Learning how to properly play AST

[FoxyAreku]

The thing is.. That you and only you don't see it on par with the other
The AST is not the worst, he has his shining moment like the whm and SCH has

Everything is situationnal

And azure show it quite well how AST can make up the difference with both healer

Actually, it's pretty widely accepted that AST is the worst in regards to DPS and healing throughput. Especially when it comes to alexander savage, there's a reason none of the big raiding groups use it (at least last I checked, someone might have picked it up, but I doubt it). I think you misinterpretted Azure's post, as if anything it hurt your argument more than helped. That ridiculous amount of setup just to do what a white mage can do by pressing one button? This is what I'm talking about.

Like...can you mention even one way that AST is better than scholar or white mage? Because I can't think of any. The perk of it is buffing other people, but there are times in savage where Scholar can do more damage than an AST can with the buffs factored in (mainly in A2, but still), and for throughput, Scholar beats it out very heavily in every possible situation short of them having zero aetherflow. (Of course, this is comparing to nocturnal, since that is supposed to be the scholar replacement stance) and white mage isn't even a contest since white mage is the god of throughput.

Like...I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude here, but you keep saying AST isn't the worst healer, yet don't bring up any way that it's better than a white mage or scholar. Look at it like this: If you don't think AST is the worst, than which healer do you think is the worst? Because there always has to be a bottom of the barrel. Perfect balance is impossible.

Once again, being the worst does not mean it is bad. Please accept that.

[AzureFlare]

Stuff

You're correct. It boiled down to 'Sure, an AST can match a WHM, but you need to do so much more work for it and be lucky to have the stars align. Comparing to SCH is pretty pointless.' You could sort of say WHM is the pubstomper healer, but WHM and AST even out in a vacuum at higher skill levels.

Noc AST becomes better than SCH when you make high mobility requirements, fights with a lot of setup and small burst segments and/or have fights that benefit a lot from having instant-cast shields. The latter is really just a few cases in T10 (double Prey), the former two are, as Namo said, more apparent in Thordan where DPS over the whole fight isn't such a big requirement compared to burst DPS on the checks (given, I have not done the entire fight yet but I know where the idea comes from). As Noc you sacrifice a ton of HPS for instant cast shields and mobility, in a game that is so slow and scripted you really don't need it for anything else but Frontlines, and tuning fights towards this mobility/rate of resisting interruption isn't fair to not only SCH and WHM, but also to BLM and arguably BRD/MCH/SMN.

I think Thordan might be the first fight where I prefer Noc over Diu when pairing with a WHM (without noc being a necessity), all things considered.

[FoxyAreku]

I've healed A1S as both a scholar and astrologian and it was way easier as a scholar due to lustrate and adlo crits, and sacred soil is way easier to use than CO for jumps as well, even if it lacks the regen. I know you may say it's just me, but that can't be since as I stated earlier, none of the big name raiders use astro in savage.

AST isn't bad in it by any means. As I've stated multiple times, it's not bad in any fight. Scholar/White mage is just better. That's really all there is to it.

You're correct. It boiled down to 'Sure, an AST can match a WHM, but you need to do so much more work for it and be lucky to have the stars align. Comparing to SCH is pretty pointless.' You could sort of say WHM is the pubstomper healer, but WHM and AST even out in a vacuum at higher skill levels.

Noc AST becomes better than SCH when you make high mobility requirements, fights with a lot of setup and small burst segments and/or have fights that benefit a lot from having instant-cast shields. The latter is really just a few cases in T10 (double Prey), the former two are, as Namo said, more apparent in Thordan where DPS over the whole fight isn't such a big requirement compared to burst DPS on the checks (given, I have not done the entire fight yet but I know where the idea comes from). As Noc you sacrifice a ton of HPS for instant cast shields and mobility, in a game that is so slow and scripted you really don't need it for anything else but Frontlines, and tuning fights towards this mobility/rate of resisting interruption isn't fair to not only SCH and WHM, but also to BLM and arguably BRD/MCH/SMN.

I think Thordan might be the first fight where I prefer Noc over Diu when pairing with a WHM (without noc being a necessity), all things considered.

Instant cast shield in noct stance is my favorite thing about astro, as someone who has played scholar for going on two years now it makes me so happy, I'm actually one of the few who will use noct in most content just for fun because of it. It just feels so tight and awesome.

Anyway, thanks for your posts, and being so reasonable, you gave me a lot to think about. I can't think of anything else to add.

[AzureFlare]

Instant cast shield in noct stance is my favorite thing about astro, as someone who has played scholar for going on two years now it makes me so happy, I'm actually one of the few who will use noct in most content just for fun because of it. It just feels so tight and awesome.

It feels so right and at the same time it feels so wrong. Like having a cookie jar and being able to take one whenever you want.