Is AST recognized as a viable healer yet?

[Nalien]

For all current 4 man content it's the superior sect. I'm able to toss a 1.8k shield up on the tank, swap over to cleric stance and dps to my hearts content, only dropping it to refresh the shield and if needed an essential dignity to top him/her off. Diurnal can sustain the tank but you get a direct result from nocturnal sect that is hard to rival once you overgear content.

That honestly doesn't seem like much of a boast... With Diurnal I'm doing exactly the same thing, the only difference is I can extend my nuking time with Time Dilation and Celestial Opposition. Not to mention Diurnal is actual beneficial to nuking, where as Nocturnal does nothing. I mean... My Astrologian is gimp (i180) and I'm providing 1.2k/tic currently... Not seeing much allure in a 1.8k shield compared to that... I really can't see that shield lasting for anywhere near the duration of my Regens... Granted I'm throwing in an extra spell with Aspected Helios to maintain that 1.2k/tic, but... Well, is there ever a situation where DPS don't manage to eat unneeded damage? I'm letting Aspected Helios do all the work there and continuing to nuke.

Nocturnal Sect died for me the moment I got Time Dilation, the synergy between that and Diurnal is just too nice, it's effectively an extra 6k HP healed for nothing. Nocturnal basically just exists for pre-pull buffing at this point...