Leveling Rotations and Tips for Astrologian — Dawntrail 7.1

As a healer, it is important to keep your equipment reasonably up to date while leveling. While leveling, you should use the highest Item Level equipment that is available rather than worrying about secondary stats. Keep in mind that your weapon has the largest effect on your damage and healing numbers. When updating your gear, prioritize weapon upgrades and replacements for your lowest Item Level pieces.

It is especially important to update your gear at levels 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90. There is a significant increase in scaling for the leveling dungeons after each of those level milestones. You can use Allagan Tomestone of Poetics to purchase appropriate gear at these levels.

• Level 50: Augmented Ironworks gear (Item Level 130) can be purchased from Auriana in Mor Dhona (X:23, Y:7) or from any of Rowena's Representatives in Ul'dah - Steps of Nald (X:9, Y:8), New Gridania (X:12, Y:12), or Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (X:9, Y:11).
• Level 60: Augmented Shire gear (Item Level 270) can be purchased from Hismena in Idyllshire (X:6, Y:5) or from Rowena's Representative in Ishgard - Foundation (X:11, Y:12).
• Level 80: Augmented Cryptlurker gear (Item Level 530) can be purchased from Aymark in Eulmore (X:10, Y:12) or Mowen's Merchant in The Crystarium (X:10, Y:12).
• Level 90: Augmented Credendum gear (Item Level 660) can be purchased from Cihanti in Radz-at-Han (X:11, Y:10) or the Agora Merchant in Sharlayan (X:12, Y:11).

Most of the advice on this page is given in the context of instanced, Light Party (four-person) content like dungeons. Astrologian starts at level 30, but you may be level synced down to 15 in the lowest level dungeon, so we will use that as our starting point.

Note: Make sure you keep up with your Job Quests. The Astrologian Job Quests at the following levels unlock new spells/abilities: 40, 45, 50, 54, 58, and 60.

• As a healer, your role is to support the party and contribute to the group's success. Contributing to the group includes dealing damage when you can.
• Always be casting. If you do not need to cast a heal, cast a damage spell.
• Use Lucid Dreaming frequently to maintain your MP. It can be used as early as 80-85% MP without over-capping as long as you are continuously casting.
• Lightspeed can be used to maintain GCD uptime when you have to move. It can also speed up a hard-cast Ascend if Swiftcast is not available.
• Watch the party list to monitor the party's HP and buffs/debuffs. It may help to move your party list closer to the center of your screen.

Removing debuffs and raising fallen party members are extremely important responsibilities for any healer. Understanding how to effectively handle debuffs and deaths is vital to your success.

• Use Esuna to remove cleansable debuffs, indicated by a small, white line above the debuff icon. In particular, watch out for Doom, Slow, Paralysis, Disease, and Heavy. These are some of the most detrimental debuffs you might need to cleanse in dungeons, in order of severity. Some dungeon bosses also apply damage-over-time debuffs that may be important to cleanse.
  • Doom is a healer-specific mechanic in some encounters. If the Doom is not cleansable (indicated by a white line above the debuff icon), it is often removed by the target being healed to 100% HP. However, this is not always the case. Notably, the uncleansable Dooms in the level 35 dungeon and a certain level 50 alliance raid are not examples of this healer mechanic.
• If a party member is defeated during combat, use Ascend to revive them as soon as possible. There is no greater DPS loss for the group than a dead party member.
  • Use Swiftcast to bypass the long cast time. If Swiftcast is unavailable, it is still almost always worth hard casting the spell to raise them as soon as you have the chance. The only time it is better to wait for Swiftcast is if its remaining cooldown is less than about 10 seconds.
  • Before you commit to raising someone, be certain that you will be able to keep them alive. Otherwise, it is just a waste of time and MP. They will be revived at the location you were standing when you completed the cast. Try not to raise them into a dangerous area. When they are revived, be ready to heal them quickly before they lose (or dispel) their brief invulnerability.
  • If someone dies near the end of a boss fight and you are going to finish the fight very soon, you may not want to raise them. If they release and take the shortcut, they can immediately rejoin the party while avoiding the lengthy and severe Weakness debuff that would last into the next pull.

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• Use Astral Draw and Umbral Draw when they are available to acquire cards and restore your MP. Use Play I, Play II, and Play III to provide your allies with damage buffs, defensive buffs, and healing/shielding, respectively.
  • The Balance (astral deck) increases the damage dealt by a melee DPS or tank by 6% (or a ranged DPS or healer by 3%) for 15s.
  • The Arrow (astral deck) increases all healing received by the target by 10% for 15s.
  • The Spire (astral deck) provides the target with a small shield for up to 30s.
  • Lord of Crowns (astral deck) deals significant AoE damage with no falloff to enemies within 20y of you.
  • The Spear (umbral deck) increases the damage dealt by a ranged DPS or healer by 6% (or a melee DPS or tank by 3%) for 15s.
  • The Bole (umbral deck) reduces the damage taken by the target by 10% for 15s.
  • The Ewer (umbral deck) provides a powerful regen that heals for a total of 1000 potency over 15s.
  • Lady of Crowns (umbral deck) instantly heals party members within 20y of you for a moderate amount.

Beginning at level 50, when you gain access to Divination, it is generally preferred to try to save damage buffs and oGCDs for your Divination windows. At first, this just means saving The Balance so that you can play it right after Divination, then use Umbral Draw and play The Spear. As you level, you gain more abilities that are ideally used in your Divination window. It is not strictly necessary to do these things while leveling, but these Divination windows are a core part of Astrologian's gameplay, so it may be a good idea to start familiarizing yourself with it.

• Malefic + Lightspeed
• Malefic II + Lightspeed
• Malefic III + Lightspeed
• Malefic IV + Lightspeed
• Fall Malefic + Lightspeed
• Malefic + Divination + The Balance
• Malefic II + Divination + The Balance
• Malefic III + Divination + The Balance
• Malefic IV + Divination + The Balance
• Fall Malefic + Divination + The Balance
• Malefic + Umbral Draw
• Malefic II + Umbral Draw
• Malefic III + Umbral Draw
• Malefic III + Lord of Crowns + Umbral Draw
• Malefic IV + Lord of Crowns + Umbral Draw
• Fall Malefic + Lord of Crowns + Umbral Draw
• Malefic + The Spear
• Malefic II + The Spear
• Malefic III + The Spear
• Malefic III + The Spear
• Malefic IV + The Spear
• Fall Malefic + The Spear
• Fall Malefic + The Spear + Oracle

• Keep Combust applied if it will tick for at least 9 seconds.
• Keep Combust II applied if it will tick for at least 9 seconds.
• Keep Combust II applied if it will tick for at least 12 seconds.
• Keep Combust III applied if it will tick for at least 12 seconds.
• Cast Malefic as much as possible.
• Cast Malefic II as much as possible.
• Cast Malefic III as much as possible.
• Cast Malefic IV as much as possible.
• Cast Fall Malefic as much as possible.
• Use Divination whenever it is available. If possible, keep it lined up with the group's burst cooldowns, but it is not always realistic to do so in dungeons.
  • Use Oracle during Divination.
• Place Earthly Star as early as possible. It needs to charge for 10 seconds to reach its full potency. It is a significant source of damage and should generally be used as soon as it is available.
• Hold Lord of Crowns to use under Divination when possible, as it is a significant source of damage. However, hitting multiple targets is worth more than having it under buffs.

• While the tank is making the pull, cast Combust on each enemy while you follow the tank.
• While the tank is making the pull, cast Combust II on each enemy while you follow the tank.
• While the tank is making the pull, cast Combust III on each enemy while you follow the tank.
• Keep Combust applied to enemies that will live for at least 9 seconds.
• Cast Malefic as much as possible.
• Depending on the total number of enemies, Combust can be worth applying if it will tick for the specified amount of time:
  • 2 enemies: 15 seconds;
  • 3 enemies: 24 seconds;
  • 4+ enemies: Skip Combust.
• Depending on the total number of enemies, Combust II can be worth applying if it will tick for the specified amount of time:
  • 2 enemies: 12 seconds;
  • 3 enemies: 18 seconds;
  • 4 enemies: 24 seconds;
  • 5 enemies: 30 seconds;
  • 6+ enemies: Skip Combust II.
• Depending on the total number of enemies, Combust III can be worth applying if it will tick for the specified amount of time:
  • 2 enemies: 12 seconds;
  • 3 enemies: 18 seconds;
  • 4 enemies: 24 seconds;
  • 5 enemies: 30 seconds;
  • 6+ enemies: Skip Combust III.
• Depending on the total number of enemies, Combust III can be worth applying if it will tick for the specified amount of time:
  • 2 enemies: 12 seconds;
  • 3 enemies: 18 seconds;
  • 4 enemies: 24 seconds;
  • 5 enemies: 30 seconds;
  • 6+ enemies: Skip Combust III.
• Cast Gravity as much as possible on 2+ targets.
• Cast Gravity II as much as possible on 2+ targets.
• Cast Gravity II as much as possible on 3+ targets. If you cannot hit at least 3 targets with Gravity II, cast Fall Malefic instead.
• Use Divination once the tank has gathered the enemies if it is available. Using it then should cover most of the party's AoE burst. If it comes up halfway through a pull and many of the enemies are already below half HP, you may want to save it for the next pull to avoid wasting part of the buff time.
  • Use Oracle on as many targets as possible, preferably during Divination.
• Place Earthly Star as soon as you know where the tank is going to stop. You want it to charge so you can detonate it at full potency before any of the enemies die.
• Use Lord of Crowns, preferably under Divination and before the enemies start dying.

oGCD heals are your first line of defense. They are some of your most powerful and efficient heals, and more importantly, they are free. They are only limited by their cooldowns, so if they are not being used, you are losing a lot of value. This breakdown lists them in a rough order of priority.

• Use The Spire, The Bole, and/or The Ewer on the tank when they are available and the tank is taking damage. The Arrow is more conditional; it should be used to increase the value of subsequent healing on the tank (or any other desired target). Ideally, you can snapshot longer lasting effects like regens and shields while the buff is active. It can also be a nice bonus to increase any self-healing the tank has. However, The Spire does not benefit from healing buffs since it is not linked to an actual heal, so do not go out of your way to use them together.
• Use Exaltation on every pull to mitigate damage on the tank. Try not to use it when the tank is using their strongest cooldowns, especially their invulnerability. In dungeon boss fights, tank busters are almost never threatening, so it is fine to use it any time the tank is taking damage.
• Treat Essential Dignity like your primary single-target heal. It is great as a quick emergency heal, but it is too much free healing to waste by saving it for an emergency that may never happen. If there is healing to be done, use it.
  • Essential Dignity now has two charges. It is possible to save one charge for emergencies while using the second charge freely. Try to make sure the recharge timer is always ticking. You should only have two charges if there is nothing to heal.
  • Essential Dignity now has three charges. It is even easier to save a charge for emergencies while using the other two charges freely. Try to make sure the recharge timer is always ticking. You should only have three charges if there is nothing to heal.
• Celestial Intersection is mainly used for passive tank upkeep thanks to its extremely short cooldown. Use it on the tank every time it is available unless the tank is not going to take any damage for the next 30 seconds. Most of its potency is a shield, so it is not useful on non-tanks as often. However, it is still effective at saving a non-tank from upcoming raid damage if they are missing some HP or have vulnerability debuffs.
  • Celestial Intersection now has two charges. This makes it a little easier to use it as a reactive spot heal for non-tanks. Use this ability very liberally and avoid sitting on two charges.

When AoE healing is not needed (which includes almost all dungeon trash pulls), these oGCDs should also be used to support your single-target oGCDs for tank healing.

• Earthly Star is used mainly for damage, especially in a dungeon. You must play around this fact to ensure that its healing is also valuable. Avoid healing people when you know you are about to detonate Earthly Star (unless they will die without immediate healing).
• Collective Unconscious is a channeled ability, but we strongly advise against channeling it. Simply flashing the ability for an instant will apply the base duration of the mitigation and healing effects to party members within the effects' respective ranges. That is the standard way to use the ability. Flash it and then continue casting. Even if you use it while moving, it will still have full effect. For dungeon trash, it should usually be available for every pull.
• Celestial Opposition is used similarly to Collective Unconscious, but it has a higher potency and a standard AoE range. It should also be available for every trash pull in dungeons.
• Lady of Crowns has the same total potency as Helios. It is weaker than Celestial Opposition, but the healing is instant.
• Horoscope can be used by itself for a free 200-potency heal on a short cooldown. It is a small amount, but it can help bridge the gap between other oGCDs.
• Macrocosmos is both a DPS gain on multiple targets and an exceptionally powerful AoE heal that can very easily be a full heal on a tank that is taking heavy damage.

These actions are somewhere between GCD and oGCD. They are oGCD abilities that interact with GCD heals, giving those GCD heals exceptionally high potency values. They are still less efficient than the truly free oGCDs, but the high potency helps minimize the number of GCD heals you have to use.

• Neutral Sect buffs the potency of your GCD heals by 20% and empowers your Aspected spells by adding a shielding effect to them. These shields can be useful for an immediate boost to the party's effective HP in an emergency, and it is a massive increase in the effective potency of Aspected Benefic and Aspected Helios in general. It is such a strong buff that it actually makes these spells complete overkill. One or two casts of Aspected Benefic with Neutral Sect can single-handedly trivialize any dungeon pull in the game.
• Neutral Sect buffs the potency of your GCD heals by 20% and empowers Aspected Benefic and Helios Conjunction by adding a shielding effect to them. These shields can be useful for an immediate boost to the party's effective HP in an emergency, and it is a massive increase in the effective potency of Aspected Benefic and Helios Conjunction in general. It is such a strong buff that it actually makes these spells complete overkill. One or two casts of Aspected Benefic with Neutral Sect can single-handedly trivialize any dungeon pull in the game.
• Synastry can allow you to heal two targets at the same time, but its most common use is to place it on the tank so they receive 40% more healing from Benefic II. For 20 seconds, this can keep a tank alive through almost any dungeon pull by itself. It is often used simply to minimize how many casts of Benefic II it takes to recover the tank's HP. Any time you need to resort to Benefic II, you should consider using Synastry just to reduce the number of GCDs it takes.
• If you cast Helios or Aspected Helios while the initial Horoscope buff is in place, it upgrades to a 400-potency heal. This is mostly relevant for AoE healing, but Aspected Helios with an upgraded Horoscope on a single target is technically a little more potency than a standard Benefic II with a base Horoscope. It is generally impractical and unnecessary to use it in such a way for single-target healing, though.
• If you cast Helios or Helios Conjunction while the initial Horoscope buff is in place, it upgrades to a 400-potency heal. This is mostly relevant for AoE healing, but Helios Conjunction with an upgraded Horoscope on a single target is technically a little more potency than a standard Benefic II with a base Horoscope. It is generally impractical and unnecessary to use it in such a way for single-target healing, though.

Basic GCD heals exist to support your oGCD heals. These are your safety net. These GCD heals should be used to cover any healing that is still required after your oGCD heals have been exhausted. They are listed in a rough order of priority.

• Use Benefic to fill in the gaps left by Essential Dignity. This is the backup heal that you use to keep the tank alive long enough for Essential Dignity to come back up.
• Benefic is an absolute last resort. Because it is slightly more MP-efficient than Benefic II, it can be used to save MP if a single Benefic can cover a spot heal. Otherwise, it should only be cast in an emergency where you literally do not have enough MP to cast Benefic II.
• Benefic II is significantly more GCD-efficient than Benefic at the cost of being slightly less MP-efficient. It replaces Benefic as your backup GCD heal. Use it to keep the tank alive until Essential Dignity comes back up.
• Aspected Benefic is your first line of defense when you must use GCD heals. If you cannot keep the tank alive with oGCDs, you should keep Aspected Benefic on the tank. For most of the early leveling process, you will need to keep Aspected Benefic on the tank nearly at all times. As you gain access to more oGCD heals, it will become less necessary.
• Use Benefic II if you do not have time to wait for the regen from Aspected Benefic or if Aspected Benefic is already applied and you still need more GCD healing.
• Aspected Helios is your main AoE GCD heal. The regen needs time to work, so do not cast it multiple times in a row.
  • After receiving the Enhanced Healing Magic trait at level 85, Aspected Helios actually has a higher total potency on a single target than Benefic II, and it only costs 100 more MP. Benefic II with Synastry pulls ahead, and Aspected Helios with Horoscope pulls ahead of that. At this level, you have so many healing tools that this is unlikely to be relevant. Still, if you find yourself needing more tank healing in a dungeon, this can get you a little more potency.
  • Helios Conjunction is your main AoE GCD heal. The regen needs time to work, so do not cast it multiple times in a row.
• Use Helios if you need to heal more than one party member at a time.
• Helios is a more situational spell. It is only useful if you cannot wait for the regen from Aspected Helios or if Aspected Helios is already applied and you need more GCD healing.
• Helios is a more situational spell. It is only useful if you cannot wait for the regen from Helios Conjunction or if Aspected Helios is already applied and you need more GCD healing.