AST Wishlist for 5.0

[NorthernLadMSP]

I want regens and shields gone and for them to be direct heals only. I want the Abridged skill from PVP. And I want the sects to be changed to where one focuses on heals while making cards weaker and the other focuses on card buffs while making heals weaker.

[Gemina]

I want regens and shields gone and for them to be direct heals only. I want the Abridged skill from PVP. And I want the sects to be changed to where one focuses on heals while making cards weaker and the other focuses on card buffs while making heals weaker.

I can't agree more with this. I thought I would be the only one of this opinion.

If were up to me, I would prune the crap out of AST until it was a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and start there. I would make them more into the time mage they should be. They would retain their unique features like the cards and abilities related to them, Time Dilation, Earthly Star, Light Speed, Celestial Opposition, Synastry and both Sects. What I would have them focus on now is maintaining a slow debuff on mobs as their means to decrease incoming damage. The stun debuff from CO I would change to the debuff 'Stop'. It still works the exact same way just a different visual effect on the affected mobs. The slow and stop effects can also be extended by the AST, and they would be able to even remove resistances to these debuffs by 'turning the clock back' so to speak.

One of the abilities I've been thinking about that I would love to give them is a spell called 'Black Hole' or 'X Zone'. I forget which boss has this ability, but it would work in a similar way. It basically tears some kind of aetheric hole onto the battlefield, and any and all enemies that are close to it will get tethered and take moderate DoT.

The Sects would definitely work differently now as well since AST would no longer have shields or HoTs. They could retain the stronger/weaker heals depending on the sect, but the presence of a SCH or WHM will no longer dictate which Sect they use. Instead, card effects will change depending on the Sect. As an example one sect will give the Bole the usual increase to defense, but the other sect would have that Bole reduce the defense of the afflicted mob(s). The Spear would give/take away CHR. The Balance would have to be unique this way, because no one is going to care about a DMG down debuff to a boss because it only helps the tank. So I would probably do something along the lines of one version of balance increasing physical attack, and the other magical.

What I am certain of is that if 4.0 AST makes it into 5.0, I'm dropping it completely. I won't even bother getting it to 80.

[NorthernLadMSP]

The Sects would definitely work differently now as well since AST would no longer have shields or HoTs. They could retain the stronger/weaker heals depending on the sect, but the presence of a SCH or WHM will no longer dictate which Sect they use. Instead, card effects will change depending on the Sect. As an example one sect will give the Bole the usual increase to defense, but the other sect would have that Bole reduce the defense of the afflicted mob(s). The Spear would give/take away CHR. The Balance would have to be unique this way, because no one is going to care about a DMG down debuff to a boss because it only helps the tank. So I would probably do something along the lines of one version of balance increasing physical attack, and the other magical.

What I am certain of is that if 4.0 AST makes it into 5.0, I'm dropping it completely. I won't even bother getting it to 80.

I love your suggestion of one sect being the buffing sect and one being a debuff sect. That would also fix the issue of lazy or bad AST players overwriting the cards of another AST they may get paired with in DF.