Learning how to properly play AST

[Marianno]

Hi, I just wanted to know if someone could give me some quick pointers and/or tips to leveling AST and playing in dungeons effectivelywith the job. I want to start using the job in dungeons but the healing potencies and random card elements seem really bad to some capacity. I'm worried if AST can keep up with healing capabilities of WHM/SCH. Help and advice is very much appreciated, thanks.

[FoxyAreku]

AST is the worst healer still, but it is more than playable now even in savage. You won't be able to do the dps or healing numbers capable of the other two healers but it's still a fun class. Both stances are good, use what you prefer in 4 mans and use what you don't have in 8 mans (if paired with a whm, use noct, if paired with a scholar, use diurnal).

Healers aren't very difficult in this game so there's not that much to it honestly. Just don't spam too much, DPS when you can afford to, use Draw on cooldown, and learn to love aspected benefic.

[Vlady]

AST is the worst healer still, but it is more than playable now even in savage. You won't be able to do the dps or healing numbers capable of the other two healers but it's still a fun class. Both stances are good, use what you prefer in 4 mans and use what you don't have in 8 mans (if paired with a whm, use noct, if paired with a scholar, use diurnal).

Healers aren't very difficult in this game so there's not that much to it honestly. Just don't spam too much, DPS when you can afford to, use Draw on cooldown, and learn to love aspected benefic.

Worst healer in the game? We are on par with white mages the supposed supreme pure healer of the trio right now. That is hardly putting us as the worst healer?

[Nekotee]

Worst healer in the game? We are on par with white mages the supposed supreme pure healer of the trio right now. That is hardly putting us as the worst healer?

God damn thanks !
I was about to yell again...

Ast is far from being the worst healer...

I am on par with whm with more stuff than me as diurnal
Plus the AST has the best support skills

The only part were AST is worst than the 2 other heal is in the damage output

.....

And for those who say that whm is the best in running a 4man dungeon
The SCH can do EVERY run with CS
And AST give DPS such an big boost that he do not need to dps

[Vlady]

I just do not know why people purposely downplay the astrologian thinking they can trick SE into buffing them with complaint after complaint. The astro is a stronger single target healer then the white mage and the white mage is a stronger aoe healer then the astro. Nocturnal stance even if buffed in its current form will not shake the spot of a scholar while the combination of their utility+dps will still render nocturnal useless. If anything astro should lose cleric stance and make nocturnal a dps stance that the astro can swap in and out of with a unique mechanic.

I would be all for being able to put a long duration shield on a target that heals for a % of the damage taken til the shield is used up as a form of mitigation shield. Short of directly nerfing the scholar or making the astro OP the scholar is not being replaced any time.

[FoxyAreku]

God damn thanks !
I was about to yell again...

Ast is far from being the worst healer...

I am on par with whm with more stuff than me as diurnal
Plus the AST has the best support skills

The only part were AST is worst than the 2 other heal is in the damage output

.....

And for those who say that whm is the best in running a 4man dungeon
The SCH can do EVERY run with CS
And AST give DPS such an big boost that he do not need to dps

People really need to learn that worst is not the same as bad.

Scholar and White mage do more damage and do more healing throughput then an AST does of equal skill level. This is a fact, and anyone who says otherwise is honestly highly uneducated.

I love astrologian, I play it all the time, and I've healed as both it and scholar in savage alexander. I'm not the best player in the world, but it's brutally obvious that scholar is not only easier to play, but does more damage (especially AoE damage with bane), and has better mitigations and healing throughput, as well as isn't even near as risky with mana consumption.

Heck, if AoE is involved, a Scholar's DPS will actually outdo an astrologian's DPS WITH any card buffs they cast on party members factored in. The difference in DPS is that great.

Not to mention the countless off-GCD heals that scholar and whitemage have that pushes them over the top even more.

Astrologian is good. But being good doesn't mean it's not still the worst of the three.

(Also I know vlady has posted but I stopped reading his posts months ago. I don't have time to argue with someone who is so highly biased with no evidence.)

[CyrilLucifer]

Just a general tip for the low level, mid-30s ASTs, about a problem I keep encountering from ASTs while leveling BLM:

At level ~35, no, my BLM does not want Spear right after using Raging Strikes. Spear would probably be better given to anyone else but me at that point. Give it to yourself during bosses for the MP/faster Luminiferous Aether, or the tank for CDs.

Spear tends to be pretty difficult to use in general and to do so effectively you need to know what jobs have which abilities, and how long their timers are. A lot of the time, in DF, it's probably best to just burn it for RR.

Amplifying this problem, a class that may not need Spear at a certain level range may find it much more useful at a later one, which essentially changes your Card strategy.

[TatoRazzino]

Just a general tip for the low level, mid-30s ASTs, about a problem I keep encountering from ASTs while leveling BLM:

At level ~35, no, my BLM does not want Spear right after using Raging Strikes. Spear would probably be better given to anyone else but me at that point. Give it to yourself during bosses for the MP/faster Luminiferous Aether, or the tank for CDs.

Spear tends to be pretty difficult to use in general and to do so effectively you need to know what jobs have which abilities, and how long their timers are. A lot of the time, in DF, it's probably best to just burn it for RR.

Amplifying this problem, a class that may not need Spear at a certain level range may find it much more useful at a later one, which essentially changes your Card strategy.

The Spear is a card that people have a hard time to understand. It's not supposed to be used with cooldowns like Raging Strikes or Blood for Blood. In actual fights, players usually save long cooldowns for specific situations and taking 20% out of those skills will do nothing since no one is going to pop them just because they can. The Spear is more useful for those Off-GCD skills that DPS use or for those cooldowns that Tanks are constantly rotating. Two jobs that benefit a lot from it are NIN and MCH, because they both have off-GCD skills that are going to be activated for sure during the 20s window of the card. SMNs make good use of The Spear for their Aetherflow and following off-GCD burst, but the card can be wasted if their Aetherflow cooldown has more than 15s; communication is important for that. DRGs make good use of it, but their off-GCDs are long, and BRDs may waste the card completely if they get procs for Bloodletter.

The Spear is also good for an AoE card opener. My tip is: get an AoE spear and wait for your Draw to be available; hit ready, use the AoE Spear when you see 10s for the pull and when you see the pull macro close to the end, pull another card. That way, you can allow all the DPS players to burn their cooldowns with the Spear on, buff someone immediately after and get the benefit from The Spear for your pull Draw.

Other than that, just Royal Road it and double your next card duration, and that's always helpful.

[Lobotomite]

BRDs may waste the card completely if they get procs for Bloodletter.

While IIRC a Bloodletter proc takes priority, Empy is on a 15s cooldown, so I'd always throw it on a Bard. Chances of a BRD needing to blow 2 extra GCDs on Bloodletter procs is almost nonexistent (or I would think).

My thought process when Spear comes up goes like so:

1) Do I have a MCH, BRD [EDIT: Bard actually isn't a very good choice], or NIN in the party?
Y: Instantly goes to one of them; highest DPS if multiples
N: Continue to question 2.

2) Is my MP running low, and will Lumi be up during the 20s duration?
Y: Toss on self.
N: Continue to question 3

3) Am I using voice comms?
Y: Ask if any DPS have a lot of cooldowns to blow and toss on individual if they say yes, or on your healing partner if their MP is low and Shroud/AF/Lumi is up.
N (or if no one has cooldowns): Continue to question 4.

4) Is a Road effect already up?
N: Road it. Basically every card benefits from Extended Road.

Yes, Extended Road: Throw on MNK (guaranteed reduction on Shoulder Tackle, Elixir Field, and Tornado Kick), DRG (guaranteed reduction on Leg Sweep/Jump), or a tank

Yes, Enhanced Road: Shuffle. If Shuffle on c/d, cry inside, choose a random party member from the above list (MNK/DRG/tank), and pray their c/ds will be coming up.

Yes, Expanded Road: Spread if near the end of a dungeon or trash pull and preparing for a boss, Shuffle otherwise. Cry inside and Road if Shuffle on c/d. You could also just throw it out to get rid of it, but this would strike me as risky if you screw up someone's cooldown alignment.

[Rongway]

At level ~35, no, my BLM does not want Spear right after using Raging Strikes. Spear would probably be better given to anyone else but me at that point. Give it to yourself during bosses for the MP/faster Luminiferous Aether, or the tank for CDs.

This doesn't always mean "I want you to have this card." Sometimes it means, "The game hates me and I'm frustrated at having received a string of cards that I don't want to use, and by now I can't be arsed to pick a meaningful target, so I'm just going to throw it at someone and then go back to my glorious Gravity spam."