Regarding AST

[RLofOBFL]

Ast rn is not in a great spot. It does 700 less dps than Sch or Whm and its utility barely makes up that 700....but guess what, Fey Wind and Chain do around as much as AST's utility but w.o rng. So SCH not only insanely outdps but also brings equal or even more if bad card luck rdps.

I don't want them to buff balance back or anything but AST needs single target damage buffs. In the 99% AST is at 2400(add 800 rdps if 100% balance) while Sch is 3000(add 600 if 100% fey wind & chain) and Whm is 3100(add...healing utility). It doesn't add up very well. WHM needs love too in some way utility wise.
Here's an interesting example(fey wind opener not 100%) http://xivrdps.herokuapp.com/encount...YzjqBAbtvNL9/4

[Braven]

Ast rn is not in a great spot. It does 700 less dps than Sch or Whm and its utility barely makes up that 700....

Looking at DPS without considering HPS (Healing per second) is worthless. AST does less damage because they heal more than the other healer.

AST has the strongest global cooldown heals (higher potency and instant casts) than the other two healing job. The best of the best will take advantage of that and have the AST handle more than 50% of the healing workload.

[KDSilver]

AST has the strongest global cooldown heals (higher potency and instant casts) than the other two healing job

WHM still has Cure III, and Medica II is still more powerful than Diurnal Aspected Helios.

Ast don't "heal more". He "has to spent his time healing through his GCD" instead. He lacks of oGCD healing.
So his dps will always be worst because any gcd spent on healing won't be on dps (of course).

[Braven]

Just Look at a site like FFLogs which records healing stats. In cast majurity of logs where AST does less total DPS they also out healed the other healer. They had lower DPS because they healed more instead.

Certain content, of course, will favor a specific class. If a group stands very close together and a lot of AOE healing is needed. white mages can do better with Cure 3.

Regarding Medica 2, it is only a tiny bit better after considering the AST stance bonus and is not something that can be spammed. It only needs to be cast every 30 seconds for 100% uptime. That doesn’t make up for Helios, Asp. Benedict, Benedict 1, and Benedict 2 being strongest in their respective category. Those can be spammed every 2.5 seconds so the impact has the potential to be much higher when a lot of healing is required.

[VanilleFang]

Anyone who thinks AST is in a bad spot right now is kidding themselves. No healer is weak right now.

[Waemliht]

Healers are p balanced I agree. I'm pretty sure astrologian has mana problems though? Maybe tune some mana costs and make their aoe gained at a lower level. I don't play astrologian but it looks like clipping hell. I think asts have been wanting a ruin or smth.

[LachleinStratos]

Healers are p balanced I agree. I'm pretty sure astrologian has mana problems though? Maybe tune some mana costs and make their aoe gained at a lower level. I don't play astrologian but it looks like clipping hell. I think asts have been wanting a ruin or smth.

Ast probably need to manage mana more carefully however
The ewer + time dilation and
lucid dreaming + celestial opposition
Are both pretty good

[Ametrine]

I have a hard time with the idea of SCH outbuffing and outhealing healing AST with a Fey Wind/Chain as Fey Wind means Selene usage, and losing access to Whispering Dawn and Fey Illumination, which is a steep cut to SCH's overall heal potency. Which is the entire point of Selene verses Eos.

AST, either stance, will never gut itself one way or the other like fairy choice does. You still have all the powerful heals, and still have access to the cards. (And said cards are far more forgiving between the Spear changes and Minor Arcana).

It's pretty balanced.

Also, might just be a stylistic choice, but Noct Aspected Benefic and Essential Dignity always felt like plenty for instant saves, further boosted by good Lightspeed usage, at least next to SCH who heavily relies on OGCD heals for most actions.

[basketofseals]

Anyone who thinks AST is in a bad spot right now is kidding themselves. No healer is weak right now.

Regardless of balance, I still retain that it's a poorly designed job. AST is less notable for what it has, and is more so notable for what WHM doesn't have. It has very few tools and way too many situational ones. They don't even bring the best damage buffs.

Regarding Medica 2, it is only a tiny bit better after considering the AST stance bonus and is not something that can be spammed. It only needs to be cast every 30 seconds for 100% uptime. That doesn’t make up for Helios, Asp. Benedict, Benedict 1, and Benedict 2 being strongest in their respective category. Those can be spammed every 2.5 seconds so the impact has the potential to be much higher when a lot of healing is required.

ASTs higher potencies come with the very significant drawback of having the worst oGCD healing in the game by far. They HAVE to spend most of their time healing compared to the other jobs. The gap between SCH and AST is simply too wide.

[KDSilver]

Anyone who thinks AST is in a bad spot right now is kidding themselves. No healer is weak right now.

Ast isn't in a bad spot. Ast isn't weak.
I totally agree. We're far from what healers were in Heavensward.

However, Ast still stay weaker than Whm and Sch.
Only a full aoe balance uptime would make it better at increasing raid dps.
He still lacks of oGCD healing and has the worst mana among healers.

Yes, every healers are totally capable of doing the content, even very well.
He's just behind but it's more balanced now so it's okay.

What hurt Ast is Whm being able to use Devine Benision every 30s and Sch having succor buffed.
A good WHM who can provide a very good healing and dps overshadow ast buff. And SCH is SCH. His versatile toolkit, aetherflow and fairy and buffs will always make him far better than ast as the "shielder healer".

But again, I repeat myself, it doesn't make Ast weak at all. They made good adjustment so far.
That's just an analysis over all my game experience and everything I've read and watched among the FFXIV community

If they had to make adjustments right now (it's not necessary cause Ast can still do the job well, but in comparison with other healers..) it could be really small. Like maybe increase Malefic III potency to 230. Reduce Aspected Helios and Benefic mana cost (small reduce). Cause Ast lost one server tick for his mana refresh. Luminferous Aether used to be at 24s (+10 with CO).
And yes, one small increase to Malefic because as I said, Ast can't beat WHM unless he has great aoe uptime buff (especially balance).
And a very small potency buff to Nocturnal Stance who still can't compete with Scholar's toolkit. (aspected helio especially).

Any major changes will be done at 5.0

Also, I agree a 4th healer is needeed so Astrologian could gain his "own indentity" (and not just the "be paired with a whm or a sch")