DPSing as AST

[Trunks]

The RNG is absolutely fine and in the best place it's ever been thanks to both the Balance nerf and Spear buff imo.

My only beef with AST is 'need' for 9 hotkeys specifically for cards alone now. That's just absurd and goes entirely against SE's stated aim with SB.

It's basically a necessity dictated by the mechanics, though. The only way to fix that is to reduce the number of cards you have access to (not going to happen, and shouldn't). I'd be interested if you have an idea for how it could be changed, because I've given it a considerable amount of thought and have come up empty.

[Teraluna]

It's basically a necessity dictated by the mechanics, though. The only way to fix that is to reduce the number of cards you have access to (not going to happen, and shouldn't). I'd be interested if you have an idea for how it could be changed, because I've given it a considerable amount of thought and have come up empty.

As a previous poster has already said, the current set up involves around 9 slots on the skill bar and goes directly against the skill bloat mentioned by Yoshi when he talked about the Stormblood changes.

This bloat is entirely a result of the introduce rng/mitigate rng of the pot luck card gimmick. For me it needs slimming down, and to do this, the removal of some cards completely.
As I have said, rng should not be there for cards. Your performance - with any class - should be based on skill, not I'll press a button and wait to see what skill pops up.

Slim down the cards to three, it's less of a problem then to keep these equally useful and desirable. It removes the skill bloat. No rng. Pick the one you want, which then has a longer cool down than the other two.
This gives you intentional abilities, allows the player to make known, pre-planned and structured decisions on when and where - and that is how it should be with any class.

[Jollyy5]

...

You've brought this up on other forum posts as well, and each time your arguments have been pretty much stomped to the ground, not sure why you bother trying anymore.

Not to mention they have nothing to do with what this post is originally about: Astrologian DPS.

[Miste]

Your performance - with any class - should be based on skill, not I'll press a button and wait to see what skill pops up.

Considering a lot of jobs in this game work the exact opposite of what you want and SB actually added MORE RNG type jobs (IE: BRD and RDM)...it is safe to say SE doesn't agree with your opinion that all jobs should not have any RNG elements to them.

I've seen you post the same stuff over and over and over in multiple threads for like a year straight and they still ignore you. Pretty sure they have clearly shown through game development choices that their answer to your idea of "no RNG in jobs" is "No".

Slim down the cards to three It removes the skill bloat. Pick the one you want, which then has a longer cool down than the other two.

This is severely boring. You are basically dumbing down the job to be so simplistic. It would be like if I advocated removing the SCH fairy because the fairy micro-management is too annoying and complicated for me to handle. I wouldn't do that because I know people who like SCH being a pet based healer and if SCH doesn't suit me then I have two other healers to play that don't have a fairy to micromanage.

Just so you know you are advocating removing Draw and separating it into 3 cards usable on cooldown...you know what else that removes?

Spread? Gone.

Redraw? Gone.

Sleeve Draw? Gone.

Three out of Six cards? Gone.

Royal Road? Gone.

Minor Arcana? Gone.

You are basically gutting the entire unique part of the job to make it specifically catered to you alone. How about...No.

People have already pointed out the problems with your arguments. It all boils down to personal preference being the problem not that AST needs to be changed. If AST doesn't suit your personal preference then you have two other healers to choose from. If none of them do then you play another role. If none of the jobs at all in this game suit your personal preference then you give your feedback and then move on to another game, because if none of them are fun for you to play then why are you still here with an active subscription posting the same complaints for over a year?

This gives you intentional abilities, allows the player to make known, pre-planned and structured decisions on when and where - and that is how it should be with any class.

Why do you think that takes skill to play? Even 2 year olds can memorize a continuous pattern that always loops back around and never changes. Red, blue, green, yellow, red, blue, green, yellow, red, blue, green, yellow, red, blue, green, yellow, red, blue, green, yellow. That take you a lot of skill or time to memorize that pattern?

No variation is stale and boring to most people...sort of like eating Vanilla ice cream every single day of your life when there are over 100 other flavours you could try once in awhile.

If "Vanilla only forever" really is what floats your boat then, while all jobs have some RNG, there are jobs in this game that don't have very much RNG that you can choose from and since healer seems to be the only thing you complain about two out of three of the healers barely have any RNG elements so go play WHM or SCH if you don't like the cards. Just like I don't like SCH because of the fairy mechanic. If I don't like the fairy mechanic then I go play WHM or AST which don't have a fairy. Simple. I have choices to cater to my personal preferences and so do you otherwise you wouldn't still be playing this game.

As for other jobs? Tanks barely have any RNG, and multiple DPS jobs barely have any IE: DRG, SMN, NIN, MNK SAM etc. So there are plenty to choose from that cater more towards your style. Leave alone the ones that are there to cater to other people who like the RNG style... and the obvious reason there are many different kinds of play styles for the jobs is because SE needs to cater to a wide variety of people and not just you.

I mean why do you continue to play this game if you feel this way about RNG? The entire game is based around RNG in some way; it's EVERYWHERE in FFXIV. Every single job has some RNG elements. You literally cannot get away from it. It's like going into the forest of your own volition and complaining there are too many trees. It makes zero sense; why did you go into the forest if you hate trees? If SE hasn't listened to you by now over a year of seeing you post the same complaints I am pretty sure you are wasting your time and it doesn't help that very few, if not no one else, seems to share your exact grievances.

If you don't like RNG then it baffles me to no end why you would choose to play a game that is completely soaked in RNG since launch. So again, you are fighting against the natural state of this game and since RNG is a massive presence and everywhere in a lot of aspects of this game do you REALLY think they are going to change it for you alone? It would take a huge overhaul of their entire game to remove all the RNG from every single aspect of the jobs in this game. You are completely wasting your time here.

[Kabooa]

No variation is stale and boring to most people...sort of like eating Vanilla ice cream every single day of your life when there are over 100 other flavours you could try once in awhile.

You don't need the rest when you got the best.

[Miste]

You don't need the rest when you got the best.

Uh huh. Which is why I said if they only want vanilla forever then there are options already in game to cater to someone who only wants vanilla forever. Just like there are options for people who prefer to have more variation.

Tera just wants the entire game to only offer vanilla and everyone is stuck with only vanilla. Bad idea. Not everyone likes vanilla.

(but I actually like vanilla as my favourite ice cream lol, but just using it as a way to explain like...if I tried to tell an ice cream shop to only have vanilla because it is the only flavour I like...what about other people who like the other flavours?)

[Kabooa]

Tera just wants the entire game to only offer vanilla and everyone is stuck with only vanilla. Bad idea. Not everyone likes vanilla.

I mean, on a more serious note, the issue with the cards is there are legitimately bad cards that are only fodder for Royal Road. That issue is alleviated somewhat with the change to Spear, but at the same time, it highlights the direction towards efficiency while removing unique tools. RNG and dynamic decisions are only interesting if they're not binary decisions. You're always going to Royal Road the same cards and you're always going to keep the same cards.

There are some areas I think FF14 could stand to remove some of the 'variant of the same thing' with their abilities (Weaponskills, Status Effects), and cards fit that bill. They're pretty binary in their use, either being fodder or unequivocally good given the current state of affairs and the encounter design paradigm they work with. I very much expect Spire to go the way of Spear, eventually becoming "Direct Hit" card. Ewer arguably has some niche use to keep as it is, but their most recent changes in Stormblood have removed TP from being an issue in every case but almost guaranteed wipes, with wide access to goad, invigorate, and TP Song.

[Miste]

I mean, on a more serious note, the issue with the cards is there are legitimately bad cards that are only fodder for Royal Road.

Hm... I am assuming you mean every single card except Balance, Spear, and Arrow?

Do you have AST at 70 and have done a lot of content on it (or at least level 60 and played it often during HW)? Like in casual and savage content? Because I am sensing a lack of knowledge on the job with this entire statement you've made about always RRing the same cards....it isn't true especially comparing 4 man and 8 man/24 man content, and you've also forgotten about Minor Arcana?

For one Royal Road is a necessary part of playing AST, so some cards being used for RR doesn't mean the card was inherently useless nor does it mean it is never useful; it all depends on the situation.

For instance in 8 man content yeah you strive to AoE DPS boosting cards this is true, but in savage for example Ewer cards are not only RR fodder. For progression (or for even mishaps even on farm status) where MP might be depleting fast due to inexperience or for fixing mistakes that drained MP (like multiple raises) and also if you get one where a healer has low MP from adding additional DPS it can really help. In my O3S progression as AST for example Ewer cards have saved me on some occasions because our group was trying to push enough DPS to beat enrage and I was pulling all the stops using everything I could to heal hard and fast and DPS like mad.

It also is good to note this works for 24 man raids as well. I've had times in the early days of Mhachi and Dun Scaith where as a AST healer I was running out of MP from trying to heal the alliance's mistakes or raise a ton of people from either my group or other groups as well. Sometimes Ewer really saved me and I was able to pick up the group all on my own.

Honestly in some of my progression on O3S and O4S I have gotten Ewer cards where I seriously had to think quick and decide whether I needed (or my cohealer needed) the MP or if I can risk it and just RR it because our MP pools were quite low at points. As you get more gear and learn the fights everything gets so much easier, but these first few months....yeah sometimes a bit hard on the MP.

Spire by itself is mostly useless in 8 man content (but still 8 man you want to RR AoE so it is still a desired card even if the actual buff it gives isn't), but in dungeons where jobs use high TP cost AoE damage to kill large packs Spire is good to use on them because in 4 man content RR AoE is not beneficial like it is in 8 man and TP gets drained fast even with DPS job buffs like Tactician or Goad. Ewer is also good for keeping your own MP up (can also use on a BRD for longer Foe's or on PLD's to help their DPS/Flash) for your healer DPS since RRing it, is again, not beneficial for 4 man.

Bole is highly situational and generally if you happen to get one in 4 man content you usually do RR it. It is the only card that kind of falls under your assessment. It isn't a bad card though if healers get a tank who doesn't want to use cooldowns or is undergeared it is as strong as Rampart! It is a very underrated card tbh and it can help you DPS when you get a squishy tank since it gives a great buff. It is just most content is too easy to heal so most skilled AST do not need it and it would be better used by RRing it, but again like spire even though you RR it doesn't mean it was useless because now the next DPS card you pull gets the 150% power added on to it so in the end the Bole + whatever DPS card you pulled was very beneficial.

Bole in 8 man is highly situational as well but not entirely useless. With the new Sleeve Draw mechanic sometimes you end up having a choice on what to AoE if you have AoE + 2 random cards. Now I've been in situations where I Sleeve Draw and I get Bole in the Spread and then Ewer or Spire in the Drawn card slot. I basically have a choice here....Either AoE the Ewer/Spire (and lose the extra AoE RR) or AoE the Bole and honestly AoEing Ewer is kind of wasteful and if me or my cohealer desperately needed MP I would simply remove the AoE from my RR then use it; and then AoEing Spire is just...no. So likely I will choose Bole for incoming raid damage and then RR the Spire/Ewer that was left and then I have AoE setup again for next Draw. AoE Bole has helped reduce damage so that I didn't have to AoE heal as much then I can go back to DPSing. Not a great card to end up AoEing, but it wasn't completely useless either.

Also to note, like you can do with Ewer if one of the healers is very low on MP, if a tank buster is coming you can even remove the AoE RR, use the singe target bole on the tank, then RR the waiting Spire/Ewer and wait for the next draw.

So yeah I disagree that some cards are only RR fodder as each of them have their uses. DPS cards are more desirable most of the time true, but others definitely have their place. I've even had myself cursing that I cannot draw an Ewer sometimes when I really really needed the MP or my boyfriend did (he's my cohealer in savage). The only point you might have is Bole....things in this game just don't do enough damage and healing spells are just so strong that it doesn't really get much use for a skilled AST, but like I said it has its uses for some situations and for some players.

I mean RR being so integral to how AST works even if you changed some of the cards how you say to be DPS oriented...people are still going to need to RR them. Change Spire to Direct Hit? If I have a balance or sleeve draw waiting then I will still RR it. Change Ewer? Same thing...you are still going to have to RR one of them to get AoEs for the 8+ man content. So really it wouldn't change much in the end except make it so you have way too many DPS cards and not enough other support cards for other situations.

[Sebazy]

I'd be interested if you have an idea for how it could be changed, because I've given it a considerable amount of thought and have come up empty.

Yeah it's tricky as the overall system is a bit of a mess now, I do think there is room to streamline things tho, but perhaps not as much as I'd like.

Draw, redraw, royal road and spread are pretty much unchangeable. Sleeve draw is a longer cooldown so that's a fair addition.

This leaves us with 4 hotkeys where I think work can be done (Undraw, Minor Arcana, Empty Road and Undraw Spread)

First up, I think Minor Arcana should have been rolled into Undraw's functionality whilst also streamlining the lord/lady cards into existing abilities.
So for example, undraw gets auto upgraded to minor arcana at 66 rather than being 2 separate hotkeys, pulling a lord card could double the damage potency of your next offensive ability whilst a lady card could reset the cooldown on Essential Dignity. That makes minor arcana a bunch more appealing and gets rid of one hotkey.

Secondly, for Undraw Spread and Empty RR, the easy solution there is to put the cards back on the buff bar as well as the new AST ui element and allow us to manipulate them with macros again. Another option that might be a step too far would be to have Empty RR and Undraw Spread's functionality on the same ability hotkey.

It could be something like a long or short press deciding which gets removed.

Even just a toggle that highlights each Card UI element in turn, leaving that element highlighted and then hitting undraw/minor arcana would chew that selected element instead of the middle drawn card adding further functionality whilst also streamlining 4 hotkeys down to a more palatable 2.