Astro Card Proposal

[ty_taurus]

This is recreating a lot of the same issues that the old card system had. I know many of us, myself included, mention how the old cards were much more fun, but they were stilled flawed. What we got was not the solution, but just going back to it isn't really either, and while there are definitive differences between this concept and the old cards, many of the same problems arise.

There's one shining idea here, I will say, and that's the idea of connecting the old Lord of Crowns to the defensive cards. This would certainly help in making utility cards less of a dead draw when they aren't necessary. That said, the card effects are kind of all over the place.

First, one of the reasons why we never got debuff cards is because they virtually do the same thing. Regardless of whether you're boosting the damage an ally deals or increasing the damage an enemy takes, those effects might as well be the same, with the only difference being the numbers involved. If you strike the right values, you could make them do functionally the same damage. That also creates the other issue where, at the end of the day, one of the cards will be superior for DPS contributions, and that one will reign above the others.

I think the best thing we can realistically hope for would be this:
- Restore individuality to the cards by making all of them utility--or in other words, disconnect % DPS increase from them. If none of them contribute to DPS, then you can actually start making decisions based on your results. You can still have something of a seal system for Divination, but the actual cards won't yield DPS buffs. Personally, I think AST should move over to having DPS support on their GCD. Give them a reason to cast buffs on allies instead of Malefic.
- Separate the Minor Arcana from the regular cards so they're on their own cooldown, and rather than have them be random, make them alternate between the Lord and Lady with each use. You can restore them to doing OGCD Damage and offering OGCD healing, but if they're always alternating, starting with the Lord, then you can still plan it appropriately.
- Keep the card actions low. There was a lot of interesting elements going on with things like Royal Road, but we have a lot of buttons dedicated to the cards and I think we need to look at more ways to consolidate them rather than keep it the way it is.

[Piarkire]

Someone else posted this kind of topic 4 months ago with similar concepts: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...57#post5379157

Not sure what kind of effect these would have either now or in 6.0

This is recreating a lot of the same issues that the old card system had. I know many of us, myself included, mention how the old cards were much more fun, but they were stilled flawed. What we got was not the solution, but just going back to it isn't really either, and while there are definitive differences between this concept and the old cards, many of the same problems arise.

While I don't know the exact impact of the old card system, it definitely led to a lot of decision-making on when to hold or when to Royal Road to be able to maximize that DPS increase from the balance card...