Finally someone else that gets it! +1 for a great post.
Printable View
I can see it being useful for a few seconds to heal a few ticks/mitigate a huge AOE, but running its full 18 sec duration would be tough in a boss fight.
Yes this is an exceptional good use of collective unconsciousness, the stacking of regen abilities in Diurnal stance is fantastic and quite OP as hell. I do it a lot in DF and then get to go afk for 18 secs whilst its doing its job.
However, it does fall short in Norturnal stance. Nice for raid wide damage, bosses ultimates etc. For other things its not so good. It means that you, as a healer, have to stand in the bad to mitigate something that is targeting another party member. Imaging T13 mega flares during progression, you dont have the stack circle on you, but have to mitigate it to your maximum potential like the SCH does with succor and sacred soil, well you cant really do that in nocturnal. You cant stand in that bad yourself :(.
And just to pull apart my own argument about Nocturnal Collective Unconsciousness, we may not find these kind of mechanical scenarios in Alexander Raids, so this point may be moot, but if we do, Nocturnal Collective Unconsciousness may need tweeking.
(Now they just maybe need to do something about Celestial Opposition..........)
AST buffs are outmatched by everything the SCH does.
DPS ? SCH > Ast.
healing ? SCH > Ast
Utility ? SCH > Ast (hello selene buff, hello mass dispel, hello eos aoe hot + aoe healing increase, hello Shadowflare reducing attack speed)
CD ? SCH > Ast.
Edit : which prolly means nothing except that SCH is borderline op.
No, the skill is good but it's just far too restricting. If they made the field linger for 6 seconds after cancelling the channel, it would be a wonderful skill. If I cancel early, I don't quite have the duration of the SCH/WHM counterparts but it doesn't completely destroy the reliability of the spell.
As of now, as soon as you have to move or if you're knocked back, the effect just ends abruptly. Also, the radius is pitiful for a skill that strips me of my mobility and spellcasting.
Let me give you an little list of content where this IS a good spell. And I'll just pick from trials from. I wont even mention coil.
Ifrit, after the big nail goes down.
Titan, after the heart blows up. Position yourself to where you will be behind him when the tank gets threat.
Titan, again for the stomps.
Moogle, after the revival of the moogles while king does his big attack.
Leviathian, after the generator is turned on. Plenty of time until he pops up before his flop.
Ramuh, at any point you want, especially when breaking people from terror if you're the main one responsible from breaking people from it.
Shiva, at any point for her sword attack.
Bismarck while the chitin is being taken down.
Bismarck again after the dragons go down.
Bismarck again while the second chitin is being taken down.
Yes, the spell could be better.
Yes, one WHM cure 3 will do this and more.
I agree it needs to be better, but the spell is not unusable.