AST Redesign! (Draw, Divination, Minor Arcana Rework)

[Kailen]

— DIVINATION —

* Divination moves from an AOE Damage Buff (already included as the Spear effect) to a Buff for the Astrologian.
* It is an ability that “tells the future” and impacts the AST’s future play
* The AST class resource UI stays the same.
* You still cast get seals based on the card you play.
* Divination now changes its effect based on the seals you have.
* Divination has 4 states (each with its own spell effect)
* Effect lasts the entire time divination is on cooldown
* It's like a stance.
* Good AST play revolves around planning out your card draws so you get the ability you want
* This requires knowing the future, aka knowing what fight mechanics are coming up.
* AST Opener would be 3x Ewers in quick succession and casting “Divination: Heaven’s Nurturance” to start the cycle.

DIVINATION TYPES:

“Heaven’s Grace” — Bole/Balance were 2/3 last cards used.
Increases AST Heal/Shield potency by X%

“Heaven’s Fury” — Spear/Arrow were 2/3 last cards used.
-- Increases AST damage by X%

“Heaven’s Nurturance” — Ewer/Spire were 2/3 of the last cards used.
-- Reduces the recast time of AST abilities with a recast time longer than 5 seconds by X seconds
-- (aka use your big cooldowns more often)

“Heaven’s Light” - One of each Bole/Balance, Spear/Arrow, and Ewer/Spire were used.
-- Reduces the recast time of all abilities by 2.5 sec.(Replaces Lightspeed)

MINOR ARCANA:

Last but not least, Minor Arcana!
Minor Arcana would no longer burn a card (since all cards are useful and you know what you will pull! No more rng!)
Instead, it has a CD of its own.
The minor arcana you receive is based on the *state of divination you are in.*
The spell ‘minor arcana’ would instantly change to the ‘ace of ___” card.
No more casting the button twice.
This means there would be 4 minor arcana cards.
Which would reflect the 4 suits of IRL tarot.

The 4 Minor Arcana Cards:

Heaven’s Grace (Bole/Balance)
Minor Arcana: Ace of Grace
Instant Cast Heal

Heaven’s Fury (Spear/Arrow)
Minor Arcana: Ace of Fury
Instant Cast Damage Ability

Heaven’s Nurturance (Ewer/Spire)
Minor Arcana: Ace of Nurturance.
Reduces the recast time of Sleeve Draw

Heaven’s Light (all 3 seals)
Minor Arcana: Ace of Light
Doubles the potency or duration of the next card used.

[Kailen]

Cons of the Rework

-- There is a risk that this reintroduces the “hunt for AoE balance” syndrome of SB.
-- Theoretically this shouldn’t happen because there is no redraw, and then card draw is based on the fight itself. So you are relying on specific fights for cards. (Spear/Arrow are noticeably limited in their occurrence in raid encounters)
-- There’s also a risk that AST will be awesome on some fights, and shit on others.-- I think that this can be mitigated through balancing the four divination states.
-- Both of these require playtesting to adjust.

-- There is a small (big?) chance that players will purposely let the parties health drop to get a bole/balance card… and i’m not sure thats an actual problem. It may just be smart play.



FINAL THOUGHTS:

-- Thanks for reading!!!!
-- Most of the other abilities should remained unchanged outside of potency/mana/duration adjustments for power balancing.
-- i had a lot of fun dreaming this up i hope you enjoyed it!
-- I purposely made spire to be the most fun card after it was useless during stormblood! PEW PEW MELEE CASTERS YALL!


- Sophia Arcana (Cactuar)