Using AST's Expand in Light Party Duties

[Arrius]

So, what's up with that?
When I leveled through my jobs, I came to the oddity that nearly all of them play out the cards with Expand tacked on them. Yes, they even play use Spire with Expand.

Is that something that came out of laziness? (Bad?) habits out of trials? Macros? Forgot they have a full set of undraw options? Scripts?

Any case, please try to think a bit more about how to play those cards before you apply Expanded Bole when they tank only takes damage.

Bad enough seeing Balance cards turned into Minor Arcanas. Jeesh.

[Rawrz]

So, what's up with that?
When I leveled through my jobs, I came to the oddity that nearly all of them play out the cards with Expand tacked on them. Yes, they even play use Spire with Expand.

Is that something that came out of laziness? (Bad?) habits out of trials? Macros? Forgot they have a full set of undraw options? Scripts?

Any case, please try to think a bit more about how to play those cards before you apply Expanded Bole when they tank only takes damage.

Bad enough seeing Balance cards turned into Minor Arcanas. Jeesh.

Do you really think... that those ASTs are going to be on this forum, reading this thread? I'm gonna say most of the time you see spread spires is when someone accidently uses the spire, instead of RRing it. lol

Between RR and Shuffle I very rarely ever get the chance to minor arcana. That and the fact that theres no time to weave it. xD

[Elamys]

Most random ASTs probably don't even realize that expanded nerfs the card in exchange.

[Risvertasashi]

Most random ASTs probably don't even realize that expanded nerfs the card in exchange.

There is nothing wrong with expanded balance and so forth, even in light parties. Well, unless one DPS is 5k and the other is 1k. But if they're close enough, and tank and healer and DPSing, it's still a good gain. And even if there is a large disparity, sometimes you just have to roll with what RNGsus gives you.

[Nyxn607]

It is fine if you use a 3rd party program to keep track of dps. However it is still against the terms and most people don't use one. Not to mention ps4 players don't have the option. So without that little illegal tool, it is really just a best guess. I agree that you shouldn't put balance on a dps that dies 3-4 times a fight, but if a dps is using their kit properly, they should rarely stay at the #2 or #3 position on aggro list.

If you have a good way of determining how to know without use of the 3rd party, please let me know. I am genuinely curious.

[Risvertasashi]

If you have a good way of determining how to know without use of the 3rd party, please let me know. I am genuinely curious.

You have 2 options ultimately.
1. Embrace the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and use a parser, but don't use it to shame people (which is what SE really cares about).
2. Play a subpar buffing AST, making 'best guesses'.

The nature of the job is you need to make informed decisions to play well.

[HyoMinPark]

It is fine if you use a 3rd party program to keep track of dps. However it is still against the terms and most people don't use one. Not to mention ps4 players don't have the option. So without that little illegal tool, it is really just a best guess. I agree that you shouldn't put balance on a dps that dies 3-4 times a fight, but if a dps is using their kit properly, they should rarely stay at the #2 or #3 position on aggro list.

The bolded of this isn't true, because DPS that actually monitor their own aggro use aggro dumps when they need to; I can frequently climb to #2 on the aggro list on BRD, hit Refresh or Tactician, and drop down to #6, but still be the highest or second highest DPS; on the other hand, I can not be the highest DPS, but still be #2 just because BRD is ridiculous with regards to the amount of aggro it produces. Also, a healer that spams AOE heals can easily climb to #2 or #3 on the aggro list, but be doing zero DPS. Enmity list is not a good way to determine DPS rank when it comes to dishing out cards. But don't want to turn this into a parser debate, since this isn't really what this thread is about.

[Zojha]

I can not be the highest DPS, but still be #2 just because BRD is ridiculous with regards to the amount of aggro it produces.

Out of curiosity: Care to elaborate how this is possible?

From my understanding, you generate aggro from using abilities (which gives a flat amount of aggro) and doing damage, where the damage you do = the aggro you generate. Tank abilities and healing abilities are the only abilities I know of that have modifiers. Where would the Bard aggro come from?

[MoroMurasaki]

I mostly agree with this, my one (very situational) caveat being if I do a dungeon with my boyfriend tanking and the DPS don't seem super strong. I know he focuses on DPS, I know he'll pull big so I can shine with AoE and I would rather expand a Balance to buff his and my own damage (as it is at least reliable) than hope a DPS makes use of it.

I used to just throw enhanced Balances on him for bosses back in SB but then I got kicked from the Aery once with no warning by two DPS that I guess also queued together. They complained in party chat to him about me after they kicked me and he left them. I still hope their run just timed out. Lol.

Either way yeah in general this is just silly. There are times for it but not nearly enough to justify the amount I see it.

[dragonseth07]

snip

The easy answer for Balance targets is to get a crystal ball. I've had complaints when I gave the DPS cards to the tank before. They shut up when I told them said tank was at the top of the charts.