The positive Astrologian thread!

[Vlady]

True astro has access to helios at all times but as long a boss mechanics are based around tired patterns then the scholar has access to those abilities when it is most required in the raid which matters most off all.

[TatoRazzino]

Every job has downsides. The lack of a Cure III is one of the things AST haters bitch a lot about. During A1 tonight, our WHM never got the chance to land a Cure III outside of the stacking before the jump the oppressors do. So, the thing that made our WHM shine was Divine Seal, which is a bonus that neither SCH nor AST has (Dissipation make you lose the fairy, which heals too so, it evens out). This means that a SCH/AST group will have that weakness to cover. One solution is placing Eos near the healers, since Selene is hard to use during that fight and make her buff healing potency when needed. There are strategies to minimize lack of healing issues from not having a WHM. People can also work out the direct DPS loss as a WHM/AST duo. This also means that groups will have to work out the lack of utility from not having AST; this can put some stress over BRD/MCH, for example. My point actually is: it's not all sugar and rainbows with a SCH/WHM duo. And I was doing this duo tonight.

[Aurum]

The problem, though, is that people aren't missing that utility. All the bases are already covered by other classes more capable of covering them. And from what you've said about how AST works with another healer tells me that our place in a raid is to make things harder on our co-healer. When paired with a scholar, what we bring to the table shouldn't be "more fairy micro and less dps for you, Mr. scholar". and when with a WHM it shouldn't be "You get to DPS less, Mr. WHM". Both of these situations seem directly detrimental to the party, and is indicative of the fact that AST is currently just a second string pinch hitter in an otherwise all-star lineup.

[TatoRazzino]

Snip

You sound like you never did progression raiding before, dude. You're all stuck in a 2.x meta and you can't shake it off. There were several situations tonight in which having Synastry, Time Dilation, Lightspeed, Disable, insta-cast shields and even Collective Unconscious would have made healing a lot EASIER. Having an AST in the party adds utility and some nice healing tools which WHM/SCH don't have. Things are going to be hard no matter which healing duo you get in there. People are using WHM/SCH because everyone is used to that, since they've been used since 2013. Hardcore progression groups don't want to waste time learning anything other than the fight, and that's why lots of them are sticking to the old jobs or to jobs that have easy learning curves. Healing is more complex than DPSing, since there's no rotation to follow and no dummy to train on.

[TatoRazzino]

True astro has access to helios at all times but as long a boss mechanics are based around tired patterns then the scholar has access to those abilities when it is most required in the raid which matters most off all.

I forgot to answer this. Yes, it's true: SCHs can make up for the job's downsides by learning the fight and practicing. This is true for WHMs as well: you learn how to live without the skill to shield efficiently. AST players need to get better at their job and 1 month practice isn't time enough to make up for the 2 years people have been playing WHM and SCH.