Why the difference in duration?

[Felis]

don't forget that Lightspeed reduces mp consumption by 25% ^^/

and reduce atk spell dmg by 25%

It also reduce cast time, which increase the mp consumption again (more spells get casted)

[Alberel]

SE just threw everything but the kitchen sink at AST to try to push it into viability. It's...really not a very well designed job, so they only way to make it relevant was to overtune it.

This is more or less the answer, yes. Since AST has no real niche in terms of its healing ability, and instead is just a poor hybrid of both other healers, the only way SE could make it viable was to make it OP. Why on earth they ever thought it was a good idea to combine two existing healing roles to make a new one is beyond me.

[CaptainLagbeard]

Because getting rid of half your Enmity on every enemy is stronger than doing less enmity for a while... I guess...

[Lone-wolfe-02]

Probably because they have no idea how to balance healers, reason why hopefully we don't get another healer in 4.0.

[Alberel]

Probably because they have no idea how to balance healers, reason why hopefully we don't get another healer in 4.0.

The problem is they made the balancing job far harder than it needed to be.

True balance is almost impossible to achieve without homogenisation rendering all the options meaningless. The best solution is to ensure that no two classes in a game ever work the same way. If they added a third healer that used a different mechanic (spending HP or TP to heal instead of MP, a lifetap healer, a debuffing healer, etc.) then balance would be much more easily achieved because it would be much harder to directly compare the jobs. Instead they added AST, which does exactly what both WHM and SCH already did, and thus it is extremely easy to directly compare the numbers and see which is objectively superior.

As long as AST uses MP to heal or create shields they will always be either over-powered compared to the other healers, or under-powered.

[Jijifli]

Because WHM has more consistent options to restore MP. You get to have abilities like Assize on top of that, as well as a free cure 2 spell 15% of the time. The AST is a crit instead, still paying full out, and outside of Lumin Aether, requires me to not only rely on a 1/6 chance on a card, but demands me to use it on myself selfishly instead of spreading something like Balance later on the line.

And as to the comment about the jobs being similar, or having to "make it op to be played," it wasn't needed. People had trouble trusting it thanks to how release was, while people who played it from release not caring about it being weak (Such as myself,) tend to be more confused. And to be honest, I much prefer playing an AST over a WHM, even before buffs. I found WHM boring to play, where with AST I had a whole card system to toy with and change the flow of battle.

But I guess as the partner healer in 8/24 mans, for the love of god stop spamming cure II/III and never using regular cure. I'm not sparing Ewers for that.

[Eloah]

I think the best answer to everyones questions is, Play Scholar, XD.

[Mikaeus_The_Lunarch]

Because AST master race. also to be honest i never really noticed the enmity reduction in these abilities. Like i forgot that was even part of it until the OP's post.

[RaquelleAvarosa]

Freecure
Play better. If you are having mp issues it is your fault. Stop fishing for a way to blame the other guy. This is not politics.

I just want to know WHY. Simple question. Stop fishing for a way to pick a fight. Gitgud in understanding.
And no, I don't have mana issues unless people are dropping like flies to things they shouldn't.

[JovianTheCool]

IMO, it's just based on the fact that WHM has 2 ways of getting back MP while AST only has 1.
So SE being SE decided they have to buff AST's LA to balance things out.