Gutting Astro... again.....

[Kissune]

But hey, you know what? Since we're both no longer playing AST in DT, maybe they'll start listening to us now.

Here's hoping! 8.0 Looking better every day.

[Mortex]

The problem I have now is that you still throw both dps cards every 2 minutes. If there is no option to use the other 2 cards before the dmg card you most likely just throw these 2 cards on a tank and healer at the same time and redraw because of If you are to slow you lose seconds of draw and you dont want this.

[Zaytex]

There's also a strong possibility star is being removed in DT (and Assize) given how they are absent in the job trailer, and one of the new-looking skills for AST (the final one shown) has the same animation as popping a star. Thematically it looks like a replacement to star too.

Given the state of healer toolkits, just giving them more healing buttons is silly but if they removed some of them (sigh) then it would technically make healing harder, and something like the Lady card more useful if you're losing star.

If it is removed or replaced by something else, it'll most likely be something that is simply less interesting or nuanced to use. Star was used every minute for its damage, but you could've still placed it where you want for its healing. Like in P10S where the DPS light party go east and the supports go west. You were too far to heal the DPS who took damage from the mechanic (forgot name), so placing a star allowed you too still do damage but heal players outside of your casting range.

I guarantee whatever is replacing it will probably just be an OGCD healing tool with less nuance, which is just another notch of stripping away the difficulty and complexity of AST's tool kit.

[Mortex]

There's also a strong possibility star is being removed in DT (and Assize) given how they are absent in the job trailer, and one of the new-looking skills for AST (the final one shown) has the same animation as popping a star. Thematically it looks like a replacement to star too.

Given the state of healer toolkits, just giving them more healing buttons is silly but if they removed some of them (sigh) then it would technically make healing harder, and something like the Lady card more useful if you're losing star.

If it is removed or replaced by something else, it'll most likely be something that is simply less interesting or nuanced to use. Star was used every minute for its damage, but you could've still placed it where you want for its healing. Like in P10S where the DPS light party go east and the supports go west. You were too far to heal the DPS who took damage from the mechanic (forgot name), so placing a star allowed you too still do damage but heal players outside of your casting range.

I guarantee whatever is replacing it will probably just be an OGCD healing tool with less nuance, which is just another notch of stripping away the difficulty and complexity of AST's tool kit.

I mean we don’t saw the raijins for ninja but I don’t assume a max lvl capstone from EW won’t be removed. Some times they just don’t show stuff. We will see later like we always do sadly

[GrizzlyTank]

Unfortunately it would appear that Astro is dealing with the same issues as MTG has.

Their cards went out of rotation and thus no longer legal in the latest season!

[Ezina]

AST main here, though I don't do savage raiding or ultimates, but I feel like my opinion is still valid to a degree.

Removing anything that made AST a challenging job is actually quite disappointing as it leaves no room for people to just play with an RNG system or better yet play the way they want to play. I left WHM after ARR since I didn't like just spamming heals or dps, because I wanted more and AST was that answer. I enjoyed it the most in Stormblood as much as I dislike that expansion I will always say that was when AST shined the brightest out of all the healers. Removing the perks of having a shield or regen healer or cutting abilities away from the card system was the worst decision this team has ever made in my opinion as it no longer let players play the way they want with the job. I miss being able to enhance my cards or give an aoe spread for my cards. Now the the cards are basically no longer part of a system that made AST an AST and the RNG system of AST made the job fun for those who main it within this game.

This may be the final nail in the coffin for me as AST was the last job I actually enjoyed. Was excited for Pictomancer, but if my favorite job/class of all time in any MMO is being burned by this dev team like this I won't stick around to see the ashes. If I was doing the savage or ultimate content I would definitely drop healing all together due to this as playing another version of WHM isn't fun for me and I'm sure for anyone else who deeply cares for AST.

Those who say that they main AST and like the changes I truly believe never gave the job a real chance to flourish on their screen.

I personally would like to see them revert AST back to Stormblood or even Heavensward (after they fixed it's MP regen issues) version, but that time has sadly come and gone. Good Job FFXIV Dev team for killing imo the best healer ever made in an MMO. Please revert your decision to these changes.

[KanataNanaya]

AST main here, though I don't do savage raiding or ultimates, but I feel like my opinion is still valid to a degree.

Removing anything that made AST a challenging job is actually quite disappointing as it leaves no room for people to just play with an RNG system or better yet play the way they want to play. I left WHM after ARR since I didn't like just spamming heals or dps, because I wanted more and AST was that answer. I enjoyed it the most in Stormblood as much as I dislike that expansion I will always say that was when AST shined the brightest out of all the healers. Removing the perks of having a shield or regen healer or cutting abilities away from the card system was the worst decision this team has ever made in my opinion as it no longer let players play the way they want with the job. I miss being able to enhance my cards or give an aoe spread for my cards. Now the the cards are basically no longer part of a system that made AST an AST and the RNG system of AST made the job fun for those who main it within this game.

This may be the final nail in the coffin for me as AST was the last job I actually enjoyed. Was excited for Pictomancer, but if my favorite job/class of all time in any MMO is being burned by this dev team like this I won't stick around to see the ashes. If I was doing the savage or ultimate content I would definitely drop healing all together due to this as playing another version of WHM isn't fun for me and I'm sure for anyone else who deeply cares for AST.

Those who say that they main AST and like the changes I truly believe never gave the job a real chance to flourish on their screen.

I personally would like to see them revert AST back to Stormblood or even Heavensward (after they fixed it's MP regen issues) version, but that time has sadly come and gone. Good Job FFXIV Dev team for killing imo the best healer ever made in an MMO. Please revert your decision to these changes.

Your opinion is especially valued, as proof that current AND future AST is boring on all level, not just the high end fights

[SeverianLyonesse]

The removal of RNG has totally ruined AST's flavor.

Honestly, they passed up a perfect opportunity to keep AST's flavor while simplifying gameplay and making it more engaging to play in between healing.

AST cards should be its primary DPS mini-game, not its healing/support skills. It has access to plenty of consistent healing/support through its time magic spells. What it needs is something more engaging to do for DPS downtime, and random card draws are perfect for that. Varied DPS with minimal opportunities for spikes may be frustrating for DPS classes, but it would be perfect for a healer class that isn't expected to do much damage anyway.

Make AST RNG again. Make AST the pure-heal DPS counterpart to SGE.

[Azurarok]

I like to think the RNG wasn't so much the problem as opposed to the lack of tools to turn around the unlucky moments, especially in EW.

In ShB the 3 charge redraws, sleeve draw, and minor arcana typically were enough to at least line up 3 seals for a max strength Divination. There still were rough times with getting a card for the right role, but EW rarely lets me get all three seals for Astrodyne on top of that, and they also added to the frustration with minor arcana giving us either a tiny damage boost vs an extra healing ability. It's not like it made it unviable, but not being able to regularly have even one of those to line up perfectly doesn't feel great.

What I was kinda hoping for was more tools to fix bad RNG moments, kinda like how RDM can often deal with losing Verfire/stone procs with Verflare/holy, swiftcast, and acceleration. I think having Spread alone could've helped a lot, but maybe also a sort of "Sleeve Redraw" that flips all drawn cards at once (Melee<=>Ranged, Lord<=>Lady) would've been nice.

I think I'll enjoy DT's Astro more than EW's, at least.

[Mortex]

I like to think the RNG wasn't so much the problem as opposed to the lack of tools to turn around the unlucky moments, especially in EW.

In ShB the 3 charge redraws, sleeve draw, and minor arcana typically were enough to at least line up 3 seals for a max strength Divination. There still were rough times with getting a card for the right role, but EW rarely lets me get all three seals for Astrodyne on top of that, and they also added to the frustration with minor arcana giving us either a tiny damage boost vs an extra healing ability. It's not like it made it unviable, but not being able to regularly have even one of those to line up perfectly doesn't feel great.

What I was kinda hoping for was more tools to fix bad RNG moments, kinda like how RDM can often deal with losing Verfire/stone procs with Verflare/holy, swiftcast, and acceleration. I think having Spread alone could've helped a lot, but maybe also a sort of "Sleeve Redraw" that flips all drawn cards at once (Melee<=>Ranged, Lord<=>Lady) would've been nice.

I think I'll enjoy DT's Astro more than EW's, at least.

Let’s be real here it isn’t hard enjoying anything more than EW astro. Like you could learn a piano and have way more enjoyment trying finger breaking and actually impress people. Just seeing astro getting reworked every bloody expansion really tells you that they have no scooby what to do with the job in general. Like Astro gameplay now is throwing 2 dmg cards every 2 minutes while you take the other 2 and throw them on a healer (I’m gonna call that the healer cards will be either mana regen or healing % increase) while the tank cards will be always on the main tank or with how they like tank buster in the 2 minute window, 1 on main and 2 on ot and the dps card will be always thrown on the top dps and 2 highest and this order pretty sure will be set in stone for another 3 years while in downtime you slam the 1 key like a monkey on cocain.