Astrologian is a healing job in Final Fantasy XIV that employs a unique combination of divination, cards, and stellar energies to support allies. Accessible after reaching the city of Ishgard and completing specific questlines, the job centers on an anticipatory playstyle that rewards knowledge of encounters and careful preparation. A core component of the Astrologian's kit is the use of cards, known as Arcana, which provide various buffs and effects to enhance party performance. The job gauge displays these cards, which are divided into the astral and umbral decks. Each draw provides an offensive card, a defensive card, and a curative card, allowing the Astrologian to adapt to changing combat situations.
The Astrologian's lore is rooted in the pursuit of knowledge regarding fate. The people of Sharlayan learned to read and write the movements of the stars, attuning their aetherial energies to constellations. This practice, known as astromancy, grants power over fate through the use of a star globe and a divining deck. This history underscores the significance of the cards as tools for manipulating destiny and providing aid.
The Arcana Gauge and Card Decks
The Arcana Gauge is the interface that displays the cards currently held by the Astrologian. The cards are categorized into two distinct decks: the astral deck and the umbral deck. These decks contain specific cards that serve offensive, defensive, and curative roles. Understanding the composition of these decks is essential for effective use of the job's mechanics.
The offensive cards are primarily used to increase the damage output of the party. The defensive cards are designed to reduce damage taken or provide barriers. The curative cards offer healing or shielding effects. The specific cards and their functions are detailed in the following sections.
Offensive Cards: The Balance and The Spear
The offensive cards are the primary tools for enhancing party damage. In the current iteration of the job, the focus of the damage enhancement rotation is on two specific cards: The Balance and The Spear. These cards are considered the most critical for maximizing damage during burst windows.
- The Balance: This card is a key offensive tool. It is acquired through Astral Draw and is a central part of the damage rotation.
- The Spear: Like The Balance, The Spear is a damage-enhancing card that should be prioritized.
The Lord of Crowns is also a damaging off-global cooldown (oGCD) ability. In a standard rotation, the Astrologian will use Astral Draw at the one-minute mark to reacquire both The Balance and Lord of Crowns. These actions are not intended to be used immediately; instead, they should be held until Divination is available again to align the burst window with the opener.
Defensive Cards: The Bole
Defensive cards are utilized to mitigate damage, either for the entire party or for a specific target. The Bole serves this function within the umbral deck.
- The Bole: This card provides a 10% damage reduction effect on a single target for 15 seconds. It is the umbral defensive card, making it a valuable tool for protecting party members during high-damage phases.
Other defensive tools available to the Astrologian include Collective Unconscious, which provides a 10% raidwide damage mitigation, and Exaltation, which offers 10% single-target mitigation. The Astrologian can also grant barriers through cards like The Spire and abilities like Neutral Sect.
Curative Cards: The Arrow and The Ewer
Curative cards provide healing and support effects. These cards are played using the Play action and are divided into astral and umbral categories.
- The Arrow (Astral Curative): This card provides a small shield to the target, which can last for up to 30 seconds.
- The Ewer (Umbral Curative): This card provides a powerful regeneration effect, healing the target for a total of 1000 potency over 15 seconds.
In addition to these cards, the Astrologian has access to a wide range of healing abilities. Essential Dignity is a single-target heal that scales with the target's missing health, reaching its maximum potency when the target is at 30% HP or lower. Celestial Intersection provides a small heal alongside a more potent barrier. Neutral Sect increases healing magic potency and adds a shielding effect to all GCD healing actions.
Minor Arcana: Lord and Lady of Crowns
At level 70, the Astrologian unlocks the Minor Arcana action, which adds a smaller space to the right side of the Arcana Gauge. This action allows for the drawing of Lord and Lady of Crowns, which are smaller, instant effects compared to the major arcana.
- Lord of Crowns: This action deals unaspected damage with a potency of 400 to all nearby enemies. It is an oGCD damage ability.
- Lady of Crowns: This action restores the Astrologian's HP and the HP of all nearby party members with a cure potency of 400. It is an oGCD healing ability.
These actions are automatically generated when the conditions for their execution are met after using Minor Arcana.
Divination and Card Rotation
Divination is a powerful ability that should be used off cooldown to maximize party damage. It grants a damage buff to all nearby party members. The rotation with cards has been simplified to be more approachable. The goal is to align card usage with Divination windows.
After the opener, at the one-minute mark, the Astrologian uses Astral Draw to reacquire The Balance and Lord of Crowns. Instead of using them immediately, these actions are held until Divination is back off cooldown. This strategy ensures that the burst window mirrors the opener, providing consistent and high damage output.
It is important to note that this rotation applies not only to boss fights but also to trash pulls in dungeons. Divination should be used during these pulls to expedite the completion of the content. Oracle is another ability that should be used while Divination is active to maximize its effectiveness.
Unlocking and Playing Astrologian
To unlock Astrologian, players must complete the final Main Scenario Quest of A Realm Reborn, "Before the Dawn," to gain access to Ishgard. The Astrologian guild, the Athenaerium Astrologicum, is located in The Pillars at coordinates (X:15.2, Y:10.0). The unlock quest, "Stairway to the Heavens," is accepted from Jannequinard. Upon completion, the job is unlocked and starts at level 30.
The playstyle of Astrologian is anticipatory. Unlike jobs that provide immediate value, Astrologian requires players to use actions before they are fully needed. Earthly Star is a key ability in this regard and should be used as often as possible, forming the backbone of the healing plan. As a caster, maintaining high uptime is crucial. The majority of the Astrologian's spells should be Fall Malefic, while keeping Combust uptime as close to 100% as possible.
Job Traits and Role Actions
Astrologian gains several traits that enhance their abilities as they level up. These traits increase the potency of healing and damage actions, upgrade existing spells, and reduce cooldowns. For example, at level 94, the potencies of Combust III, Fall Malefic, Gravity II, and Macrocosmos are increased. At level 98, a third charge of Essential Dignity is granted.
The Astrologian also has access to role actions common to healers. These include:
- Sleep: Afflicts a target with sleep for 30 seconds.
- Esuna: Removes a single detrimental effect from a target.
- Lucid Dreaming: Gradually restores the Astrologian's MP.
- Swiftcast: Allows the next spell to be cast immediately.
- Surecast: Prevents spell interruption and nullifies most knockback and draw-in effects.
- Rescue: Instantly draws a target party member to the Astrologian's side.
These actions provide utility and survivability in various combat scenarios.
Healing and Support Abilities
The Astrologian kit is rich with healing and support abilities designed to handle various damage scenarios. These abilities can be categorized into single-target heals, area-of-effect heals, and mitigation tools.
Single-Target Heals: * Benefic: A basic single-target heal. * Benefic II: A more potent single-target heal. * Essential Dignity: A powerful heal that scales with missing HP. * Exaltation: Provides single-target mitigation and a heal upon expiration.
Area-of-Effect Heals: * Helios: A basic area-of-effect heal. * Aspected Helios: An area-of-effect heal that applies a regen or, with Neutral Sect, a barrier. * Celestial Opposition: A strong raidwide heal with an attached regen. * Horoscope: A small heal that can be buffed by executing Helios or Aspected Helios.
Mitigation and Support: * Collective Unconscious: Provides a strong raidwide regen with attached mitigation. * Neutral Sect: Increases healing magic potency and adds shielding to GCD heals. * Celestial Intersection: Provides a single-target heal and barrier. * Sun Sign: A 10% mitigation for all party members in range.
The Astrologian also possesses the ability to resurrect fallen party members, though they will return in a weakened state. This ability has a high MP cost and relies on Swiftcast for instant casting in emergencies.
Conclusion
The Astrologian job in Final Fantasy XIV offers a complex and rewarding experience for players who enjoy strategic planning and support roles. Its reliance on the Arcana system, including The Balance, The Spear, The Bole, The Arrow, The Ewer, and the Lord and Lady of Crowns, provides a unique layer of gameplay that focuses on enhancing party performance. By mastering the rotation of cards and the timing of abilities like Divination and Earthly Star, players can effectively contribute to both the healing and damage output of their party. The job's rich lore and celestial theme are deeply integrated into its mechanics, making it a distinct and compelling choice for healers in the game.