I hate to, but I think I put down healing for now. Please make it engaging again, SE.

[Deceptus]

It is a possibility that they think the players' response is not reasonable too. They said they wanted to balance healers before adding a job, so maybe they will only look at (or prioritize) this data. I think this is the case since 5.1, AST numbers have raised and all healers are close to each other (althoug the lower number of AST clears might make the data unreliable).

AST still hasn't recovered from their extreme shortages.


E4S Parses:

Astrologian 11,707
White Mage 36,033
Scholar 30,555

https://www.fflogs.com/zone/statistics/29/#class=Any

Hades EX

Astrologian 5,483
White Mage 14,534
Scholar 9,691

https://www.fflogs.com/zone/statisti...1049&class=Any

They're still nowhere near the other two.

[Crushnight]

Ast also has a lot of Stigma to get past as well

-Healer stigma in general of being dull 1 nuke 1 DoT for downtime when heals aren't needed.
-New card system is underwhelming
-The reward is not worth the effort over the competition
-Controller issues especially when optimising
-Gameplay doesn't reflect lore

The devs have only addressed one of these, that being the reward/effort with Ast now being the strongest healer but the biggest one keeping Ast numbers so low is the controller issues, this problem needs to be addressed asap yet they will not even acknowledge it and thus the stigma will remain for most of the expansion alienating people before touching it.

[Deceptus]

Ast also has a lot of Stigma to get past as well

-Healer stigma in general of being dull 1 nuke 1 DoT for downtime when heals aren't needed.
-New card system is underwhelming
-The reward is not worth the effort over the competition
-Controller issues especially when optimising
-Gameplay doesn't reflect lore

The devs have only addressed one of these, that being the reward/effort with Ast now being the strongest healer but the biggest one keeping Ast numbers so low is the controller issues, this problem needs to be addressed asap yet they will not even acknowledge it and thus the stigma will remain for most of the expansion alienating people before touching it.

Funny because AST damage rotation was pretty much the framework for the Shadowbringers damage re-work and no AST would have wished their pre-ShB rotation on anyone.

Regarding their lore, I find it funny that basically that their lore is essentially useless now with the current changes.

[Crushnight]

Funny because AST damage rotation was pretty much the framework for the Shadowbringers damage re-work and no AST would have wished their pre-ShB rotation on anyone.

Regarding their lore, I find it funny that basically that their lore is essentially useless now with the current changes.

Yep it is just the combination of it all that really really stinks about current Ast.

Heck our dps rotation in HW(most complex Ast was) was only combust, combust II and malefic II not exactly much but its card system very much mitigated this something the current card system cannot do, it is too simplified and so the current dps rotation sticks out way more.

If SE wanted to simplify dps on healers they needed to have offshoot this with something else that is engaging, yet they didn't do this, they instead decided to simplify everything else as well, lilies are now on timer so no more managing whm cds (really the only positive due to how lilies were generated before but still a simplification), the best the pet system had been and deciding heals or damage for sch was removed(only energy drain back so it has that only), Ast lost old card system and the time manipulation tied to it. All healers lost something in tandem with simplified dps rotations, this shouldn't have happened, the thought process should have been ok we are simplifying dps on healers how can we improve engagement elsewhere on each healer this is where the devs have gone wrong and where they need to see what they have done to the healer role.

[Lodi]

All healers lost something in tandem with simplified dps rotations, this shouldn't have happened, the thought process should have been ok we are simplifying dps on healers how can we improve engagement elsewhere on each healer this is where the devs have gone wrong and where they need to see what they have done to the healer role.

We shouldn't even call it an expansion at this point, we lost a lot more than we gained.

We lost role skills: Eye for an eye, Largesse, Protect...
WHM lost all its dot management (18s & 24s > 30s).
AST lost its cards and its buff extenders.
SCH lost all its damage actions save for a nuke, 30s dot and generic aoe (Miasma I & II, Bane, Energy Drain, Shadowflare...), and one fairy.

What did we gain?
Healing CDs, a boring and uninspired card system, healing CDs, Repose, healing CDs, one new damage spell for WHM, and healing CDs.

Expansion implies additions and improvements, not removal, dumbing down and oversimplification.

Oh,and let's not forget that SE still refuses to adress this.
They tuned AST's numbers up and called it a day, and look at how well it went. Still the least played healer by a huge margin, despite going from the worst healer to the best in a few months.

I guess that's all we are to them, numbers.


#FreeAeroIII

[Side-Eye]

Oh,and let's not forget that SE still refuses to adress this.
They tuned AST's numbers up and called it a day, and look at how well it went. Still the least played healer by a huge margin, despite going from the worst healer to the best in a few months.

AST's complexity (well, its pre-SHB card system) was what drew me to healing in FFXIV. I've never even leveled up the other two heal jobs, so I've honestly got to ask: is astro really best at healing now?? I've played DPS in plenty of recent groups with non-ast healers and it seemed to me as though they got the job done with less button mashing than I've experienced playing astro. And sometimes when the CDs are exhausted it seems like bene2 can't even keep pace with damage on a w2w pull. When the healer is a WHM they're easily able to spend most of their time dpsing. (Again, my perception here..)

Try not to judge me on not having leveled up all the jobs to 80... my playtime is limited so I honestly only invest that time in the jobs that appeal most to me. I have to read and learn when the other jobs are discussed.

[Crushnight]

AST's complexity (well, its pre-SHB card system) was what drew me to healing in FFXIV. I've never even leveled up the other two heal jobs, so I've honestly got to ask: is astro really best at healing now?? I've played DPS in plenty of recent groups with non-ast healers and it seemed to me as though they got the job done with less button mashing than I've experienced playing astro. And sometimes when the CDs are exhausted it seems like bene2 can't even keep pace with damage on a w2w pull. When the healer is a WHM they're easily able to spend most of their time dpsing. (Again, my perception here..)

Try not to judge me on not having leveled up all the jobs to 80... my playtime is limited so I honestly only invest that time in the jobs that appeal most to me. I have to read and learn when the other jobs are discussed.

Ast has the best rDPS of the healer role by a noticeable amount (not huge but there is a clear gap between it and whm now) the only current end game fight whm can beat it is E1S due to how meteor adds are placed so Holy can hit all 4 + boss, I would still say Ast doesn't have the best healing kit but it is way more than sufficient to do everything and with how the game as well as how the community treat healers, when there is no more need for heals gotta bump that deeps which is where Ast shines. Unfortunately it is just not fun to do for a noticeable amount of players which is the real kicker yet SE won't acknowledge that how current Ast is designed is a problem due to ignorance/arrogance.

I will reiterate, current Ast's biggest problem is how controller unfriendly it is, 8+ macros should never be a more beneficial alternative to using the system as is especially with their inherent input delay, at such a point I class that as a failure of a design on the dev team that urgently needs to be looked long before the next expansion, refusal to look at it is just going to keep Ast numbers low.

I swear if they just continuously buff Ast just to make people play it ala 3.4 buffs again, I'm going to be yelling not so nice words at a few people oh and i will yell at the devs over the changes for so called 'balance' too.

[MitsukiKimura]

Funny because AST damage rotation was pretty much the framework for the Shadowbringers damage re-work and no AST would have wished their pre-ShB rotation on anyone.

Regarding their lore, I find it funny that basically that their lore is essentially useless now with the current changes.

It's also sad how they want to keep to the lore of other aspects of the game such as Viera and Hrothgar and other things but when it comes down to AST...Nope let's just throw out the very thing it made it fun and unique out the window. I can't even bring myself to play AST other than weekly Savage clears, it's just downright not fun. I love this game but I do not approve of their vision for the healers. They took a wrong turn in that department and need to do a quick U turn before people just walk away from it.

[Punslinger]

Funny because AST damage rotation was pretty much the framework for the Shadowbringers damage re-work and no AST would have wished their pre-ShB rotation on anyone.

Regarding their lore, I find it funny that basically that their lore is essentially useless now with the current changes.

A 5.x AST reads horoscopes for their FC:

Capricorn: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Pisces: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Gemini: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Scorpio: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Leo: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Cancer: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Virgo: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Aquarius: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Taurus: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Libra: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Aries: You will deal +6% DPS today!
Sagittarius: You will deal +6% DPS today!