Possible AST nerf

[HyoMinPark]

I love AST and it's my secondary, but AST shields should not be stronger than SCH. Especially since Aspected Benefic is instant cast. I would be happy if the shields were back to 3.4 potency, and it would still make Nocturnal Sect viable. Just look at how many ASTs decided they suddenly loved Nocturnal Sect after it was buffed in 3.4 compared to before when it was pretty weak.

Even changing shield potency won't fix the underlying issues with WHM and SCH, but the hybrid shouldn't be stronger than the original.

[Kaedan]

Who at SE said there was a possible AST nerf? Didn't see anything about that in the Live letter.

[Naunet]

The problem with AST vs SCH shields isn't really the strength of them but that there's WAY too much overlap in healing styles for the three healing jobs. They need to distinguish WHM, SCH, and AST better or they will never actually solve the balancing issues - they'll simply end up making certain aspects of each job really crappy and pointless in an effort to not step on any toes.

[Texa]

Who at SE said there was a possible AST nerf? Didn't see anything about that in the Live letter.

I only recall Yoshi saying that Samurai and Red Mage are not being nerfed and mentioned that there would be other adjustments in the patch notes. So he didn't say yes and didn't say no on a Ast nerf exactly.

[Reilyn]

The problem with AST vs SCH shields isn't really the strength of them but that there's WAY too much overlap in healing styles for the three healing jobs. They need to distinguish WHM, SCH, and AST better or they will never actually solve the balancing issues - they'll simply end up making certain aspects of each job really crappy and pointless in an effort to not step on any toes.

I agree. Right now, AST is stepping on almost all of SCH's toes. with the exception of like... 2.

[Kurando]

At the end of the day, AST should not be treated as a must pick for end game content. Of course it'll be difficult to get there, but everyone should be able to pick a job that brings it's own unique benefits to the party and not be in a position where a certain job is actually greatly eclipsed by another; therefore rarely even being picked or ignored. Currently AST is one of those job which is mostly an insta-pick so it definitely needs a few tweaks to bring it on more equal playing field with the other healers.

[Mikhaill]

As someone who has been a main AST through the thick of AST 3.0, even I think it's a wee bit strong.
They seemed to overpowered it this patch for no real reason. It was fine at the later patches of HW.
They forgot to stop the breaks from the looks of it. The real buffs and nerfs
should come after what they collect from Savage.

[Atmora]

Your shields are stronger than a SCHs right now unless that SCH crits. Top that off with cards and you have effectively pushed a Job well out of a Job lol. You need a few nerfs you shouldn't be that strong when you bring entire group buffs and make the group just outright better just by being there.

But SCH Isn't being pushed out of a Job, it's still optimal to take one.

[Eloah]

No one is denying that when it comes to healing that SCH isnt up there with WHM and AST in terms of brute force healing, however, when ive compared the numbers, a SCH using Physick or even Adlo, combined with their Fairy's primary heal, can actually achieve a 650 potency, or when you combine Lustrate with the Fairy's heal, that is a combined total of 900 potency worth of healing. That is nothing to sniff at....

I hope this doesn't sound presumptuous, but you do realize that your repsonse proves my point?

I'm really lost if you thought my post said SCH needs to be nerfed.

My apologies if you thought I was attacking you in a sense, that was not my intent. But the response from your original post "I don't mind that AST shields are stronger than a non crit SCH adloquium. SCH has a constant source of MP-free, stack-free, gcd-free healing in their fairy on top of their GCD heals." is a little misguided. Many people want to point to the fairy as a reason why it's okay for a SCH to not have what other healers have, and to a degree that is fine, but point to the right thing, which many people do not. The fairy isn't comparable to the shields as you indicated, she is the SCH's answer for the larger heals that WHM and AST has complete access to. So a better analogy is "I don't mind that AST's Benefic II costs less MP or that WHM Cure II is a stronger heal. SCH has a constant source of MP-free, stack-free, gcd-free healing in their fairy on top of their GCD heals."

The Shield debate that is going on right now is because SCH's niche/gimmick/playstyle/thing/etc is Shields so they should have the "best ones" and the most options, Right now AST is beating them in every step. Now I am not stating that AST needs a nerf to their shields, per se, but the shields should be comparable at least. A lower MP Cost for the shield spells, a trait to make Adlo Crit or be instant cast, an increased potency or shield percentage, any one of these would help to make SCH feel more like the mitigation healer again. That's not even mentioning that SCHs themselves, me included, have been asking for more shield options and abilities, if we got an instant cast shield that was like 25% of our max MP, or if Selene got an AoE shield skill, even a buff to Sacred Soil or a reduced CD time for Deployment Tactics would do wonders. Hell Dissipation needs a revamp, they could even make that into an AoE shield for like 25% of our max HP, but make it use the fey gauge like 50 points or so, i'd say reduce the GC to 90 seconds at least though.

But Ultimately, the main issue is that, if SCH is supposed to be the Mitigation healer, why do we have the worst mitigation tools over the Buff healer, who can swap between Regeneration healing and Mitigation healing, on top of their Buffs which includes a buff for mitigating damage?

A good example is, that some people are asking for Selene to get an increase to her Fey Wind skill, which I can see why that is a thing. I personally don't mind if it gets an increase or not, since Fey Wind is a Buff, and I am not the Buff healer. I don't need all of my skills to be on par with the other healers, I just need the skills that are supposed to be my thing, in this case shields, to be better than the other healers.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

I agree. Right now, AST is stepping on almost all of SCH's toes. with the exception of like... 2.

AST is stepping on both healers toes. Stronger healing and regens than WHM, stronger shielding than SCH, better unique utility than both of them. I really don't know what SE is thinking anymore.