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.