May I AST you a few questions?

[Gemina]

1. Diurnal sect AST will need to rely on their co healer to shield the TB. What you should do as Diurnal AST is make sure Aspected Benefict is up, and immediately heal it up with Essential Dignity. If ED is not up, then your next best option is to precast Benefict II. I actually practice the timing on this soloing mobs with casted AoEs that sting a little. A tip given to me that has been very helpful.

2. Not much else for me to offer in regards to CU. I do recommend taking advantage of the server tick change they have made to this and all healer bubbles. It allows you to weave it, and if you see a moment that your group is huddled up enough, you can toss a potent regen net around all of them nearly instantly. You can also extend this effect with Celestial Opposition if you feel you need to.

3. For certain content, you can enter the instance with a loaded deck. How this is loaded is probably the preference of the AST. One might like to have Lady of Crowns, another might like to have Lord. Most will probably want Lord of Crowns, Balance or Spear held, and AoE RR. However in battle, what you do with the card you draw is totally dependent on what is currently going on and your party's composition. There are a myriad of situation/card combinations. It really is too tough to try and write them all out. However, I do have a different way of looking at it based on Draw abilities:

If you already know what each card does and are familiar with the tooltips of your Draw abilities, then it is all about putting two and two together and doing it quickly. Don't be mistaken though. This is not a priority list, and just what feels to me to be the natural checks I go through when drawing a card. As an example: if I draw a card, my next action could be to use it, redraw it, RR it, or hold it. It just depends.

Using Draw: Drawn card is used immediately if anyone is in need of the card drawn. Example: Bole is drawn and a player is in need of additional defense.

Using Redraw: Used if the currently drawn card is not desired. If you're the gambling type like me, you might even decide to use it on a desirable card for a more desirable card. Example: Drawn card is The Arrow. "Eff it! I'm going for The Spear or the Balance!" *next drawn card - The Spire* "Gawd freakin' dammit!"

Royal Road: Used immediately if the burned effect is desired. Most AST go for AoE, but I advise to see situations for the potency and duration buffs as well. The Spire is an immediate burn for the AoE buff, but take The Ewer into consideration before you burn that one. Burn The Bole if you desire the potency increase, and The Arrow for the duration buff. I wouldn't ever burn The Balance or The Spear.

Spread: Used immediately if currently drawn card is desired for latter use. These cards are almost always The Spear or The Balance, while consideration is given to The Arrow and to an even lesser extent, The Ewer. The CD begins after using or un-spreading the card held, so choose wisely. This ability is key to giving different card effects to different party members, which is also something to consider over a RR buff.

Minor Arcana: The frustrating redraw situation I wrote about above? Thank you Minor Arcana! Lv66, you took too long to get here. This ability is still fairly new to me though, and I am still working with it.

That leaves Sleeve Draw which I don't have access to yet. But from my experiences with the other draw abilities, I believe I'll have a firm handle on this ability already once it's available.