Astrologian Speculations! How will it fit in?

[Ninimo_Babamo]

After watching the newest live letter, it seems to me like the AST can probably be paired with both, or even another AST with ease. The dual stance thing sounds like you can choose to stay in one stance or the other the entire fight. One is based around shields like SCH, and the other around heals like WHM. I think it will be very interesting to see how it plays out, but over the 19th-23rd I will be leveling AST to 50 non stop. I might not even sleep! haha

My hope is that it has very powerful healing potential and very powerful shielding potential but changing between them could be costly. I hope it isn't just a single button to swap like cleric stance.

[VanilleFang]

My hope is that it has very powerful healing potential and very powerful shielding potential but changing between them could be costly. I hope it isn't just a single button to swap like cleric stance.

It's supposedly a very long cooldown, as far as we know right now.

[Ninimo_Babamo]

It's supposedly a very long cooldown, as far as we know right now.

I just hope it doesn't just feel like a cleric stance for AST. The mechanics for astrologian seem a bit more complex than that of WHM or SCH and i really don't want it be annoying to play.

[KaerisKlyne]

I'm still really excited, even moreso after the amazing job action video from the most recent live letter. I think it was in fact confirmed a while ago that the stance change for Astrologian has a really long cooldown, so it's likely that if at any point an AST needs to change stance during a fight, it probably can't change back for several minutes afterwards. The most interesting mechanic for me is going to be discovering what sort of buff/debuff changes different card combinations produce.

[Shamirah]

The card system looks like the mudra from ninja to me. Imo you'll get buff/debuff. heal and shield. That's it

[Raminax]

Some cool information on Astrologian cards in this write-up here.

Highlights would be:
- Diurnal Sect seems to be more regen based, rather than plain healing. Nocturnal Sect is the same barrier deal as we've come to expect. Astrologian healing spells have apparently somewhat lower potency/throughput than White Mage and Scholar healing spells.
- Cards can apparently grant these buffs and be empowered further, depending on the type of the card
1) 10% increased attack speed
2) 10% increased damage done
If empowered, they become 50% more effective (I think? Wording is a bit ambiguous).
3) 20% TP cost reduction
4) 20% MP cost reduction
If empowered, they last longer.
5) 20% reduced recast timers
6) 10% increased damage taken (Dud card, where are your gods now?)
If empowered, their potency is halved, but it affects the entire party instead.
- Cards can be further affected through Shuffle, a long cooldown skill that instantly allows you to get another chance at drawing a card. Spread allows you to hold onto a card indefinitely, letting you use it when you wish to. Royal Road puts your current card back into the deck, and empowers the next card you draw, the buff depending on which card was drawn.

[Cynfael]

Info.

Thanks for sharing! Was a fun read.

[Ghishlain]

~Snip~

Thanks for the link. If AST is indeed a HoT healer as is indicated on the article, I will most likely swap to AST just because it reminds me of my WoW Resto Druid days. Less than a month away to make final judgement~

[Hysterior]

the 10% damage debuff card is not great, especially when paired with lower healing...
Since RNJesus hates me, this sounds scary


EDIT / More info

Of all the new jobs, the Astrologian was the star of the show for me. It’s a job that specialises in healing, and it has a very interesting utility. First, Astrologians have two different stances: Diurnal Sect and Nocturnal Sect. The former adds healing regen, whereas the latter adds an absorption barrier to many of their abilities. It basically gives them the versatility of both a White Mage and a Scholar, but they don’t have the same throughput; it’s balanced.

Second up is their card system. An Astrologian can at any point draw a card - out of six possible - each with a unique effect:

10% increased attack speed
10% increased attack damage
20% TP reduction costs
20% MP reduction costs
20% ability recast time reduction
10% increased damage taken

You’ll notice that the last example explicitly says “damage taken”. During my playtest, this surprisingly could only be cast on allies. When I asked the QA staff present, they promised me that this was intended; essentially, it’s a bad card, one that’s designed to balance out the RNG nature of the draw system. The logical man inside of me however wouldn’t be surprised if this was just mistranslation from the Japanese client, and it in fact reduces damage taken.

But to be quite honest, I really like the idea of having a dud card.

The cards’ uses can be furthered with three other abilities. Shuffle will draw you another card on the spot, with a hefty cooldown, and it’s also possible you’ll just draw the same card. If you like a card you’ve drawn, but don’t want to expend it, you can cast Spread to put it aside for later. There, it’ll remain indefinitely until you use it - great for prepping before a big fight. Finally, you have Royal Road: an ability which puts your drawn card back in the deck, but boosts the power of the next card you draw. Boosted effects include an increased 150% potency (effects card 1 and 2), increased buff duration (effects card 3 and 4), or turning the card’s effect into an AoE for party members (effects card 5 and 6). With the latter boost, the power of the card's effect is halved to compensate for a party wide buff.

from: http://www.pcgamesn.com/final-fantas...iv-heavensward

[Blueyes]

You’ll notice that the last example explicitly says “damage taken”. During my playtest, this surprisingly could only be cast on allies. When I asked the QA staff present, they promised me that this was intended; essentially, it’s a bad card, one that’s designed to balance out the RNG nature of the draw system. The logical man inside of me however wouldn’t be surprised if this was just mistranslation from the Japanese client, and it in fact reduces damage taken.

This is a good thing to point out as it is entirely possible. If you remember, during the official Q&A it was mentioned that one of the card effects would be damage reduction which is unaccounted for based on the list provided.