3.3 AST adjustments

[Reinha]

The problem with this line of thought is there is almost no situation in the game that simply boils down to "just spam Helios some more" (which is where AST would shine over SCH anyway). By the time SCH runs out of CDs the AOE heavy hitters are done. If you need to spam AOE heals for a longer time it's usually because your co-healer is dead, and if your co-healer is dead during an AOE-heavy phase it's GG, especially on Nocturnal AST.

I personally find myself thinking that Lightspeed lasts too long more often than not. I'd prefer it to work like Rapid Fire (2.5s cast time reduction, decreased GCD, but limited number of uses) and it would easily fill that Assize/Indom niche.

Quoting this as a response to Darkmoon, because you explain a part of my point quite well.

This is precisely why Lightspeed is a valid burst cooldown. A dangerous amount of raid damage never lasts 6 GCD (correct me if I'm wrong ). Higher AoE healing output over 6 GCD is irrelevant if it's going to be overhealing. I left my image to represent 3 GCD for this reason. It demonstrates how the weakness of SCH (lack of spammable AoE) is never an issue; damage never lasts long enough for it to matter. For this very same reason Lightspeed offers comparable burst healing in raid wide damage situations; the AoE healing demand ends before Lightspeed ends so that when the awkward moment where you wait out a GCD + cast time of the next heal (~5 seconds) happens, it is already safe and all you are losing is maybe a cure on the tank or some dps.

Within a short amount of time (3 GCD or less), AST does clearly lose in comparison to a SCH or WHM if those two use Swiftcast to gain the same advantage as Lightspeed gives. However that leaves the 2 healers with no way to instantly raise someone so it's a bit of a gamble. It also doesn't account for the unique advantage of AST that comes with Lightspeed: mobility (for longer than 1 GCD). A running WHM and SCH are wasting potential GCD heals whereas AST can use them as normal, bridging the gap between their AoE healing capabilities. It's not quite in the topic of burst healing but somewhat related. I think it's supposed to be a trade-of: mobility for a sacrifice in short term burst potential. What I'm not sure about is how many fights truly allow this advantage of AST to be any use.