Some AST suggestions

[Leidiriv]

I'd personally really like to see AST take a few pages from its Time Mage roots and just get rid of the Sects entirely, replacing the regens/shields with something like Brewmaster Monk's Stagger mechanic. Putting Asp Bene on the tank turns the next X potency of damage they take into a DoT over 15 seconds or so, then the AST can use stuff like Time Dilation to double its duration/halve its potency, Reverse to turn it into a regen, or other similar functions. From there they could have Celestial Opposition literally just pause the timers of any debuffs/buffs the AST has on their party members for 10s.

[Verlyn]

^ This guy thinks good. I like the way this guy thinks.

[Vitreus]

I'd personally really like to see AST take a few pages from its Time Mage roots and just get rid of the Sects entirely, replacing the regens/shields with something like Brewmaster Monk's Stagger mechanic. Putting Asp Bene on the tank turns the next X potency of damage they take into a DoT over 15 seconds or so, then the AST can use stuff like Time Dilation to double its duration/halve its potency, Reverse to turn it into a regen, or other similar functions. From there they could have Celestial Opposition literally just pause the timers of any debuffs/buffs the AST has on their party members for 10s.

I actually like this stagger idea a lot, plays well into the lore of delaying or changing someone's fate and would give astrologian something unique. Especially the idea of just stopping time's effect on their allies and manipulating the buffs/debuffs.

Maybe there is a way to incorporate the card system into this?

[Bobsmiaw]

Change the sect effect (make it only affecting the card/draw) or delete it.
For healing, How about time controling healing?

Like earthly star + horoscope (healing potency increase after 10-20 sec).
With some cooldown for fastforwarding the effect (increase the potency without waiting for 10-20 sec).

Or fastforwarding our regen (if we ended up with regen only AST)

[Wawachume]

For healing, How about time controling healing?

Like earthly star + horoscope (healing potency increase after 10-20 sec).
With some cooldown for fastforwarding the effect (increase the potency without waiting for 10-20 sec).

Or fastforwarding our regen (if we ended up with regen only AST)

This is interesting. I've always liked the idea of time-control as a healing theme for AST. It fits the class lore and provides an interesting and different playstyle.

My only concern has been that it could create a very proactive playstyle. Like, SCH is proactive, but mainly in terms of maintenance ("keep this on the tank", "cast this at the start of the pull", etc.). Time-mage AST could be more difficult, if it had a bunch of earthly-star-style mechanics that were like, "cast this 15±5 seconds before the damage hits".

It's not bad to have it be that way. But I've always gotten the impression that the more reactive WHM style is more popular. So I think we should be careful to balance things out.

That's why I like the second proposal here, of speeding up regen effects. It's one of the first reactive time-mage proposals I've seen (assuming, of course, that either the regen or the speed boost was oGCD). If we tried to make a time mage that had a good mix of reactive and proactive elements, that would provide different playstyle options in easier content (for harder stuff, as always, you'd have to use all your tools).

Alternatively, we could go all the way with the proactive time-mage style, and have the mythical fourth healer be more reactive. If we can think of a reactive playstyle sufficiently different from WHM.

[Lodi]

If anything, E2N/S showed us that delayed mechanics are not only possible, but original and interesting!

We could totes have time shenanigans with delayed heals/damage, or spreading stuff over time.

Maybe the sects could be turned into two different time stances, instead of just being bootleg WHM/SCH?

[YusiKha]

Maybe the sects could be turned into two different time stances, instead of just being bootleg WHM/SCH?

If they want to keep a heal+shield Sect, Diurnal could be based on low HP% and Nocturnal could be only Shield, but heal if the Shield is broken

[Verlyn]

I'd rather get rid of the Sects entirely. They do not serve a purpose other than to divide AST into two jobs that can either ineffectively or too-effectively step on WHM and SCH's toes. Instead, I want them redesign the job more around its actual theming. Honestly? I would love even a simple mechanic like "Your main heal is a regen. You can speed it up, extend its duration or consume it all prematurely with time-themed spells." Hell, combine it with the best of all suggestions above and you have a compelling kit with a balance of proactive and reactive healing that could be really fun to play.

If we could figure out a way to tie the cards into that kit, then there's a solid redesign of AST waiting to bloom out of this thread.

My biggest problem with cards riight now os how little they actually engage the AST. They cost nothing. They do nothing for you. They don't encourage any kind of decision-making. You get Divinity out right away to align with opening burst, and then you fiddle with seals if you want but really it doesn't matter because the % difference is so low. At least with the old card effects, I could say they can compel decisions based on opportunity cost and that was enough engagement to make the system work. Perhaps simply bringing them back would be enough. Ewer would give the AST another avenue for MP regen and though people would be fishing for balance again, it is at least less frustrating than fishing for seals and, again, opportunity costs may force you to settle.