AST MP Issue?

[Beyondgrave]

Does AST have mp problem? I tend to run out of mp at the end of most fight or when shit goes south but I keep hearing people saying AST have no MP issue at all. All the vids I've seen from AST pov show that they don't really run out of MP but than again, almost all of the vids are farm runs where everyone is playing perfectly. I asked because my static is expecting me to dps as well (which I have no issue doing on my SCH) but I'm scare as hell that I will be going oom super fast. If I can draw a ewer card than I will be fine, but most of the time, that card does not come up. I use spear + LA + CO (when its off cd) to extend LA and I still run out of MP. My avg overheal % is 30-40% (I play in Diurnal stance) and from what I've been hearing, that is normal for most healers.I'm at a lost as to what I should do to improve MP management. I'm not sure if it is a player's fault or AST are just really bad at MP management.

[Apeiron]

It's a matter of familiarity with the content + the class. Most people who don't get mana issues have learned how to play the AST a bit more effectively, and the difference between those who don't run OOM and those that do is a very small one.

When have you been hitting LA?

[Beyondgrave]

About 10% into my mp and every time when it's off cd after that. If I know that there's going to be a long slow period where there will be no heal ex: rav ex liberation-butterfly phase, I'll just let my mp regen naturally.

[Heinel]

What ilevel are you at? MP becomes less of an issue as your ilevel go up. Abilities stop becoming more expensive after you hit 60, but you will continue to get more PIE through gear.

[Beyondgrave]

Ilvl 179 atm. I can farm rav ex and A4 but I tend to run out when stuff goes wrong,when I have to rez, and near the end of the fight

[Xenos74]

Ilvl 179 atm. I can farm rav ex and A4 but I tend to run out when stuff goes wrong,when I have to rez, and near the end of the fight

Not entirely sure what you're doing different but I've done both of these as an i180 astrologian and never had any MP issues. On ravana ex I heal very regularly, and dps on all liberations as well as on warlords shell. The only times I run below 50% is after a raise but that's more because of the enormous 2700mp cost on the spell

[Ninimo_Babamo]

Ilvl 179 atm. I can farm rav ex and A4 but I tend to run out when stuff goes wrong,when I have to rez, and near the end of the fight

And you should. A good healer shouldn't be able to carry a crap party, no matter how good they are. When stuff goes wrong, it's time for the group to get their act together and try harder. I tend to hold a spear card in my hand to use on myself before Luminiferous Aether. I pop a party buff, use the spear card on myself, use my Aether, then pop Opposition to extend all the durations. It goes a long way.

[RiisWolf]

Their healing spells are cheaper than most of the healing spells the other healing classes similarly use, plus you have a biggest MP pool. I normally don't have MP issues as long as nothing goes seriously wrong (and for a long time at that), like a pull doing too much damage or when the team is failing to evade avoidable damage.

I don't know if you do this, but I hope you don't:

You can do the tank a favor by NOT taking damage for them. It's bad for everyone if you have to heal yourself. The more players you have to heal, the more MP you drain and additionally the less healing your tank will inevitably get. Don't eat the orbs. Unless it is completely unavoidable. Remember your #1, they live only because of you, so if you die, then who's keeping the rest alive?

[Ninimo_Babamo]

Their healing spells are cheaper than most of the healing spells the other healing classes similarly use, plus you have a biggest MP pool. I normally don't have MP issues as long as nothing goes seriously wrong (and for a long time at that), like a pull doing too much damage or when the team is failing to evade avoidable damage.

Your AST isn't even 60 yet, and the OP is 60 and farming end game content. I have no idea why you think AST MP pools are larger. I'm i180 on both WHM and AST. Out of party, 10376 HP on both; 13027 MP on both. There's no difference.

[Selli]

I don't particularly have MP issues as an AST if things go smoothly, however when things get hairy I do find myself struggling to keep up with the healing output.

1) Luminiferous Aether is exactly like Shroud. That set MP refresh that doesn't really scale with your ilevel (unless they've changed it recently and I missed something). It's gonna refresh the same at i160 as it will at i190. This isn't so bad in the beginning, but as soon as your MP pool starts expanding, it becomes really noticeable. It's basically the skill WHMs have been complaining about since 2.0, except AST didn't come with an Assize in 3.0 (I suppose extending LA with Celestial Opposition is kind of supposed to help? But you'll have to spend 30 seconds not using LA while waiting for CO to come off CD so that isn't really super reliable...).

2) You have one instant heal that costs you no MP. Essential Dignity is like Lustrate and Benediction's temperamental love child. If you use this on someone with low HP, you basically Benediction'd them and that is worth putting it on CD. However, if you were a second too slow on that button and the other healer happened to heal that tank/DPS/whoever. Your heal's potency just drastically dropped and you lost your only instant heal and one that costs you no MP at that.

I guess you could almost say that AST is kind of like a 2.0 WHM trying to do 3.0 content? XD