AST Card Fix (Idea)

[Ralts]

What if they just bring back the old card effects and whenever we use a specific card (ex.: Bole) on a player, this specific player gets the defence buff and we earn a Bole Seal. Then, after collecting from either 2-3 different card seals, we then give 2-3 different buff effects to the whole party using Divination. But when we collect 3 of the same seals from a specific card, for example Bole, then the Divination we use will place a stronger defence buff unto the party.

So, Squeenix doesn't have to remove Divination and just revert the card effects.

[Seraphor]

What if they just bring back the old car...

Not happening.

[Ralts]

Not happening.

I don't mind, but other players do.

[Sylve]

I don't mind, but other players do.

And what happens when the old cards come back? We get to do exactly what we're doing right now but with even worse RNG? No. Tweak the potencies on our Cards if necessary but the RNG BS can stay right in the bin.

Every single time "fix the cards" comes up, its always some new way of writing "bring back the old effects". Maybe try coming up with something new.

[CupidCrux]

that was literally the job. Why not play a job that just has 1 button to buff ATTK UP to the party? Why not play a game that every button push kills the enemy? That's like completely deleting or redesigning Corsair in FFXI because "wahhh i can't with the RNG of the cards"...... That IS the job. Moreso, that IS Tarot cards. And furthermore, that IS the lore of the actual job they implemented into the actual game. Do they need to go back and rewrite the script for job quests on AST to say oh by the way, every card is the exact same, the stars mean nothing, in fact the world does not rotate, everything is in stasis because everyone just wants DPS boosts?

[Hatstand]

If the rng was causing so many problems for people (I didn’t have problems but I also wasn’t healing savage) I’d much rather they have put more tools in for mitigating the randomness than removing the versatility of their kit. They could have had a new option to burn a card to build up to divination if the card wasn’t wanted (with divination on a short enough cooldown to make this a viable option for unwanted cards, and adjusting the potency accordingly. Perhaps such that any card you put in there would end up contributing a little less than spear or arrow, so it wouldn’t be ideal to burn damage cards to get the damage buff).

That way in lower level content when the full suite of cards is useful, you have them. In high end content it becomes meta to burn all the utility cards for more dps.

I just don’t see the argument that drawing any card which isn’t the best card is a problem. If some cards are better than others, then getting the best is kinda like a crit. Desired, but not expected or relied upon. What I do think is a problem is cards that are virtually useless (like that second spire when you’ve already burned the last on RR), but if we put in mechanisms to give more use to unwanted cards (mine is just an example) then hopefully that could solve that problem.

[Sylve]

If the rng was causing so many problems for people (I didn’t have problems but I also wasn’t healing savage) I’d much rather they have put more tools in for mitigating the randomness than removing the versatility of their kit. They could have had a new option to burn a card to build up to divination if the card wasn’t wanted (with divination on a short enough cooldown to make this a viable option for unwanted cards, and adjusting the potency accordingly. Perhaps such that any card you put in there would end up contributing a little less than spear or arrow, so it wouldn’t be ideal to burn damage cards to get the damage buff).

That way in lower level content when the full suite of cards is useful, you have them. In high end content it becomes meta to burn all the utility cards for more dps.

I just don’t see the argument that drawing any card which isn’t the best card is a problem. If some cards are better than others, then getting the best is kinda like a crit. Desired, but not expected or relied upon. What I do think is a problem is cards that are virtually useless (like that second spire when you’ve already burned the last on RR), but if we put in mechanisms to give more use to unwanted cards (mine is just an example) then hopefully that could solve that problem.

Had nothing to do with Savage. It was actually every encounter outside of Savage that kind of exemplified the problems the RNG had.
Your typical boss encounter is 2 - 3 minutes depending on DPS. It was entirely possible to draw nothing but Spires, Ewers and Boles for an entire boss encounter. Since AST is balanced around the assumption that will be providing DPS boosts and having low personal damage, in those common situations (remember, it was a 50% chance to draw a non DPS card and then a 50% chance to turn that into a non healing card) you just had a Healer fully engaged with its job mechanic for up to 3 minutes straight for exactly zero party benefit.

The system we have now isn't perfect, But at the very least I can run a boss fight and fully utilize my entire job mechanic to boost my party to the max every time.

You suggest to just put in more mechanisms to deal with unwanted cards, But that literally puts you right where we are right now. No waste, every draw is a DPS boost for someone.

[Hatstand]

Had nothing to do with Savage. It was actually every encounter outside of Savage that kind of exemplified the problems the RNG had.
Your typical boss encounter is 2 - 3 minutes depending on DPS. It was entirely possible to draw nothing but Spires, Ewers and Boles for an entire boss encounter. Since AST is balanced around the assumption that will be providing DPS boosts and having low personal damage, in those common situations (remember, it was a 50% chance to draw a non DPS card and then a 50% chance to turn that into a non healing card) you just had a Healer fully engaged with its job mechanic for up to 3 minutes straight for exactly zero party benefit.

The system we have now isn't perfect, But at the very least I can run a boss fight and fully utilize my entire job mechanic to boost my party to the max every time.

You suggest to just put in more mechanisms to deal with unwanted cards, But that literally puts you right where we are right now. No waste, every draw is a DPS boost for someone.

This is fair, and why I agree that there should be some mechanism in place to ensure that you can significantly impact the fight no matter what you draw. However, I did find uses for the other cards when I played. A bole on a paper tank in a roulette could give me space to breathe/save me a Rez. When you’re pugging with someone with awful mana management (there are plenty) being able to top them up and keep them in the fight seems better than putting a balance on them an enhancing the damage they’re not doing. I’d like to keep the best of the new system (every card can contribute decent dps) while also maintaining the best of the old (variety which allowed you to suit your play style to the group you were with, and enough difference in the cards to facilitate more involved decision making).

[Seraphor]

A bole on a paper tank in a roulette could give me space to breathe/save me a Rez.

A reliable mitigation cooldown would be better. Like Celestial Intersection.

When you’re pugging with someone with awful mana management (there are plenty) being able to top them up and keep them in the fight seems better than putting a balance on them an enhancing the damage they’re not doing.

This seems to be the sort of utility everyone has lost, (mana shift, refresh, etc.) making it personal responsibility.
But as far as an ASTs personal MP management goes, again, a reliable cooldown skill is a better option. Now that Lucid is better and Lightspeed has a better cooldown, it might be better.
If not, I think Collective Unconscious should bestow you with a Refresh effect while you hold it up. Seeing as how they don't want that to be too OP in terms of healing.

[Lodi]

Everytime I hear someone saying the old cards were too random (even though that was, you know, the point of the class), I think of this ability called Redraw. Which now has three charges, even though it's become nearly useless because seals are not worth the effort anymore.
Or, and Royal Road too, which was great for recycling cards you didn't want. But hey, it's gone now.

Can we just rename 'Draw' to 'Flip a coin' already?