Astro Card system is useless!

[Nahmazu]

I need someone to explain to me why I should even bother using the new cards over Aspected Benefit, Essential Dignity, Celestial Intersection, Exaltation, or literally anything else on our already packed healing kit? At least dps buffs added something, now I just toss out the dps card to the melee and spam Malefic for a full minute until I can draw for MP again. Literally falling asleep on it last alliance raid (Aglaia) 'cause there's rarely anything that would warrant that many spot heals/mit in casual. Maybe it could have been slightly more interesting if they were aoes, but then we've already got several of those too. Switching back to the single-card draw with a redraw option would at least help to make it feel more active, but I still wouldn't find spot mit or heals super useful. I can't speak for how it is in high end content or pre-SHB, but I mained it through SHB and EW for healing casual content and had a great time, but this...ain't it. This is soulless and boring.

[Connor]

I would like the ‘defensive’/‘healing’ cards if they were actually good personally. I love the supporting the party in any way. But the effects on them currently are so uninspired and useless that even I can’t enjoy them lol.

Bole doesn’t really do anything because tanks have billions of mitigations already and Exaltation does the same thing but better.

Ewer is literally just Aspected Benefic wearing a wig, and is by far the least useful card of them all lol. The one thing Astrologian has on basically all its spells / skills (regen) and devs thought we needed a card for it? I still cannot find a reason to ever use it besides yeeting it at the tank and out of my sight lol.

Arrow just feels like a joke…who has ever needed a 10% healing bonus? Like ever? lol

Spire is just extremely weak lol. Feels like I can barely hit Intersection fact enough to get them both on tank to double up on shields lol.


My fanfic fixes:
Bole - 10% HP increase and restores the difference. Can’t be devalued by tank mitigations, strength scales with tank’s max HP, extra HP can save potentially save dps with vulns.
Ewer - MP Regen. Yes it’s problematic, gamebreaking, etc. But it would be useless in the current game design as MP management no longer exists. So I mean, why not lol? Can’t break the balance of something when it’s too simplistic to unbalance lol.
Arrow - Haste. But: It only works on healers! I mean, a mini-PoM effect perfectly fits the ‘healer support’ card but also gives them the opportunity to leverage it for faster dps or whatever.
Spire - Keep the shield strength but make it like Haima where it reapplies itself once or twice before dissipating. Or maybe something like, stores target HP when shield breaks. Idk just something more interesting than literal Intersection lol

[PyurBlue]

Bole doesn’t really do anything because tanks have billions of mitigations already and Exaltation does the same thing but better.

...

Bole - 10% HP increase and restores the difference. Can’t be devalued by tank mitigations, strength scales with tank’s max HP, extra HP can save potentially save dps with vulns.

Isn't that the same? The problem with tanks is too much mitigation/healing. Extra HP doesn't change anything and it doesn't make it more or less useful than damage reduction when it comes to vuln. In fact that's a good use for the current bole, players with vuln stacks.

[Amecoeur]

The way I use it currently is use Spire (400p shield) prepull, in dungeon when pulling).
Opener is quite the same with EW.

[XX]Earthly Star
[-1.5]Malefic
[0]Combustion
[GCD1]Malefic > Lightspeed
[GCD2]Malefic > Divination
[GCD3]Malefic > Play Balance, Play Lords
[GCD4]Malefic > Umbral Draw, Play Spear

You can keep the rest of the cards until Astral Draw. Use them as you need, just don't forget to spend them.
Cast Astral Draw on cooldown and use the Spire as you need, be sure to spend it before your Divination burst phase.

The only thing I dont use often is Arrow tbh, the healing increase doesn't boost abilities heal if I'm not mistaken and we want to use spell heal as much as possible so unless its a heavy spell heal situation I just let it expire.

[rewd]

The way I use it currently is use Spire (400p shield) prepull, in dungeon when pulling).
Opener is quite the same with EW.

[XX]Earthly Star
[-1.5]Malefic
[0]Combustion
[GCD1]Malefic > Lightspeed
[GCD2]Malefic > Divination
[GCD3]Malefic > Play Balance, Play Lords
[GCD4]Malefic > Umbral Draw, Play Spear

You can keep the rest of the cards until Astral Draw. Use them as you need, just don't forget to spend them.
Cast Astral Draw on cooldown and use the Spire as you need, be sure to spend it before your Divination burst phase.

The only thing I dont use often is Arrow tbh, the healing increase doesn't boost abilities heal if I'm not mistaken and we want to use spell heal as much as possible so unless its a heavy spell heal situation I just let it expire.

Arrow works on oGCDs too, whenever a tooltip says "healing actions" it includes abilities. If it says "healing magic potency" then it's only for spells.

[elioaiko]

It's funny how the devs basically gave a watered down version of Stormblood AST and took all the fun out of it.

The card effects are such a joke.

Arrow's healing buff on a ST??

Spire being a a small shield is also another joke.

Ewer at the very least is a regen that is mildly helpful.

Like they reworked AST so much to delete whatever DNA stormblood gave us, only to circle back to how it was before and managing to give us the worst version of AST.

At that point, why not give us Royal Road back? Are they really that scared of AoE Balance?

They could just make it so that Balance and Spear are only Extended or Enhanced. Everything else can be Spread.

Arrow could literally be crit buff again or even direct hit/determination.

The RNG of the cards is already gone so why not just give us back Royal Road since they could just make Spread, Extend, Enhance regular CDs.

[Connor]

Isn't that the same? The problem with tanks is too much mitigation/healing. Extra HP doesn't change anything and it doesn't make it more or less useful than damage reduction when it comes to vuln. In fact that's a good use for the current bole, players with vuln stacks.

That was the point. It’s the same thing but I just feel like it’s at least more interesting than something we literally already have as an existing ability.

I’d be more accepting of Bole if Exaltation wasn’t the exact same thing but more easily available with a more interesting effect

[LU_K]

After getting my hands on it more... this is bad. I play one meaningful card once every min meaning for most of the dungeon I am stuck spamming one of 2 attacks- saving my other cooldown AOE attacks for burst phases. And it is SO awkard to use the cards now.

This is BAD. BAD. I love astro. I never even played stormblood and that looked like the best idea.

[Tunda]

I just played Astro again to test if I am flaming or overreacting.. and I slept again.. the job is op not gonna lie but bro it is not fun at all

switched to sage and finally i find fun again (glimpse of it)

[ToodlesElNoodles]

How often do you guys waste cards? As in, not throw them out?

There’s so little healing to do, i can go a whole minute without using the “utility” cards.

If they wanted to copy Aetherflow, they should’ve done it right. Have all 4 utility cards as cooldowns, Astral/Umbral draws are just 3 “Aetherflows” for use, and then have Balance be your card dump for a measly 1% damage boost.

It’s still shitty design, but at least it’s a known working system.