SE made this game AST only, why?

[Blueyes]

I thought AoE damage was getting nerfed across the board for most classes/abilities?

The nerfs to AoE potency was something that mainly impacted DPS jobs. In fact, both White Mage and Astrologian had their AoE damage buffed. White Mage can now use Assize every 60 seconds (previously 90) and Astrologian gained the ability to deal 200 potency of AoE damage every 60 seconds with Earthly Star. Scholar is the only healer that got their AoE damage reduced and by no small margin. Even without any direct change to Bane, Scholar still would have received a nerf due to Bio no longer existing as a separate DoT.

For the most part I don't have an issue with the Scholar changes and believe there is some overreacting going on, but I do think the change to Bane was a horrible idea.