Why is Light and Dark damage so rare?

[Anonymoose]

The elemental system of XIV has always been well-rooted in the lore, but it's always been a mess in terms of game mechanics. Banish (Astral) and Scourge (Umbral) are the old basis of Thaumaturge (before BLM came in and forced Conjurer to split the elements with it).

If you want to be a purist about it, Astral and Umbral aren't aspects at all, they're polarities. Polarities exist in all things. The elemental wheel as a whole is divided (3 Astral / 3 Umbral) but any of those elements can also be affected by Astral or Umbral energies.

But here's where it get awkward: Astral damage used to be Wind / Lightning \ Fire in equal measure, Umbral was Water \ Ice / Earth. Sometimes Light and Dark seem to work like Astral and Umbral mechanically, and sometimes not. The difference, if indeed there is one, is pretty murky at the moment (As far as I know, anyway).

I assume that's why they just leave it as Unaspected, lol. (Not that Elemental Aspect really counts for anything mechanically, anyway.)