The Astrologian has been on a bit of a bumpy ride as a job. It was released with Heavensward but some players believe it only really reached its full potential with patches that came years later. Nowadays, Astrologian is a really solid choice for healers. It has plenty of unique abilities and flavor that set it apart from Scholar and White Mage. Whatever your opinion of Astrologians, one thing is certain: Their class fantasy is cool as hell. Reading fortunes, using tarot decks to apply buffs and heals to your team. Their weapons are cool, their spells are snazzy, and they’re just something different from the usual. But per usual, you’ll have a ton of skills and spells at your disposal too. Some are vital to your character’s rotation, some… not so much. Where does Horoscope lie on that scale? Let’s find out.
How Do I Become An Astrologian?
The Astrologian quest becomes available once you’ve cleared the entire A Realm Reborn story (including all the post content patches) and reached level 50, but here’s the kicker: Astrologian starts at level 30. So if you’re making a beeline for it to play at endgame, you’re going to be set back twenty levels. Once you’ve begun the Heavensward expansion, you just need to go to Ishgard (the main city that you reach in the first quest) and find the Athenaeum Astrologicum. Here you’ll be able to pick up the quest “Stairway To The Heavens” which will unlock the Astrologian class for you! And as I previously mentioned, Astrologian starts at level 30. So if you’ve picked it up immediately after starting Heavensward, you won’t actually be able to complete any of the Heavensward quests until you’ve done some catching up. This can feel like a bit of a grind. But thanks to features like the Armory Bonus (an experience buff which automatically applies to any jobs below your highest level) it’s not too bad.
What Does Horoscope Do?
You’ll unlock Horoscope at level 76. It’s an instant cast that applies the “Horoscope” buff to everyone in a twenty yalm radius. Casting Horoscope again while that buff is active consumes the Horoscope effect to provide everyone with it a 200 potency heal. If Helios or Aspected Helios (both AoE heals that unlock at levels 10 and 42 respectively) are cast while Horoscope is active, it’s upgraded to Horoscope Helios, and its potency is doubled – resulting in an even bigger heal. So basically, Horoscope sets up an AoE heal you can pop with a delayed timer. If you get a Helios or Aspected Helios off while the effect is active, it provides an even greater healing effect. If you don’t recast Horoscope before the timer runs down, it’ll disappear with no effect whatsoever.
Is Using Horoscope Worth It?
Horoscope isn’t going to be a core part of your healing rotation. But it will still come in useful from time to time. It’s on a short cooldown, so it’s great for topping off little bits of widespread party damage. Once upgraded by Helios or Aspected Helios, the buff lasts for quite a long time. So you can use Horoscope/Helios together to heal some damage now, and another chunk later on. Don’t go out of your way to cast Helios or Unaspected Helios just to upgrade Horoscope. Think of it as a useful freebie more than anything else.
