Some AST suggestions

[inhaledcorn]

/snip

I'm inclined to agree with a lot of this. I like the idea of adding both a Regen and Shield to Celestial Opposition. I don't think the direct heal effect is terribly necessary as opposed to having more regen/shields available/being less stance dependent.

That Collective Unconsciousness thing, though... I do want it to be better, but I don't think that should be how. Tying MP regeneration to that seems like it would be difficult to sort out, personally. I look at DNC and how its Improv works, and while it's slightly different as they only gain Esprit as long as they're doing it, this encourages CU to be used on cooldown, and I don't think that's how they want it to be. I did think about maybe putting the Time Dilation effect back in it/it refreshes any buff on players cast by the AST as long as they stand in it, but that might also be difficult to balance/optimize.

Actually really like that Divination change as a flat damage buff I feel is more important, but I wanted the Redraw change to help get appropriate seals as, when you get all your seals, you can't change them. They're locked until you use Divination. Maybe if there was a way to take a seal out/overwrite them, I won't feel as forced to use Redraw to get the right ones. Like, another skill or a heal that consumes all duplicate seals.

[MintnHoney]

Collective Unconsciousness

Collective Unconscious, as an ability, needs to be looked at entirely. The parameters of the ability goes against the identity of our core gameplay philosophy (ABC: Always Be Casting vs. ...Stop). Therefore, if they don't want to remake the ability entirely, they're going to have to pump up the strength to make it worthwhile, especially if they intend for it to be something that we stop to use for longer than a second.

[Allegor]

Collective Unconscious, as an ability, needs to be looked at entirely. The parameters of the ability goes against the identity of our core gameplay philosophy (ABC: Always Be Casting vs. ...Stop). Therefore, if they don't want to remake the ability entirely, they're going to have to pump up the strength to make it worthwhile, especially if they intend for it to be something that we stop to use for longer than a second.

I was under the impression it's the type of spell you reserve for boss animations...? you know, the kind of attacks where you can't even target them and stack to mitigate the unavoidable damage.

I'm gonna get lynched to oblivion for this, but because I love bubbles and barriers type of skills, I actually like the concept of CU. That said, I agree it should be stronger, even more so than either Asylum or Sacred Soil if it's to be used less...freely.

[MintnHoney]

I was under the impression it's the type of spell you reserve for boss animations...? you know, the kind of attacks where you can't even target them and stack to mitigate the unavoidable damage.

I'm gonna get lynched to oblivion for this, but because I love bubbles and barriers type of skills, I actually like the concept of CU. That said, I agree it should be stronger, even more so than either Asylum or Sacred Soil if it's to be used less...freely.

Oh, no, it's definitely a wonderful tool for those moments, much like any other mitigation tool would be. And I mean, call me bad, or whatever, but in Stormblood, I loved hitting the tank and team with all regens possible, using Lucid Dreaming, and then Collective Unconscious over the Tank to let myself recover MP to full while everyone got in the bubble and stayed healthy. It kept the pressure off on keeping up with mana, and, to be honest, it felt natural to use it that way.

Definitely not optimal, but I was never shooting for optimal. Just fun.

[Semirhage]

I'm gonna get lynched to oblivion for this, but because I love bubbles and barriers type of skills, I actually like the concept of CU. That said, I agree it should be stronger, even more so than either Asylum or Sacred Soil if it's to be used less...freely.

The caution here is that CU was stronger than Sacred Soil or Asylum in Stormblood. It was also OP as hell because it's a ground target skill on paper only; because it's mitigation and regen stick to party members just for standing in it momentarily, there's basically no incentive to channel it. Whereas with Asylum, you miss out on every tick you aren't standing in it. I'd say the balancing issue with CU isn't a potency one. It's design.

[Wawachume]

I've always thought of collective unconscious as one of those spells that's awesome in lore but difficult to translate into an in-game mechanic. It looks so cool when Y'Shtola darts in front of something, holds out her arms, and summons this impermeable bubble. But in-game it's kind of overpowered, unless you weaken it to the level of asylum or sacred soil, in which case it's not worth channeling, and the channeling is what made it cool in the first place.

[Lodi]

Square said they'll rework SAM's Meditate and Shoha, two useless skills that require you to stand there and do nothing for suboptimal dps. Collective Unconscious is pretty much the healer equivalent of these skills, so I hope it'll be changed too

[YusiKha]

Square said they'll rework SAM's Meditate and Shoha, two useless skills that require you to stand there and do nothing for suboptimal dps. Collective Unconscious is pretty much the healer equivalent of these skills, so I hope it'll be changed too

They did mention adjusting Nocturnal Sect to bring it more in-line with SCH's healing capabilities.

[Lodi]

They did mention adjusting Nocturnal Sect to bring it more in-line with SCH's healing capabilities.

CU has nothing to do with sects though, it just plain sucks.

[Brandedblade]

CU has nothing to do with sects though, it just plain sucks.

Funny enough Nocturnal sect is the only sect that really needs a buff to CU's regen due to lacking an aoe regen outside of Neutral Sect. Diurnal has more then enough regens to where it never hurt.