Bag Randomising AST cards

[YusiKha]

The big problem with AST’s card system in Heavensward and Stormblood was that some cards were more useful than others. Specifically - Bole was useless due to it being inconsistent mitigation with a trap Royal Road effect (1.5x for 1 card instead of just playing 2 cards)
If the cards were bag randomised instead (Where you got all 6 in a random order, rather than 1 of 6 every time) then each card wouldn’t have to compete with each other, as you were guaranteed to get all of them over the 3 minute course.

[Brarry]

The big problem with having 3 healers is that 1 will always be worse than the others. Removing 1 makes development easier.

[YusiKha]

The big problem with having 3 healers is that 1 will always be worse than the others. Removing 1 makes development easier.

If you want to doomspeak, please make your own thread or comment on one that is relevant. Mine is about fixing faults with the old card system in the hopes that it can be returned to us, because many people don’t like the current one.

[Brarry]

The producer confirmed ast changes are permenent. The current card system is their final answer.

[YusiKha]

The producer confirmed ast changes are permenent. The current card system is their final answer.

And you think that removing AST is more likely? No? Then what was the point of your first comment? Humour? Take it to another thread.

[Mandeville]

I'd like to see a system where we can draw three cards at a time, and choose one to play, then drawing another into the hand. Have a CD that let's you draw a new hand if your current hand has gotten stale.

Or a system where every card has two effects. They all have a small damage buff, or you can use an ability to turn the card upside down, and there will be the niche effects unique to each card like MP regen, run speed, skill speed, etc.

[Dnc]

I kind of proposed this in another thread, but they could easily add some of the previous effects into the cards even now. Play Tank/Melee card on tank - give tank dome dmg mitigation for the duration of the buff. Give a correct card for healer - MP regen. DPS could maybe gain critical/direct hit rate increases. Not sure if that would be "too much" for the devs though. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine with the current cards.

[Cain-Galeserpent]

Or a card system like Corsair un FFXI... they was amasing

[TankHunter678]

AST was previously designed around the lore concept of working with and around the fates you were given, with the cards being foci for the constellations and the fates they represent. Fate is fickle, which is why we could only draw one fate at a time rather then all the fates to then go through in sequence.

Now as for the cards effects themselves, Bole was always useful because of the frequency at which bosses throw out TBs as part of their rotation which its duration allowed it so that you could have on many bosses Bole help eat 2 TBs by extending it, and its Royal Road effect was good depending on party configuration and content you were doing. Not to mention the existence of stuff like Bole counterbalanced strong DPS buffs like Balance.

The only mostly useless card was Spire, which needed a rework anyways.

[Japetus]

The big problem with AST’s card system in Heavensward and Stormblood was that some cards were more useful than others. Specifically - Bole was useless due to it being inconsistent mitigation with a trap Royal Road effect (1.5x for 1 card instead of just playing 2 cards)
If the cards were bag randomised instead (Where you got all 6 in a random order, rather than 1 of 6 every time) then each card wouldn’t have to compete with each other, as you were guaranteed to get all of them over the 3 minute course.

You frame this as a "problem."

I frame it as every Draw has potential value, and your primary job gimmick as AST is to maximize the value of every draw using your skills (royal road, spread, minor arcana) depending on the situation (fight type light vs full party, party comp, and fight condition and timing). It seems like critics of the old system complain that it "felt bad" if they didn't get optimal draws. I just do not understand this mindset. It was fulfilling making the most out of your RNG and taking advantage of niche cases. The decision tree was more complex and the skill ceiling was higher, always allowing for improvement.

If there was a "problem" with the old system it's that it was harder (but definitely not impossible) to balance. Whether the 5.0 homogenization and simplification of gameplay was worth it to you is a subjective question and for me it was not.