Is AST bad?

[Shurrikhan]

It'd be decently "smooth" at least, with just a few changes, but that'd likely still leave it far from compelling to most former AST veterans.

For me, the largest issues are that Divination's CD seems to exist only either to ensure AST has the least rDPS (as some sort of revenge or reset of former bias favoring AST that can be tuned back to balance once WHM has had its time to shine) or to allow for Minor Arcana, and that Seals are made clunky at best -- superfluous at worst -- by the CD, the scant percentile rewards, and how the Seals themselves are replaced.

Note:

At present, 6% of the 15 seconds of a level 70 BLM's Astral Fire phase (ideal damage outside of including Foul or Thundercloud) is only worth a raw (i.e. after Magick and Mend, Astral Fire, and the then-10% Enochian multipliers multiplicatively affecting each other) 306 potency. A single Malefic III GCD saved is worth nearly as much. The amount provided is... pretty negligible. If, say, Lord of Crowns were still a direct damage option at even just 230 potency (therefore 299 raw potency after Magick and Mend), it would be only 7 potency less than near-perfect use on the near-perfect target, which would mean that most of the time, you'd rather consume cards via a pathetic 230-potency oGCD attack than hand out cards to others if not for contribution towards Divination.

The shallow but relatively effective fixes, then:

• Redraw can no longer draw the same card(s) as have already been drawn within the same Draw period. Think of it as drawing a new card from the deck of only 6 without returning and shuffling the old one (in)to the deck.
• Change Divination to a 3-minute CD of 6%, but have each unique seal decrease its cooldown by 30 seconds. Thus, it is available for immediate burst, but you could also potentially reuse it every 90 seconds if RNG favors you. You are no longer obliged to use one Minor Arcana per Divination.
• Rather than simply replacing the last Seal regardless of benefit or disbenefit, new Seals will now always replace a non-unique Seal if present. Thus, a trade is always beneficial.
• Minor Arcana now converts an existing Seal into the seal of crowns, but cannot newly create a Seal of its own -- only convert or "King/Queen" an existing Seal.
• Return Minor Arcana into direct potency. Healing for Lady. Damage for Lord. Something in the range of 440/600 potency of healing (a single Malefic IV saved is worth 240 potency) or 220/260 potency of damage (so, 286/338 raw potency). These would thus be stronger, on average, than a typical card, at their given levels, but would not contribute seals. They are, effectively, discounted if you had bad RNG luck between your third draw and Divination use, since they can replace but cannot create a Seal.

In truth, though, I'd much rather have back the old cards with simple balancing changes and system improvements. I don't mind Divination itself, but Horoscope and Celestial Intersection seem poor oGCD-replacements for the complexity and power previously granted TD and RR.
(On the other hand, I don't actually mind CO no longer extending buffs, especially those affecting myself (like LD and LS, which had to be included into every CO), not because I disliked Time Mage aspects (I love them, actually), but because its implementation just made everything feel locked into sets if used optimally. That just made me feel obliged to stack all my power into brief windows and then just wallow in boredom until the next burst, as if I was an AST only insofar as I could stick as many skills as possible together so that I wouldn't waste any output from a skill that wasn't particularly fun to press anyways, rather than how well I could manipulate AST- or Time Mage-ish things.)

[Side-Eye]

(On the other hand, I don't actually mind CelOpp no longer extending buffs, especially those affecting myself. That just made me feel obliged to stack all my power into brief windows and then just wallow in boredom until the next burst.)

I like most of what you're saying but when it comes to CO, I do mind it not extending buffs.. and I mind it losing the stun (freezing time) component. I do mind TD being removed. Both of these abilities were part of the "time mage" aspects of the AST identity. CO was replaced with a poor man's heal (losing both of its 'flavor' components), TD wasn't really replaced at all. Squeen probably wouldn't have tried to get away with the outright removal of a core ability if it hadn't been an expansion patch which delivered a bunch of new abilities for increased levels...

[Shurrikhan]

I like most of what you're saying but when it comes to CO, I do mind it not extending buffs.. and I mind it losing the stun (freezing time) component. I do mind TD being removed. Both of these abilities were part of the "time mage" aspects of the AST identity. CO was replaced with a poor man's heal (losing both of its 'flavor' components), TD wasn't really replaced at all. Squeen probably wouldn't have tried to get away with the outright removal of a core ability if it hadn't been an expansion patch which delivered a bunch of new abilities for increased levels...

I said nothing about being okay with losing Time Mage aspects, only CO in particular -- in this case, due to its exact implementation.

I just didn't feel that CO, specifically, added anything to that identity, despite making all other buffs feel far, far more limited by extension -- including ones that would otherwise have complemented the Time Mage feel. Use Syn-CU-AB, or Card, now? A waste. Wait the last 15 seconds for CO unless you can extend it into that range now with TD. Lightspeed, Lucid Dream, or Cleric Stance? Nah, would be a waste until affectable by CO; heck, you'd oom yourself.

Something that synergizes that broadly just makes everything used without it feel lackluster, while only feeling like an extra, empty-yet-obligatory step to reach seemingly normal output when it's optimized. If at least Expand was merely balanced against --instead of greatly outshining-- Extend and Enhance, it'd be an extra reward for affecting the whole team instead of specific targets, but... you would have used only Expand anyways. And even if we had fixed the old card system (which I'm all for), I don't think it'd be that appealing an ability design; it'd still just offer more steps to feel like you're having an impact, rather than seeming to reward foresight. You were shooting yourself in the foot any time you used LS or LD without CO, which just made everything feel very rutted -- no ingenuity, just how much you could stick inside the CO -- zero freedom of use. Thus, for the time being, I was glad it was scrapped, no matter how much I dislike Horoscope and CI as "replacements".

Now, how would I come to like CO? Simply put, it'd take more involved healing and dps, such as a way of placing stronger DoTs or HoTs, or generating personal buffs, via more actions than just my cooldowns, and for these effects to be snapshotted and extended by CO. That way, I would less often be holding onto CDs (because they'd be relatively wasteful until CO is back) than I'd be working towards prepping my next CO. The feeling would shift from "waiting for" to "preparing for", encouraging further use of my toolkit instead of discouraging use of my toolkit. But, that'd take a whole lot of added complexity.

That's complexity I'd want to see regardless, but it'd probably still take me a good 12 hours just to decide on what I really want, let alone compare that to and compromise with what other players want, adjust other toolkits in a similar fashion from "spam A and B in a 11:1 ratio" so that it isn't complained of for having to deal with a modicum of complexity while others have none, and then balance it to past muster when all other toolkits... That's months, probably even for a team as large as XIV's. Though, by that I mean... three people, probably only one of whom would find the work even remotely worthwhile or the design philosophy (available depth of enjoyment over immediacy of performance -- i.e. enjoyment-oriented design rather than pandering) compatible with the game?

Edit: As for the stun... I'd like that back, even if shortened now that CO's CD has been halved.

[MPNZ]

It's like 50% short of a bowmage, which was when they turned Bard into a caster after after lv 50 ( unless you were ok with a DPS drop), and messed up river of blood (which is lived on in a sense in mage's ballad's effect now). Basically, they changed something about how the job play in a way that it wholly altered what made the job enjoyable to a significant section of the player into something that basically feels like they misread the room. Like, turning Magic the Gathering into war