Who to throw cards to...?

[Relhon]

I almost always royal road my ewers and spires unless someone specifically needs it. I also try to spread my balance card unless it's needed right away so I can aim for an aoe balance. If I'm between trash pulls, for instance, I'll spread the balance card and try for a ewer or spire so I can aoe the balance. If I'm right in the fight, though, I won't waste the balance to spread and I'll just give it to the highest dps.

Bole for tanks usually when needed.

If I'm not aoe'ing arrow and spear I'll just rotate them as others have mentioned.

[Gemina]

Hmm.

So far though, AST kinda reminds me of WHM (unlike SCH lol), only with.... cards and an actual finite MP pool (at least thusfar).

It indeed does play a lot like WHM with a card gimmick. Things change a bit though once you are 50 and acquire Noct Sect. Even though AST can shield and do it very, very well, it still doesn't quite feel like a SCH because you are not dealing with having to manage aetherflow stacks and Lily. At 52 you FINALLY get an AoE to hit mobs with, and mixed with lightspeed and cleric stance, you can seriously wreck trash packs and add phases, again making it feel a lot like WHM even post 50.

You definitely have to watch your MP though. Out of the three healers, AST is the least MP efficient by far having the fewest tools to replenish their MP or reduce MP cost. BRDs are your best friend so buff the crap out of them, and they usually respond in kind.

[Gemina]

Going to make a separate post for how I deal with cards. There are several abilities as you grow that changes how you deal with your divining deck. For example, pre 35 you just draw and give that card to whoever, but at 35 you can start burning the card you don't want because you will quickly notice that the Spire and the Ewer are the cards you benefit the least from. These two cards are more beneficial in drawn out fights. Keep that in mind if you're going to take your AST into harder content.

At 40 you can start holding onto a card you draw, and at 45 you can redraw it which again changes how you deal with the card you get. From here, most AST are going to try and Royal Road the Ewer or the Spire to grant an AoE for their next card. This is a good tactic, especially in 8-man. Prior to getting Minor Arcana at 66 and RRing the Ewer/Spire, you are going to want to use/spread your next card if it is a buff card, and redraw if it is a refresh. You can gamble if still going for the Balance or the Spear, but you might end up with another refresh card, and then you're screwed.

That said, though everyone loves the Balance, do not underestimate the buffs from the Arrow or the Spear. I actually enjoy AST the most in 4-man because I feel I can be more strategic instead of static with my cards. In 4-man, I may be more inclined to RR other cards other than Ewer/Spire. These effects are also not to be underestimated. AoE balance is awesome, but so is a 1 minute Spear on a highly geared SAM or MNK against a boss. Gauge your party and play to their strengths. That is honestly the best advice I can give when it comes to how you deal with the cards.

[Cassandaria]

I think it boils down to performance. For some cards, it's easy to figure what to do with, balance, any DPS, in fact...any job benefits from it. But, if you get spire? Look for who has low TP that is using TP. Crit up with spear, same deal, everyone CAN benefit from it. Bole is handiest on tanks, but really if raid wide damage is coming and someone takes more damage (likely due to lower level gear) than use your best judgement. Ewer is also up for grabs, if another party member, outside of a BLM or DRK has low mp, toss it on them, if YOU have low MP, use it on yourself. Most jobs have really good tools to keep their own MP up pretty handily, but a boost never hurts, outside of BLK and DRK which have abilities that kill mp regen abilities. So, outside use, say a paladin needs to burn flash a lot and is tearing through MP, and you draw ewer? Paladin will benefit from it.
Arrow is pretty good all around as well, it's a raw speed increase, give it to...well...anyone, you can't go wrong, but my opinion is based on the situation. If the tank needs a BIT more edge in hate keeping, arrow will help, the more they pump out the more hate they generate (though this is VERY situational), big heals needing to come in, extra speed can't hurt there either. DPS? same deal, always good in almost any situation, but think about the content at hand.
The cards are a very flexible system and really outside of a few highly niche cases, you aren't going to go wrong so long as you are actively using your cards as soon as you can until you get royal road (where you can form better strategies) or when you get higher and can use minor arcana.

[HyoMinPark]

@Perrin & @Reinfeld - one of the optimized usage of Balance is usually on the highest DPS, but if OP isn't parsing, there's no way for them to know that. It is also optimal to give a Balance card to a DPS currently in a burst window to also maximize the potential gain from it (e.g., a BRD in a Raging Strikes+Dragon Sight window, or a MNK during their burst window). But that's for an entirely different level of play compared to leveling.

If you know who the highest DPS is, sure, give them the Balance. But if you don't, pass them around.

One situation you could put them to use towards in 4-man content is AOE situations. Say you have a SMN in your group or a BLM; they have monstrous AOE, so they will make good use of a Balance during a large trash pull or two compared to a job with weaker AOE potential (or compared to a DPS that is allergic to their AOE buttons).

[vVAstrAVv]

Tp and mp cards (spire and ewer)
Are best used on the tanks and yourself when needed. Tanks dont have tp recovery skills that dps have access to so its nice for war and pld

Drk wont need it
Defense and attack cards (bole and balance)
Are situational really. If the tanks great and a dps is floor tanking give them the bole if it helps but balance for whoever is best untill something ill get to in a sec

Arrows are crack to blm monk and nin
And spears are kinda useless to anyone but bards since its crit RATE i think

Later though you'll unlock redraw and royal road. Where youll usually trash spires spears boles and if you dont need it ewers for their associated buffs towards your next draw

And even later youll get minor arcana where youll do the same for either a strong heal or single target attack

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

On topic of BLMs and Arrow usage for Lv70:

Disclaimer - I base this tip on the idea that the BLM in question is competent and has a proper opener for endgame.

If a BLM runs a high spellspeed build, avoid giving him an arrow at the start of a fight.

Getting the initial Foul / Polyglot right after their 8x Fire IV opener after Blizzard III is important to keep the casting flow going without relying on mp ticks, speeding this up can cause a gap in casting by lacking Polyglot for being too fast, essentially wasting the power of arrow cards. A thunder III proc can substitute it, but depends on luck or opener.

Throughout the fight it is generally a welcome gesture though (and below 70 too).

[Kabooa]

On topic of BLMs and Arrow usage for Lv70:

Disclaimer - I base this tip on the idea that the BLM in question is competent and has a proper opener for endgame.

If a BLM runs a high spellspeed build, avoid giving him an arrow at the start of a fight.

Getting the initial Foul / Polyglot right after their 8x Fire IV opener after Blizzard III is important to keep the casting flow going without relying on mp ticks, speeding this up can cause a gap in casting by lacking Polyglot for being too fast, essentially wasting the power of arrow cards. A thunder III proc can substitute it, but depends on luck or opener.

Throughout the fight it is generally a welcome gesture though (and below 70 too).

Cutting off an entire GCD of time on the AF phase is well worth taking Arrow. That means we get into UI faster and that means we get into AF again faster, for more F4.

You can never go wrong giving a Black Mage Arrow.

Also, I logged in to test this. Convert opener is enough mp to B3 into an immediate B4. MP tick is irrelevant.

[Maeka]

I know it's been a few days since I visited the thread.....

But these last few dungeons? I haven't had to worry about what cards to use on who because I draw Ewer/Spire some 5, 6, 7 times in a row.

Did a Cutter's Cry earlier and I drew a Bole first thing. RR. Spire. RR. Ewer. RR. the next 5 cards in a row were Spires.

......bleck.

Suffice it to say, it's very rare I don't have an Expanded RR when I finally draw a buff card. I hope that improves eventually...

[Rongway]

I draw Ewer/Spire some 5, 6, 7 times in a row.

Did a Cutter's Cry earlier and I drew a Bole first thing. RR. Spire. RR. Ewer. RR. the next 5 cards in a row were Spires.

......bleck.

Suffice it to say, it's very rare I don't have an Expanded RR when I finally draw a buff card. I hope that improves eventually...

In Light Party content, prior to Redraw and Minor Arcana, you should be using your Ewers and Spires instead of Roading them. They decrease the effectiveness of the next card (two cards spent giving everyone a 50% potency buff is less effective than giving one buff to the best target). Even if it doesn't look like anyone can make use of them, it's better to use them than to gimp the next card. You should only be burning cards for AoE in full party content.