Endwalker Job Actions- Astro

[AnotherPerson]

Considering how few shields the game's only shield healer has right now... and how many HoTs Sage was revealed to have, I'm honestly not entirely sure what the pure/shield healer labels are supposed to even mean.

The frequency to reduce damage as opposed to healing raw damage, it seems. Not so much as soaking raw damage like shields. Shields are just one aspect of a healer. Sage has more low cd mitigation + overall more mitigation than pure healers. Scholar has a bit more shields it looks like (consolation x2, Seraph's Embrace shield, GCD shields), as well as more cd mitigation (soil, fey illumination) + new AoE mitigation in Endwalker.

Sure, AST and WHM has shields, but they're all tied to a pretty long cd generally (Neutral Sect, Temperance). Everything else seems to be mainly healing potency output, so pure healers just have more tools in healing damage whereas shield healers have more tools at lowering or reducing incoming damage. Both healers still have the general healer toolkit though - which is to heal damage.

[MintnHoney]

Considering how few shields the game's only shield healer has right now... and how many HoTs Sage was revealed to have, I'm honestly not entirely sure what the pure/shield healer labels are supposed to even mean.

I suppose that it's possible for 2 of the healers to be somewhat "hybrids" in the Pure/Shield "system" (in this case, Astrologian and Sage respectively), while the other 2 healers to lean in heavier on the Pure/Shield distinction. But that still means that their labels are kinda-sorta bullshit.

As for Astro specifically, I'd been sending in a single suggestion once a month for a long while (probably since Stormblood, but I don't really remember when it started), specifically to introduce a starfall-type of ability. So that much, I'm excited for. I also like that they've minimalized some of the spell FX a bit, so that they're pretty but not intrusive, for the new/reintroduced abilities and spells.
Otherwise, since we don't know exactly how the stat squish is going to affect gameplay, and since we don't really know potencies across the board just yet, I'm not exactly "excited" for Endwalker just yet.

[Hanayumi]

I believe devs mentioned all healers will have a skill or two that shields and a skill or 2 that'll regens and a skill that buffs in some way, sooo I assume sch/sge's shields are just more potent?

[IllyaPrisma]

I'm personally gonna miss the giant Gravity Ball, but the new AoE animation is really cool, and the Star Shower/Lord of Crowns will likely make AST feel more powerful in dungeons. I'm excited to see what kind of self buff AST grants, and that Divination is no longer linked to seals.

[LaylaAlder]

Oh man... a Time Rewind sounds scary in practice, actually. They had something similar in one of the Bravely games, and while you could rewind damage that a person took, you could also rewind healing as well. The potential for Benediction→Super Bollide→PANIC style shenanigans is... super strong if that's how the ability works.

[Gemina]

AST gets a hold of one of the infinity stones, eh?

I like it.

[LanFangHua]

I don't know. They are reducing, instead of expanding the job and giving it one new skill. It really felt like they are not changing much, other than giving it an "updated" visual effect to some habilities we already are familiar with.

After writing all this, I feel like if the job indeed hasn't changed much, it will be the last nail in the coffin for me and drop the class completely to the point of not even acknowledging its existence. Same with scholar.

[Side-Eye]

AST has lost more of its identity than any other job. If it gets a few "time" abilities in 6.0, as well as some sort of variety in card play, the job might survive another expansion. Otherwise, it will fade into obscurity.

[SweetPete]

AST has lost more of its identity than any other job. If it gets a few "time" abilities in 6.0, as well as some sort of variety in card play, the job might survive another expansion. Otherwise, it will fade into obscurity.

It won’t fade. Astrologian is a very popular job. Allot of the veterans and newer players love the card system. I don’t but hey I’m just one person lol. Yeah, the job won’t fade though.