Astrologian "BUFFS"

[GideonHighmourn]

Right now Astrologian is in a good shape but if you want to buff them anymore they will turn into mandatory then the shoe will be on the other foot. Our cards appear they will scale very well as our I level goes up. The astrologians nightly outnumbering scholars on my server speak a different picture hen the one you paint. But nice try though!

AST has three healing CDs (Lightspeed, Essential Dignity, and Synastry). WHM and SCH have so many more that are far less restrictive and situational. I don't need to go through and make a list of why or when.

And how is class popularity on your server relevant to class efficiency or balancing? You keep citing this as if it actually has any correlation on how AST performs; it doesn't, and it's not related at all the the conversation at hand.

I'm also not trying to "paint a picture" by using irrelevant data, strawman arguments, and false information like you are. I'm merely stating that it's not just a "perceived negativity due to opinion" as you stated it was.

[Sidra]

I kind of agree with Vlady here. Why is your opinion fact and not his? I play SCH and AST - and I don't feel like my SCH is currently better equipped to handle short bursts of intense healing than my AST. Essential Dignity on a lowish HP target is stronger than anything my SCH has and is on a pretty short 40 second cooldown. Lightspeed is amazing, when you want heals fast moving them to the front of the GCD instead of the end can be a life saver while keeping max mobility at the same time. It in essence allows 5 casts in the same time you would have gotten 4 off, a 25% increase in output over it s 10 sec duration. Synastry is also a great too, although I would never say that trumps my SCH as I can pretty much always do that by casting on one target while Embracing another. My SCH has Lustrate, Rouse to help the Fairy, and Fey Illumination of I am using Eos. I'm not complaining but I don't really view that as an obviously superior kit.

Now - don't get my wrong, my SCH can do things my AST can't do. AOE damage is far superior, MP management is still better especially when DPS is involved, and overall magical dmg max mitigation is better with Virus + Fey Covenant. Although for a single hit charged (cast time) attack Disable is actually stronger than Virus...I don't see that mentioned too much around here. And my AST can do some thing my SCH can't do - like give a Balance to a SMN as they are Akh Morn-ing a pack of mobs, or give refresh to the WHM to save the Bard from losing DPS to Ballad.

I dunno - sometimes I feel like I play the game in one world, and then the forums are a completely different one. If I didn't read here I would just assume everything is mostly fine save for smaller issues (Celestial Unconscious in Noct, Celestial Opposition always, and man I wish Essential Dignity and Synastry worked together).

[SuzakuCMX]

Essential Dignity on a lowish HP target is stronger than anything my SCH has and is on a pretty short 40 second cooldown.

You get 3 Lustrates per minute...

[Sidra]

Generally, you don't have 3 - and even when you do, it still takes 3 casts, it has a 1 second recast so you usually weave it. In high stress, speed is important - healing in 1 cast via multiple is superior. Essential Dignity > Benefic II > Benefic II. How is that inferior to what a SCH will do? The initial bump on your low HP target was stronger and then if needed s full healed over about 4.25 seconds. And if you Lightspeed it was about 2.5.

[lev1atan]

If SE wants AST to be viable in the hardest content, the randomness of the class has to be removed. Even though the lore that surrounds AST is amazing and the random nature of the cards are supposed to be the base of the class, until we get rid of it there won't be a reason to bring a AST over SCH/WHM due to our unreliability. Healing potency is easily adjustable, but when end game mechanics requiere to use specific set of abilities in a specific moments, the random nature of the class united to the weak effects of the cards in overall make AST not desirable if you want to progress through the end game in the most efective way.

[Budi]

If I say I will clean your house if you give me a hug, is it a free house cleaning because it didn't cost you money?

Obviously. If I get a free house cleaning every time I hug you, put me on speed dial.

Aetherflows are a finite resource just like MP - and one could actually make the case that due to their usefulness and scarcity, an ability that costs one is actually more expensive than something with a standard MP cost.

One could argue that it is more expensive, but that would be a really bad idea. You are not throwing away your stacks, you are always using them, to get the ability you want. It is actually worse to NOT use them, than to use them. How you decide to use them doesn't change the fact.

I will agree with you it's free of MP costs if you agree it's not free.

I stated that free means no MP cost from the beginning, and never tried to argue otherwise. People only tried to argue the meaning of the word 'free', but failed, because the only thing they care about is "being right on the internet" and not what was actually said. That's why no one could answer my question "Why does it matter?" properly, because it doesn't.
You are literally trying to force a different meaning on the word I used to show to me that I'm wrong.

[Miiu]

How so? How can you factually calculate Synastry compared to shroud or light speed compared to mind? Both have their places. Synastry is far superior for double tank buster in A1 and light speed helios spam can nicely heal up a full group as well as medica spam. The other plus is the ability to have more freedom of movement to make your rounds to hit multiple spread out people or reposition yourself while dealing with an oh crap situation. You cannot factually prove scenarios when each job deals with each encounter seperately.

[...]

Oh please I can have the same effect as Synastry with my fairy. Sure fairy heals are not 50% of my physick casts or lustrate but it is not bound by a 120s cooldown. Add to that the abilties Eos provides to further optimize healing.
Lightspeed is objectively too weak to be behind a hefty 150 second cd. Especially because it provides no real value because in terms of spam healing you only have an instant cast for the first heal you throw out. All additional heals are bound by the GCD.

[Remilia_Nightfall]

Oh please I can have the same effect as Synastry with my fairy. Sure fairy heals are not 50% of my physick casts or lustrate but it is not bound by a 120s cooldown. Add to that the further abilties Eos provides to further optimize healing.
Lightspeed is objectively too weak to be behind a hefty 150 second cd. Especially because it provides no real value because in terms of spam healing you only have an instant cast for the first heal you throw out. All additional heals are bound by the GCD.

Eos means no Selene tho. And vice versa. Also, fairy is there basically as a mp saving system. Adlo costs shittom of mana and there is no proc like Freecure. Without the fairy, the total hps of SCH would be stupidly low.

[Miiu]

Eos means no Selene tho. And vice versa. Also, fairy is there basically as a mp saving system. Adlo costs shittom of mana and there is no proc like Freecure. Without the fairy, the total hps of SCH would be stupidly low.

Sure but it doesn't make my point less true.

[tjw]

Eos means no Selene tho. And vice versa. Also, fairy is there basically as a mp saving system. Adlo costs shittom of mana and there is no proc like Freecure. Without the fairy, the total hps of SCH would be stupidly low.

That doesn't negate the fact that the faerie is a permanent Synastry, that can be placed on other people as well. Adlo costs a lot of mana yes. But their MP restoration is famous for being the best out of all the healers. Oh, no EOS you said? A Selene also means that a SCH has access to a guaranteed Expanded Arrow every minute. So the faerie atm is just permanent Synastry that can be re-targetted, along with additional buffs.