New AST from a New Player

[ZeroFool]

Hey all, I'd like to preface this by saying that I've only been playing since a month after Shadowbringers' release so this will all be from a player who has only experienced the ShB changes and have only ever read about previous iterations of AST(and healers, by extension) from this forum, official sources and various wikis. That said, while I played practically every day of my provided time, the weight of my opinion should hopefully be judged with my relative newness in mind.

My background in MMOs is essentially next to none, with FFXIV probably being my biggest investment. The incredible presentation and polish all packaged with almost limitless content quickly made it one of my favorite games of all time. The expectations I held high(which were subsequently surpassed) as I played through made the current state of AST, all the more jarring.

I couldn't wait to get to Heavensward especially because I was invested in finally attaining what I thought would be my main for the rest of the game. Watching the old promos combined with my friend's own experience being described as "complex and very complicated" convinced me that this was the perfect job for me. Absolutely everything from the aesthetic, tarot and astrology motifs, abilities which seemed as powerful as they were beautiful, unconventional weapon and unique magic style which veered away from the standard elemental-flavor all contributed to my eagerness to play this job.

My disappointment crept up gradually; the longer I played AST, the stronger the feeling that 'I must be missing something' grew. As I went through the first Job Quest, I picked up each card excited to see what they did. I was dismayed when I read the tooltips on every card only to see that they all "increased damage dealt", but I remained hopeful, thinking that maybe their additional effects unlocked further down the line. Surely they wouldn't give me Six distinct cards only to give them the same effect. Then seals came along and I was not impressed.

My sinking feelings only dove deeper as I strived to finish the first 10 Job Quests to resolve its plot. I did quests with no new ability attached to them thinking that they were probably just 'filler' meant to set up the following more important quest. It wasn't until the questgiver supposedly bestowed me with something called 'Time Dilation' before being met with an empty rewards screen that I knew conclusively that this class is missing its pieces. Playing it certainly felt that way.
~cont...

[ZeroFool]

The wonderfully-illustrated faces were meaningless; the fate-scrying fantasy reduced to a superficial numbers game. The toolbox and skills meant to maximize the moment-to-moment gameplay have all but vanished or neutered to perform a singular function; that function being healing, which is a role that I chose to play. Except my reasons for healing seem to be in contest with how they currently work.

I tend to lean towards support roles in multiplayer games, not because I enjoy being a battery whose only purpose is to sit in the background draining while I let others play the game around me. I enjoy support and healing because I enjoy the responsibility and power I hold over my teammates' lives and subtly affecting every facet of battle to inch ever closer to victory. I want to feel like a badass tactician who contributed as much to the fight as that badass vanguard taking all the hits in our stead, or that badass damage-dealer who executed every attack with finesse. AST seemed like it could give me this feeling, with the extra layer of enjoyable complexity that forced you to make the most of every situation. With the RNG mechanic, it basically promised that no single battle would be exactly like another.

Unfortunately my experience has felt quite the opposite, with even the once enticing complexity relegated to enhancing hard numbers and nothing else. I wanted to play a reader of fates, guiding the flow of battle through empowered interpretation and space magic, not a force multiplier incapable of even increasing his own effectiveness.

Again, I am not as experienced as many here with years to back their thoughts so I can only speak of my own experiences and feelings on AST's current state. I very much welcome any corrections to my oversights alongside other elightening thoughts which may help shape my own opinion further. However, as it stands, I may not continue playing until significant changes are made to indicate that AST is getting the attention it needs.

I also beg pardon for the essay as this thread doubles as my first post; I merely felt to get much of my feelings towards AST all in one go, even if it meant splitting posts. Regardless I am thankful for any engagement as this topic has weighed in my mind for a good while now.

[KanameYuuki]

Reading this is disheartening, you made me feel all nostalgic (even if it hasn't been that long) about my first exposure to FFXIV, watching so many videos about how Astrologian plays and looks, AST was the one class that made me want to give this game a try and as expected I grew to love that job, and I'm sure you would have loved it as well.

I didn't even remember that Time Dilatation part, you just showed up how much of its core and lore was utterly ruined, the journey finding each new constellation and feeling all exited about what the next card would be is something I'll never forget.

The change was supposedly for both newcomers and hardcore raiders, yet, even you as a new player can notice there is something missing, or better yet, something that was removed.

[Hatstand]

I feel so sorry for all the new players who will probably never get to experience AST at its best. It really drives home that each expansion is only something you buy access to for two years, and after that it’s gone forever (at least in terms of playstyle), and you just have to hope that the next is as good or better.

Part of me hopes that in two years ShB healers will just be a nasty memory and AST and SCH will have their identities back (and WHM will have found a better playstyle for itself than it has had previously), but part of me just desperately wishes we could preserve the old expanions, even as we move to new ones, even if it was just the option to play an older version of the class when playing content available during that expansion.

[ZeroFool]

I read up on so many experiences of AST which ranged from frustration at the RNG(which I once believed was core to this class) to satisfaction at a card well played. All came from players who've played them long before me, so I believe that you are right that while I hardly knew the past AST, I would have been glad to.

The ups and downs generate excitement; static, sustained effort with little to no potential for greater results is just monotonous.

[HyoMinPark]

You are not alone in your dissatisfaction. I played AST since mid-Heavensward. It was the third job I leveled to 60, and I loved every minute of it. In Stormblood, I played it more than I played my main job (BRD). The card system was a major thing that drew me to it, and with it being changed so much in Shadowbringers, I simply don’t enjoy the job as much as I used to.

[ZeroFool]

It's an absolute shame how the job was changed for seemingly no grander purpose than bigger numbers and low-investment accessibility. As well as for the ever coveted 'balance', which they achieved in a way for me by making every healer almost equally unsatisfying to play.

What I am most curious about is why they changed it; to whom were the devs listening to that when brought about these changes? Was there an absolutely vocal crowd who simply despised what AST has been since release? It's been mentioned that the simplification was to attract the influx of new players who were brought in by the expansion, but while I cannot speak for anyone but myself, I felt like AST on its own was already appealing enough. In fact, it was being disillusioned by the changes which drove me to voice my opinion.

Coupled with how often I see the sentiment that the devs are generally dismissive and/or deaf to healers' pleas, it feels terrible to have come to care so deeply about a product whilst also feeling like an afterthought in its eyes. Otherwise, I cannot go on enough about what an extravagant feast this game is; the matter at hand has but burned my tongue ensuring that I cannot totally savor the rest of the content.

[Mesarthim]

I forget where the quote is but apparently it was some nonsense where people "only fished for balance".

And apparently every card is now balance, even lord and lady of crowns. Suffice to say a lot of us don't find this to be a particularly nice explanation.

[ForteNightshade]

Apparently, there were complaints about how useless the other cards felt and how you really only cared for Balance. Hence the whole "fishing for Balance." To be fair, that complaint isn't entirely unwarranted. Balance was the undisputed best card, and what you always sought after—especially in a higher skill setting. That said, the other cards did have their uses. Spear was fantastic on Monk and Bard while Samurai, Monk and Black Mage fancied Arrow. Shadowbringers would see a lot of that changed, what with Bard no longer being Crit focused and Monk gaining GL4. But I think they could have come up with a better compromise than turning everything into a crappy version of Balance that can no longer be AoE'd.

[ZeroFool]

Fishing for cards sounds less like an inherent issue and more a natural outcome of a mechanic designed around RNG. Wanting to draw a Balance seemed par for the course, but like with anything chance-based, shouldn't the desired outcome be considered a reward and not a necessity?

Relying so heavily on a single outcome of six just sounds like setting oneself up for frustration, as opposed to anticipating the possibilities the next Draw may bring to the current situation. A bit of an unfair statement, but if people are so focused on consistency there are other jobs that may be more to their satisfaction, which I only mention because AST did not need to be that job.

At most, tools to mitigate unfavorable outcomes like Redraw should have sufficed. The changes just seem so heavy-handed and unwarranted.