First time playing Astrologian... need some advice/tips

[Arielyanna]

I solo'd my AST to 35, then moved on to other classes... that was awhile ago. Now, as it's my only class left under 50, I've decided to work on it and I was after some general advice/tips as to how to play as AST in a party situation (I leveled it to 35 solo via levequests...).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Elysaine]

I solo'd my AST to 35, then moved on to other classes... that was awhile ago. Now, as it's my only class left under 50, I've decided to work on it and I was after some general advice/tips as to how to play as AST in a party situation (I leveled it to 35 solo via levequests...).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well the AST has 2 healing stances, of which at your level only one is available. Diurnal you get at level 30, Nocturnal at 50.

Apart from the sekt (stances name) own bonus (5% spell speed for diurnal, 10% healing for nocturnal). The sekts only affect 2 spells. Your other spells work as they normally would.

Aspected Benific works like the White Mage's Regen in Diurnal. Aspected Helios acts like the White Mage's Medica 2.
When going Nocturnal Aspected Benific mimics the Scholar's Adloquium, while Aspected Helios acts like the Scholar's Succor.
Only real difference is that Aspected Benific "Adloquium" is an instant cast spell, while the Scholar has a cast time for it. And it doesn't give a "double" shield when it crits.

If you have healed with White Mage and Scholar before you'll generally find the other healing spells of the Astrologian to be very familiar.

The other thing you need to keep in mind are the cards. You'll learn them along the way while leveling up. How to use them (Royal Road, Spread) etc. And when to use each of the 6 different cards.

Spread is a skill which allows you to use a card for later on. So if you for example draw a Balance card (which increases DPS) and don't need it right now, you can Spread it for later use.

Royal Road destroys the drawn card, but the card destroyed gives a card specific buff to the next card you'll draw and use. 3 different options there. More power, longer duration or an AOE version cast on all party members in range.

When playing solo (or when casting DPS spells) in groups. The Astrologian plays very similar to the White Mage.

Hope this helps a bit

Aurora

[Cleftobismal]

Just little stuff:


Extended Cards work better in the long run than a boosted card until you obtain time dilation and celestial opposition to boost the duration.

If you have a party member that is putting in the deeps a lot more than the others. It's sometimes best to focus extended/boosted balances on them alone.

AST can't aoe before the 50's. It's best to spread your balance card and place Combust II + I dots on many mobs as you can while you weave in spells.

Bole can be used to lessen the requirement to heal your tank. Giving you more time to do other things.

Disable should always be used on a tank buster skill. You may also use it on a boss charging an aoe.

Light speed is your bread and butter when it comes to quick dpsing and massive aoe heal spams. The mana cost reduction will prevent you from dying out on mana. And if you get the trait to reduce the damage penalty. Eventually you can use Gravity to help clear mobs or Malefic 2's on the run.

When you obtain Celestial opposition, you can use this skill offensively (to prevent mobs from touching your tank for a while) and increase all the buffs you not only casted on your party members but yourself. (Mana Recovery, Light speed, Synastry) *Personally I use this a lot with Light speed and Synastry to burst aoe heal when it calls for it.

For tips on cards:

Monks and Ninjas typically love the Arrow over Balance. But sometimes It's a good idea to use on a BLM if the fight is starting to get mobile.

Everyone else loves the Balance for obvious reasons.

Extended Ewer on Bard while they sing foes requiem is not a bad idea. You get a longer magic debuff effect.

Extended Spire has its uses on dragoons and Bards that spam aoes.

The spear is kind of useless imo, I only see it for one use and that's to reduce a tanks GCD. (If its a boosted Spear, it does make a huge difference)


Collective Unconscious:

Aside from the damage reduction effect, I actually love to use this skill to stack regens on a big pull. You'll be amazed in how much healing would be covered if you used synastry + this + Aspected Helios (Regen Stance) + Aspected Benefict (Regen stance) time dilation + celestial opposition.



AST is a fun class. And while people do complain that the class has some potency nearing WHM's. It's only because we don't have a Fairy to heal for us. (I can't imagine being able to heal heavy damage with just benefict I) And because of that fact and the way the class works, it requires a lot of focus and thinking to execute this class pretty well.

[Rennies]

Side note for you: Don't take AST in Level 50 Roulette, you and your team will hate the job for its inability to contribute to AoE damage until level 52. White Mage is the best option there.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Side note for you: Don't take AST in Level 50 Roulette, you and your team will hate the job for its inability to contribute to AoE damage until level 52. White Mage is the best option there.

It's not that bad really. AST offers huge DPS increase in the form of cards anyway, so while it's not as noticeable, it's pretty much covering for it's missing aoe.

Also SCH would be the best for a lv 50 dungeon, but that's a different discussion.

[Elysaine]

Side note for you: Don't take AST in Level 50 Roulette, you and your team will hate the job for its inability to contribute to AoE damage until level 52. White Mage is the best option there.

May not be perfect, but pretty sure we can cross class Blizzard 2.

[Sebazy]

A few little tips and tricks I've picked up:

There's more to life than chasing Balance cards! Got a big multi mob pull coming up and you've just pulled a Bole? Consider throwing it on the tank to allow yourself a few more Gravity casts. Getting constant spears? Whilst it's the black sheep of cards, it's a dps gain for bards and worth throwing their way if you're at a loss. BLMs and Warriors still appreciate Arrow cards it seems. (Not so sure about arrow on Mnk/Nin tho, my static melees would be out of TP too quick).

If you're not parsing, but want to get the most out of your balances, take a note of your party DPS' HP totals and watch their hate generation vs each other, it's a quick way to figure out who's got the most gear and is doing the most DPS and thus who will get the biggest benefit from a Balance.

On the subject of cards, if you are in the habit of queuing cleric stance (to safely drop it without the risk of accidentally reapplying it) after an cast, be a little cautious if you draw a card at the same time, that can sometimes cancel the cleric stance queue if you are far ahead enough with rather obvious consequences.

Don't forget about collective unconsciousness! It's totally free, has a damage reduction element to it and is very strong even if you are only getting the tank offering up more potency than even Aspected Benefic in Diurnal.

Celestial Opposition is oddly versatile and if you have your timing down, can be far more powerful than it's tooltip might suggest. Line things up well and you can extend not only a balance card, but your own Lumi Aether (shroud) by ~35%, regens on the tank and stun a mob pack allowing for a couple more gravity casts. Another good example would be a raid pull timer dropping just before my Draw recast is up, I aoe my saved balance only to pull another almost right after, popping CO not only extends the balance that's up, but also preserves the second balance card long enough for my Spread to be ready before it goes to waste.

If you intend to seriously raid on AST down the line, practice is key, being able to subconsciously juggle your cards is fundamental to performing on point when it comes to mechanics and healing.

Hope these help! <3

[Rennies]

It's not that bad really. AST offers huge DPS increase in the form of cards anyway, so while it's not as noticeable, it's pretty much covering for it's missing aoe.

Also SCH would be the best for a lv 50 dungeon, but that's a different discussion.

You're not guaranteed any Balances or Arrows. Holy spam is guaranteed, and I'm certain that it does more than a Balance card would in AoE.

May not be perfect, but pretty sure we can cross class Blizzard 2.

50 Potency vs 200-100 Potency, alongside the complete lack of any relevant CC.

[gumas]

a few cents from me

- AB can act as your quick heal for any target who are not getting continues damage, DPS at 70% hp? just heal and forget with AB

- no need to save Synastry, if you really need the 20% healing boost, use it.

- use Time dilation to maximize your buff

- if you are unsure to use bole as single or aoe effect, look at your party, are both dps doing great? is your tank warrior? then aoe it is. dps is meh but your tank is awesome warrior? single bole to him that is, and so on.

- learn swiftcast, this skill will save you a lot. and protect spell too.

what i like from AST is that they probably the only healer that can give your party (the player) a morale boost of sort, whenever i give a bole to DPS, they somehow start doing their full rotation lol

just for fun, AH (diurnal) + Bole (aoe) + card (spread) + TD (your choice) + CO + CU (not necessary) at the start of boss fight will usually get your party hype for "lets do this shit" moment

[bounddreamer]

Monks hate the arrow, don't do it, you might get slapped