Astro over whm ? I think not

[KDSilver]

Even im astro on 62 i dont see any mana regeneration skills to 64-70 later on

Indeed, but it's also mean that you've not heal any single lvl70 content with it.
And when I say content, I mean every type of content. To the easiest dungeon to the more difficult raid tier, in every kind of situation (optimal to chaotic play, with everyone dying-needing a lot of support and reactivity) meaning that you obviously have less experience than a lot of of players in this game that are healing with both if not the 3 healers since the beginning of Stormblood or more, who pushed strong analysis on healers.

So, you have the right your own opinion, sure, but we will never archive to get a real good healer balance with mere aproximative analysis of player who barely played a class.

[Dynia]

Thx for tips, i gonna use lucid with celestial and level scholar later then decide which healer to main or I will use one of 3 what ever my party will need, all 3 healers share same gear expect weapon any way

[Baalfrog]

I trust you, you are level 62 ast after all!

Also something tells me you don't do much high end content... Hmm, maybe thats why you don't see the value of AST...

[Gemina]

WHM has as much favoritism as I can give it, but even I will tell you it's not better than AST. Not in terms of raw healing because it's not, but because of everything else it does bring, which is more utility, more rDPS, shorter cast times, and more mobility.

The thing is though, all of this doesn't make AST more fun for me to play. It is not only my least favorite healer, it is also my least favorite job of all the combat jobs I play. I got it to 70, got my HW relic done, and did some raiding with it just to see what it was all about, and I may very well drop it come 5.0, especially if DNC is brought in as another healer. My biggest issue with this job is it feels too much like a WHM that has a gimmick instead of truly having its own identity as a healer.

To take it even further, WHM isn't without its drawbacks and flaws. We still have some clipping issues; we're the slowest casters; our lv68 ability is total shit; lily mechanic doesn't really bring anything to the table, and encourages over-healing, and we're still taking enmity when we go ham. So it really is saying something when despite all of this, I still LOVE this job way more than AST.

Maybe I like having a chip on my shoulder. It's what my softball coach used to tell me. But I am also a minimalist and simplistic and just addressing the aforementioned drawbacks would go a long way in making the job even more fun than how I find it already. I don't want it to have a micromanaging gimmick in 5.0 like what the other two healers have.

[NocturniaUzuki]

When I play as AST, I die and I am raised:

1. Is Lucid Dreaming on cooldown? If no, I use it.
2. Is Draw on Cooldown? If no: I draw a card and go to 2.1.
2.1. The card is Ewer? YAY! I use it. No? 2.2.
2.2. How about a Balance or a Spear? If yes, I spread it and call it a minute. No? 2.3.
2.3. Bole? Arrow? I RR it and wait for the next draw rooting for moar MP or moar MP ticks. Yet no? 2.4.

So you have no MP. Why the hell would you hold Balance/Spear instead of opting for another 1/5 chance at a Ewer. If you actually did have Lucid/CO up, then I could accept doing this (at least when duo healing, since the MP strain is a lot lighter), but if you don't, going for offense here is likely going to result in going OOM and letting the party die. Especially if you're solo healing.

[NocturniaUzuki]

The problem is that we tend to idealize top end content and perfect play and coordination. Which exemplifies maybe 2% of the player base. In average groups with average players who will make mistakes even with content on farm and whom just generally don't play at a pro level. A WHM will always shine because that is what their kit is made for.

Yes in an ideal environment, AST/SCH pairing is the the way to go. But for the average group just happy to complete a raid boss and is going to make mistakes and need the extra padding. WHM with either other healer role is amazing.

Don't let the composition rhetoric get you down. WHMs still raid all the time. As well as the other current non-comps. RDMs, SAMs, BLMs, MCHs, and DRKs. If your FC or Static is an average raiding group pushing for you to change classes then find a FC or Static that fits you. Unfortunately alot people have a delusion that everyone plays af the top percentile, or should be, and that's not leaving game culture anytime soon. People love cookie cutters and love to emulate the best even when it won't work for them or their peers. However there are people out there who get it and understand bring the player not the class and are happy to get raid clears even if it's not bleeding edge completion times.

Unfortunately the party finder is a sad land of wierd comp bias so don't expect to get friendly groups there often. Be friendly, open to new people and experiences, build relationships and be patient and your time will come. Don't let yourself get trapped in a social circle that doesn't work for you.

Nice to see someone say this so clearly.

Although I'd also mention that there are some players who have the casual "don't-care-about-the-meta" attitude (in all its forms, from compositions to rotations) but who are also high-tier players who do not struggle with Savage. Unfortunately, this type of player is quite rare. And personally, I have never been able to find a group that is both at a high enough skill level to come do solo-heal and/or tank Savage raiding for fun, but who also aren't going to get into petty arguments over rotations.

Honestly, as long as people can learn to do mechanics without making a mistake every run and can output DPS that is appropriate for high-tier play, that should be fine. It doesn't need to turn into a discussion about how to get to the top 0.5%. Getting into arguments about HOW people get to that level is silly if they're already performing at an excellent level. Let people improve on their own, in their own ways, instead of creating bad vibes by telling each other how the other "should" improve. Unless it's actually necessary to clear a fight, I really don't see the need to fuss over it.

Anyways, I went off on a bit of a rant there, but point being, I wholeheartedly agree that people obsess and become delusional over what they see as idealized gameplay.

[Ahrijlaken]

Im playing AST but i still wish that they remove Damage buff ... It's a shame that everything is about damage, you feel oblige to use it and it make other cards useless.

Cards should be versatile tools, not just about balance cards. Having rez cards, runspeed cards, Teleport cards etc ... be only utility and not the mandatory damage buff.

[HyoMinPark]

Im playing AST but i still wish that they remove Damage buff ... It's a shame that everything is about damage, you feel oblige to use it and it make other cards useless.

Cards should be versatile tools, not just about balance cards. Having rez cards, runspeed cards, Teleport cards etc ... be only utility and not the mandatory damage buff.

The other cards have their uses. There’s really only 1 that could be see as useless, and that is Spire. Simply because TP is a non-issue in this game outside of very heavy AOE situations (and even then, all melee have access to Invigorate; they have Goad for party members; and BRD/MCH have Invigorate and Tactician). But, even then, at least it serves as Royal Road or Minor Arcana fodder—so it has a purpose, just not the intended purpose. AOE Balance is obviously the best when you consider all the damage buffs AST gives (there is more than just 1), but AOE Arrow follows that. AOE Spear can be a bit lackluster (because it’s only +5% crit rate), but giving a single-target Spear to a BRD or a MNK is monstrous. Giving single-target Arrows to a BLM is monstrous. Boles are useful during progression. Ewers can help yourself or your co-healer if there are MP struggles (e.g., deaths, lots of raises). The thing with buffs is that there will always be “the most efficient” (or, “the best”), and then ones that follow that are of lesser use, but still fairly useful even if sometimes niche. Having everything equally useful would make the job broken (more so than it tends to be).

[Seraphor]

Im playing AST but i still wish that they remove Damage buff ... It's a shame that everything is about damage, you feel oblige to use it and it make other cards useless.

Cards should be versatile tools, not just about balance cards. Having rez cards, runspeed cards, Teleport cards etc ... be only utility and not the mandatory damage buff.

These suggestions seem too situational to be of any use. Runspeed and teleport would be useless in battle, and rez should be uneccesary.

The current system works pretty well except for Spire and TP, but that's gonna change with the removal of TP anyway.

[Ahrijlaken]

Problem is that the only cards we use on people is the damage one.

Bole is 99% of time used for redraw/arcana
Spire is only used for Royal Road or redraw/arcana
The Ewer is 99% of time used for Royal Road or redraw/arcana

Balance, spear, arrow are the only cards you will use on people and they have all the same utility and serve the same purpose : give a damage buff.

In my opinion is a weak and bad character design. There is no flexibility, no diversity, we don't have enough cards and damage are so good compare to anything else that it's like having just "1" card. This problem will never be fixed if you don't remove damage from the equation, it's too much a must have.