FFXIV Astrologian (AST) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

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An aspiring Astrologian? Assuming I’m right, you’ll ascertain a lot of AST job basic information and FAQs in our Astrologian Basics Guide. Read on if you’re expecting to learn about unlocking AST, Astrologian Job Identity, trait and skill list, crafters and gatherers related to AST, and link to other important Astrologian info!

Astrologian is a Healer job, which came out in 3.0 Heavensward with Dark Knight and Machinist. AST was the first new healer class after the original pair, White Mage and Scholar.

How to become an Astrologian? Unlocking AST:

The quest to unlock and become an Astrologian is called “Stairway to the Heavens”, located at The Pillars 15:10 given by the NPC Jannequinard. The only OFFICIAL requirement is having ANY level 50 Disciple of War or Disciple of Magic class leveled. 

The UNOFFICIAL “unspoken” requirement is actually being able to walk into Ishgard. Do not attempt to unlock AST if you don’t even have Ishgard in your map (Heavensward content).

Note that, upon completing the quest you MUST EQUIP the “Soul of the Astrologian” to actually formally BECOME a AST.

Rushing to or want to know how to unlock a certain class? Learn more:
FFXIV Job Unlock & Requirements Guide.

Astrologian Playstyle & AST Job Identity

If you’ve asked yourself, “Why play, try, or choose Astrologian?” – here’s my attempt at selling you the AST class.

Want to shield? Want to do HoT’s? Well Astrologians can do both… but not really at the same time. The AST stance system in FFXIV lets you choose what kind of healer you want to be out of combat. While certainly not on the level of other healers in terms of raw power – they have a ton of utility and weird skills that more than cover their weaknesses. 

Historically, AST is the move active healing job. The amount of buttons you press is actually taken into account in their design by having shorter cast times on spells (allowing you to have space for your numerous “off gcd skills). The card system can be brutal for newer Astrologians, as this adds layers of decision making and mechanical friction to playing the class well.

Aesthetically and thematically, FFXIV’s Astrologian is damn sweet. They represent the card reading stargazing mystic extremely well. They have some of the best looking skills in the game. However, I’d say this job is not beginner friendly – so be prepared for a challenge while you grow with the job.

What Crafters & Gatherers should Astrologian level?

While it’s common in MMORPG’s to think you want to craft your own gear as you level up your AST… I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT.

Leveling up your DoH and DoL jobs should be thought of as a different activity completely. To be honest, if you’re a newer player, simply ensure that you DO NOT OVERCAP Levequests (always have less than 100).

The only relation a combat job has to a crafter or gatherer class is “which classes do you need to repair your gear”? My advice, ultimately, is pretty much all or nothing – level up all DoH classes in tandem. As a separate project, level up all DoL classes in tandem (with the optional Fisher).

What’s the best race for Astrologian?

Racial stats are (was?) a thing. However, I highly recommend not caring about it. The difference in performance between the “best” and “worst” race for you is not even 0.1%.

My advice? Pick for aesthetics. Will you stay the same job forever? If you change mains, will you race change? Ultimately, the difference is so microscopic that I cannot in good faith tell you that racial stats are an integral part of your character.

I won’t even link the Racial Stats Guide, as I haven’t checked up on this in a while – and I don’t want to cement the idea that the “best race” really matters.

Related Astrologian Guides – Read More!

Here are a few useful links for you:

• General Leveling Guide for ALL combat classes / jobs
• Adding new links as we update them!

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

• Adding a “links to further resources”, we’re doing a site restructure so once those links are set, they’ll go in here.
• Human-readable, newbie-friendly skill and trait list.
  > I used to have the in-game skill list here, but I found it useless as the in-game one is better… I’d rather have a new player friendly rundown.
• More descriptive job identity? Pics?
  > I dunno… pictures of the job gauges? A gif of some flashy skills?
• Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & Outro

Well that’s about it for a really, really basic guide that hopefully points some lost souls in the right direction, or answers some of your questions regarding Astrologian.

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