Astrologian: what is your understanding about it?

[ASkellington]

More astrologian questions:

1. what spell/abilities would you be fine disappearing tomorrow? Why did you choose those spells/abilities?
To make it easy I know that undraw going away tomorrow wouldn't impact the job at all.

For this kit design I'm making, I am looking at what spells/abilities I can consolidate or get rid of but drawing some blanks.

2. When do you use exaltation? I have a feeling I am not using it properly. I tend to place it on the tank during trash pulls.
3. Celestial intersection? I use that on the tank during trash pulls, on a dps in niche scenarios (such as if they have vuln stacks but otherwise preform well), or to make tank busters hit like wet noodles. Is there another use that I may not have considered?

1. You can make an argument for over half the kit since we don't need it.

• Collective Unconciousness - lost all meaning imo since Nocturnal is gone (not that that means much since under either it did the same thing for no reason); A channeled mit is fine, the regen tied to it... we have how many now?
• Celestial Opposition - same as above; its now an oGCD regen
• Celestial Intersection - also same as above; a free oGCD shield we don't need since Exaltation does what it does but better, the second charge is there for what reason?
• Synastry - Unless its going to work with A. Benefic, Exaltation, CI or any other single target ability we have that isn't Benefic 1/2 or a card, delete it
• Neutral Sect - Same as Synastry; even more so, because it could have replaced all of the actions Nocturnal Sect changed - CO, CI, CU (debatably), and potentially Exalt, alongside of our GCDs. Imho its a waste of a button, up there with Undraw and Synastry and would be the first thing I'd remove from this class (after Undraw) and wouldn't miss in the slightest
• Horoscope - I'd rather replace this with a Time Dilation like ability to extend a regen

2. Any thing you'd use Celestial Intersection on, you use Exaltation on - its a mitigation % damage with a heal applied at the end of its duration. I generally use it on tank busters and over CI for that reason.

3. In content I have access to Exaltation, I don't use CI at all outside of trash pulls, dual tank busters, or the rare occasion where I need to shield myself/a dps.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

1. what spell/abilities would you be fine disappearing tomorrow? Why did you choose those spells/abilities?

Assuming there are no changes at all to be made from today's kits:

1. Synastry - Too niche of an application to deserve any justification to stay around.
2. Astrodyne - Busywork for the sake of busywork.
3. Celestial Opposition - It's just Asp. Helios but oGCD.
4. Minor Arcana - A fluff over depth.
5. Celestial Intersection - Too similar to WHM's Divine Benison.
6. Neutral Sect - On top of what ASkellington have described, this is also lore-butchering button.

2. When do you use exaltation?
3. Celestial intersection?

They're pretty interchangeable. Use one or the other, it won't matter much. You are free to stack them together to turn TBs into nothingness just to...what, let that 2 stacks of Essential Dignity gathering dust?

Celestial Intersection cooldown however is short enough that it's alright to just use 1 charge for the main tank whenever possible to keep the button cooldown rolling rather than letting them sitting idly wasting that free potencies. Save 1 charge for whatever. Maybe yourself. Maybe that one DPS who ate 1 vuln stack, or somehow have missed your critical AoE healing for standing in Narnia. On a niche case, usually pair both of them together with Neutral+Asp Benefic to shield a DPS who got targeted by a tankbuster. But that case is pretty rare nowadays.

[TlachtgaSi]

Having capped Astrologian I have to say it's overly complicated for what amounts to a tiny payoff of extra damage. After a while I just stopped playing with the cards in favor of just using the AOEs and Divination. Even condensing the card gimmick into a single button macro did little to encourage its use. There is massive potential in a class that involves adapting to RNG but it has been rotted down to "memorize what classes are melee and ranged". The job quest is frustrating as hell too, it acts like a conjuror has never set foot in Ishgard.

As a burst healer it is really good, but the cards need to go back a few versions and given more depth.

[ASkellington]

Snip

I forgot Trashtodyne. Shows how much I love it.

Ah yes, lets replace the stupidity of 4/5/6% damage difference on Divination to a MP regen/Haste/6% damage SELF BUFF, on a class that neither NEEDS a second Lucid Dreaming, Haste (Lightspeed Exists) or a whopping 6% damage extra with the weakest DPS kit this side of Eorzea.

Yes please do remove this trash and the bloody seals system whilst your at it.

[Allegor]

I got a random idea, just for the fun of aesthetics alone: what if AST worked like an actual tarot reader and the cards act similar to NIN mudras? each seal has their own Draw - Solar Draw (Balance and Bole), Lunar Draw (Arrow and Ewer), and Celestial Draw (Spear and Spire) - and depending on which ones you draw, you get a different spell effect until/unless you next Draw. This could also help with button bloat.

So for example, you Draw:
- solar seal alone: Malefic turns into Combust
- lunar seal alone: Benefic turns into A. Benefic
- celestial seal alone: Helios turns into A. Helios

- solar + lunar seal: you can cast Celestial Opposition
- solar + celestial seal: you can cast Earthly Star
- lunar + celestial seal: you can cast Collective Unconscious

- solar + lunar + celestial seal: depending on the order you press them, you can cast Divination, Neutral Sect, or Macrocosmos

You'd be getting 4 new buttons (3 seal Draws + not-Ninjutsu to proc the spells from), but condensing 9 others, so you'd actually have 5 less slots in your action bar (not counting the ones that could be deleted, like Redraw or Astrodyne). All that while not touching the standard Draw to keep buffing allies, though I guess its cd or buff duration/potency may need to be adjusted.

As I said, it's just a fun idea, please don't burn me lol

[ASkellington]

I got a random idea, just for the fun of aesthetics alone: what if AST worked like an actual tarot reader and the cards act similar to NIN mudras? each seal has their own Draw - Solar Draw (Balance and Bole), Lunar Draw (Arrow and Ewer), and Celestial Draw (Spear and Spire) - and depending on which ones you draw, you get a different spell effect until/unless you next Draw. This could also help with button bloat.

So for example, you Draw:
- solar seal alone: Malefic turns into Combust
- lunar seal alone: Benefic turns into A. Benefic
- celestial seal alone: Helios turns into A. Helios

- solar + lunar seal: you can cast Celestial Opposition
- solar + celestial seal: you can cast Earthly Star
- lunar + celestial seal: you can cast Collective Unconscious

- solar + lunar + celestial seal: depending on the order you press them, you can cast Divination, Neutral Sect, or Macrocosmos

You'd be getting 4 new buttons (3 seal Draws + not-Ninjutsu to proc the spells from), but condensing 9 others, so you'd actually have 5 less slots in your action bar (not counting the ones that could be deleted, like Redraw or Astrodyne). All that while not touching the standard Draw to keep buffing allies, though I guess its cd or buff duration/potency may need to be adjusted.

As I said, it's just a fun idea, please don't burn me lol

I'll pass. Let the card system stay as a buff and leave my actual abilities as abilities.

[IDontPetLalas]

I got a random idea, just for the fun of aesthetics alone: what if AST worked like an actual tarot reader and the cards act similar to NIN mudras? each seal has their own Draw - Solar Draw (Balance and Bole), Lunar Draw (Arrow and Ewer), and Celestial Draw (Spear and Spire) - and depending on which ones you draw, you get a different spell effect until/unless you next Draw. This could also help with button bloat.

So for example, you Draw:
- solar seal alone: Malefic turns into Combust
- lunar seal alone: Benefic turns into A. Benefic
- celestial seal alone: Helios turns into A. Helios

- solar + lunar seal: you can cast Celestial Opposition
- solar + celestial seal: you can cast Earthly Star
- lunar + celestial seal: you can cast Collective Unconscious

- solar + lunar + celestial seal: depending on the order you press them, you can cast Divination, Neutral Sect, or Macrocosmos

You'd be getting 4 new buttons (3 seal Draws + not-Ninjutsu to proc the spells from), but condensing 9 others, so you'd actually have 5 less slots in your action bar (not counting the ones that could be deleted, like Redraw or Astrodyne). All that while not touching the standard Draw to keep buffing allies, though I guess its cd or buff duration/potency may need to be adjusted.

As I said, it's just a fun idea, please don't burn me lol

No going to burn you but I don't find the idea of having those skills tied to RNG my idea of fun. Sure, I like them, but it's not a major factor, aesthetics are a bonus- although it's certainly a major factor in sales.

[Allegor]

None of them are rng tho, that's why I tied it to the seals (to give them some reason to exist) rather than the cards themselves. So basically, if you use Solar Draw, it doesn't matter whether you got Balance or Bole, it's still a "solar" card. If anything, it removes the rng element entirely from the job.

Either way, as I said, it's just a silly idea I had to give AST some of it's thematic elements back, at the very least.

[ASkellington]

None of them are rng tho, that's why I tied it to the seals (to give them some reason to exist) rather than the cards themselves. So basically, if you use Solar Draw, it doesn't matter whether you got Balance or Bole, it's still a "solar" card. If anything, it removes the rng element entirely from the job.

Either way, as I said, it's just a silly idea I had to give AST some of it's thematic elements back, at the very least.

The problems I have with your idea are two fold:

First and most importantly, everything that I need as a healer is LOCKED behind Drawing and then Playing a card.

This isn't like SGE's Kardia system where it only impacts my GCDs and is arguably WORSE than NIN's ninjustu. You're literally locking me out of everything aside from ED, Benefic 1/2 and Helios. I don't even get to be like WHM and SCH and get my DoT until w/e these are available.

Second, I now have 4 Draws. 3 of which I am now obgligated to use and not miss so I can activate parts of a seals system to gain access to over half my kit. People already have a problem with AST's APM and tab-targeting dance. And this makes it worse.

Being a Tarot inspired class is more than covered with AST's theme but its older roots of being a Time Mage or Time Mage adjacent is gone. I'd rather bring that back than a seals system that I want removed.

[Allegor]

Yeah, I also want the seals, Astrodyne, and the melee/ranged split gone and burnt, I just figured if AST's multiple cards are....controversial as a buffing mechanic, they could at least be implemented for the job's aesthetic without necessarily replacing any current animation, but I can see why copy pasting NIN's niche into it would be annoying too.

Kinda anxious to see how they butcher change AST this time in DT.