Those that have shifted classes from SCH -> AST how do you feel?

[PaulH]

I was a SCH for ARR at launch to end of HW and loved the job healed and did the DPS side of the job as needed and according to the fight it felt busy. So I read with dismay the changes and MP changes and decided to try and it did lack something,I dont care about not the dps side of it tbh the bio1 loss for me was a relief as I was sick of it.

So I picked up my AST levelled it up and have run 50/60 and 70 dungeons and Royal Menagerie in NOCT several times and getting used to the cards and i like the gameplay and the challenge of the cards. I am not fixated on balance as I feel DPS can get gud as healers get the flame so as long as I have spear or ewer for mana refresh or cool down timing its good.

I am still kinda salty about healers in general but do think the AST has given me my scholar though i miss EOS. It is now getting to the point where I am unsure if I will go back in the near term as the shift is quite refreshing.. Anyone else got some positive stories?

[EnaChleo]

I feel the core aspects of scholar still remain, Astro is a healer I never get bored with, but if I wanted to do anything serious, I would always go scholar, Idom and Lustrate felt so powerful, and the fairy did carry a lot, but this thread isn't about that

Really it comes down to preference, Astro will always be useful, where as Scholar can (Imo) get a little boring in dungeons, but is very rewarding in extremes/raids, we also have potential adjustments coming, so choose based on what you enjoy and plan to do! Not what is meta

[loreleidiangelo]

Noct AST feels kinda like cheating to me sometimes, lol. There are so many times I'll see the tank buster start to cast and still get a shield off in time on AST, whereas with SCH I'd either have to use Swiftcast or miss mitigating a critical mechanic.

In truth, it's actually made me a bit lazy re: memorizing fight patterns, and I've been working on improving that doing the EX Primals before I start Savage raiding again.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Can't call myself a SCH main, but I do play both AST and SCH enough to have an opinion on them.

I know people hate seeing this word being used, but AST shields feels broken, lol.
Like, Tankbusters in relevant content being reduced to 6k attacks, or AOE damage being almost completely negated.
Top that off with Aspect Bene being insta cast....Well it's definitely powerful.
It actually makes Adlo feel lackluster, even when it crits.

[nexas506]

Scholar was my main since 2.1. I remember after beating ultima, waiting for the next patch, that I wanted to dabble in healing. Then I fell in love with it.
SE ripped my heart out of my chest. It lost its perfect level of complexity. It's just not fun anymore.

As an AST, I always make sure to have my windup sylph minion out. And play mostly in noct.

TL;DR I'm glad I'm still a healer, but so so sad that I fell out of love with something that was such a part of me for over 3 years.

[Kyuubee]

Ast has been much more fun because of it's utility and ability to change your gameplay on the fly due to cards.

SE wanted to force players into using Dissipation so they nerfed the fairy heals and mana generation of aetherflow while also tying the fairy gauge to using flows. It's the same method of trying to force the players into a certain playstyle or trying to force them to use abilities that are garbage, such as they did with Mch and Bard when they had trouble balancing the jobs around their always up movement and so their fix was to completely remove movement from the jobs. Shields cost more, fairy was nerfed and given a crap tether that further nerfs her healing capability when in use and Ast and Whm can do everything you can but better. The only reason I can think to take a Sch to anything is due to Strategem helping to farm content.

Stance dancing was actually a fun part of Sch too and it being gone has made the job much less busy.

[Maku]

SCH was my main since its release. I new about the nerfs coming to it so I switched to AST for SB. I probably won't be going back even if they buff SCH. AST is more busy and keeps me in the moment more than SCH used to. And now that SCH is even less busy (or so I have heard) I am sure it would be a snooze fest.

[Xiozen]

I was SCH more than AST in HW/post-ARR content and enjoyed it; switched to full time AST now... its the play style on AST I like the most... the cards and the ability to add buffs is a unique and awesome flavor that enhances the boredom that would come from just healing... I'm thankful the card buffs are actually something that doesn't feel like they were tacked on as an afterthought and once applied can actually contribute to the combat or utility element... also, I have multiple ways on AST to maintain mana under extreme healing conditions which I really didn't feel was present under SCH.

[Anova]

Hello. Played SCH since 2.0 to 3.0 HW and I really enjoyed the pre-emptive healing. The DPS and dot management was fun, but it wasn't what drew me to the job. I switched out to AST almost immediately, partly because my character name references stars, my own preference for utility support jobs, and the fact I couldn't get excited over any of the book weapons in the same way I liked any other job's.

It was a pleasure watching AST get tweaked and grow, rejoiced at the buffs to nocturnal aspect that made barriers viable for AST, and still stare gobbly-eyed at the a power spike Balance got. I enjoyed the stance dancing on all the healers, but I will be the first to admit that I'm not that sad its gone.

[jstamos]

I played a SCH in ARR, SCH - > AST in HW, got to 70 first on SCH and am leveling up an AST now (because my WHM is lvl 34 and I do not have patience) - currently at 61, so haven't gotten to play with Star yet.

The MP management is basically hilarious on an AST and a nightmare on SCH, but I actually rather dislike dealing with the card system. I liked it a lot in HW, but now I don't really want to deal with it for some reason? I also forgot how much worse the sound effects are for AST spells (LOOKING AT YOU ASPECTED BENEFIC), except for Gravity.

For all the faults SCH currently has, and there are a TON of them, I would still rather play it than an AST at it's core.