AST question

[HyoMinPark]

It would depend on when you’re using the card if Enhanced or Extended would be better. In high-end settings, if you are going to opt for single-target cards, an Enhanced Balance would be better if the DPS is currently bursting, as you’re stacking +15% damage on top of any existing buffs they may have (Raging Strikes, B4B, Internal Release, etc.). Extending it with COpp and Time Dilation will give it almost the same duration as a regular Extended (55s versus 60s), giving a DPS +15% for almost a full minute. However, in 8-man raid settings, you want to Expand as many cards as possible, with prioritizing Balance, then Arrow, and finally Spear (because +5% crit is fairly lackluster).

I wouldn’t dismiss Spear as Royal Road/Minor Arcana in all comps, though. With its change to +10% critical hit unenhanced (+15% Enhanced), giving it to a good BRD or a good MNK is not a huge loss, as their damage mechanics revolve around crit procs. As a BRD main, I love getting Spears during a Minuet+Raging Strikes window because I can get more procs and burst for more.

Boles I tend to use to Enhance a card, or for Minor Arcana (level 66+). Unless the tank needs it, or if the party is really bad (then I Expand the Bole because bleh—I’ve done that more than once in Suzaku Extreme when the party is constantly messing up Simon Says).



In terms of substats, it’s mostly preference based. Some advocate for melding Piety to give you more MP, as AST can run into MP problems faster than the other healers, but I personally don’t meld it. I go for Crit > Det > D.Hit (if I can’t meld Det). I don’t meld Spell Speed or Piety. Obviously, if you would like more MP, then you can go Crit/Piety, but if the additional MP is not needed, opt for Crit/Det instead.