Giving Astrologian A new Identity

[Brightshadow]

For 5.0 do you guys think that Astrologian should get a new identity, and if you do, do you believe it would take a lot of work? List your ideas on how Astrologian can be separated from the other healers.

[Brightshadow]

Reversed for the future.

[Brightamethyst]

Why? What's wrong with cards? That already very different from anything the other healers do.

[Brightshadow]

The card mechanic is unique, but their healing style feels way too similar to AST and WHM.

[Leidiriv]

I'm not sure it needs an entirely new identity persay, but I would like if they expanded on the identity that Earthly Star seems to be building.

[NorthernLadMSP]

Cards should stay. But, I'd love the copy and paste skills that copied WHM/SCH to be changed. Personally, I'd love a healer that is more about smaller, ultra fast heals as opposed to one that focuses on big regens or shields.

[Risvertasashi]

For 5.0 do you guys think that Astrologian should get a new identity

Definitely. But SE's said several times it won't happen. So, I think at this point, we just have to hope that any new healer will be a little more innovative. (And hope that 5.0 will, in fact, have a new healer).

[Sebazy]

The easiest way to truly diversify AST without forcing a ground up rework of it is to allow then to spend GCDs on cards with the aim of giving them a route to generate DPS indirectly via buffs, rather than accepted norm of spamming Malefic like WHM/SCH.

As a quick and likely over simplified example:

Put redraw on the GCD and remove the recast delay on it allowing it to be used repeatedly until the AST gets the card they want.

Add in another GCD ability that lowers Draw's current recast timer by 10 seconds per cast.

Now obviously, the numbers would need to be adjusted and refined significantly as I've just plucked them out of the air. But as a concept, I think allowing players to spend their GCD downtime (aka the time in which they aren't healing) generating buffs for other players as an alternative to simply blasting away themselves would make a lot of people happy even if the end result is pretty much the same.

It truly boggles my mind that SE haven't considered this.

[Elamys]

They need to remove AST's ability to be either a HoT or shield healer on demand for them to truly begin to have a unique identity, I think.

[Ayer2015]

I don't think SE will make any drastic changes to AST. That said, I think they should remove sects from the job along with the associated shields and regens, while adjusting healing potency to account for the losses. Doing this would distance the job from SCH and WHM and allow for 3 new AST skills Given Aspected Hellos would be heavily impacted, making it instant cast like Aspected Benefic could be a possibility.