Another comparation between AST and WHM

[Vlady]

This isn't a thread discussing AST population; Vlady tries to make every single thread about a discussion about AST population somehow meaning it's balanced, which it doesn't.

A detailed break-down about AST population has no place in a thread intended to discuss and compare AST skills to WHM and SCH skills.

While I appreciate the effort and research you've given in your post, please don't feed the troll.

I am sorry but how is name bashing and making yourself look bad trying to smear someone contribute how to a meaningful discussion about viability of astrologians? People throw numbers at how no one takes astrologians into savage raids and use numbers quite often as a means to measure strength tied to popularity and overall health of a job in particular but once it is applied to balance against your arguement you invalidate your opponents arguement as trolling? Sigh. Why am I feeding the troll even replying to this is beyond me. Please keep to the discussion at hand or it may make you look bad.

Based on the way S-E designed AST, I feel like AST was designed to be a single target healer (more so than SCH now) since they don't have anything particularly bursty heals in the AoE department compared to Assize and Indomitability. Synastry is very limited compared to more universal buffs like Divine Seal and Fey Illumination. Also, I don't really have any concerns with ASTs base potency values as they're already covered via faster output (Diurnal) or more power (Nocturnal). As many others have commented, I'm also more concerned about ASTs ability to pull more healing out on demand like SCHs and WHMs can. So, let's build on that a little and see if we can make something comparable to what WHM and SCH has since both have good "o crap, I need to boost my healing abilities" while maintaining the unique flavour of "fast, single target heals".

Synastry - 20s of 50% healing potency when healing someone who isn't buffed by Synastry on 120 second cooldown. Effectively 8.33% increase but limited by the fact it's only affected by Benefic / Benefic II / Aspected Benefic. While the potency value is great, this is a really restrictive spell and if you're taking the time to single heal your entire 8 man up, you run the risk of someone eating danger and dying. I feel like the simplest change is just allow the buffed target to get 50% of the healed amount regardless of if the AST is healing a Synastry'd target or not. May need to tone down the potency a little to suit, but this gives AST a viable healing booster that's still unique to their play style and much more usable.

Synastry is tailor made for allowing additional healing to be applied to a tank when you are needed to also help bring up critically low people or to allow you to double tank heal when the necessity arises.

Lightspeed - As many others have said on these forums, a GCD reduction would go great with this. 25% would be nice and that'll allow you to fit six spells in what was previous a four spell period.

I feel like that'll put AST on track for emergency buttons. Essential Dignity is already really powerful and doesn't really need to be adjusted in any way short of a very slight reduction in its' recast time.

Lightspeed was made to help fix our mana issues which it does well. Light speed was made to let the Astrologian be able to provide full time healing strength during stressful times when you are having to be wary of mechanics but needing a constant stream of heals. Despite the slightly smaller aoe radius of helios I am able to use lightspeed and move around near a center crowd in a circular motion and hit multiple people faster then a white mage missing people who are not in the radius with light speed so it does have some nice uses. Let astro somehow stance dance between noc and duirnal since Noc is a very potent single target healing stance that can operate with some impressive recovery ability tied to a 500 potency instant cast fronted heal and shield along with single target healing stronger then a scholar when not factoring the pet additional embrace. Being able to swap from durinal to noc would possibly be the only real change we need to handle being able to burst heal.