Why people says AST is bad?

[jgg1988]

Hello!

Im reading some posts and i can't believe what people says...AST bad healer? Is this serious? Cmon... Yeah you cant heal like a WHM and can't shield like a SCH but you can choose 1 stance, shields or regens, also you can buff with a really good buffs for your party, give damage, defense, atack speed, less mp/tp cost, less cd... With nocturnal stance you can shield someone without any CD... insta shields, you can heal 2 tanks at the same time with Synastry, yes long CD but you can do it. Have nice AOE heals, Helios for more healing or Aspected helios for AOE heal + regen/shield.

Maybe people complains because they cant stop comparing AST with whm and sch, then what they expected? AST = lots of AOE heals, lots of shields + lots of buff ? No way.

My ast is only 53 but that is enough for see his potential. In my opinion AST dont need a buff/nerf, is fine right now...

[Crevox]

Because the buffs are too weak, random, and situational.

Even Selene's consistent haste buff trumps it, on top of any DPS gain granted by AST being void due to the fact they do lower DPS than WHM and SCH.

Their healing is weaker than the other two healers, but for nothing in return. At the moment, the buffs are not potent enough, too random to be consistently decent at the current potency, and there are too many that are too situational and usually end up useless. On top of all that, their MP efficiency is the worst, and they don't have the great cooldowns other healers have.

AST is not "bad", but it's weaker than the other two healers, with nothing granted in return.

If you want a more indepth analysis, for example on further things like Nocturnal Sect and Lightspeed, go read other posts if you're so confused as to why people think it needs changes.

[Lorielle]

Keep in mind people exaggerate. However, there are some places AST COULD use a buff or two.

[Sleigh]

In the healing department it's a poor man's WHM (no Divine Seal, less potencies, no C3, weaker Regen) and a very poor man's SCH (SCH in general trumps AST's shield stance by far due to the fairy and how good Adlo and the new 3.0 tools are). The cards, beneficial as they are, are AST's only real saving grace, and it doesn't seem wise to me to use AST in new content where healing power > support buffs.

Just my take on it.

[Tevare]

I've been a level 60 AST for a while and I feel as a healer who has played SCH and WHM that I'm simply holding a group back. My buffs feel like they make no difference, and when it comes to healing at 60 if you get paired with a WHM you just feel shabby. I love the class and will stay with it, but some abilities need to be able to be used. Like Collective Unconscious is a good example. When do you honestly have time to just sit around and not move or cast in a fight? But like I said I do love the idea of the class and will continue to play.

[Luthvian]

To be honest I don't think it's really fair for you to make the conclusion that AST doesnt need buffs when you are not yet 60 and haven't done end game content. Sure, it is a viable healer for content, even powerful IF you get the right cards at the right time. However, balancing the healing abilities on the best case scenario is not very fair because what are the chances of you getting the right card at the right time all the time?

Much has been said about minor adjustments needed for the class to be a bit more comfortable. Nobody is expecting the AST to heal on the same level as a WHM/SCH but the class should be balanced based on their averagw performance statistically rather than on the potential of what they are capable of should the stars align.

[Crevox]

getting the right card at the right time all the time?

Even if you did, it's calculated to only be like a 1-3% increase in party DPS, provided you even actually focus on damage cards and get that lucky. Selene is just better at this, and Scholar is a better healer.

-Bole: Too random to rely on to survive fights. Ultimately all you're doing is slightly fixing your healing handicap by making it easier to heal the tank, making your job easier. This defeats the purpose of being Astrologian in the first place, as you're not really buffing people or supporting them, you're just easing the healing potency handicap you have for being an AST slightly. Better to burn it with Royal Road for the best Royal Road bonus to combine with Time Dilation, because you won't want to burn Balance for that bonus. It has potential to increase the time you can spam Gravity/dps on pulls, but not by much.

-Spear: Too gimmicky. There's no guarantee ever that whoever you throw it at will even use abilities, and they shouldn't go out of their way to USE abilities outside of proper timings just because the cooldowns are lower. If someone's ability isn't on cooldown (say, Raging Strikes) it's probably for good reason -- they're probably saving it for a burst moment coming up or to synergize into their rotation. Even if you do actually reduce its cooldown, are they even going to need it to be reduced? Will they actually use it again in that extra little time window that it's now up before it would have been, or hold it for when it makes the most sense in their rotation/the encounter? Ultimately it more than likely won't grant an entire extra use during the fight, so what was the point? Even under optimal scenarios, it remains "meh" at best. Better to burn it for the AoE bonus, as you would never burn an Arrow. Of course, you would only do that in an 8 man party, because it's terrible to use the AoE bonus in a 4 man party. It's just a total decrease in value. In a 4 man party, as long as you're not wasting a Royal Road, just use it; otherwise, throw it away. Some people recommend using it on your Luminiferous Aether, but again, that ability should be kept on cooldown anyways (especially if you have the mana problems that most Astrologians say they have), and the card has to pop up in a situation where it won't waste a Royal Road.

-Spire: In the majority of fights, TP is not a problem; even if it was, they wouldn't be relying on *you* to fix it, due to how random the chance of getting this card is. None of the fights are long enough or taxing enough on people's TP in most scenarios, especially now in the expansion. 99% of the time, even if you used it, it would make absolutely no difference; if they weren't going to run out of TP before you used it, they still won't, so what did you accomplish? It's useful in dungeons for physical DPS who spam AoE, but you have to:
1. Have the card ready BEFORE an AoE pull
2. Have a physical DPS that will actually spam AoEs and could benefit from the TP
3. Have the mobs live long enough for it to matter
4. Have it be a larger DPS bonus for them to use that extra TP over just getting a damage boost from balance/arrow
... and then what, you allowed them to use their weaponskill one more time, maybe two if you're lucky? And then you ended up not burning it for the Royal Road, which is arguably a better use for it on something like haste. This card could be decent, but it would be more usable if it was at least a Regain effect, but in the majority of scenarios and fights in the game, it's just not useful. You'll draw it and draw it and draw it in situations where no one will even benefit from the TP, at all (for example, any dungeon boss).

-Ewer: Same situation as Bole really. All you're doing is slightly mitigating your own class handicap if you use it on yourself and making your job easier, instead of supporting your party. You could be burning this for double duration, or using it on someone like the Summoner or Black Mage provided you don't have a good Royal Road buff already that you'll waste (because it would be better to just use it on Balance or Arrow). This card still does have applications; it's not like the mana is bad. You can always make use of mana somehow, just as long as it doesn't negatively affect your ability to use the better card buffs (spoiler: it probably will).

-Balance & Arrow: Both great. Just keep drawing and hope you get one, then use proper card strategy. Hold it in your spread until you get a good Royal Road, then time it up with Time Dilation and/or Celestial Opposition with other people's self buffs/a moment where you need more DPS. Ultimately, if using other cards means wasting a Royal Road bonus that you could be using on these, then it's not worth using those cards, because they're just not good enough in comparison. These cards are ALWAYS useful, and then present opportunities in fights where burst DPS is required for even more usefulness. The other cards are far too situational, or weak for reasons I already stated. I'm not saying that these cards are super amazing, but they're still the best choices we have. Their potency is still far too low to make a noticeable difference in most cases.

All in all, the more you play Astrologian, and the more access to skills you get, the more you realize how weak the buffs really are. The optimal strategy involves just drawing and throwing away cards the entire fight to set up for a crucial card use, like Balance or Arrow on a burst DPS phase, and then holding them until that moment. Because the cards are so random, you can't guarantee that you will get the card again when you'll need it, and you want to keep it for when you're going to need it. Even then, who is to say it will even make the difference, due to how weak they are? Again, Selene is consistent, reliable, and will ultimately result in more DPS, unless you get REALLY LUCKY on your card draws, and you KNOW you're going to get really lucky on future draws that you're willing to use your Balances and Arrows when they're not crucial (before burst DPS moments) because you know you're going to get another one for those crucial, beneficial moments in fights. This is the best way at the moment to squeeze the little value that exists out of these buffs, especially because it allows you to ensure that you'll be able to use it with Time Dilation and/or Celestial Opposition, and optimize the setup you worked so hard through the RNG to acquire.

And that's why the cards are not good right now. They need changes.

[Viviza]

The basic heals aren't bad at all. At a glance the potency values are a little lower, but AST gets stance bonuses to offset that. Aspected benefic is interesting and instant.

But the card system feels limp. You MIGHT get something useful, and when you do, it won't be all that good anyway. An empowered balance card is nice, but work through the math - your odds of seeing it and the actual gain - and the figures aren't impressive. AST spends several of its abilities on manipulating this card system, so it's more than just a perk, it's a feature of the job.

If I'm gambling I want the payoff to be substantial when it works out. And if the payoff isn't substantial, I want to be able to control it.

[shawnaus1986]

I think buff is a little weak.... they need to be reworked. Like it seem that astro would be the sub if you didn't have a WHM or SCH. But they can't perform like a WHM or SCH. Mana is a huge issue, healing is very weak. I was healing as a WHM and had 2x the amount of healing the AST did. I feel like instead of making it the "in-between" class it needs to be it's own class. You should be able to switch from WHM to SCH mode think that is dumb. They don't need just a buff but a huge buff and rework...... it's my thoughts.

[h0tNstilettos]

I think AST is fine. At first I agreed with most of the forum until I've started learning how to play it better. The problem with AST is that it has a higher skill cap, and in my opinion has the highest skill cap of any job in the game.

Also, yes AST can heal like a WHM if you are in Nocturnal Sect. Did you know that in Nocturnal Sect, a Benefic II is 1 potency higher than a WHM's Cure II? And Benefic I and Cure I are the same potency. In Diurnal Sect the potency is lowered. After I have gotten a lot better with AST, I actually think it is on par with WHM and SCH, possibly better by a tad. I even use to think mana was an issue, but then I realized I was playing the job efficiently and now I don't find myself ever having mana issues in long fights, unless it's a really bad group I'm with.

I am at 60 and have done comprehensive research on the job, including reading some AST guides, theorycrafting, watching vids of how others are playing it, closely examining my skills and comparing them to WHM and SCH, etc.