Astrologian 5.0 Discussion

[Seraphor]

I have never mashed Benefic 2 so hard in my life when I go dungeons and do big pulls. So SE can AST's Gravity apply Slow on the monsters like Arm's Length? That would be cool.

Would be awesome, considering WHM has spamable stun, and AST no longer has any.

[Side-Eye]

Would be awesome, considering WHM has spamable stun, and AST no longer has any.

I will NEVER figure out why Squeen took away AST's only stun -- if they hadn't wanted that ability to healers, why does another healer still have it, and at that, a better one than what AST lost?

[Suishouhime]

A lot of the reworks that still include different effects for the cards sound perfectly playable to me, but, if I'm honest, I would just like the old system back.

I enjoyed the flexibility of Royal Road because it felt like each card had multiple uses (immediate buff or defer it to empower a later, potentially better buff in three different ways), I liked having a 50/50 chance to get Lord/Lady (I was usually happy to make use of either), and I liked the utility of Celestial Opposition and Time Dilation. The kit was suited for Savage raiding or for more casual, social content. There was pretty much nothing I wanted changing about it.

I wouldn't mind if they kept the seals, replaced Expanded with something else, and moved its effect into Divination, though.

Hell, I've switched my main away from AST, but the changes still haunt me; whenever I get a Spear when playing MNK, I have a brief rush of excitement before realising that the card isn't actually going to make my rotation more fun by opening chakras, and I feel disappointed by AST again. I can't escape!

[TankHunter678]

A lot of the reworks that still include different effects for the cards sound perfectly playable to me, but, if I'm honest, I would just like the old system back.

I enjoyed the flexibility of Royal Road because it felt like each card had multiple uses (immediate buff or defer it to empower a later, potentially better buff in three different ways), I liked having a 50/50 chance to get Lord/Lady (I was usually happy to make use of either), and I liked the utility of Celestial Opposition and Time Dilation. The kit was suited for Savage raiding or for more casual, social content. There was pretty much nothing I wanted changing about it.

I wouldn't mind if they kept the seals, replaced Expanded with something else, and moved its effect into Divination, though.

Hell, I've switched my main away from AST, but the changes still haunt me; whenever I get a Spear when playing MNK, I have a brief rush of excitement before realising that the card isn't actually going to make my rotation more fun by opening chakras, and I feel disappointed by AST again. I can't escape!

The only thing I want to keep of the new system is the deterministic nature of Lord/Lady. Just I want them with the old effects. Having an oGCD attack or oGCD heal I can pull from the cards is nice, especially when I know I will get them when I minor them.

[Haxaan]

A lot of the reworks that still include different effects for the cards sound perfectly playable to me, but, if I'm honest, I would just like the old system back.

I enjoyed the flexibility of Royal Road because it felt like each card had multiple uses (immediate buff or defer it to empower a later, potentially better buff in three different ways), I liked having a 50/50 chance to get Lord/Lady (I was usually happy to make use of either), and I liked the utility of Celestial Opposition and Time Dilation. The kit was suited for Savage raiding or for more casual, social content. There was pretty much nothing I wanted changing about it.

I wouldn't mind if they kept the seals, replaced Expanded with something else, and moved its effect into Divination, though.

Hell, I've switched my main away from AST, but the changes still haunt me; whenever I get a Spear when playing MNK, I have a brief rush of excitement before realising that the card isn't actually going to make my rotation more fun by opening chakras, and I feel disappointed by AST again. I can't escape!

I 100% feel your pain. And though I know in my mind that there is no way that they will revert back to 4.0 AST, my heart still leaves a sliver of hope that they will at least meet us half way and bring back Time Dilation and revert Celestial Opposition to how it was. We don't need 2 insta aoe heals, just make the cd on Horoscope lower so it can be used more often, or raise the potency so it can truly be an "OH Sh*t" button like indom. I'm just sitting here patiently waiting for the Savage content to come out so we can get our first real adjustments and see what they do.

[BahamutxD]

The major issue I see myself with the new card system is that I need to put a lot of focus into cards and this wasn't an issue before despite 4.0 cards had more options/combinations/effects avaiable.

Now when drawing I need to think if that card is optimal for my party and if the seal is the right one. I can feel I put a lot of brain effort into it distracting me from healing.

This just gets so much worse everytime I use Sleeve Draw. I try to think before hand what cards are the right ones but it's inevitable for me that I will lose focus for 5-10 seconds while the skill is active.

When you have a party missing a role (melee dps/ranged) no matter how many charges of Redraw you have, theres a lot of cases where you keep getting the bad card over and over again. Specially when hunting the last seal.

Burning a card into Minor Arcana is sometimes the "fastest" way of dealing with it but even though Minor Arcana and Play are instant casts for some reason they take some time to apply. It doesn't feel smooth at all. Thats time they are taking out of me healing or DPSing. I don't remember it was this clunky before?

Also, it doesn't help the amount buttons I need to press to play cards. Its way too complex/time consuming for the reward you get. At this point I'd rather they remove the whole card system and give me some AoE DMG buff and call it a day.

[Impurrrsive]

I do feel u my fellow healer, eventho i main SCH... I play all healer, i got the chance to play AST 4.0, now the cards are just bland, its like the uniqueness, the very essence of AST was casted away... Sad
Hopefully the will bring back the previous card system

[Hysterior]

I dont even understand what the point of having 6 different cards is at this point. All you need to look is, is this card blue or red and what symbol it brings?

[Rydia_Misuto]

The only thing I want to keep of the new system is the deterministic nature of Lord/Lady. Just I want them with the old effects. Having an oGCD attack or oGCD heal I can pull from the cards is nice, especially when I know I will get them when I minor them.

I would have loved if new AST was exactly the same as old AST, just with the way new shuffle stacks charges and this lord/lady adjustment. It's just about the only thing that doesn't feel worse.

My heals feel way weaker at all levels, and slashing the duration of diurnal sect aspected casts feels absolutely trash. Anything MSQ on alts takes triple the time (I used a stopwatch) at max ilevel per area as AST than as Dancer, which is the least DPS-y DPS. This discrepancy is way larger than it ever was before. The new cards aren't cool conceptually or mechanically because they're a boring tiny buff, they feel bad to use because there's zero difference or thought between them, the fact you can't apply them outside combat means I've wasted countless cards already just because the bard decided not to attack at the start of the fight, and the laughable 'bonus' they apply is less than what a Dancer gives constantly. I shouldn't be outdone by a DPS class at the only thing that makes my job unique. I'm not switching to white mage, screw that, I'm just dropping Healer as a role entirely between this and what they did to SCH until they stop feeling miserable to play.

Divination is a slap in the face because on a CD comparable to a PLD using Hallowed Ground I can give a tiny damage boost for barely any time after setting up every single card around babying it. It'd be like if MCH's absolute max potency for Wildfire, if you nailed it absolutely perfectly, was 300. They want me working harder for barely half the benefit? Nah, man.

Also I REALLY miss Time Dilation, playing with cooldowns felt flavorful for the job and was really fun to play around with. It was crazy satisfying to buff a DPS to insane heights and watch them rip things apart.

[Deceptus]

I feel bad about not having the cards memorized (Haven't played AST in months).

It feels like every second I'm trying to place where the cards go is one less second healing the tank or helping dps the mobs.

And when a tank is taking heavy damage, don't even THINK about using Draw, because AST have less healing tools than the other healers. At that point, the core job identity doesn't function properly.

Also, Mana issues are real. 5% MP gain on card draw would go a LONG way which would put it equal to SCH Aetherflow MP gain. I'd prefer 10% but that's just wishful thinking.

Perhaps a small heal on whoever you play your card on.

I will NEVER figure out why Squeen took away AST's only stun -- if they hadn't wanted that ability to healers, why does another healer still have it, and at that, a better one than what AST lost?

Gravity. . you know that whole thing that weighs you down, would have been a PERFECT candidate to add a slow.