How is new AST feeling?

[Sylvain]

I don't understand the buff to the earthly star radius. Imo it was big enough and was already considered extremely strong.

Now there's no reason to place the spell to a specific spot anymore, it is bigger than most arena. Like, what's the point? Might as well give it the horoscope treatment drop the placement altogether, it is global anyway.

The rest feels fine so far as not much as changed but this one... I'm really not someone who tend to enjoy clunky mechanic or the game being harder for the sake of it, for instance, I was very happy with asylum and SS increased radius in SB because i thought these were too small making them a bit too restrictive.

But that? Like... This just killed a big part of AST optimisation which was knowing where and when placing the earthly star.

[Poobadoo]

My question for Astrodyne is should I be prioritizing cards to their respective class (ranged / melee) and then using the skill regardless of what seals I have, or should I prioritize getting all 3 seals?

[Awarewolf]

I’m not a fan of needless button bloat, of which AST has too much. I’m actually sticking with Scholar, which has been my main since Stormblood.

It’s changed a lot since then and I HATE Scholar’s DPS (or lack thereof, I should say) but the healing toolkit is fun and I don’t feel any button bloat issues.

I’m also maining the new Summoner for DPS so it’ll be nice leveling both at the same time.

[milosralevic]

There are too many buttons to press off GCD and I still don't understand why we have to emphasize so much on RNG with Astrologian. I would totally remove Astrodyne and Redraw. I love the change to Divination though.

[Melorie]

There are too many buttons to press off GCD and I still don't understand why we have to emphasize so much on RNG with Astrologian. I would totally remove Astrodyne and Redraw. I love the change to Divination though.

You would rather not cast cards then?

[Gemina]

Divination barely required luck before when sleeve draw was a thing. It was also a fun mechanic to acquire three different seals which now feels kind of pointless and even selfish when it's probably better to just immediately use card buffs on dps over trying to get a 5% damage buff on a healer.

Divination required Sleeve Draw because how effective AST's signature ability for the party would otherwise be based entirely on luck. They fixed this by making Divination a button you just press similar to SCH's Chain.

The card mech is vastly improved because only the AST is affected by the RNG of the seal system. As a result there is no longer a need for Sleeve Draw or any other skill to mitigate the RNG. It gives it the flexibility it needs to be entirely based on luck of the draw, which is how it should have always been. The other thing it does is keep Astrodyne independent of a CD, and only requires that the AST acquire 3 seals to use. Technically this result in basically a 90s CD, but at least Astrodyne will never drift while waiting for the AST to acquire 3 seals which was a HUGE problem with the previous Divination. Furthermore, under the current system, Sleeve Draw can be given back as a 120s CD that just gives the AST 3 random seals so they can use Astrodyne for openers and burst phases.

I honestly believe the seal system will function and feel so much better with the revisions I proposed. Three of the same seal is the true hardest configuration to get, and should be what the AST strives for. Right now having three of the same seal gives the least favorable effect despite the more difficult odds, which makes zero sense. They need to adjust the rewards and how they are given. Redraw also has to go. I know that sounds abrasive having absolutely no way to get more chances at the best result, but trust me. It has to go. Three draws; three seals; play the hand you're dealt. Done deal.

[Matt_Renard]

-snip-

You should never design a game.
"The card mech is vastly improved because only the AST is affected by the RNG of the seal system."
What? Then what's even the point? With the skills we had before, with redraws, sleeve draw, burn into minor arcana, you could reliably get divination and feel rewarded because you actually used your tools to achieve 3 seals, which is something you now can't do.
It is NOT fun to simply draw cards and play them as they are, no manipulation at all from the player is the opposite of fun and the card system is the worst it has ever been. You seem to suggest to remove redraw too! Why then bother have a card system at all! Let's just make Astrodyne a 120s CD that has a random effect, no cards involved at all!
"Redraw also has to go. I know that sounds abrasive having absolutely no way to get more chances at the best result, but trust me. It has to go. Three draws; three seals; play the hand you're dealt. Done deal."
LOL...

[QooEr]

new ast is super fun and theres a bunch of on-the-fly decisions for astrodyne. it also has a ton of stuff to weave which is nice because it distracts from the malefic spam

[Botkai]

Eh, I'm not thrilled with it, but I'm used to that as I've been steadily growing less enthused about AST with each expansion. I can't imagine that it's the easiest thing in the world, trying to make AST both effective and interesting, but it does feel like they're doing more the former and barely the latter. Having played OG AST and now this feels like worlds apart, and while I get that the original system wasn't the best, this very...minimal and somewhat frustrating card system is just disappointing to me personally.

But at least the potency hasn't changed much, I still feel p effective while I'm doing my job, so there is that at least.

[Matt_Renard]

new ast is super fun and theres a bunch of on-the-fly decisions for astrodyne. it also has a ton of stuff to weave which is nice because it distracts from the malefic spam

I'm sorry, but I really do not understand what you mean with "bunch of on-the-fly decisions for astrodyne".
You factually have less decisions than before.
Draw->Like? Play. Don't like? Redraw-> Play anyway because you shouldn't waste cards.
That's literally it.