A3S (AST Solo Heal)

[Sleigh]

On the subject of progression, particularly world progression, people may not realize that even world first groups still lack an extremely intimate, memorized flow of every cleave and AoE until once they've basically cleared the fight, if not until they've literally cleared the fight and start farming it in the following weeks. Especially when talking about learning a fight there is no video for and you are discovering it as you go.

You think groups aren't gonna take the healer with Assize, Asylum, Benediction, constant Divine Seal action, a nearly guaranteed hit Medica II compared to 15y AH, Cure III for when there are mechanic into mechanics, Presence of Mind to try and salvage hard healing areas? Of course they are, while learning. WHM is so flipping simple and easy and versatile compared to AST. It does its job, healing with some backup DPS during off-time, nearly as good the second time seeing a phase as it does the 100th time, only a more defined fight knowledge level lets you really hit the top.

Meanwhile AST needs more strict timelines to make use of all its skills. 90s Collective which you have to plan for the group to get hit, 90s Synastry which while definitely the stronger tank healer is easy to waste its potential, random cards, many less OH SHIT options especially in the AoE department. AST's fine once you know a fight to the T and can plan everything out, but learning a fight with it? Yeah you're wasting your time. It's like having a WAR MT in coil progression, most groups didn't do that either blind or in early progression because it gets far more punished for lack of fight knowledge, despite it possibly being better or worse than PLD MT once the fights are on farm and every cleave and tank buster are memorized exactly. You wanted the tank who almost always had a CD to spare, multiple excess OH SHIT buttons, a shield in case of a mess-up with a chance to live a Revelation or Death Sentence.

I've been playing AST a lot recently and I've come to appreciate its strengths. I don't think it's purely outclassed by WHM, I think they've both got ups and downs. That said, going into a fight blind, or even with knowing it but not having a CD rotation planned for AST? You're gonna have a bad time compared to WHM. Healing has to be a joke for a blind AST to succeed as well. Basically the only scenario I see world firsters using AST, as they are currently tuned, is if there is an A3S situation where eventually the world firsters know the fight well enough after 400+ pulls but the DPS checks are too tight in minimal gear, and honestly I don't think they're going that route in FFXIV anymore.