Looking for a bit of feedback for Ast and dps

[Pomelo]

two dots

Add aero to your mix as well.

[Troile]

i didn't think of aero. Thank you.

[_slowpoke_]

Add aero to your mix as well.

Do keep in mind that Aero's total potency¹ is equal to that of one Malefic II. Unless you either a) need to move, or b) use an oGCD ability (such as juggling cards), it's generally better (and simpler) to just use Malefic II. Look at it as a filler move, not an integral part of your DoT rotation that should be kept up at all times².

¹ 50 potency initial hit + 6 ticks * 25 potency = 200
² Same deal for WHMs, btw, Stone III (210 potency) is better than Aero unless a) or b).

[Sleigh]

Do keep in mind that Aero's total potency¹ is equal to that of one Malefic II. Unless you either a) need to move, or b) use an oGCD ability (such as juggling cards), it's generally better (and simpler) to just use Malefic II. Look at it as a filler move, not an integral part of your DoT rotation that should be kept up at all times².

¹ 50 potency initial hit + 6 ticks * 25 potency = 200
² Same deal for WHMs, btw, Stone III (210 potency) is better than Aero unless a) or b).

Aero:

- 2/3 the MP cost of Malefic II
- Insta-cast, prime for the abundance of oGCDs AST must employ regularly, and stance dancing. Combust is not enough.
- Affected slightly by Spell Speed's effect on DoTs, making it slightly stronger than Malefic II

The same applies to WHM too even. Aero is perfect for movement, inserting Fluid Aura, stance dancing with Cleric Stance, and to a lesser extent PoM and/or Assize. Honestly it bugs me when people just look at face potency value on a healer when, even in concerns to DPSing, there's just more to it than that.

All you really have to watch for is that you don't clip your DoT (generally a big no-no with Aero even before Malefic II or Stone III existed) unless movement is forcing you to use Aero and only Aero, and you don't use it near the end of a phase or enemy's life bar.

[_slowpoke_]

- 2/3 the MP cost of Malefic II

True, though the savings here are really negligible (~10 MP per second assuming you DPS 100% of the time). Keep in mind I'm operating under the assumption that DPS is something you do as a healer when everything else is under control and accounted for - including MP management, i.e. MP is not an issue.

- Insta-cast, prime for the abundance of oGCDs AST must employ regularly, and stance dancing.

…that is basically exactly what I have said? Maybe I was unclear or implied too much.

- Affected slightly by Spell Speed's effect on DoTs, making it slightly stronger than Malefic II

True, though probably negligible at current gear levels. It also depends on what secondary stats you gear for (which is mostly personal preference at the moment). Quite a few ASTs seem to prefer Crit/Det over SS for various reasons, which will equally effect DoTs and regular spells.

I'm very aware that my argument here *will* fall apart if secondary stats - SS specifically - become more relevant again, either due to improved scaling or just sheer numbers on future gear. At the moment, though, this is what we have.

Honestly it bugs me when people just look at face potency value on a healer when, even in concerns to DPSing, there's just more to it than that.

I'm looking at face potency in the context of the rest of the toolkit, and that context shows us that it's generally better to use Aero as a filler skill and not as an integral part of the damage rotation. That does not mean you basically never use it (far from it), it means that you have to think about when to use it instead of just going Combust II → Combust → Aero whenever you pop into CS.

If I may draw a comparison with SCH/SMN, you should not think of Aero as Bio (keep up at all times while DPS'ing), you should think of it as Ruin II (filler skill to weave oGCDs or for movement). There's obviously still some differences, but that's the basic gist.

Though, to bring this to a close, at this point in the game I would say it's still a personal playstyle choice (maybe I should have presented it as such, and less as fact :) ). We both seem to agree it's a very fuzzy thing number-wise (especially on AST, I would say less so on WHM), and it's unlikely you will gain or lose much either way.