Help with beginner Ast

[Aikeiko]

I decided to try out Ast after getting my WHM to 60. Right now she's 43, and I just healed Titan (The first dungeon the roullette gave me that lets me use my cards -_-) and by the time the boss was 50 or so % I was already nearly OOM.

Am I using Aspected Benefic to much (I use it for the HoT), I'm using using Benefic over Benefic II unless I get the buff for Benefic II to be free.

[MoroMurasaki]

Aspected Benefic should be used primarily for the HoT (or Shield if in Noct sect later on) but you have to remember it has a frontloaded heal on it and is proportionally more expensive than Regen on a WHM.

When I heal as AST I tend to go Diurnal but I don't keep the HoT ticking like I do on WHM.

Remember you do have some options as you level that can help alleviate MP issues as well. In dungeon content specifically you've got the Bole card you can throw on the tank to mitigate some incoming damage, you can also use Ewer on yourself if you get low on MP. Obviously these aren't optimal uses of your cards in a perfect world but sometimes in pugs it's safer to ensure longevity than huck Balance at a dps and hope they can burn things down before you've exhausted your resources.

Later on you'll get a move called Celestial Opposition that extends any buffs you've cast in an area around you. You can use this to extend cards but also regens you've placed (you have 3 by 70) and even the Refresh effect of Lucid Dreaming.

It's important to remember when going from WHM to AST that AST just doesn't gave the seemingly limitless MP of WHM. You can and will go oom even at 70 if you don't use your tools well.

I'd also toss in some advice not directly related to your mp management but something that can help it - understanding your party. AST benefits the most from knowing what the other people in your group should be doing so that when you can buff someone you're getting the most bang for your buck. There is no point throwing a Balance on a person who is single targetting in an AoE situation, for example. Whether you come by this knowledge through just always running a parser (so you can buff the highest dps) or the more roundabout method of estimation from watching your group for key moves or indicators of performance (RDM hardcasting 5s spells, physical dps at full TP on an AoE pull) you'll see your cards go that much further if you place them on stronger dps. Things dying faster means less healing for you to do.

This is my favorite AST guide. I hope it helps you as you learn the class! Good luck!

http://dtguilds.enjin.com/davidsastguide

[Aikeiko]

Thanks, I'll be sure to check out that guide =D. I guess I got to used to the MP on my WHM, and I was trying to keep the HoT going on the entire party -_-.

[MoroMurasaki]

Thanks, I'll be sure to check out that guide =D. I guess I got to used to the MP on my WHM, and I was trying to keep the HoT going on the entire party -_-.

Oh yeah, that would certainly get costly! No, definitely no need for that on AST or WHM.

[Aikeiko]

I guess I gave away the class I used to main on another game..lol I did check out the guide and I love it. And quite honestly, the part where he says "I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been gravity spamming and tanks start typing in chat for me to heal them not understanding that Essential Dignity gets stronger the lower they go. How low can they go? If they bitch at me then we’re gonna find out lol." really sounds like something I would do.

I'm also going to stop keeping people topped off. And use AB only on the tank when they are on a Boss taking damage (I think that's what the guide meant), still reading on it so hoping to understand more =D

[MoroMurasaki]

I personally love AB on a tank that's pulling big since then you tend not to waste any of the healing (either the initial potency or the HoT) but yeah in general overall keeping people topped up isn't super necessary and can hurt your mp.

You're on Zalera with me so if you play at all in the evening (EST) I'm usually around if you want a roulette buddy. I'm by no means a pro AST but I'm sure if I saw you play I could give a few pointers.

That guide is great, it really helped me get a handle on everything. It's a lot to read I know but especialpy at 70 it gives you a great foundation.

[Aikeiko]

I'm normally on all day till around 2 am cst =D. Just now getting off for bed =) ,hope to see you around and thank you!

[OcieKo]

Guess some of the bulk of it was touched. But for your MP regen abilities consider using them earlier rather than later to keep high MP. For example use Lucid Dreaming at around 60% rather than 30%. For cards, try picking your hold card BEFORE your Royal Road card do you can make use of more cards you draw as opposed to throwing cards away to prevent wasting Expand. If your phishing for Balance for example more often than not youll get a Ewer/Spire first, if you use those for MP/TP maintenance as opposed to insta expand you may be able to toss out say a Bole on the Tank and an Arrow on the BLM while your searching for Balance to Expand.

Like the other poster mentioned ABene isnt fantastic for DPS maintenace in general, but a side caveat to that would be when they are guaranteed to be taking a few hits during the duration. First example I think of is the random target multi hits raid bosses get like on Alex Gordias 1 where you know after the first theyre going to eat a few more hits. Once you get to use Aspected Helios most of your DPS maintenace will be covered by that.

Side note on Essential Dignity it was changed awhile back to be a less gradual healing buff, now it just leaps at 50%/25%, it no longer heals for more at say 5/10% hp than it does 20/25%. So while its still true just less extreme on the conditions.

[Aikeiko]

After a day away from the game (Had RL things to do -_-) I decided to heal some more dungeons. Did fine in normal dungeons, but I once again got...Titan..and again I had severe mana issues. I tried only using the AB only on the tank after a Bene, and then used Bene 1 to try an keep the group topped off (Along with the AoE heal, not online and I can't remember its name =( ). I also never got an MP card =(.

Is this fight just really intensive? Or am I doing something massively wrong on it? I seem to do OK in the normal dungeons, but once I get Titan it's all over...I even did fine on Ifrit when I was getting that one.

Also could it be a gear issue? My Ast is only item level 27 at level 45.

[Ghishlain]

Gear level can attribute some of your difficulty, especially if you haven't upgraded your weapon in a long time as Magic Damage is a huge stat for any damage or healing related numbers. If you can upgrade your weapon, do so.

In terms of actual play, are you making use of Lucid Dreaming? As mentioned earlier in the thread, you should be aiming to use that earlier in the fight so it's consumed and ready to come back out for more MP earlier in the fight for you.

The other thing I have to ask is are you using the Benefic II proc a bit much? Unlike WHM Freecure proc, ASTs Enhanced Benefic proc makes Benefic II a guaranteed critical. You mentioned in the opening post that you are...:

using using Benefic over Benefic II unless I get the buff for Benefic II to be free.

The comment leads me to believe that you have mistakenly thought that Freecure procs and Enhanced Benefic procs are the same when they aren't. And if you're using Benefic II every time the proc is up thinking it costs 0 MP, I can see where some of your MP issues are stemming from.

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Also going to randomly comment about another post:

Side note on Essential Dignity it was changed awhile back to be a less gradual healing buff, now it just leaps at 50%/25%, it no longer heals for more at say 5/10% hp than it does 20/25%. So while its still true just less extreme on the conditions.

Do you have any patch notes and/or research on this particular change? I don't recall ever reading about any changes since this research was done back in June 2015.