, and that's enough.

[Blood-Aki]

I do not advocate to roll back the buffs. My problem isn't AST, it's my class. WHM are supposed to be THE raw-healing force to be reckoned with, and now we can be matched.

They ARE still THE raw healing force to be reckoned with.. so no it's not "matched" you STILL have to work harder vs a whm/sch it's just now it's not a teeth grinding chore, What exactly are you expecting, 900 potency cure 1s?

The problem isn't with AST buffs, as they were necessary, nor the solution is with nerfing AST again. The solution I seek is a job rework (that I hopefully wait to come with 4.0) since maintaning the uniqueness of a "Pure healer" is quite flawed and difficult in a game that DEMANDS good balance to work.

Again what are you expecting? a pure healer is just that PURE powerful healer, and WHM has not lost that. I'm pretty sure if you ask the 2 teams that beat A4 they will probably tell you they still will take WHM over AST.

[Anatha]

Fevelle, you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. WHM is still very clearly a better healer than AST is, actual practical experience shows this is the case.

Stow your theorycrafting. You have no idea what it's like boots on the ground. Being paired up with a WHM as an AST makes one feel like you're not needed for healing. Sad thing is, our DPS is pitiful, our buffs are unreliable, so it's pretty damn hard to feel good when you're sub healer to a WHM.

Now why would that be? Maybe because WHM simply heals more efficiently? Has more tools to enable stronger healing? Has more stamina due to superior MP regeneration? Can actually DPS?
AST isn't in as bad a place as it used to be, but it is NOT 1:1 with a WHM or SCH. WHM brings things to the table that AST does not, same with SCH. It's much easier to heal as a WHM or SCH than it is as AST. This has always been the case, it looks to remain the case, unfortunately.

AST isn't going to get a rework either. Sorry but since some of you aren't ASTs, you wouldn't know that there is a lore based reason we can't pick and choose our cards.

It simply won't be happening.

[RichardButte]

All of these threads remind me of the technically-clueless people who didn't understand that a 3,000 MHz processor with a 100 MHz bus is actually insanely worse than a 1,500 MHz processor with a 500 MHz bus...

"BUT DAT OEN HAZ MORE GIGURHUTRZ!!!!11!!!"

[EinherjarLucian]

AST's Nocturnal shields override SCH's Galvanize shields, and now shield MORE than a SCH's Galvanize.

Just saying, but a smart AST in a party will switch to Diurnal if there's an SCH. So no, generally, an AST's shields will not override an SCH's shields, because an AST will be putting up regens instead.

What this does mean is that if I'm the AST in the party with a WHM, I won't feel like the shields I'm putting up (because I'm going Nocturnal with a WHM in the party) are completely useless.