Regarding AST

[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.