Please do not nerf Astrologian instead buff WHM/SCH

[Anselmet]

Even though I was pretty bitter and wanted ast to be nerfed into the ground, I don\\\\\\'t think this to be the case now. Ast is in the perfect place they need to be in while sch is not. Sch is a strong healer but is hampered by being gated by most of its useful skills being either dependent on aether stacks or cool downs. That is not the fault of asts but square not realizing that this gating was getting too much and making our class clunkier. I will argue it was fine in hw bc our pets were op so the feeling of having lacking big aoes was not felt as sharply. Now with the rework I do not think square realizes that sch needs to have access to our toolkits and that the things that were not that great of a skill in hw (dissipation) and the new skills like fey union and excog are further hurting the problem sch has. This once again is not an ast problem but a flaw that is rearing its head for sch. Tweaks need to be made.

[Anselmet]

Another aether stack would make using sacred ground less painful to use bc I will be honest I do not want to waste one of precious stacks and Id rather risk a wipe. Or bring emergency tactic off cd and allow us to cast aoe heals at a steep mp price. Make excog better or make it always go off. Bc I would rather use reliable lustrate and not run the risk of wasting a stack. And if deployment had a shorter cd we could challenge ast shields without nerf theirs. It would also still allow them to have an edge bc adlo hurts to cast and would not be our go to shielding. Sch just needs tweaks and ast doesn\\\\'t need to be nerfed. Square merely got ast correct and forgot Sch. Also how do I edit on phone so I don't have to post twice

[Ootarion]

Anselmet, well said, to be honest AST really is in the best place it can be in right now with WHM right there with it, the problem is like you said with SCH. If it is not keeping up then that is not the fault of AST or WHM.

Personally I never liked how a SCH's best heal "Lustrate" (I say best because it has a cure potency of 600) is locked behind an Aetherflow requirement, as a lvl 50 SCH (before I even got AST I believe) I felt dreadfully underwhelming in my ability to keep people alive and with the release of SB that is even more so, I often times dont like playing SCH cause I know alot of it demands Aetherflow stacks. Yes I have not taken SCH into a raid, but I have reasons not to.....it is often times not fun for me...am I saying I cannot handle the class? No, am I saying the class is underwhelming right now? Yes, and as you have stated Anselmet, that is no fault of AST or WHM but Square Enix not having the foresight to properly tune SCH, as you say, the class is really clunky.

[BloodRubyXII]

snip

I think this is still a problem. People are trying to play SCH as a healer and expect it to be on the same level of healing as AST/WHM; when it's a mitigator. If there a problem with SCH, then mitigation needs to be buffed, that is the class' identity.

[HyperSMB]

I think this is still a problem. People are trying to play SCH as a healer and expect it to be on the same level of healing as AST/WHM; when it's a mitigator. If there a problem with SCH, then mitigation needs to be buffed, that is the class' identity.

I've said it once, I will say it again, the fact SCH has no oGCD shield/mitigation ability is garbage. Excog should have been an instant shield so we could save DPS who are about to eat something strong. Fits way more.

[dynus]

When I play my AST the feeling is no where near the same as WHM or SCH, as I have played all three, AST to lvl 68, WHM to 60 and SCH to at least the early 50s, I feel 3 very distinct, very different play styles. While AST has the ability to apply regens like WHM can, there is still the undeniable fact that both classes are very different. I wouldnt wanna play AST if it were to suddenly change. This is not to say that I cannot adapt, just that I love how it is designed with such fervor that I wouldnt be willing to continue if the design Ive come to love was suddenly gone. This has nothing to do with it's strengths or weaknesses, just purely how it has been designed. Take that away, and my reason for playing the class is taken, I wouldnt be surprised if others feel the same.

Addendum: I understand that people here in this thread are just giving their thoughts, their ideas, but radically altering AST, even just two of it's abilities, isnt going to solve the present issues with SCH, or whatever issues there are with WHM.

If they don't change that then maybe they should reduce the potency of the shields and regens granted by the Sects. A. Helios is either a Medica II with a slightly less potent regen effect or a Succor with better shielding. A. Benefic is a bit harder to compare, but running the math, it provides a better shield than Aldo despite the lower potency. It's seriously bad design that it can do that. So lower the potency of the regens and shield by like, half, (not the base heals though, that would be bad) but let ASTs have the ability to switch between Sects in battle with a five second cool down, or something.

Fact still remains, AST as a hybrid job shouldn't outstrip the other healers at their specialties. I mean, you could argue White Mages are the pure healers, and in that case, it's not outstripping them.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

Easiest way to fix AST is to Nerf their healing to the gutter. They have amazing card utility, it should come at a real cost. If a group wants that 10% raid wide dps buff, make them work for it. Most importantly, don't use nerfed AST heals as the baseline, so people have to look to other sources to meet the requisite HP threshold within their comp.

[Ootarion]

If SCH is falling behind, for the last time, that is NOT Astrologians fault, nor is it the fault of White Mages. SCH ITSELF is obviously undertuned and needs to be buffed, get over it people, leave AST alone and leave WHM alone.

[Ootarion]

Fact still remains, AST as a hybrid job shouldn't outstrip the other healers at their specialties. I mean, you could argue White Mages are the pure healers, and in that case, it's not outstripping them.

White Mage: Benediction, Tetragrammton, Assize, Asylum, four very strong and useful OFF GLOBAL cooldown abilities used for healing and can be chained together without any interruption in what they do.

Astrologians: Essential Dignity (not anywhere near as good as Benediction despite its shorter cooldown), Collective Unconscious (requires you to remain MOTIONLESS, IE you cannot turn or move), Earthly Star (requires at least 11 seconds to reach maximum strength and even then if the enemies move out of it, it is useless and if your party doesnt stand in it for the heal, again, useless). So really, most times, ASTs at best only have 3 useful Off Global Cooldown abilities (3 if you are including Lady of Crowns which is a 550 Potency instant heal that is off global), but they are hardly as useful as Benediction, Tetragrammaton, Assize and Asylum.

Scholar: Powerful damage mitigation, at least they used to prior to SB, but that problem can be fixed with them getting buffed

[Ootarion]

Easiest way to fix AST is to Nerf their healing to the gutter.

They are a healer, they need to heal, so no.