Ideas to improve the AST card system

[AnotherPerson]

I actually like the ideas in the thread. These are my thoughts after ruminating for a bit.
I apologize because I don't know how to tag and quote other people's messages.

1. Delete undraw, minor arcana guarantees all cards will always have some effect. Replace it with something else.
2. If we don't get a spread to store old card effects, I think adopting the 3 different draw tactic is very feasible and less RNG based. I thought of card effects similar to what ty_taurus suggested. All 3 draws share a collective cooldown. You would be able to choose to draw card effects that are more closely-aligned with what you need by separating them into their respective categories. It prevents fishing because you remove redraw, and it prevents not pulling a DPS card for those who want balance. However, if Divination still gives DPS, the type of seals should not affect the percentage of the DPS or else it inherently punishes the player for not always using other cards when the situation does not call for it. Perhaps we'll get another skill that touches on the seal system instead?

Sun Draw, Moon Draw, and Star Draw

being Attack - Defense - Resource

Defense --
Having Bole be a 20% Damage reduction and The Spear being a 20% HP increase & restoring that amount too.
In a situation with a lot of trash pulls, having 20% damage reduction will pay off more because it will reduce multiple hits for 15 seconds. However, having multiple instances of damage reduction buffs gives diminishing returns because the damage reduction scaling is multiplicative, so each has their own uses.

Plus, if The Spear adds an extra 20% HP to their maximum, it could act as an emergency heal on the spot. It works much better than just a regular heal too because it acts as in place as a shield, but the shield could 'theoretically' be refreshed by healing it within those 15 seconds. However, overhealing the extra hp when the effect wears off is just wasting mana, and this is especially important in the case where you can only choose between pulling 1 card every 30 seconds. Either way, both cards will still work for their intended purpose - giving some defensive measure.

[AnotherPerson]

Resource --

For me this is the hardest to think of. Ewer that gives mana like the original card is fine. Spire on the other hand would have to be something that could rival it.

In this case, I thought of several possibilities for spire - 1. Restores a flat amount of mana instantly, rather than giving it over time. It would allow someone to quickly expend that resource but doesn't have as much mana regenerated compared to Ewer's regen over time. This ... honestly is the worst of the possibilities I can think of.
2. Reduce mana cost by 30% for 15 seconds - Essentially giving you a weaker form of thin air
3. The next 3 spells cost no mana if they are casted in 15 seconds - This is very situational. In the event you need a lot of healing, you get 3 free mana-efficient spells, provided they are cast within the 15 second limit. Since Malefic is also a spell, this would break your dps chain if you want to dps at this time. However, for things like ressing, this would be very nice to have. The problem is that ressing takes 8 seconds (5.5 with lightspeed). However this is also a card where you, casters, and co-healer can benefit from. Hence it goes under a 'resource' card.
4. The next 2 spells cost 50% less mana and become instant cast for 15 seconds. I think this would be the best effect for spire. This card can be much better than Ewer or much worse than Ewer. However, it can contend against an Ewer. In the event you need mana, this can help. In general, you save WAY less mana than Ewer does on your 2 spells for your AoE Healing, but you do get an instant cast effect. This is also very useful for ressing for both AST and your co-healer. This is less useful for RDM, but maybe your Black Mage will appreciate the instant cast fire spells? Though if you're drawing for resources, most likely this will be for you or for your co-healer. Most likely however, it's for you. After all, Scholars and White Mages have plenty of mana management tools at their disposal, but this way the AST kit is much softer and more versatile.

[AnotherPerson]

Attack --

1. Balance
Boost Direct Hit by 10% for 15 secs
2. Arrow
Boost Direct Hit by 20%-25% of the next 3 attacks for 15 secs.

For people who are starting their rotation, Balance is an all rounded boost. It's great because it's a solid boost in power for 15 seconds.
However, for Arrow, it's a burst attack. Similar to what an "Arrow" implies, it penetrates the enemy quickly. Thus increasing the effects of only the next 3 moves done substantially. The way I think it could be implemented is that it gives the character 3 stacks of 'Arrow' for 15 seconds. Using an attack consumes the buff once.
You can't really go wrong with Balance, but the Arrow is more for characters in the middle of their burst phase. Getting a 20% boost on their most highest damaging attack can payout more because the potencies of DPS in their burst skill phase is much higher than their regular rotations. The second thing to consider is if you have to dodge a mechanic. During that mechanic, if the enemy is invulnerable, then you won't be getting the highest value of that Balance. There will be times where an Arrow is more effective. As a result, it could outdo Balance, but can also under preform Balance. Though if you're soloing as an AST, I expect you would be minor arcana-ing to a Lord (with flat DPS damage to an enemy hopefully) because chances are, your extra card will be more efficient than a Balance and especially than an Arrow.

I am really conflicted with having cards that give a DPS boost, may it be on Direct Hit or Crit. That's because there would always be people who would want to draw for those only, but after some more thought, having a DPS card should be applicable in certain situations. Seeing how ASTs only have 1 damaging spell, 1 AoE, and 1 DoT, they would also need ways to contribute in lower level content if characters are fairly overgeared and are not struggling. Dungeons that are notoriously difficult for healers however, such as Aurum Vale, would benefit from having a higher HP and damage reduction. An AST player should not be penalized if they can be given an option to draw a more damaging effect card because they would be adapting to their situation and responding accordingly. Equally speaking, an AST player would suffer if they can't depend on when they should be drawing a defensive card and when they can skip that during certain phases. With this 3 - draw system, I can see that problem being eliminated and players who do need a defensive card can reach for it more easily. Every card will have an impact in this manner, but there is still an element of uncertainty to garner best efficiency. In the end however, you will always be drawing something useful for your situation compared to the old system, may it be solo/PF/raiding and how to best allocate your resources when min-maxing will require coordination between your team.

[Recon1o6]

I am all for making the cards return to being teh way they were only with spire and balance changed so its no longer damage buff but that's not what I'm wanting to suggest

My suggestion is a rework of how the cards are played in line with the lore in the quests.

Scrap play. Useless load of hassle for controller users. Doesn't fit the lore of the cards either. You are simply reading fate when drawing. Fate doesn't wait patiently for somebody to interpret it- time flows ever onwards

Draw sets all cards to infinite time to use by default, press again to use it. This is the act of learning of a fate. Doing it again learns more about the fate as it is read.

Change redraw to give you a new card at the cost of being forced into that card next draw with no redraw allowed nor spread (royal road saccing is still allowed): Redraw's lore is that you are temporarily delaying that fate but it will still come eventually

Royal road now allows chain sacrifices and can't be used outside of combat. The effect is random and selects a different buff. Once all 3 buffs are stacked no more royal road can be used. Effects are AOE, Potency up by 25% and duration buff: As a weaver of fate, the Astrologian should be able to pinpoint an event eventually even if there are multiple paths because they will all coincide.

Fishing is still possible eventually (requiring at least 2 minutes), but it will not be as effective as actually using your cards. Preventing RR out of combat prevents pre pull fishing.

Alter lord/lady of crows to heal and damage again and alternate between them. Not my suggestion but it was one I can't think of any better idea. The minor arcana are different from the normal arcarnum, hence why they do direct damage and healing.

Sleeve draw fills the spread with a random card for free and grants lord of crowns. The royal road gains AOE. Cannot be executed if royal road is in use or if spread is in use.: Spread is a means of adjusting the reading of fate, as reading it triggers the events in motion. By drawing from the sleeve, an Astrologian had planned such a fate, but even then fate cannot be decided perfectly.

This gives pre pull a boost to have aoe at the ready and at least one card stocked for later while preventing fishing. In combat it can be planned to nudge the rng.

[Side-Eye]

I think Squeenix needs to face the fact that a lot of former (and current?) AST mains are not going to be satisfied until at least SOME semblance of the astro card system's former variety is restored. Personally, I won't be maining AST again until 1) an AE stun is added back to Celestial Opposition or a new AE stun is added -- because dammit if another healer class can have an AE stun there's no reason ours should've been taken away in the first place; and 2) sleeve draw is revamped to something that doesn't cause carpal tunnel syndrome via rapid changing targets to throw the buffs.

[Marxam]

Just some ideas for 6.0:

"Trap Card" - Place a drawn card face down on the field (target aoe) that will gradually increase in strength then deal damage and apply aspected benefic based on sect. Recast 60 sec.

"Spell Card" - Place a drawn card face up on the field (target aoe) to apply that card's buff to all players in its aoe. 30 sec duration. Recast 60 sec.

"Quick-Play" - Cannot be used with Divination or Redraw. Draw 3 cards and choose to have them either face up or face down on field. Recast 150 secs.

"Change of Heart" - Change Sects during battle. Recast 60 sec.

Trait - Horoscope Helios is activated by Trap card, Spell card and Quick-Play.

[Tulzscha]

Removing dps buffs from the cards entirely seems the way to go, that would always be a focal point for players whether the chance is 1/6 or 1/2, and even with multiple one will be better anyway. But it might not feel great having a bunch of situational utility that doesn't help sometimes either. It's a tough one. Having a variety is a must and the rng is also a core part of the flavor, working with what the fates give you. I do like Redraw because while no one else may be able to alter their fate AST can slightly. Just spitballing here:

-Base 6 cards affect you and the target

-Bole: Dmg reduction
-Ewer: Mana regen
-Balance: Split hp between you and target (percentage based)
-Spire: Next cast is instant?
-Arrow: Can move while casting
-Spear: Movement speed
-Lord: Apply dot or debuff to enemy (so it isn't spammed)
-Lady: Buff an ally to heal when they next take damage

And if everything is utility-based I'd like to see the card buffs returned to some extent, at least being able to make them aoe.

[Morningstar1337]

I kinda agree that changing the DPS buffs from the cards might be the better way to go if retraining flavor is an option, thouhg I'd add two caveats

• Keep The Minor Arcana buffs mostly the same, but have them be also applied to the the Major's target. Likewise change the MA button to Spread.
• Keep Divination the same as well.

In addition I might have other ideas to spitball here

• Adding to Synastry's effect,if a card is used on one someone other than that skill's target it is applied to the target.
• Return Spread and timers on drawn arcana. When the currently drawn arcana expires, the spread one automatically is placed on Play/Draw's slot unless used before hand.
• Going in hand with this, Sleeve Draw's effect gets a lateral move, having an Arcana in Play/Draw, Spread and Sleeve Draw itself, The latter moves to Spread if there is no card in that slot.

[AdamFyi]

I remember seeing a post a while back that I really liked that incorporated both the old system and new system together. Can’t seem to find it anymore, but I’ll try my best to parse what I can remember:-

• Draw
Base Arcanum changed to affect all allies within a 10y radius around the caster. This is done to remove the stress of trying to target individual players and instead reward good positioning.
When used outside of combat, a Damage Arcanum is always drawn.
A Damage Arcanum can stack with a Utility Arcanum, but neither can stack with themselves.

• Damage Arcanum (Blue Border)
Balance (Sun) | 2% damage up.
Spear (Moon) | 3% critical hit rate up.
Arrow (Star) | 5% direct hit rate up.

• Utility Arcanum (Red Border)
Bole (Sun) | 10% mitigation.
Ewer (Moon) | 15 potency MP refresh.
Spire (Star) | 10% healing potency up.

• Redraw
Can only be used in combat.

• Divination
1/2/3 unique seals grants 1/3/6% damage up.
This change is made to punish fishing for specific cards, and introduces a risk when deciding whether or not to Redraw hoping for a Damage Arcanum with a unique seal that you don’t have yet or to stick with the Utility card you already have with the seal you need to complete your 3-seal Divination. Also accommodates the instances where you only get 2 unique seals because of RNG.

• Minor Arcana
No longer consumes drawn Arcanum. Instead, randomly grants a single-target Lady of Crowns (Ranged) or Lord of Crowns (Melee). This is done to give a guaranteed damage card if you end up being unlucky with the regular cards.
Potency dropped from 8/4% to 6/3% damage buff.
Recast increased from 1s to 60s.
Can only be used in combat.

• Sleeve Draw
Draws a card from the deck, grants a Seal that has yet to be obtained, and resets the recast timer of both Draw and Minor Arcana. Makes it so that the opener isn’t a mess.
Can only be used in combat.

[Gemina]

I just don't know. I've tried to reply to this thread several times now, and I just keep scrapping it. I can definitely see why the devs just said eff it, and make all cards DPS cards. It's essentially the same as giving up without scrapping AST entirely.

I know that reworking this starts from the ground up. Before any other card mechanics such as Royal Road or Minor Arcana can be implemented, it is absolutely necessary to determine what the cards do. The fact that we are even discussing how to improve the card system means to ask how do we bring back the different effects that cards used to have because again, making them all DPS increase is basically a default.

I thought about each card simply boosting a primary stat. But that is just a more complex version of the seal system now. It's also not 1:1 (6 cards, 5 primary stats). The sixth card could be some kind of wildcard, but meh. This also doesn't address a current problem, which is targeting in junction with the ability Play.

Tying utility to the cards makes things really difficult because of the RNG. The only thing I could think of was that each card is automatically AoE, and each card has to have a general benefit that somehow also stays faithful to the lore behind each card. Yeah... tall order. If any of those general benefits is a DPS increase, it immediately becomes the desired card. Back to default. See what I mean? Up, down, left, or right; each leads to a dead end.

Expanding on the general effect that everyone benefits from; what would they be? Can we think of six? And would you as an AST feel like you're contributing to a clear, or feel like the cards lack substance like this?

Since it's been a bit difficult trying to think of that many, I split up the defense increase. What I came up with was:
Physical def increase
Magical def increase
Positional requirements removed (only benefits jobs that require them)
Increased HP regeneration
Increased MP regeneration (only benefits mana users)
Increased movement speed (Peloton can't be used during battle so I wonder if this is a strict no no)
============

The last idea I had involved eliminating RNG completely. Draw is basically how you start the fight, and you have your six cards that take up six hotbar/crossbar slots; for you to use at your discretion. The drawback is you cannot use that card again unless you reset the deck with an ability like Redraw and/or Sleeve Draw, or draw comes off of cooldown.

If there is an RNG aspect that remains, it's with the seals and Divination. Basically fishing is eliminated, and you take the seal that you get. Once you have three you use Divination. There could possibility be an ability that eats a seal to give yourself a more favorable chance at getting the most powerful Divination, or something like a Shuffle that can be used to get another chance at the favorable seal combination after acquiring all three.