Astrologian tips and tricks

[Yhisa]

Celestial Opposition
our skill we love and hate here r some nice things u can do with it

= Light speed = 15 sec duration +2 more casts and few more second for mp reduce
= Synastry = 25 sec duration (best for tank double tank healing)
= Luminiferous Aether = 20 second duration for tiny more mp
= Draw = 20 sec for holding a card instead of 15
= Hots and cards = 5 secs more duration
= Sprint = 5 secs more duration

Light speed
just always use this skill on cooldown this will save mp in the long run..... HOWEVER this is not a healer cooldown to increase ur healing within 10 sec u can only get 4 casts off within 10 seconds as the 2.XX recast will not make u be able to spam ur healing .... only use this to reduce ur MP or if u need to move and heal at the same time .... otherwise try and use it as much as possible

Synastry
there is some nice way to use this
= use on dps if ur tank is taking a beating and u cannot afford to heal a dps this is ur Fairy Cooldown to heal 2 people at once
= certain fights require Tank cleave damage u can use Celestial Opposition to increase it duration
= Do Not Use Time Dialation on this skill this is a huge waste as u both need to have the same duration of the buff for it to work


Cards
few tips and tricks with our decks to get best benefit with our cards

Balance
= Throw on Player who using there cooldowns
= Double duration is the best for this bad boy
= make sure to use Time Dilation with this card
= Do Not Royal Road
= Do Spread this card

Reasons
This card is only best used if the dps is going all out and this need coordination or knowledge how classes work,,, double duration is king along with time dilation u can turn 1 of ur dps into a wrecking ball whilst he have his own buffs up meaning he/she is going to hit hard and u providing him a small increase to make him hit even harder... HOWEVER.... please do not favour players or use if the player is not using cooldowns or else this card will be a waste so be mindful when u use this card


Bole
= Throw on tanks simple enough
= if tank got Hots and this card use Time Dilation it helps
= Do Not royal Road
= Do Spread this card

Reasons
Spreading this card is good even know 10% reduction is small it still helps if u can line this up with ur hots u are golden as using Time dilation will not only reduce the tank damage for longer but also increase ur healing by extending ur hots aswell thus increasing ur overall healing on the tank quite abit

Ewer
=Throw on Bards this will increase caster dps with FoE
=Throw on Mech if u need that TP regen
=Throw on healers always or a Summoner who is low on mp or help with Dark MP
=Use this always to increase dps to group (through bard)
=Double Duration is best for this card but try and use this card always
=Do Not Throw on BLM
=Do Not Royal Road
=Do Not Spread

Reasons
Throwing this alot on ur bard will increase dps alot as it allows him to keep up Foe Requiem for longer thus increasing Caster and Healer dps quite alot.....only throw this on mech if both u and ur healer r back to a steady mp this will give ur mech mp back to throw up the next song when u or the dps need it..... throw this on healers if below a certain thresh hold but not consently if u smart u will always use this on bard to help caster dps....... use this with dark knight will help him with his MP management but dont use on him always as he have got own abilities to help him with his mp so always ask b4 u use it on him

Spire
=Throw this on Warrior or Dark after a long fight they need to keep there threat up
=Throw on Ninja > Dragoon > Monk > Bard/Mech>in this order
= Double duration is best for this card but try and use this card always
= Do Not Royal Road
= Do Not Spread

Reasons
Warrior and Dark should be ur top priority to throw this card on HOWEVER... ninja is second best choice due to goad he can throw this up on other players whilst u keep his tp all nice and tidy, Dragoon and monk is next due to they have better TP restoring skills compare to ninja ,,,,,,,,, bard and mech are last due to songs but throwing this on them will increase there dps as it will prolong them to use there songs....

Arrow
= Throw on Blm when he using Ley Lines
= Do Not throw on Monk/Ninja they will burn dry on TP and mess up there rotation
= Use this card for Royal Road
= Do Not Spread

Reason
Black mage is the best for this card due to spell speed and ley lines.... how ever u can throw it on Mech or Bard or Summoner (Dread trance) but this card is best to Royal Road because double time is equal to using 2 cards at the same time ,,,, do not throw on monk or ninja if u do they will run into tp problems and this will force ur bard or mech to use there songs to bring there tp back up so it is best to use for BLM or Royal Road


Spear
=Throw on party before fight start (require prep time)
=Throw on Ninja ONLY!
=Throw on Tanks before they use there cooldowns (Holmgang =Hallowed Ground=Living Dead examples)
=Use Royal road on this card IF no ninja or Tank busters
=Do Spread this card

Reasons
Throwing this Card before the fight helps alot with dps as they all will be going nuke crazy for the first couple of seconds..... after this depending on the situation it is best to either throw on ninja to reduce his mudra (20 cd only) or save it for a tank for tank busters this will ensure that there cooldowns will be returning quicker b4 the next tank buster hits but check with ur tanks first (require knowledge of fight).... using this on any other dps is a waste as there cooldowns is too short and they will be using them consently so it will be hard to line up this Card with there cooldowns.... so Ninja and Tanks are ur best options for this card.... if no tank buster or ninja in group it is best to Royal Road this card as it is too situational to use on other Jobs

[GeekMatt]

I don't follow everything here but I feel like maybe it's geared to very specific fights. Also some things can only be known if you're on voice chat with the other players.

Lastly, DRKs strive to maintain Darkside, which hurts their mp and so they have to balance regenerating their mp on their own. Mages Ballad and Ewer don't impact a DRK when his Darkside is active. I have made use of it on DRKs if the buff falls off, but a healer would have to be able to recognize darkside to make use of this.

[Yhisa]

yeah this is why i stated that u should ask the dark first if he need it or not but u are correct healers do need to pay attention to the DRK darkside b4 throwing ewer up on him

and u are correct AST is a healer that needs to pay attention to be effective to what they can do.... this is directed towards our cards only because our cards are vastly very situational at best apart from Ewer and Spire even more so since the buff to them

[Cidel]

So if I'm reading this right, we basically never Royal Road anything other than Spear and Arrow?

[Inara_Rin]

So pretty much you are saying to only RR Spear and Arrow and to only spread Bole....soo you never spread dps cards before dps checks? You never royal road anything but 2/6 cards, so you never take advantage of RR'n cards between pulls? What's happens if you don't draw Bole? Then you never spread...?

You RR cards you draw that don't have an immediate use then, or in the near future. You spread to plan ahead ex. Having mana issues spread ewer before next boss, spread arrow or balance for dps checks, etc. an expanded arrow for instance wipes a trash mob quick you want to constantly be looking to combo cards however you can. Not sitting there waiting half a dungeon to spread one card or RR two. I can go really into this but your card advice is awful, way too situational. Just my opinion.

[Yhisa]

correct AoE effect is only best with spear as it gives 10% cd reduction to everyone but this require preptime to do.... but yes other then that u should not be wasting ur cards on getting AoE effect u need to be using ur cards as much as possible hence the change to arrow/spear for Ewer/Spire... we basically turned into a bard with healing

Royal Road is not ment to be used contently it is only used for preperation time and the strongest uptime is double duration which is like using 2 cards at once but for 1 person.... u can get 45sec of Bole , Balance, Ewer, Spire if used with Time Dilation which is a large increase especially if u line them up with players buffs

you should be only Spreading 3 cards which should be Bole, Balance, Spear... (spear is for tank cooldown vs tank busters)

so by right u should always be using Ewer,Spire,
Royal Road Arrow (if no blm) or Spear (no ninja / tank busters)
Spread Balance, Bole, Spear (tank busters only)

if u gain double bole/balance lucky u just throw them on the dps or tank

[Geardagas]

I gotta say I dont really agree with that much of this in regards to what to do with the cards. I'll elaborate because i'm bored.

Balance: #1 buff. Always cast it, preferably with extended/enhanced RR and time dilation up. Never royal road. Keep one spreaded as much as possible for burst.
Arrow: Use it the same as balance, but prioritize balance.
Bole: always RR unless your tank is just bad. Good tank never needs this. Prime source of Enhanced RR.
Spear: Almost completely useless. Never cast this, ever, but always RR it.
Spire: Situationally effective but almost always useless. Never RR. Prime shuffle target.
Ewer: Same as spire.

You should aways aim for a strong royal road/card combination. Doing this is infinitely more effective than 'just throwing' cards on targets. It's even better to just let a useless draw fall off than to waste your RR on a worthless card.

[Yhisa]

So pretty much you are saying to only RR Spear and Arrow and to only spread Bole....soo you never spread dps cards before dps checks? You never royal road anything but 2/6 cards, so you never take advantage of RR'n cards between pulls? What's happens if you don't draw Bole? Then you never spread...?

You RR cards you draw that don't have an immediate use then, or in the near future. You spread to plan ahead ex. Having mana issues spread ewer before next boss, spread arrow or balance for dps checks, etc. an expanded arrow for instance wipes a trash mob quick you want to constantly be looking to combo cards however you can. Not sitting there waiting half a dungeon to spread one card or RR two. I can go really into this but your card advice is awful, way too situational. Just my opinion.

errrm i think u read wrong did u not know that our cards got nerf in duration........ so the expanded effect is not strong as it once was.... and remember u get reduce effect on ur cards whilst u expand... arrow only give 5% attack speed when u expand 5% for 15 sec + recast time u barely getting 6 Attacks in within this time and 5% is litterally nothing for 15 secs

u only use AoE spear/spire/ewer which is 10%
everythink else is 5%

u be better off not using AoE unless u pulling with pre spread spear so everyone get there cooldown quicker.... and it is better to get double duration from arrow and spear because they r situational.... ewer and spire should always be used.... Spear/Bole/Balance should always be spread (spear being situational)

it is sooo clear that u didnt even read my post at all

[Yhisa]

I gotta say I dont really agree with that much of this in regards to what to do with the cards. I'll elaborate because i'm bored.

Balance: #1 buff. Always cast it, preferably with extended/enhanced RR and time dilation up. Never royal road. Keep one spreaded as much as possible for burst.
Arrow: Use it the same as balance, but prioritize balance.
Bole: always RR unless your tank is just bad. Good tank never needs this. Prime source of Enhanced RR.
Spear: Almost completely useless. Never cast this, ever, but always RR it.
Spire: Situationally effective but almost always useless. Never RR. Prime shuffle target.
Ewer: Same as spire.

You should aways aim for a strong royal road/card combination. Doing this is infinitely more effective than 'just throwing' cards on targets. It's even better to just let a useless draw fall off than to waste your RR on a worthless card.

u doing it wrong already.... Spire and Ewer should always be used Especially if u have a bard within the group... SPEAR is not useless for ninja it is strong it allows them to do more mudra attacks then usual and is very useful vs tank busters to get tanks cooldowns back faster for future busters ...Bole u must always throw on the tank 10% dmg reduce even know it small it helps ......Arrow is useless apart when used with a blm with lay lines,,,, Balance should always be spread and set up for when a dps is starting to use there cooldowns

[Ghishlain]

I find it quite amusing the priority order and importance factor different players give to their card buffs depending on their preference and play style. Here are my thoughts behind card usage

Expand in an 8-man with a DPS grants you the largest DPS booster possible in the AST arsenal. Obviously compound it with Balance but Arrow isn't a bad choice either. Expand + Bole is also good against a raid buster if you happen to get the correct line up for that. With that being said, this means you'll need to RR either Ewer or Spire. Good thing both of these cards tend to be situation and very easy to RR at the beginning of a fight when resource counts are high. In a fight with some down time (IE, Oppressors jumping all the time, Living Liquid phase transitions), you can afford to RR a few Spires here and there.

Arrow works exponentially well with Haste characters - not only BLM in Ley Lines, but Haste compounded on Haste for NINs and MNKs makes it much better than 10%. You could even argue Enhanced Arrow to be pretty darn nice for them. You just may need to Spire them soon afterwards.

Spear is not just for NIN only. DRG can make incredible use of Spear, especially an Enhanced Spear. Consider this ability list
-Jump (30s)
-Spineshatter Dive (60s)
-Dragonfire Dive (120s)
-Leg Sweep (20s)
-Life Surge (50s)
-Power Surge (90s)
-Blood 4 Blood (80s)
-Internal Release (60s)
You're gonna get a few of those with your Spear when they get it. If anything you'll get at least Jump and Leg Sweep. Everything else is just bonus fluff on top of that.

Likewise, MCN with Quick Reload makes a decent choice too.