Learning how to properly play AST

[FoxyAreku]

I've healed A1S as both a scholar and astrologian and it was way easier as a scholar due to lustrate and adlo crits, and sacred soil is way easier to use than CO for jumps as well, even if it lacks the regen. I know you may say it's just me, but that can't be since as I stated earlier, none of the big name raiders use astro in savage.

AST isn't bad in it by any means. As I've stated multiple times, it's not bad in any fight. Scholar/White mage is just better. That's really all there is to it.

You're correct. It boiled down to 'Sure, an AST can match a WHM, but you need to do so much more work for it and be lucky to have the stars align. Comparing to SCH is pretty pointless.' You could sort of say WHM is the pubstomper healer, but WHM and AST even out in a vacuum at higher skill levels.

Noc AST becomes better than SCH when you make high mobility requirements, fights with a lot of setup and small burst segments and/or have fights that benefit a lot from having instant-cast shields. The latter is really just a few cases in T10 (double Prey), the former two are, as Namo said, more apparent in Thordan where DPS over the whole fight isn't such a big requirement compared to burst DPS on the checks (given, I have not done the entire fight yet but I know where the idea comes from). As Noc you sacrifice a ton of HPS for instant cast shields and mobility, in a game that is so slow and scripted you really don't need it for anything else but Frontlines, and tuning fights towards this mobility/rate of resisting interruption isn't fair to not only SCH and WHM, but also to BLM and arguably BRD/MCH/SMN.

I think Thordan might be the first fight where I prefer Noc over Diu when pairing with a WHM (without noc being a necessity), all things considered.

Instant cast shield in noct stance is my favorite thing about astro, as someone who has played scholar for going on two years now it makes me so happy, I'm actually one of the few who will use noct in most content just for fun because of it. It just feels so tight and awesome.

Anyway, thanks for your posts, and being so reasonable, you gave me a lot to think about. I can't think of anything else to add.

[Seoulstar]

I fail to understand how exactly calling AST the "worst" healer of the three is giving tips to someone as to how to be better at the job. Anyways, there were good tips made. Not sure if anyone else has posted. But I tend to use Lightspeed and Synastry if things somehow go south. 95% of the time it prevents a wipe or the death of someone.

[FoxyAreku]

I fail to understand how exactly calling AST the "worst" healer of the three is giving tips to someone as to how to be better at the job. Anyways, there were good tips made. Not sure if anyone else has posted. But I tend to use Lightspeed and Synastry if things somehow go south. 95% of the time it prevents a wipe or the death of someone.

It just kind of devolved into that after my first post on page one in response to OP's worries if AST could keep up with WHM/SCH completely unintentionally and I do apologize. Some people are incredibly stubborn, myself being one of them.

[Nekotee]

I do agree that some spell of the SCH are pretty great
And crit adlo is a blessing

It's just that with synastry you got double healing without switching target
Either virus or disable can be macro to be use without targeting... And virus is stronger...

Oh i do agree that on jump, scholar can be super strong with an adlo + deploy

...

I feel that A1S is really a fight where AST can shine while A2S is far more à SCH fight
(Ok and since i'm not a fan of WHM... I see him as the second EoS that fly around me and try to heal the group)

As for me... I don't see a healer under an other...
They are all different
And pretty much on par in term of healing

[FoxyAreku]

(Ok and since i'm not a fan of WHM... I see him as the second EoS that fly around me and try to heal the group)

WHM=Eos 2.0 confirmed.

Nah I get you man. Ast is great, it just needs a bit more tweaking really.

[Nekotee]

Just give eos something like a medica and whm can kick out of all group XD

Eos super mantra is really great xP

[randysquirrel]

"throughput" seems to be the word of the day, shoehorned into every post

[AzureFlare]

Instant cast shield in noct stance is my favorite thing about astro, as someone who has played scholar for going on two years now it makes me so happy, I'm actually one of the few who will use noct in most content just for fun because of it. It just feels so tight and awesome.

It feels so right and at the same time it feels so wrong. Like having a cookie jar and being able to take one whenever you want.

[Kerrigen]

Eos super mantra is really great xP

It doesn't even work like Mantra, it's an AOE Divine Seal (well Synastry would be more accurate as it's 20%).

[GarnetTribal]

The only times I've really enjoyed playing in Noct is when you're running up the stairs in A3 - that instant shield doesn't cause a lot of aggro and really saves people from the poison tick.

And Void Ark. That damn poison boss. Many times my instant shield has saved someone for my co healer or myself to bring them back up.

They need more use for an immediate shield.