[AST]: A Healthier Card System

[ty_taurus]

EDIT: 05/16/2022

Since this thread got dug up, figured I'd edit the original post with my more recent take on my thoughts for a healthier AST. This was posted in the 6.2 AST Adjustments thread while back as well...

CONCEPT:
Something I've brought up a few times now is the idea of putting the cards on the GCD, and recently I spent a little time fleshing out that concept with an AST redesign. This is the gist of the card aspect of that concept:

Lodestars: Certain spells grant you 1 Lodestar of which you can have up to 6. Under the effects of Celestial Intersection, spells and weaponskills cause 1 Lodestar to be consumed to perform an additional attack that is of the same potency as your current version of Malefic. This will effectively make these actions DPS neutral or DPS gains depending. This is something gained at level 30 along with your cards.

Level 30
At level 30, you gain Astral Draw and Umbral Draw, both are GCD spells with 30 second recast timers, 2 charges, and restore 8% of your MP when used. Both now grant a Lodestar when used. They do not share a cooldown, meaning you'll draw and play an average of 2 cards per 30 seconds in theory.

Astral Draw will pull either The Balance, The Arrow, or The Spire.
Umbral Draw will pull either The Bole, The Spear, or The Ewer.

Play, Undraw, and Redraw are removed. The cards you draw replace their respective Draw actions, and you have to deal with what the cards give you. Additionally, card buffs are no longer instantly applied. Instead, when you give a card to someone, that card sits on them until you use a new action to detonate the effect. You can only have 1 astral card and 1 umbral card on any given person at a time.

The Balance, when activated grants a 10% Determination increase for 15 seconds.
The Arrow, when activated grants a 10% Direct Hit increase for 15 seconds.
The Spire, when activated grants a 5% critical damage increase for 15 seconds.

The Bole, when activated reduces damage taken by 10% for 15 seconds.
The Spear, when activated increases max HP by 10% for 15 seconds and heals for that amount.
The Ewer, when activated applies a 150 potency Regen for 15 seconds.

All cards also generate 1 Lodestar when played.

Celestial Opposition is now a GCD AoE heal of 300 potency at level 90. It also detonates all Umbral card effects on all party members you heal. It also generates 1 Lodestar, inflicts Stop on enemies for 4 seconds, and costs 1200 MP.
Celestial River is a new GCD AoE heal of 300 potency at level 90, and it detonates all Astral card effects on all party members you heal. It generates 1 Lodestar, reduces damage dealt by enemies by 5% for 10 seconds, and costs 1200 MP.

Celestial Intersection is a GCD action on a 15 second cooldown. It gives a target party member a 15 second buff that causes their spells and weaponskills to trigger Lodestars. It also generates 1 additional Lodestar for you and costs 400 MP. You can cast it on yourself. This must be used in order for Lodestars to be deployed.

Level 70:

Minor Arcana is learned. This becomes a GCD spell with a 600 MP cost that draws both the Lord and Lady of Crowns and generates 1 Lodestar. It has a 60 second cooldown.

Crown Play is removed. Instead, the lord and lady replace specific actions on the hotbar.

The Lord of Crowns replaces Combust on the hotbar and acts as a GCD AoE attack. When played, it deals 400 potency for the first enemy that decreases by 60% for remaining enemies. It also applies your Combust DoT to all enemies. The DoT has 100% potency on the first enemy and 60% less potency on remaining enemies. It generates 1 Lodestar. It costs 600 MP.
The Lady of Crowns replaces Helios on the hotbar and acts as an AoE heal. When played, it heals for 400 potency for yourself and all nearby party members while also randomly granting one of the umbral arcanum effects as well (i.e. 400 potency heal and 10% damage reduction or 400% heal and 10% max HP increase, etc.) It generates 1 Lodestar. It costs 600 MP.

That concludes the concept.

This system would do a number of things:
- It reduces the total amount of weaving required, making it more approachable and freeing up Lightspeed to be used situationally rather than for burst windows.
- It makes AST highly mobile which can also make it easier at face value.
- It allows for the existence of offensive and supportive cards, and allows you to set them up in advance to be used at once rather than hoping that supportive cards specifically will be useful when pulled.
- It creates a new playstyle of healer who is significantly less offensive as many of their GCD uses will go toward drawing and playing cards as well as activating them with a heal. This both breaks up the Malefic spam monotony while also creating something more palatable for healers unhappy with the volume of direct DPS healers are responsible for.
- It reduces a fair amount of button bloat that currently just feels like clunk.