Quote Originally Posted by Ootarion View Post
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.