Quote Originally Posted by PercibelTheren View Post
I mained Astrologian for the two years I've been around but I also shelved it for Dawntrail. I tested it out and I hate the changes as much as I thought I would. I liked the semi-random gameplay and the high APM. I just fully switched to Dancer because it's the closest thing with the general feel to me. I know there are other people who feel similarly. What I find strange is that both here and on Reddit, people were praising the rework, yet I don't see them playing Astro. It was already quite rare in Endwalker but now it's even worse. Which I find ironic because apparently the reason for simplifying healers is to appeal to more people. Doesn't seem to be working.
I absolutely completely agree. The AST changes on the cards are completely unrewarding. The fun with the identity of the job was choice on the fly. Making the most out of a chaotic kit. The agency of the job has been washed away. I played and mained AST since the job release and have complained about the same changes. They have consistently homogenized and streamlined the job so much that there is no more flow chart to the job. 4 out of the 6 cards will go to the tank by default on CD because they are heal/mitigation perks, with a predetermined damage card with every sleeve draw. If I wanted to stack skills to produce a big shield/heal, I would have played another job. The base kit was also strong enough with heals and mitigation. Not only are 4 of the 6 cards practically do the same thing, they are going to the strong role in the game. Where is the reward in that?

If stacking the cards could produce new boosted perks, like in previous versions, it would add more agency in the choices of who will receive the cards. That is fun to do. Making the most out of a less than optimal situation is rewarding. If I wanted to memorize the maximal rotation of a job, I would main others. There are plenty of them. I know that high end players suffered the most out of RnG. But what percentage of playtime do even high end players play high end content? On the other hand, what is the majority of playtime being spent everyday?

The self expression of play in AST used to be the reason why I latched onto the job. Now, it's just feels like a different uniform of a department for the same company. I guess it is now time to conform and fall in line.

I will sadly wait for the live letter to see the response if there will be any. I hope the raiders are happy. They got what they always wanted.