How to Play Astrologian in FFXIV Dawntrail (Astrologian Job Guide)

One of the reworked jobs in Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is the Astrologian. The whole card system was changed once again, so let’s take a look at how to play Astrologian in FFXIV Dawntrail.

An Overview of FFXIV’s Astrologian

Astrologian is a Pure Healer (also known as Regen Healer), and it’s focused on granting potent heals to the party, while also having access to shields through certain skills. While Astrologian has less raw healing output than its fellow Pure Healer White Mage, it makes up for it with utility in its kit, like versatile heals, diverse mitigation tools, and, on top of that, various buffs for the entire party.

While healing spells are the same as ever, the Cards have gone under a complete revamp. Instead of all cards being simple damage-increasing buffs, they all grant different effects, such as single-target healing, shields, and more. He also gets interesting tools to mess around with as the class reaches the level cap, increasing its potential to an even bigger level.

The new additions are Astral Draw and Umbral Draw, which give you three cards at once. You also get Play I, Play II and Play III to manage each of these cards. At Level 70, the Minor Arcana also gets involved, being yet another Play button to hit, but its effects are unchanged from Endwalker.

Astral Draw gives you a Melee buff, a healing increase buff, a shield and Lord of Crowns (damage Minor Arcana), while Umbral Drawn gives you a Ranged buff, a damage reduction buff, a regen and Lady of Crowns (healing Minor Arcana). You always start the fight with the Astral cards in hand, and can immediately use Umbral Draw to get the others. But you’ll lose any unplayed card if you do that.

With all these changes, you have healing tools for every possible situation at your disposal. However, as Astrodyne is gone, mana issues may be an issue if things go marginally wrong during an encounter.

The Complete FFXIV Astrologian Rotation Guide

Astrologian has historically been a very busy job, and this identity hasn’t been lost just yet. You’ll want to make use of Lightspeed during your opener to make things smoother and save it for whenever you need to dump all of your big cooldowns together.

The Burst rotation assumes you just started the fight and have all three cards from Astral Draw in your hands. Skills in parenthesis are Abilities, so you use them between your main Spells.

You can replicate this rotation right from the start at Level 30, only skipping skills you may not have yet (such as Minor Arcana). The first Fall Malefic should be used before the boss is pulled. Use your Play II and Play III beforehand to avoid losing them:

Yeah, that’s a lot to ingest. Let’s break this down step-by-step:

• Fall Malefic is used while the countdown is still on the screen. You immediately hit Lightspeed.
• Use Combust III to apply your Damage Over Time. Use the current Tincture to increase your damage (optional).
• Fall Malefic. Use Divination and throw your first Play I buff (The Balance) on a Melee DPS.
• Fall Malefic. Use your Minor Arcana (Lord of Crowns) alongside Umbral Draw. Ignore other cards if you have them.
• Fall Malefic. Play I (The Spear), but this time on a Ranged. Follow with Oracle (available after Divination).

Related: How to Play Viper in FFXIV Dawntrail

You should be left with your Minor Arcana, Play II and Play III cards to use at your leisure. Heals should be used whenever necessary to deal with the encounter, which should vary according to each fight. Remember to draw new cards every minute and play them accordingly. Hold Lightspeed to use it with your Divination when it comes back every two minutes.

Earthly Star should also be present in the mix. Ideally, you should set it up before the boss is pulled, letting it naturally explode during your Burst rotation. Most fights usually place the Star 5 seconds before the boss is pulled so it can heal the first Raidwides, but this also varies with each encounter.

Your regular damage rotation will be the same as the other healers. You’ll be using Malefic, then following up with Combustion while weaving your Draws/Plays in between.

Despite the changes, Astrologian still feels quite the same in its opener, only with fewer cards to throw directly at players. There are many new tools to mess around with too, such as the Level 100 skill Sun Sign. As soon as we get to those levels, we’ll add a bit more depth to this guide.

Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is available now on Early Access. The full release is scheduled for July 2nd.