Is AST recognized as a viable healer yet?

[Eul]

I'm currently leveling my AST and the problem so far is, using Nocturnal at dungeon is really hard for healing than Diurnal. I don't know, the healing ticks is more important to survive than mitigate shield even they buff it to 130% IMO.

[Skapoc]

AST is on the same level as WHM if not better. Anyone saying otherwise is misinformed or just has not played with a good AST. The problem lies in the fact that everyone is to familiar with WHM and due to the bad start from AST very few invested in the class and are already committed to WHM. There are plenty of us who have cleared A3S and a handful that have cleared A4S. You'll prob see a lot more of them in the next month or so.

We don't talk about Nocturnal Sect and comparing us to SCHs though...

[KarstenS]

AST is on the same level as WHM if not better. Anyone saying otherwise is misinformed or just has not played with a good AST.

I've healed A1S ans A2S with WHM and AST.

The AST has its moments. But the overall performance of WHM is still better.

Lets look at the 4 dolls in A2S.

Their cleaves hit very hard, every tank has 2 of them and they life long.

As WHM I start over, beside the cures, with regular HoTs and the bubble (for both tanks). After the bubble ran out I spread sealed HoTs. When the sealed HoTs are over, I still have Tetra, Assise and Bene for fast recovering from cleave hits, that let the tank drop beolow 15%.

On AST I have for all of this 1xSynastry and 1xED. Yo.

[Werhusky]

AST is pretty unbalanced on level 50 on 60 it is after latest changes a good healer. I main sch but swap for roulette, alex and ex primals randomly between the 3. MP is still an issue without ewer if people derp mechanics... else I see only a DPS "lack" on AST as Gravity doesn't have the holy stun but thats a minor issue I see or rather don't really care for.
If I want pure heals I rather WHM, if I progressive raid something I rather SCH though.

[Kerrigen]

It's viable. It's... Alright. It's not detrimental but I don't think it has its niche yet. Which is sad because I'd like to bring it to Savage more.

Diurnal is mostly fine. Any more tuning and it would really start to step on WHM's toes. Some will say it already does. I don't really agree with it but it means it's probably close to being balanced.

Nocturnal Sect doesn't touch a SCH's mitigation tools and it doesn't synergize well with AST's CDs (namely Time Dilation and Celestial Opposition).

I kind of wish they'd make it so Celestial Opposition in Noct Sect would spread AST's card buffs and Noct A. Benefic to party members in range. This would alleviate some of the RNG (you could now AOE some powerful effects on demand but on a decently long CD with a lot of planning), would make it competitive vs. Deployment Tactics and Fey Covenant (which will always be important tools in early progression especially when you have damage like Cascade and Mortal Revolution) and would give some appeal to Noct AST. Right now it feels too much like a poor man's SCH without a fairy.

[AdamFyi]

Personally, Diurnal and Nocturnal both have their strengths and weaknesses. But, you really can't deny that stacking Diurnal Aspected Benefic and Aspected Helios, and Collective Unconsciousness with Synastry up then Time Dilation is pretty powerful.

[Skapoc]

Snip.

Once again alot of misinformation here.

1. AST have better mana management then WHM. WHM has 15 seconds of shroud and 10% from assize and free cure 2 procs compared to the AST\\\\'s 20 seconds of shroud, mana reduction from lightspeed, the chance to draw ewer cards every 30 seconds, and the ability to use spear on yourself and drop shroud to 96 second cooldown.

2. You don\\\\'t need to channel CO. You put it up you reduce damage from a big hit everyone gets the regent and then you take it down. Takes almost no time at all and has a million uses in A3S cause you stack for every single cascade.

3. Cure 3 has only has a use in A3S during cascades but is totally unneeded and pointless ovearhealing. Much better to put up Medica 2 as it will cover the next set of splashes.

[Skapoc]

4. What determines burst healing? Speed? Well AST have a faster cast time in Dinural along with instance cast procs, a insta cast heal that gives regen and a shorter emergency heal. Power? Well potency is equal. So this is a moot point. They heal exactly the same.

5. Every single card in Savage is useful. Everyone. Everytime u give yourself ewer you lessen your need for ballad increasing bard dps and allowing for more Foe. Every time u give tp you save bard DPS who normally play TP for themselves. Spear helps yourself out as mentioned above, your tanks out and Dragoons out. Bole gives you a safety net to DPS more. And arrow and balance are self explainable.

The best thing about AST is that every time you cant DPS you still add to raid DPS. This is super useful in A3S when you have damage down and even more so on the last phase when both healers have it.

WHM and AST are equals now. Just except it.

Sorry on my phone and could not edit original post so I had to post twice

[zcrash970]

Once again alot of misinformation here.

1. AST have better mana management then WHM. WHM has 15 seconds of shroud and 10% from assize and free cure 2 procs compared to the AST\\\\'s 20 seconds of shroud, mana reduction from lightspeed, the chance to draw ewer cards every 30 seconds, and the ability to use spear on yourself and drop shroud to 96 second cooldown.

2. You don\\\\'t need to channel CO. You put it up you reduce damage from a big hit everyone gets the regent and then you take it down. Takes almost no time at all and has a million uses in A3S cause you stack for every single cascade.

3. Cure 3 has only has a use in A3S during cascades but is totally unneeded and pointless ovearhealing. Much better to put up Medica 2 as it will cover the next set of splashes.

Ok, what if you don't get a Spear? You have normal cd timers.
What if there is constant aoes preventing you from using Collective Unconscious? You lose a powerful regen. It doesn't help the fact that you need to wait s server tick for the regen to take affect. While it's added mitigation is great, a few other classes can provide some kind of party mitigation.
Cure 3 is another tool for burst healing and like I said AST has nothing to compare it with

In regards with the MP reduction with Lightspeed, I know a few ASTs that raid and several AST from reddit. According to them, it doesn't help them with mp management. They still need ballad/turret at the same point. There are reasons why there are ASTs complaining that they need Ewer for mp management.
You are undercutting the amount of MP a WHM can save from Freecure. Yes, it is a low percent but it adds up fast over a fight.

WHM is the better and more reliable healer. It has more tools geared for that role when compare to AST.

Also, the fact that you said give yourself a Spear card to reduce cds kinda proves my point. ASTs need a helping hand from their cards to be efficient.

4. What determines burst healing? Speed? Well AST have a faster cast time in Dinural along with instance cast procs, a insta cast heal that gives regen and a shorter emergency heal. Power? Well potency is equal. So this is a moot point. They heal exactly the same.

5. Every single card in Savage is useful. Everyone. Everytime u give yourself ewer you lessen your need for ballad increasing bard dps and allowing for more Foe. Every time u give tp you save bard DPS who normally play TP for themselves. Spear helps yourself out as mentioned above, your tanks out and Dragoons out. Bole gives you a safety net to DPS more. And arrow and balance are self explainable.

The best thing about AST is that every time you cant DPS you still add to raid DPS. This is super useful in A3S when you have damage down and even more so on the last phase when both healers have it.

WHM and AST are equals now. Just except it.

Sorry on my phone and could not edit original post so I had to post twice

Yes, the speed from Dinural is great, but if you are using mere fractions of a second to get heals out, you have a much bigger problem. The biggest burst an AST has is on a low hp target with Essential Di. which equals Tetra, but only on a low hp target.

No one said that their cards aren't great in savage. They are just too unreliable to account for. It is entirely possible to not get 1 or 2 cards through an entire battle.

Maybe I should rephrase what I said. While WHM and AST are somewhat close in healing power, WHM can flourish in more situations than AST can

There definitely can be MP issues sub-60, but at 60 you have the LA/CO combination and that does a lot to address them.

Proves my point even more. To be a good AST, you have to be greedy with your buffs.

I bet if ASTs could they would use Time Dilation on themselves for LA.

[KarstenS]

Once again alot of misinformation here.

But as long you do not level up your WHM to 60 and collect first hand experience, you will never know, which one is true