What is the most up-to-date and easy-to-digest AST guide?

[Valmaxian]

Starting Conjurer is crucial - helps you get used to basic healing + DPS without the additional stress of the cards.

DRAW. Also, once you have access to RR and eventually Spread, its best to not hand out plain card buffs - make sure you improve them. Balance is always desired. I use Arrows pre-60 as a general buff (melee might not always like it, but I've never had a single complaint). At 60, give it to BRD/MCH/SMN, and ask anyone else if they want it before you start (esp. BLM). I end up RRing about 95% of my Ewers and Spires. Tanks love Bole, and I'll often enhance or extend it to facilitate DPS (as Rennies pointed out). Spear takes practice and communication to get right. Some think its weak, I think its awesome - at the right time. I RR about 85% of these.

Use CO/TD to maximize cards and HoTs. Use Light Speed (its not an emergency button as much as it is a mana saving tool). Use Synastry (Also not just for emergencies - the healing boost allows you to DPS MOAR).

[Rongway]

once you have access to RR and eventually Spread, its best to not hand out plain card buffs - make sure you improve them.
[...]
I end up RRing about 95% of my Ewers and Spires.

It's understandable that people might think it's a good idea to buff cards. And if you're out of combat, and have the luxury of being picky with your Draws at that second, it absolutely is. But once you're in the midst of battle, your cards have a greater impact if you apply usable cards when you draw them, rather than roading them.

In light parties, if you have no immediate use for a Ewer(typically yourself or a BRD) or Spire(AoE DD), it's better to shuffle and hope for a better card, rather than Royal Road it.

I'll have to search the history a bit for the math on Ewering a BRD. But in regards to single card effectiveness vs buffed card effectiveness, and Expanded buffs in a light party, I've presented maths in this post and in this post.

The first post also suggests that Expanded Balance in a full party is a good idea, but only if you can do it without discarding (right-click or /statusoff) any cards.

[Valmaxian]

Snip

Very good points! I totally neglected shuffle. XD

[JMadFour]

So I am on PS4 and using the Cross Hotbars.

what's the best way to lay out my Crossbars for a Healer?

as a Tank and DPS, I've got my skills laid out pretty nicely, but for those, it's pretty easy to figure out, since everything that isn't a cooldown is a damage skill.

the way all my characters are set, I use Cross Hotbar 1, 2, and 3 for job-specific skills. . 4-8 are shared among all my jobs.

I have all my main attacks on my right crossbars front and back. Back bar is R2+L2. I use my front right Crossbar (R2) do my main attacks, and use r2+l2 to bring up my back right crossbar for additional ones. I use front left crossbar for cooldowns and class mechanics(i.e. Mudras, Cards, etc.), and my back left crossbar for cooldowns and lesser used skills. my class mechanics are generally always on my front left face buttons (L2 + Triangle/Circle/Square/X), and my main cooldowns are always on my front left D-Pad (L2 + Up/Down/Left/Right).

Hotbar 3, the entire thing, is for PVP skills on the left side, and Potions/Out-Of-Combat skills (like Gauss Barrel/Turret Retrieval/Stealth/Stances/etc.) on the right. Hot bar 3 is set as my expanded cross hotbar (double-tap L2 or R2)

now that is generaly how I do it on my DPS jobs.

on a Healer, I have heals, damage, and cooldowns. which adds a wrinkle to this that I'm having a little trouble figuring out.

so I am wondering, do I put my Heals on the front bar, and damage on the back(L2+R2)? do I do it the opposite way? do I mix the two (i.e. heals on the face buttons, damage on the d-pad, and vice-versa)? what's the best way to lay out my skills on my hotbar to ensure I have the easiest access to the skills I need the most?