Has anyone quit healing?

[Hatstand]

I haven't quit healing, but I have dropped Astrologian entirely. I see no reason to play it or for it to even exist really in its current state. Rather than redesign it away from a carbon copy of White Mage, the developers doubled down on it while removing unique parts of their kit. What purpose does Astrologian serve to exist when almost every single skill and ability is a reskinned version of something from White Mage?

I was sincerely hoping Shadowbringers would continue to differentiate Astrologian with abilities like Earthly Star and 4.0 Minor Arcana. The current card system is a mess, regardless if they choose to continue with it.

The point is to allow BLM, SAM, and the other big dps classes to see bigger numbers.

Also to allow for a buff-fantasy, for those healers who prefer the flavour of buffing others over doing their own damage, because it gets better with the healer fantasy.

Mechanically it offers little-to-nothing to the AST themselves.

[KittenMittens]

The point is to allow BLM, SAM, and the other big dps classes to see bigger numbers.

Also to allow for a buff-fantasy, for those healers who prefer the flavour of buffing others over doing their own damage, because it gets better with the healer fantasy.

Mechanically it offers little-to-nothing to the AST themselves.

A buff-fantasy is wonderful, but Astrologian currently does not offer this in any meaningful way. The current design of cards makes it difficult to see any impact the damage from the cards / Divination bring with its short 15s duration. Where is the other utility? While damage is ideal in most situations, the other cards previously had niche uses beyond that when timed correctly.

Regardless of what kind of buffs Astrologian can offer, why is it alright for the job to be so homogenous to White Mage that it boils down to 'WHM with cards'? I feel like the developers changed and removed what set Astrologian apart when they should have focused instead on its glaring similarities to an already existing job.

[Hatstand]

A buff-fantasy is wonderful, but Astrologian currently does not offer this in any meaningful way. The current design of cards makes it difficult to see any impact the damage from the cards / Divination bring with its short 15s duration. Where is the other utility? While damage is ideal in most situations, the other cards previously had niche uses beyond that when timed correctly. Regardless of what kind of buffs Astrologian can offer, why is it alright for the job to be so homogenous to White Mage that it boils down to 'WHM with cards'? I feel like the developers changed and removed what set Astrologian apart when they should have focused instead on its glaring similarities to an already existing job.

I agree. I can’t stand AST anymore, despite the fact that it used to be one of my two most played classes (I swapped fairly evenly between SCH and AST). However, there seem to be some people for whom a fantasy that’s only skin deep seems to be the main attractor of a class. Many of those people also seem to be the same ones who think anything other than direct damage is useless.