Quote Originally Posted by Gemina View Post
AST doesn't need more of anything. What it does need is an identity of its own. It basically stole WHMs identity and added a card gimmick to it.
People keep saying this, but what exactly did AST steal from WHM?

GCD heals?
A DoT and a DPS spell and an AoE DPS spell? So it’s only different from SCH in that it only has one DoT rather than two?
A oGCD cooldown AoE regen? That actually functions differently?
Benefic and Benefic II? So it’s just the fact that SCH doesn’t have a Physick II that makes it “stolen from WHM”?

These seem like healer basics to me.
The Aspected spells don’t work the same, Diurnal Benefic/Helios have a heal plus a HoT so it’s not the same as Regen/Medica II.
If anything it takes this from SCH, as Noct Benefic/Helios are basically Adloquium/Succor.

What else could AST have used?
Seems to me the problem isn’t that AST stole from WHM, but that WHM doesn’t have anything to it besides the most basic healer toolkit.
Fix WHM, give it an actual identity and a unique mechanic that isn’t 100% passive and inconsequential, don’t strip stuff from AST in order to bring it down to WHM’s level.


The problem with shields is they’re not an efficient form of healing unless they’re timed absolutely perfectly. A pure shield healer wouldn’t work very well in difficult single healer content. SCH has HoTs via it’s fairy, and Diurnal is almost unanimously favoured over Nocturnal.
I don’t think this dichotomy like MT/OT would work, and they’ve specifically said they’re trying to balance three healers before they add a fourth.
If anything, they need to give all healers options to shield or regen, but have unique applications of those.
WHM needs shields in some form. Give it Protect back as an exclusive ability, add Shell to that, and have some kind of unique interaction with lilies.