Yoshi-P's Interview with Famitsu includes a few comments about AST

[Alahra]

I've been thinking more and more and maybe the best thing to do is give AST better mana management and healing so they can contribute to DPS, and then reworking Balance to be an indirect DPS increase like Spire/Ewer/Arrow/Spear are. Maybe make it raise Crit Rate? Then they could buff the cards a lot more and they are all a lot more comparable, and it doesn't feel like you got shafted everytime you draw a card that isn't Balance.

That might work okay, though honestly if they nerf Balance, people will probably just focus on Arrow instead. It's not as good as Balance, but it's fairly close (and it's possibly better than Balance on MNK/NIN since it synergizes really well with their high attack speeds, so long as TP costs can be mitigated).

[Assirra]

We need an overhaul.

Tonight i did some scholar to help an fc mate with some trials and dam it was depressive.

I actually felt like a complete class once more.

-i had fairy to help me out with heals and could buff on command
- i had my own shields in all sizes and clolors, from single target shield to party shield to aoe bubble.
- i had mitigation tools like virus and eye for an eye
- when stuff went bad i lustrate on command and i could pop rouse+ fey illumination if it was a lot of damage over some time rather then spiky.

Comparing this to my ast
-lower heals in general
-the only oh shit button is at least for me almost used on cd
- a funky lolrng buff system that i swear someone trolled me by putting like 6 extra spires in
- no healing cooldowns

My scholar on 50 felt a lot more complete then my ast on 60.

[Vlady]

Shuffle timer being on par with draw timer is probably the right balance along with preventing double draw of the same card. The buffs in itself are not an issue as they are strong enough to merit an astrologian with the group. Most teams seem to suffer from lack of strong cooldowns for the astrologian which I hope they will focus more on then increasing potency that is not needed.

[AlphaSonic]

Shuffle timer being on par with draw timer is probably the right balance along with preventing double draw of the same card. The buffs in itself are not an issue as they are strong enough to merit an astrologian with the group. Most teams seem to suffer from lack of strong cooldowns for the astrologian which I hope they will focus more on then increasing potency that is not needed.

Buffs are underwhelming... Spire and Ewer are buffs that nobody should never need, if they need them is because they are mismanaging their resources. Spear is utterly useless. When you draw bole you just throw it to the tank because you can, not because he needs it. Arrow only works with BLM, the other classes have their rotation messed because of that and it's just a MP/TP sink. The only useful card is balance.

[Viviza]

Spire and Ewer are buffs that nobody should never need

Really?

You cannot fathom a scenario in which a capable player might run low on MP or TP?

Can you introduce me to these players who can maintain optimal dps while their TP does not decline?

[Sacerdos]

Its not useful because raid groups are already capable of sustaining MP/TP without an AST.

[Sidra]

Its not useful because raid groups are already capable of sustaining MP/TP without an AST.

Technically, a group with an AST healer could probably forgo a BRD/MCH allowing for a little more party DPS. It's just that there isn't a good enough reason for players to make the mental change given the overall powerlevel of AST currently.

[Nihility]

Technically, a group with an AST healer could probably forgo a BRD/MCH allowing for a little more party DPS. It's just that there isn't a good enough reason for players to make the mental change given the overall powerlevel of AST currently.

actually due to the random nature of cards and the fact that spire is single target while you probably have multiple dps and tanks in a party. Odds are the ballad will be needed anyways for everyone that didn't get the spire making it ultimately useless.
ewer is kind of the same, the only mage that ever has mp problems is the astro himself
bole is actually really strong but the randomness totally neuters it
spear is utter trash
the arrow just creates tp issues for physical fighters and messes up their rotation and tends to have a similar effect on black mage with enochian and the "attack speed" buff doesn't seem to translate into the individual spell speed/skill speed components for boosting a summoners damage.
the balance is genuinely good but fun math, top end dps do about 1300. if you had the balance up 100% of the time it would translate into 130dps, the cooldowns on draw alone drops that to 65dps, it's basically a 1/6 chance of even getting the balance making it worth about 11dps <-- great party buff!

[Sacerdos]

Ewer and Spire can't be consistently drawn though. You can plan around when a BRD/MCH is restoring resources, you can't plan on when you draw Spire/Ewer.