Astrologian Speculations! How will it fit in?

[ViscountofSeven]

AST doesn't feel unique with the stance dancing stuff and all

[Hysterior]

feels very generic so far but let's wait until we can actually test it =)

[tjw]

The Astrologian in the Job Actions video seems to use the following abilities;

<Draw Card> And she seems to get an attack power buff.
<Activate Card>
Nocturnal Sect stance
<AoE Heal spell with shield effect> (the Diurnal Sect heal spell was shown in the PAX teaser, and had a star effect rather than shield effect. It also didn't seem to be AoE in the teaser spell, so with the more extravagant orbal effect above the Astro in the Job Actions video seems to imply AoE)
<Grand-Cross look alike spell> causes Heavy on target.
<Demi/Graviga> Most likely a quest ability, given the different pose while casting.

Now here's the interesting part that I think I saw:
<buff on self> But it's not active
<debuff on enemy> Again, not active until...
<activates both buff on self and the stun debuff on enemy>

So it seems that Astro can pre-apply buffs and debuffs, and then 'activate' them at the same time. Given that Astro uses celestial magic, which is commonly associated with time and space, I wouldn't be surprised.

[VanilleFang]

<Draw Card> And she seems to get an attack power buff.
<Activate Card>

She doesn't get the buff until she activates the card though. She doesn't get it upon drawing it.

Now here's the interesting part that I think I saw:
<buff on self> But it's not active
<debuff on enemy> Again, not active until...
<activates both buff on self and the stun debuff on enemy>

It looks like... She casts it on herself, then she casts a spell on the enemy. And then she uses a huge, aoe spell that I'm assuming is some sort of heal. I don't see any specific "activation" of the buff/debuff separate from when she initially casts them.

[tjw]

She doesn't get the buff until she activates the card though. She doesn't get it upon drawing it.

That's why I separated <draw card> and <activate>. I merely said that the card itself seems to be an attack power buff.

It looks like... She casts it on herself, then she casts a spell on the enemy. And then she uses a huge, aoe spell that I'm assuming is some sort of heal. I don't see any specific "activation" of the buff/debuff separate from when she initially casts them.

If you notice, the stun effect doesn't appear until she uses the AoE spell. There's likely no animation for when it gets activated by the AoE spell, but after she used the debuff, the enemy wasn't stunned. It was only stunned after she used the AoE spell. That's why I see the AoE spell as the activation ability.

[VanilleFang]

If you notice, the stun effect doesn't appear until she uses the AoE spell. There's likely no animation for when it gets activated by the AoE spell, but after she used the debuff, the enemy wasn't stunned. It was only stunned after she used the AoE spell. That's why I see the AoE spell as the activation ability.

Oooooh. Yeah. I see what you mean. I even slowed down the videofeed and you can actual kind of see an "activation" through the huge blue constellation aoe thing. Hmm.. That's actually a pretty cool idea and might have some interesting implication. Good eye.

[Roxas_Andrade]

If you notice, the stun effect doesn't appear until she uses the AoE spell. There's likely no animation for when it gets activated by the AoE spell, but after she used the debuff, the enemy wasn't stunned. It was only stunned after she used the AoE spell. That's why I see the AoE spell as the activation ability.

Or the spell cast by the AST was Paralyze. That's why it didn't had an instant effect and that's why it didn't require activation. it just 'ticked'.

[Jacost]

Some more stuff from a Redditor who got hands-on (and wrote that very article):

They get their own type of Swiftcast ability (can't remember the name), but instead of being spent on one ability, it offers passive haste for a short duration.

They get a Cleric Stance so DPS'ing for solo content is at least bearable. They're DPS abilities look awesome, but at the end of the day aren't all that impressive statistically.

One ability I forgot to mention is the ability to put a buff on an ally, and whenever you do healing, they receive 50% of it. Pretty neat to keep an off-tank alive.

They have three main heals - a single target one, a small AoE and a large AoE. Depending on what stance you're in (Diurnal and Nocturnal), you'll apply additional regen or absorption effects when casting spells.

I cannot remember the cooldown of the Beacon of Light like ability, but I'm pretty sure it's in the 1-2 minutes bracket.

...those are the big spam-able heals. There's more, that do very niche things.

He'll be doing an AMA later as well.

[tjw]

Or the spell cast by the AST was Paralyze. That's why it didn't had an instant effect and that's why it didn't require activation. it just 'ticked'.

1. Paralyze effect is different from stun in its animation; it's not persistent like the stun effect, which is what is shown. (I actually went to get paralyzed in t11 just to see)
2. The effect lasts for a good 2-3 seconds; paralyze is at the most a second from what I recall.
3. The AoE effect at the end has a small but noticeable particle effect on the mob when it is cast. You could then contest that the AoE was a AoE Stun but that doesn't seem likely, does it?

[Blueyes]

If you notice, the stun effect doesn't appear until she uses the AoE spell. There's likely no animation for when it gets activated by the AoE spell, but after she used the debuff, the enemy wasn't stunned. It was only stunned after she used the AoE spell. That's why I see the AoE spell as the activation ability.

I want to comment on this again as I believe you are entirely correct. In the most recent article (posted on the last page) it mentions Celestial Stasis as a level 60 ability instead of a Limit Break. I believe that's exactly what we see in the video.

I made a thread to try to really figure out what the cross classes are -- it seems that the one translation is wrong, and it is still CNJ/THM if what people are saying is correct.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...92#post2987792

It seems the last article incorrectly stated Arcanist as one them and has since been corrected with the translation reflecting that change, so yes it is Conjurer and Thaumaturge. Kind of disappointing to be honest as I think Arcanist offers more than Thaumaturge when you consider that a job specific Swiftcast would be entirely appropriate for Astrologian.