Some AST suggestions

[inhaledcorn]

/snip

I'm inclined to agree with a lot of this. I like the idea of adding both a Regen and Shield to Celestial Opposition. I don't think the direct heal effect is terribly necessary as opposed to having more regen/shields available/being less stance dependent.

That Collective Unconsciousness thing, though... I do want it to be better, but I don't think that should be how. Tying MP regeneration to that seems like it would be difficult to sort out, personally. I look at DNC and how its Improv works, and while it's slightly different as they only gain Esprit as long as they're doing it, this encourages CU to be used on cooldown, and I don't think that's how they want it to be. I did think about maybe putting the Time Dilation effect back in it/it refreshes any buff on players cast by the AST as long as they stand in it, but that might also be difficult to balance/optimize.

Actually really like that Divination change as a flat damage buff I feel is more important, but I wanted the Redraw change to help get appropriate seals as, when you get all your seals, you can't change them. They're locked until you use Divination. Maybe if there was a way to take a seal out/overwrite them, I won't feel as forced to use Redraw to get the right ones. Like, another skill or a heal that consumes all duplicate seals.

[MintnHoney]

Collective Unconsciousness

Collective Unconscious, as an ability, needs to be looked at entirely. The parameters of the ability goes against the identity of our core gameplay philosophy (ABC: Always Be Casting vs. ...Stop). Therefore, if they don't want to remake the ability entirely, they're going to have to pump up the strength to make it worthwhile, especially if they intend for it to be something that we stop to use for longer than a second.

[Allegor]

Collective Unconscious, as an ability, needs to be looked at entirely. The parameters of the ability goes against the identity of our core gameplay philosophy (ABC: Always Be Casting vs. ...Stop). Therefore, if they don't want to remake the ability entirely, they're going to have to pump up the strength to make it worthwhile, especially if they intend for it to be something that we stop to use for longer than a second.

I was under the impression it's the type of spell you reserve for boss animations...? you know, the kind of attacks where you can't even target them and stack to mitigate the unavoidable damage.

I'm gonna get lynched to oblivion for this, but because I love bubbles and barriers type of skills, I actually like the concept of CU. That said, I agree it should be stronger, even more so than either Asylum or Sacred Soil if it's to be used less...freely.

[MintnHoney]

I was under the impression it's the type of spell you reserve for boss animations...? you know, the kind of attacks where you can't even target them and stack to mitigate the unavoidable damage.

I'm gonna get lynched to oblivion for this, but because I love bubbles and barriers type of skills, I actually like the concept of CU. That said, I agree it should be stronger, even more so than either Asylum or Sacred Soil if it's to be used less...freely.

Oh, no, it's definitely a wonderful tool for those moments, much like any other mitigation tool would be. And I mean, call me bad, or whatever, but in Stormblood, I loved hitting the tank and team with all regens possible, using Lucid Dreaming, and then Collective Unconscious over the Tank to let myself recover MP to full while everyone got in the bubble and stayed healthy. It kept the pressure off on keeping up with mana, and, to be honest, it felt natural to use it that way.

Definitely not optimal, but I was never shooting for optimal. Just fun.