Astrologian is one of Final Fantasy 14’s few healing classes, but just because they’re focused on restoring health doesn’t mean they can’t also be a formidable foe in the game’s range of player versus player content.
Astrologian in PvP offers a simplified version of one of the game’s most complex jobs, whilst retaining its unique card-drawing buff mechanic. In PvP, the class can be used to support the team through heals and a selection of offensive and defensive assistance, in addition to dealing out some substantial damage of its own.
If you’re looking to master the cosmic art of Final Fantasy 14’s Astrologian in PvP, follow our guide below for the best rotations and strategies to utilize.
Job Actions
Astrologian’s PvP Job actions differ substantially from its PvE form, reducing the number of abilities you have access to. The abilities taken away are mostly healing abilities, with PvP Astrologian’s primary standard healing skill being Aspected Benefic.
The skills added to Astrologian for PvP are focused around repeating damage with Double Cast, generating huge area of effect damage with Macrocosmos, and buffing other members of the team with PvP-specific card effects.
Between dealing damage with skills such as Fall Malefic, Gravity II and Macrocosmos, Astrologians will also selectively heal using charges of the aforementioned Aspected Benefic. As discussed in the following section on rotations, Astrologians need to be flexible in PvP to respond to the needs of their party. Their unique toolset gives them many options for doing so.
|
Skill Name |
Skill Type |
Recast Time |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fall Malefic |
Spell |
2.4s |
5,000 potency damage dealing spell. |
|
Aspected Benefic |
Spell |
15s |
5,000 potency healing spell. Potency increases up to 10,000 as target HP decreases, reaching maximum at 50% HP or less. Grants Diurnal Sect, which gradually restores HP for a potency of 1,000 over 12 seconds. |
|
Gravity II |
Spell |
15s |
Deals 8,000 potency of damage. Also adds the effect Heavy for 5 seconds. |
|
Double Cast |
Ability |
15s |
Allows instant recasting of previous spell used. |
|
Draw |
Ability |
20s |
Draws a card (The Balance, The Ewer, or The Spire) To be played. Played cards provide different buffs. |
|
Gravity II (Double Casted) |
Ability |
15s |
Deals 8,000 damage to target and all nearby enemies. Also adds the effect Bind for 3 seconds. |
|
Fall Malefic (Double Casted) |
Ability |
15s |
5,000 potency damage dealing spell. Also reduces the cast time of Double Cast by 7.5 seconds. |
|
Aspected Benefic (Double Casted) |
Ability |
15s |
5,000 potency healing spell. Potency increases up to 10,000 as target HP decreases, reaching maximum at 50% HP or less. Also grants Nocturnal Sect, a barrier that absorbs damage equivalent to 4,000 potency. |
|
The Balance |
Ability |
1s |
Increases damage dealt by target and all party members nearby target by 10% for 10 seconds. |
|
The Ewer |
Ability |
1s |
Gradually restores MP of target and all party members nearby target for a value of 500 potency for 10 seconds. |
|
The Spire |
Ability |
1s |
Gradually fills the limit gauge of target and all party members nearby target for 10 seconds. |
|
Macrocosmos |
Ability |
1s |
Deals 12,000 potency of damage to all nearby enemies. Grants Macrocosmos to self and all nearby party members for 10 seconds. Action changes to Microcosmos upon execution. For the effect's duration, 25% of damage taken is compiled. Compiled damage is received as healing after using Microcosmos. |
Aspected Benefic, Fall Malefic, and Gravity II all appear twice on your job actions list. This is because each of these spells change effects slightly when used a second time as part of Double Cast. Double Casting essentially allows the Astrologian to immediately recast their previous spell as an instant ability, effectively doubling the potency and adding additional effects.
Rotations
In PvP, Astrologian is able to function as a support DPS class perhaps more effectively than as a healer, capable of dishing out substantial damage and useful buffs with the right rotations.
The healing aspect of Astrologian is relatively straightforward. You can go ahead and use charges of Aspected Benefic to give HP to yourself or any player on your team who needs it. The default version of Aspected Benefic also gives the Diurnal Benefic skill, which gradually heals over time. Aspected Benefic also heals more depending on how much damage has been taken by the target, which is very useful.
You can also build to a much bigger heal with the combined effects of Macrocosmos and its follow up skill, Microcosmos. This is a very valuable skill to perform for both damage dealing and healing, so you should essentially build your rotations around this skill, which has a recast timer of 30 seconds.
Before and after Macrocosmos, however, you might want to consider doing some damage with your skills Fall Malefic, Gravity II, and Double Cast. Using these skills in the correct order can dish out some high-potency hits.
Whilst Fall Malefic by default only does 5,000 potency with a cast timer of one point four seconds, the Double Cast version of this skill also reduces the recast time of Double Cast by seven point five seconds, creating the perfect way to progress your rotation by following up with the higher potency skill Gravity II, and then Double Cast again to double its potency.
Therefore, an Astrologian rotation for damage could begin like this, if you’re fine with quickly expending some of your uses of Double Cast straight away.
|
Fall Malefic > Fall Malefic (Double Cast) > Gravity II > Gravity II (Double Cast) |
This will do a fairly quick burst of damage all at once, and afterwards you can proceed straight into Macrocosmos if you’re close enough to a large group of enemies and allies.
Finally, it’s important to not forget your cards. Although they don’t need to be used as frequently as in PvE, the cards provide valuable PvP-specific buffs. You’ll always want to draw at least one card before engaging with the enemy at all, but you’ll need to use your own judgement on when to play them.
If you draw The Balance card, you’ll probably want to use this as a buff on yourself just before engaging the enemy, as it increases damage dealt by yourself and nearby allies.
If you draw The Spire, you may want to keep this one in your pocket to turn the tides in desperate situations. It increases the speed that the limit gauge rises, which can sometimes be just enough to give your allies their Limit Break Abilities at the right moment. Just be sure to use it when you’re around your teammates.
The Ewer increases the MP of both you and your allies, so the logical place to use this card is when you’re low on MP, so this can be another card worth ‘saving’ for the right moment.
With all of the above information in mind, a complete ‘rotation’ for Astrologian might look something like this. Within the window of Macrocosmos, you can start to repeat the rotation, then convert the damage done to healing with Microcosmos:
|
Draw > Play Card > Fall Malefic > Fall Malefic (Double Cast) > Gravity II > Gravity II (Double Cast) > Celestial River (If available) > Macrocosmos |
Of course, as with any other class in PvP, it helps to be flexible, and with Astrologian especially, you’ll sometimes need to prioritise healing with double casts of Aspected Benefic over completing this damage dealing rotation.
Limit Break
Astrologians' Limit Break skill, Celestial River, essentially reduces damage taken and increases damage dealt for fifteen seconds. When the skill is available, you can essentially time the above damage rotation to take place within an overlapping window of both Celestial River and Macrocosmos, converting the damage that has been increased by Celestial River into healing with Microcosmos.
|
Skill Name |
Skill Type |
Recast Time |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Celestial River |
Limit Break |
10s |
Reduces damage dealt by nearby enemies by 30%. Effect is reduced by 10% every 5 seconds. Lasts for 15 seconds. Also increases damage dealt by self and nearby party members by 30%. Effect is reduced by 10% every 5 seconds. |
Common Actions
As with other PvP classes, Astrologian also has access to the full range of common actions, which can be used for defending, healing, and removing debuffs at crucial moments.
|
Skill Name |
Skill Type |
Recast Timer |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Standard-Issue Elixir |
Ability |
5s |
Restores both HP and MP to maximum. |
|
Purify |
Ability |
30s |
Removes Status Effects Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, and Deep Freeze. |
|
Guard |
Ability |
30s |
Reduces damage taken by 90% and grants immunity to Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, Deep Freeze, knockback, and draw-in effects for 5s. Movement speed is reduced by 50%. |
|
Recuperate |
Ability |
1s |
Restores own HP with a 15,000 potency. |
|
Sprint |
Ability |
1.5s |
Increases movement speed. |
General Strategy
As already covered in our section in rotations, Double Cast is the Astrologian’s best friend. If you’re focusing on doing lots of damage to try and score an elimination, or just healing one of your party members to help them achieve an objective, Double Cast really increases the efficacy of just about everything you do as Astrologian in PvP.
Astrologians should consider themselves a vital support system for a PvP team. They can’t necessarily put out as much damage as certain jobs, but they can certainly provide some excellent utility in the form of damage increasing/decreasing buffs, healing, and speeding up obtaining limit breaks.
For this reason, although dealing damage is a priority for every job in PvP, Astrologians can be just as valuable in supporting the ambitions of their teammates, applying card effects rigorously and healing spells liberally to ensure victory. In both Crystalline Conflict and Frontline, an Astrologian can and should strike a good balance between both of these mentalities.
One of Astrologian’s most effective damage spells, Gravity II, also adds a short Bind effect upon double cast. This is a really useful effect that can slow down the progress of enemies when used at the right moment. It can be especially useful to Bind an enemy and then begin buffing adjacent allies. You can then use Fall Malefic from afar whilst your teammates do the hard work of confirming the elimination.
Unlike in PvE, there’s no way to redraw or undraw cards in PvP, so what you draw is what you get. Although all the cards are useful in some way, it’s clear that The Ewer is the least useful of the bunch, as you may be waiting some time for your MP to be low: there’s no shame in burning this card quickly to wait for the next opportunity to draw. The Balance is probably the most effective card, as timing it with the windows of Celestial River and Macrocosmos can be a truly devastating set in the right circumstances, especially when large clusters of enemies are grouped near each-other in Crystalline Conflict.
With a solid understanding of Double Cast, the buff windows of Astrologian's various abilities and flexible approach, Astrologian can be an essential member of any PvP team.