New AST from a New Player

[Nhala_Levee]

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.

Totaly agree with this. I was an AST main in the past. And yes, AST was that class ZeroFool mentioned. Useing the fate (as rng) to turn the tide of any battles. Was useful in every situation. And was very very VERY fantastic feeling to use it.
Sadly... the main word here "WAS"...
Everybody who want to become a healer, i just could tell, avoid AST. Most worthless healer class now. Have no uses, cant complete MSQ contents, too weak for everything. Solo duty is a struggle with it or much more a torment.
Only usable in group contents, as a passive DMG booster. No more....
The biggest fail in the Final Fantasy 14 history.

As i told in another comment. I simply cant understand, why the developers try to fix something, what is perfectly works.