All Job gear have the problem of being restricted to rehashing the exact same identity, because that's what Job gear is for, showing off that specific job, so the design is always going to be very similar.

AST is going for the mystical fortune teller identity, and there's only so far you can go with that.
I wish they would lean a little more into the Time Mage aesthetic personally, which HW's gear held on to with the pointy hat at least.
This goes hand in hand with AST keeping time effects too though, for example, why does SCH get the movement speed buff instead of AST?!