Thread: 5.0 AST is a failure

Originally Posted by Aomine1992

I still disagree, People only used balance and spear that was not engaging, now you have to decide on the fly and plan on actually using stuff instead of just spread balance, spread spear and that’s it. But like you said this is about the kit because the uniqueness is still in tact

If you could refrain from lying, that would be great. There are posts immediately before your detailing how people used cards other than balance and spear. It was a small minority of tryhards and youtube copycats that played mathematically correct rather than convenient/fun.

Originally Posted by Aomine1992

I still disagree, People only used balance and spear that was not engaging, now you have to decide on the fly and plan on actually using stuff instead of just spread balance, spread spear and that’s it. But like you said this is about the kit because the uniqueness is still in tact

What plan? The only thing we can do is use cards on the right job. That's about it. Before, we could at least decide who could benefit more from that buff (BRD - Crit; MNK - Dmg; Arrow - BLM; just to give some examples). It was no easy task trying to spread balance, though. In 4.0 we could actually plan what to use and when to use it.

If by uniqueness you mean "cards", then I think you missed the point of what an AST is. Think of it as if SE had decided to let you summon Bahamut provided that you only cast Ruin 2 while on Trance, nothing else. It's a loss on your DPS but, hey, you get to summon Bahamut and that's the essence of what a SMN is, right?

Originally Posted by AmurT

- Neutral Sect:
Looks good at first, but its value quickly diminishes once you remember that shields and regens don't stack. You would use maybe two heals with this ability and I think that's an issue, especially when comparing it to the WHM equivalent bringing a much more useful 10% mobile party mitigation.

I wanna just point out one quirk with this, the shields and regens from Nocturnal Sect do stack with other buffs if it's the buff that's not normally provided by your current Sect. Say for example if you're in Diurnal Sect and you use Neutral Sect, the Nocturnal Balance shield granted in this situation does stack with Galvanize and Nocturnal Field. That's because the cross-buff it applies is a unique buff and not the same one that's normally applied when you're in that Sect.

It doesn't explain why this shield stacks with other shields when other shields don't normally stack with eachother... but hey, the way it goes.

Originally Posted by xDaemianx

What plan? The only thing we can do is use cards on the right job. That's about it. Before, we could at least decide who could benefit more from that buff (BRD - Crit; MNK - Dmg; Arrow - BLM; just to give some examples). It was no easy task trying to spread balance, though. In 4.0 we could actually plan what to use and when to use it.

If by uniqueness you mean "cards", then I think you missed the point of what an AST is. Think of it as if SE had decided to let you summon Bahamut provided that you only cast Ruin 2 while on Trance, nothing else. It's a loss on your DPS but, hey, you get to summon Bahamut and that's the essence of what a SMN is, right?

No you’ve completely missed the point, there’s nothing wrong with the card system because you don’t like it. The problem is the kit that revolves around the card system itself i.e divination, sleeve draw and what not are the problems along with its healing problems.

And nerf to things like collective, don’t push your card agenda on a post about the core issues of the class.

Originally Posted by Aomine1992

No you’ve completely missed the point, there’s nothing wrong with the card system because you don’t like it. The problem is the kit that revolves around the card system itself i.e divination, sleeve draw and what not are the problems along with its healing problems.

And nerf to things like collective, don’t push your card agenda on a post about the core issues of the class.

I never said I didn't like the current cards. I did convey that the current system is a watered-down version of what it used to be. It's not fun to play because you're basically a dmg booster while still forced to heal, or the other way around because you have two jobs (not including DPSing): healing and cards. The kit that revolves around the cards has other issues, too.
I'm not saying I like them either, they used to have their own playability. One would have to plan ahead. Now it's basically a choice of whom to use it on because the effect is the same regardless of the situation.

And I'm sorry but I don't fully see you understanding what's under discussion here. The original post also discussed cards so I didn't stray from the original topic. See below.

Originally Posted by AmurT

- Cards:
There are two arguments here, one side preferring the RNG, unique and versatile nature of 4.0 cards. Another is pro 5.0, where the cards sacrifice much of that for consistency. I think the proper question to ask here is, what's fun for the players?

Much of the outrage I've seen regarding cards has been surrounding the lack of any flavour of the new cards. With all having the same effects, they are just not that interesting anymore. Surely some middle ground could have been met? Personally after having played AST for over a year as my main, gone into Savage and farmed EX trials to death, the new cards do not interest me in the slightest.

If you asked me what I hated about the 4.0 card system, I would have said that it felt a bit too linear that we always went for and AoE Royal Road followed by whatever DPS card, yet somehow 5.0 has managed to make the card system even more linear. There are no questions asked and no decision for you to make, only the right 6% buff and the wrong 3% buff. The cards even tell you who to buff and you just do it, it's very robotic.

I feel like Ast has become a healing slot machine. Spin to win with 3 different seals!

I agree. Someone commented to me that they like the new AST cause they like support functions. AST has less support skills now. A support class was when I could utilize different cards for different situations. Now I heal while fishing for stamps for a minor DPS buff that really only shines in trial/raid groups, and is only a little more effective than me focusing on DPS when I am in a group. AST before was adjustable to the size of the party; there were strategies for cards that shined in raids/trials and others that were ideal for dungeons. Each new skill I have gotten I have been excited for possibility, and each new skills is underwhelming especially in light of the time management, assorted support abilities, and other aspects I have lost.