Your thoughts on Astrolgian so far?

[Eggnook24]

I imagine due to AST weaker but more immediate healing, there's less over-healing being done, which would improve mp conservation quite a bit. Is this assumption correct?

[GideonHighmourn]

I imagine due to AST weaker but more immediate healing, there's less over-healing being done, which would improve mp conservation quite a bit. Is this assumption correct?

Lower over healing done doesn't decrease MP consumption directly; effective and efficient healing does.

The assumption that because AST's heals have lower potency will result in less potential over healing is correct; however, just like all SCH/WHM, the potential for wasting MP is just as much a factor if played poorly.

AST actually has a very nice HP/MP ratio on their cures, but they lack a way to increase that potency (PoM, DS, ET, DT, etc.).

[SovereignAegis]

Get to level 57/58, go heal The Vault last boss and open your eyes people. Your lightspeed 'fast heals' which is on a 150sec cooldown ain't gonna cut it.

The party takes so much AOE damage (during last phase every 3-5 secs he AOES on top of smashing the tank) that what you need is raw healing/mitigation. At that point your priority is to keep everyone alive, not to have your fancy cards reduce TP cost.

I must agree with this statement completely. Running this dungeon a few times I find myself taxed from that last boss a little bit during his AOE onslaught.... and I've mained Scholar for well over a year and know it inside out and backwards (especially if you include my hiatus).

I think well played AST can heal through it for sure, but the mediocre ones will hit a brick wall.

[Aphel]

Yep the massive combos are nice but when your entire party gets smashed to 20% health because of AOE/mechanics/fails, AST has very little tools to get the team back up quickly. Even Collective Unconscious (Instantcast, 90sec CD, 150 potency for 18sec in Diurnal Sect), is lolworthy because it cancels as soon as you cast or move.

And for the Noct version of that skill..........really? 10% damage mitigation for 18secs, and you can't move/cast. In what encounter would it be useful enough for you to be a freaking statue for 18 whole seconds and not cast anything at all, just for that 10% mitigation?

[Yumi_umi]

After healing the vault final boss a few times all i can say is its back breaking when ur teammates screw up. Its nearly impossible to keep up with the tether dmg/ raid wide dmg while trying to dps during the fire orbs.
Its like u have to save allllll ur mp just to heal last phase. Cuz when shit hits the fan we don't have annnny kind of healing potency increase skill to heal thru those tough times.
If i was whm i'd simply use medica 2 / regen with divine vent or seal.
and my gear was pretty up to date with tht dungeon.

I swear all this SUPER AOE DMG need STRONG HEALS NOW design makes it hard to conserve mp as ast. Its either u spam helios etc or cast syrn on a dps while benefic bombing other dps/ tank then top off with essential dignity. If you don't have ur mp regen skill up after all tht its gonna be rough lol.
Saving ewer combo for urself for the whole fight isn't good cuz u could instead be buffing ppl. But getting the ewer combo mid fight is luck of the "draw" lol....

[GideonHighmourn]

I can tell you now, even as SCH, some of the later dungeons past The Vault are tough to heal through due to fails. It's possible, but only because I have "oops" buttons like Indomitability, Deployment Tactics, and Whispering Dawn.

AST is going to have a very hard time healing the boss of Aetherochemical and beyond. It's very unforgiving if your group derps, even as WHM/SCH. Nevermind having time to draw and place Card buffs; your concentration is going to be solely on keeping people alive. Even as SCH, I'm finding it difficult to DPS on some of these fights.

There are many encounters where seeing people below 20% is a reoccurring trend. Gear will make this easier, but until you and the group you're in is overgeared, I see healing on AST to be a constant struggle unless your group plays flawlessly

[Yumi_umi]

I must agree with this statement completely. Running this dungeon a few times I find myself taxed from that last boss a little bit during his AOE onslaught.... and I've mained Scholar for well over a year and know it inside out and backwards (especially if you include my hiatus).

I think well played AST can heal through it for sure, but the mediocre ones will hit a brick wall.

And ppl say lol dungeons r nothing they r so easy, these dungeons r supposed to prep u for endgame, but with this sheer amount of burst aoe dmg it makes healing as ast less and less attractive.
We are support healers......
Why r we reduced to 2nd rate healers when we r the ONLY healer in the party lol ( 4 mans ) that require heals that of whm or sch. Its like healing on hardmode cuz whm and sch was too easy & had tools to get out of jams.

[Yumi_umi]

Snip.

Its like they expect asts to play at a WAY higher level than whm/ sch.
Ridiculous when u do everything in ur power & ur party are doing mechanics right but ppl drop below 20% due to not enough healing power to heal ppl thru aoes.
Over gearing/ leveling the dungeons won\\'t make much of a difference imo as the core idea is tht u will get rekt if u r not close to if not perfect.

I can only imagine how hard alex hm will be with how ast is currently set up.

[Miiu]

Nocturnal Sect at the moment at least in 4 player content seems like a surefire way to get your party killed. The 5% increased healing potency is nice but pray to god RNG won't bite you in the behind when everyone in the PT is low hp.
I feel what most likely happened was that AST was too strong during development and they toned it down too much for release.

[RazeLandale]

Got 50 and tried a few dungeons. Was more taxing, but some of that could have been the tanks(Which included a drk and another tank who was clearly messing around. He ran with the sandshark in hm mines, just because he could.) Noct stance was a bit interesting, because while diurnal is pretty blatantly whm lite noct is less sch lite and more a hybrid of the two, because you have your versions of medica, succor, adlo and cure II. Which you need more tools of course, because no fairy, but it makes for a interesting mix.