Petition: Revert AST card changes

[TwiibieTwuu]

I really really really don't like what they've done to ASTs cards.

They've removed one of the most unique systems of the class "Royal road" something that allowed you to combine cards to get different buffs. For "all cards gives you a small damage increase"

you might as well of just remove the card system in general and replace it with a single buff at this point.

Perhaps instead of nerfing classes to the point of making them all the same. Maybe add a difficulty star system instead (1=easy 3=difficult) so new players know what they're getting into. Otherwise you just ruin it for people who enjoy the classes mechanics.

While I was never an AST main I did enjoy its previous card systems. And if this kinda nerfing continues alot more classes will no doubt start to loose certain aspects that made them unique to begin with...

(Sorry for the rant)

[LaylaTsarra]

I think they work better. Fishing for a balance is way overrated.

[Krojack]

I think they work better. Fishing for a balance is way overrated.

Now you're just fishing for seals.

Could use some fixes though.

Example: If I'm NOT in combat and I use a card on someone who is, It puts me in combat but I do NOT get a seal. I should also get a seal. This is what annoys me the most.

End the end, I still liked the old system more though.

[Sated]

I'm disappointed that the cards are so boring and uninspired now, the job's personality took a huge hit, but the new system seems alright for gameplay.

Example: If I'm NOT in combat and I use a card on someone who is, It puts me in combat but I do NOT get a seal. I should also get a seal. This is what annoys me the most.

This annoys me to no end and really needs to change. It doesn't make sense mechanically.

[ForteNightshade]

I think they work better. Fishing for a balance is way overrated.

How is it any less overrated to now fish for Seals then mindlessly Minor Arcana every card without a second thought once you have said Seals? And you do this all for a weak buff.

Regardless, it speaks volumes when Astro has only 10% the clear rates of White Mage and Scholar for Titan. Despite the state White Mage was in throughout Stormblood, it never once fell to even half less Savage uploads than its counterparts. Current Astro has yet to break 1,000 on Titan. This is in spite of it receiving buffs.

[Sove92]

A5:
We are truly sorry about the initial issues with the feel of the job. That said, card effects were changed to their current iteration because we received feedback from all regions that players did not want "useless cards." It does indeed lower the feeling of "drawing a good card," but if we make certain cards significantly more powerful than others, then we'll just return to fishing for the good ones, so we decided to simplify it. We plan on continuing with this style for now.

Maybe add a difficulty star system instead (1=easy 3=difficult) so new players know what they're getting into.

Old cards were not difficult and had nothing to do with difficulty. It was just fishing for the good cards and praying to RNG. There was never any real choice involved, just an illusion of one.

[Nora_of_Mira]

Old cards were not difficult and had nothing to do with difficulty. It was just fishing for the good cards and praying to RNG. There was never any real choice involved, just an illusion of one.

and its just another example of players wanting something and not realizing what that actually means, and players not knowing what they want. (people didnt like useless cards = cards will be made to be pretty similar then).

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

and its just another example of players wanting something and not realizing what that actually means, and players not knowing what they want. (people didnt like useless cards = cards will be made to be pretty similar then).

The entire reason the Dev changed the card system to a coin flip was because the community complained about fishing for The Balance. People want most if not all cards to be useful.

[Lacan]

I think things are better this way honestly. They still kept the "fishing for a card' mechanic alive, it just applies to getting the seals you want for divination now. So you get to have that without the frustration of drawing useless cards. At least this way even if you don't get the seal you want, you can upgrade it into a stronger buff card so you don't feel like you've lost anything.

[Seraphor]

This expansion is about balance as far as healers go, and ASTs old card system was a part of that.

Bole and Ewer were balance issues. They were healer toolkit abilities tied to an RNG mechanic.
Did AST have a 10% damage mitigation every 30s? or did it not have one at all, because you might not draw it?
Did AST have MP issues, or not because of Ewer?

Making it purely offensive, means that it can be balanced against it's DPS output (pDPS and rDPS same as DPS roles) and received a more balanced and consistent healer toolkit (Hi Intersection!)

Then Crit and Speed are their own issues.
Speed is downright bad for some jobs, and marginally useful for others, only BLM and SAM can really capitalise on it.
Crit meanwhile scales exponentially over the course of an expansion, you'll notice that they've minimised or outright removed party crit buffs across the board.

So the changes are there for a reason, and they've put time and effort into making this new system and the assets it uses. It's not being reverted.

The new card buffs are actually comparable to Trick Attack... when executed correctly.
So I get it can feel like a lot of effort for not much effect. But it's basically AST's DPS rotation, while SCH and WHM have had their DPS skills gutted, AST's has been increased.

It could be tweaked maybe, and I have an idea for that myself.
The main issue seems to be that cards simply feel less impactful to use, because they’re only a 6% buff at most at any one time.
This system below I think addresses that issue at least.


Balance/Spear/Arrow: 10/6% damage increase for Melee/Ranged.
Bole/Spire/Ewer: 10/6% damage increase for Ranged/Melee
Seals are the same as they currently are, but they do not apply when Playing the card.
Minor Arcana’s are the same for each card.

Minor Arcana: Applies the Seal of the currently held card and discards that card, while generating the effect of Lord/Lady of Crowns. Can only be used in combat.

Lord of Crowns: Grants you a 5% crit buff for 10s and restores 250mp.
Lady of Crowns: Grants you a 5% healing potency buff for 10s and restores 250mp.

Divination: Bestows a party wide 6/8/10% damage buff based on the number of different Seals.

Sleeve Draw would have to be nerfed to just 2 free draws instead of three. Still enough to get your three Seals if you make use of Draw first.


Rather than throwing out a 6% every 30s consistently, you’re using card buffs less often, but for greater effect.
This gives you more impact for each single card/divination (feels better to use) and choice between single targets and building an AoE buff, plus a way to burn cards for healer utility.
There’s fewer buttons to press and less switching targets, because using Minor Arcana doesn’t require you to target anyone, and also doesn’t run the risk of failing to apply the seal.

Basically, in any 2 minute cycle, you will be choosing between four 10% single target buffs, OR one 10% single target buff and one 10% party-wide buff.
In four man content, it might be swings and roundabout which you do because you only have 2 DPS.
In eight man content, you will always want to feed your Divination. And because of how powerful this will be in eight mans, better than Trick Attack, it’ll be more equivalent to WHM’s Misery.
Plus you’ll be boosting your healing output and MP in the process. Two birds with one stone, AST would be fixed.