Thread: Astrologian 5.0 Discussion

Seals don't really feel good to use. Needing to be engaged with the enemy to gain a seal can lead to awkward moments when you want to play a card, but you must first use another action. It also feels bad when, ounce all three seals have been acquired, there's nothing left to do but mindlessly Minor Arcana every card that's drawn while waiting on Divination.

Divination also has a convoluted execution phased. In order for a Scholar to apply a 10% bonus to critical hit, all they have to do is hit a single off-GCD. In order for Astrologian to apply a similar beneficial effect for the party, seven off-GCD actions must be used at minimum. Only the first of which can be done before the fight begins.

Personally, I think seals should be scrapped and Divination should just be expanded Royal Road. Activate Divination and the next card played will apply to the target and all nearby party members. Since we're allowed to at least draw cards outside of combat, all we would have to do then is pull a desired card and then we're all set to apply an AoE buff to the party the moment the fight starts.

And yeah, an adjustment like this would work best alongside the restoration of old card effects. I'll share my thoughts regarding what I hope to see.

Arrow - Skill Speed/Spell Speed (increases attack speed by X%)
Balance - Direct Hit (Increases direct hit rate by X%)
Spear - Critical Hit (Increases critical hit rate by X%.)
Bole - Damage Reduction (Reduces damage taken by X%.)
Ewer - Healing Received (Increases own HP recovery via healing magic by X%.)
Spire - Damage Reflection (Delivers an attack with a potency of X every time damage is suffered.)

This is my own take on how I would like to see the cards reworked. The idea is that half of the cards are designed to be given to DPS while the other half are designed for tanks.

Regarding Ewer, some may wonder why this no longer restores MP. This goes along with the change SE made across the board which was the removal of actions that provided MP to party members. An affect akin to Convalescence has been provided in its stead.

This take on Spire is particular interesting to me. It would function similar to Radiant Shield that Summoner provided. If tuned appropriated, Spire could be the card with the highest damage contribution for large dungeon pulls.

I want to add that I miss the old Minor Arcana effects as well. However, unlike the old system that left what you drew up to chance, it could be guaranteed to give Lord or Lady depending on the card that is "consumed" similar to the current system. If you draw the Arrow, Balance, or Spear and think "I don't want that" it's probably because you wanted a card that would help the tank. So using Minor Arcana when you have one of those three cards would always grant Lady of Crowns. Likewise, if you draw the Bole, Ewer, or Spire and think "I don't want that" it's probably because you wanted damage. The use of Minor Arcana with any of those three cards would always grant Lord of Crowns.