AST and Spread - Looking for some advice

[Anova]

Good use of SPREAD requires you to understand the dungeon/trial/boss and what each Job usually does in the fight for those phases and patterns. You can try asking the other players about their Jobs, play them yourself, or any combination to better learn how the other Jobs play. That's going to be the best foundation for how and when to use cards.

If your Warrior is spamming Overpowers to gather a group, it might be good to put a spire on him when you get the chance. If you have a dps phase ahead, try to spread a balance or arrow for it. If there's going to be a ton of movement mechanics, it might not be the best time to buff the BLM or melee dps, so either save it or use it on the BRD.

Thing is, the card you choose to spread is going to vary greatly depending on the Job, playing style, and content you're playing. Here are some basic situations on when to use specific cards:

Bole: Rarely used, but it's great for handling spike damage or focused fire on allies other than your primary tank (some bosses will target a dps or the like). Also useful for DRK if they turn off Grit and want to use blood weapon to regain mp in the middle of a fight (Ewer doesn't work on DRK because of Darkside, so Bole helps them remain tanky so they can switch off grit and use blood weapon buff to regain mp). This causes DRK to gain more MP and potentially 1 or 2 more uses of Dark Arts every 60 seconds, leading to an increase in dps.

Balance: Damage buff. It is almost universally useful and really needs no explanation. You can use Spread on it and hope you get a 2nd Balance on your next Draw as well. It's much more efficient to just use it one a single dps instead of applying to the party on 4-man content.

Spire: Great for most dps classes, but also Tanks who need the TP for long fights or dps bursts. It's not as good as Balance, but better if you need a long sustained dps. Also useful for Warriors who like to gather large packs of mobs together for AoE damage.

Ewer: Recovers MP. Only useful for healers and bards (assuming they're using song). Never give this to a BLM as it will throw off their rotation. Summoners also benefit immensely from this as it allows them to cast Ruin3 out of Dreadwyrm Trance without running out of MP.

Arrow: Increases aspd. Very useful for most dps, especially at the start of a fight or in conjunction with their other damage buffs (blood for blood, crit, etc). Also a good buff anytime for BLM as it gives them more leeway when handling enochian timers.

Spear: Great at the start of a fight or right before a buff CD becomes available. It's very useful on tanks as it allows them faster CD use and ends up saving you more HP than Bole when timed before a damage phase.