balance through Balance

[LegoTechnic]

-Noct Sect was garbage, and could in no way compete with SCH. I'd argue that it was because SCH was also a little OP and needed some nerfs, but some might say it was just that Noct Sect needed a buff. Either way, upon AST's inception it was a terrible stance that pretty much no one used except out of dual AST parties in DF where one had to begrudgingly take it because AST regens didn't stack.

I'm going to agree with your post, but specify that rather than Noct sect being hot garbage, it was more the fact that the AST base kit just couldn't perform the same role as SCH. AST is in many ways a clone of WHM at heart with Luminous Aether and Ewer refresh as its only mana regen, and spammable DPS that steadily ran the class out of mana with poor means of recovery. While a SCH could go through their low-cost DoT rotation for days with little mana issue both AST and WHM fit a more "burst DPS" idea, and with fewer ogcd options it was always riskier for them to remain in cleric stance for as long a time simply due to class design. That said while some steps were made to give AST some SCH competition such as Disable, Aspected Benefic being instant cast, Aspected Helios having better shield effects than Succor, and Malefic II being stronger than Broil, these benefits didn't make up for the playstyle deficiencies from an off-healer perspective despite the card benefits. It still played like a WHM with even worse mana management despite its lower-cost heals.

Additionally Noct stance in particular was "ok" if paired with a WHM or another AST and "good" after it got a potency boost attached, but it's always been trash when paired with a SCH due to shields not stacking like their diurnal regens do with WHM. And there was almost always a SCH in compositions because they not only had strong complimentary mitigation but far more sustainable DPS, and in Gordias/Midas DPS checks were a massive wall during progression.