WOOT! They listened!!!! (AST Buffs)

[RichardButte]

Lightspeed ・Now reduces MP cost of spells by 25%
・Reduction to magic potency now only affects attack magic.
・Duration has been reduced from 15 to 10 seconds.

It's now a MUCH better emergency button as it can be used while moving, doesn't nerf the piss out of your healing, and is now a good option JUST for saving mana.

The Ewer ・Effect has been changed from MP cost reduction to MP refresh.
・Duration has been reduced from 20 to 15 seconds.
The Spire ・Effect has been changed from TP cost reduction to TP refresh.
・Duration has been reduced from 20 to 15 seconds.

THIS!!!!!

This right here is the BIG one. These cards went from being bizarrely situational to restoring 15% of your T/MP. These will nearly ALWAYS be useful, no matter the circumstance. No more will I have to hear the cries of a tank begging for TP in vent only to be able to do nothing to help them (cost reduction does very little when they've already run out).

In fact, these cards now help you recover from bad situations in general. Did the tank just have to dump a LOT of TP to regain aggro? You can help them recover. Did you or another healer just have to dump a LOT of mana to prevent a wipe? You can help recover.

See, the 20% reduction wasn't going to be helpful unless you just happened to cast it on the target when the bad shit STARTED (we may read the stars but we ain't friggin' Jedi who can see that the tank is about to lose aggro ahead of time... ). Now, you can fix the problem AFTER the bad shit has already gone down.

And if a healer or tank dies and gets ressed, you can spend all of your time extenders to help them recover a LOT of T/MP.

I was just saying in another thread that even a 10% refresh would be an improvement. Finally, these cards are worth it.

Royal Road ・Arrow and Spear:
Now doubles the duration of the next card drawn.
・Ewer and Spire:
Now reduces the potency of the next card drawn by 50%, and extends the effect to nearby targets.

This is actually a buff.

If Spire/Ewer come up and no one happens to need them at the time since they're emergency recovery tools now, these will be easier to RR than Arrow (which can increase DPS).

Spear is still getting RRed every damn time until they do something else with it, though (or I just so happen to be about to pop a CD).

Spread ・Can now be used outside of combat.

Yup.

Shuffle ・Recast time reduced from 90 to 60 seconds.

MUCH better!

Collective Unconscious ・Potency of the regen effect from Diurnal Sect has been increased from 150 to 200.

I'm...not sure this needed a buff but I'll take it? I was already using this to heal both tanks in the liquid fight when he turned into both hands (18 seconds of 150 cure per tick is pretty damn good).

The real buff I'd like to have seen here is being able to move while casting it, as randomness can still screw you over if an AoE gets tossed up shortly after you use it.

The other change I REALLY want to see is Spear reducing cooldowns that are already ticking.

At this point, they should probably do something else with RRing Bole and Balance. For one, it's a net loss of benefit, as you're trading 200% worth of cards for 150% worth of return. Secondly, when will that net loss ever be worth frontloading a buff THAT badly?

Considering you're condensing two cards into the time span of ONE card, this should be closer to a 250% buff in potency, seeing as how you've got a smaller window in which your target can be using the buff than if you extended it instead.

Either that or figure out something else to do with it entirely, maybe making the next card heal for a % of HP over the duration of the card or something along those lines.

Also, Noct stance still needs HELP...

All in all, this is a step in the right direction for AST. I've mentioned in the past that I suspected SE shipped all three new classes a bit nerfed so they weren't over rolled to DEATH and would buff them over time.

AST is almost perfect and could just use a few more tweaks, but this alone makes it MUCH better than the position it was in before.

[Reneo]

=) I agree. Astrologian will get better over time.

[Mutemutt]

Yeah, these aren't bad changes, though the collective unconsciousness buff has me scratching my head a bit.
Astrologian could still use a bit more tweaks, but yeah, not a bad start.

At this point, they should probably do something else with RRing Bole and Balance. For one, it's a net loss of benefit, as you're trading 200% worth of cards for 150% worth of return. Secondly, when will that net loss ever be worth frontloading a buff THAT badly?

Considering you're condensing two cards into the time span of ONE card, this should be closer to a 250% buff in potency, seeing as how you've got a smaller window in which your target can be using the buff than if you extended it instead.

Well, there's the case where you have balance spread and then draw bole but don't really need damage reduction at the moment I suppose...

[SuzakuCMX]

The only things I think need changing now are Noct and CO.

[RichardButte]

The only things I think need changing now are Noct and CO.

Noct needs help overall, I still think CU should be mobile (it'd be SOOOO unique at that point, and having to channel it makes it so vulnerable to bad RNG forcing us to move).

And I REALLY think RR Bole/Balance needs something else. These cards are generally very good on their own so I'd already hesitate to RR them, then include the fact that you're trading one of your draws AND 30 more seconds for a 50% net loss in potency.

Really, something else should happen, here. Either a BIG potency buff like 250% or make the next card a HoT/shield for its duration.

[NorthernLadMSP]

The only things I think need changing now are Noct and CO.

I pretty much agree. My only complaint is that they told us they were improving Celestial Opp, and it got nothing.

[SuzakuCMX]

*snip*

RR Bole/Balance is fine IMO. Trading Bole (which is rarely necessary) for +50% on next Balance/Arrow/Spear/Spire/Ewer is generally a good trade since the effect of Bole wouldn't have made an impact anyways.

Trading Balance at the end of an encounter for +50% on the next encounter is also good.

I'd prefer they raise the CD of RR and make it instantly draw a new card when used that can be shuffled/spread.

[RichardButte]

RR Bole/Balance is fine IMO. Trading Bole (which is rarely necessary) for +50% on next Balance/Arrow/Spear/Spire/Ewer is generally a good trade since the effect of Bole wouldn't have made an impact anyways.

Eh, while Bole isn't necessary, I still like to throw it on the tank just because those 15 seconds do give us less of a chance that spike damage will put the tank in a bad spot. It temporarily saves us mana, which is also never a bad thing.

Trading Balance at the end of an encounter for +50% on the next encounter is also good.

Only if Spread is full or on CD. I always hang onto Balances for the expanded RR as it's still our most potent buff.

I'd prefer they raise the CD of RR and make it instantly draw a new card when used that can be shuffled/spread.

This would be VERY cool as well...

I just realized that the effect swap on RR is actually a buff: Spire and Ewer are great for emergency recovery now, but they're still not 100% necessary, especially if everything in the fight is going well, meaning it hurts less to RR these cards than it will to RR an Arrow which IS a DPS/healing increase.

That said, Spear still needs fixing because it's just way too situational...

[GeekMatt]

Happy with the changes, but I'm probably the only one who'll miss the old Ewer and Spire. We were the only ones capable of helping out those DRK, now they're all lonesome and whatnot--I would have preferred an increase in potency. It's true that it didn't do anything once you were out of mana, but that just meant it required more clever use. In any case, not a huge deal.

The buff to CO is.. Idk, I don't like regen bubble for AST or WHM, shielding bubble seems more practical. And a buff to the Diurnal stance just seems silly when it's already so heavily preferred over Nocturnal. I've been using both, because there are times when shielding is just more appropriate to regen but at the end of the day there's a clear advantage to Diurnal. Please buff Noct! Preferably in a unique/Astrologian-y way such as having the shields somehow interact with the RR buffs for increased duration or potency (and just ignore the AoE thing). Lightspeed I think got the biggest buff, its pretty fantastic and I've made use of it quite a bit today.

[zuzu-bq]

Astrologian buffs are really nice. Seems like what devs thought for Collective Unconsciousness is fast activation and deactivation. I'm not sure about royal road changes yet. Wasn't a buff, just a change. While the AoE is nice, it can be really bad if you use wrong. I think that good ASTs will do much more and bad ASTs will do even less.