Astro changes 5.1

[Brandedblade]

(Looking at your past posts over this thread, which mostly boiled down to white knighting the dev's removal of most of AST's former card-based layers of optimization via (1) RNG-management through Spread and RR or (2) situational or strategic re-weighting.)

Oh, the irony... But, glad you've had a change of heart, I guess?

Don't get me wrong, I like Divination. I love ensuring I get the 3-seal effect stacked atop a Sleeve Draw's worth of Crowns on the dps. But, we had just as much optimization involved back then atop a greater variety of outputs. To call it, therefore, poor design while saying you enjoy the unification of card effects because it gives you much to optimize is contradictory at best.

(Hey look! I can do it too. I get it. Disagreeing with you makes me a white knight. Such is the nature of the internet.)

In comparison to WHM and SCH in their current forms, definitely. And like I've said before. The RNG of the old system was a factor because while there where ways of mitigating it you would always run the risk of bad rng giving you a far lower pay off then the former. You may have had decent chances of having an AoE balance set up and spread . But there was always the risk, however slim. That rng would simply not cooperate with you and you would not be able to optimize your buffs. With all cards being +damage you are at least guaranteed that element. Instead of bad rng meaning you do not buff the group. Bad rng means you buff the group less. and guess what? It being raw damage as opposed to crit means that it won't scale as massively with gear growing and it being raw damage as opposed to skill/spell speed means it wont interfere with the classes that the stat is actually detrimental for.

[ForteNightshade]

(Hey look! I can do it too. I get it. Disagreeing with you makes me a white knight. Such is the nature of the internet.)

In comparison to WHM and SCH in their current forms, definitely. And like I've said before. The RNG of the old system was a factor because while there where ways of mitigating it you would always run the risk of bad rng giving you a far lower pay off then the former. You may have had decent chances of having an AoE balance set up and spread . But there was always the risk, however slim. That rng would simply not cooperate with you and you would not be able to optimize your buffs. With all cards being +damage you are at least guaranteed that element. Instead of bad rng meaning you do not buff the group. Bad rng means you buff the group less. and guess what? It being raw damage as opposed to crit means that it won't scale as massively with gear growing and it being raw damage as opposed to skill/spell speed means it wont interfere with the classes that the stat is actually detrimental for.

This is a flawed premise. Not only does RNG still exist with the seals, they contribute significantly less than the old system. While yes, not getting AoE Balance meant a weaker alternative. That alternative was leaps and bounds above the current iteration. The old system had flaws but the new system isn't inherently better. Ironically, it requires even less thought now than previously. Before you at least had to consider whether Spear or Arrow benefited certain jobs. Now? Do you have a Samurai? Give them every single melee card outside the opener. They are always, without question, the superior choice assuming equal skill.