Mini Scholar Rework for 5.0 (fixes shield stacking.... probably)

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Originally Posted by Muchmidget

I like the idea of shield stacking, but it would require a fundamental difference in how healing is designed. Right now we have very scripted damage, often high enough to one-shot at low ilvl, and healers are expected to keep everyone topped off. Additionally, heals are incredibly powerful in this game, to the point that healers can take a full party from 1hp to full in about 5 seconds. Sylvain also correctly pointed out that preventing the damage is always better than healing it afterward (especially in this game where secondary effects of attacks are often negated when 0 damage is taken).

You would need to change it so that there are very few one-shot level damage mechanics, and replace them with lots of random low-to-mid damage hits across the party. Then you would need to alter healing (or alter HP values) so that heals are less powerful overall. This would would make shields and direct heals/HoTs more balanced and allow for stacking since both will achieve the same effect over time.

I'm not sure how well a change like that would go over with the strength of our other skills, though. It would mean healers casting more heals all the time, and may necessitate nerfing MP regeneration skills so they don't just spam their strongest stuff when crap hits the fan.

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I agree completely! I've just started raiding (only on o5s lol), but I think it's true that mechanics are a bit..... well healing and mechanics are both a bit lopsided towards an extreme intensity rigth now, especially compared to something like WoW. However, I don't see a problem with more consistent damage and if anything semi-random medium and small damage to party members is exactly what you'd want to see if my idea for dps-shielding as an alternative was added to make it actually useful.

Some mechanics wont even trigger if you take no damage like Susano-o slashing res down after TB, they would have to rework a lot of things to make stacking shield not busted.

Idk, toggling between "fairy: yes/no" doesn't feel like it'll fix anything or go in a direction of improvement. Pets are too bare-bones on SCH (and SMN) and could definitely use a considerable rework (they haven't gotten new skills since lvl 40/50) SCH could definitely follow the fairy and shield motif. Shield deployment, reinforcement, extension and maybe even dissipation trade off should be themes around SCH as a "tactician" and the fairy helping considerably to keep up with heals and light regens, SCH can keep the dot pummel and broil.

Personally, I'd say just full on allow shield stacking between multiple healers, and reduce Noct's raw shield strength. WHM could use a Ballad Troubadour-style cooldown to boost people's effective HP without giving them a shield too, effectively giving them Stoneskin II again, but in combat this time. That's a way to get overshielding without busting the current mechanics. I'd still argue to keep Adlo and Deployment too. Remove Critlo instead and give SCH CritLustrate and/or CritPhysick instead as a way to boost their raw healing. Maybe tie it to the Fairy's crits on Embrace, so you get the double healing proc on physick/Lustrate but don't have to manually fish for it.

The main reason I argue for this is so Noct could gain stance dancing cooldowns, one of which could be an ET-style cooldown that gives you the boosted shield strength of the current Noct Benefic/Helios while in Diurnal, and gives them an extended Diurnal Benefic/more powerful Diurnal Helios while in Noct, while a longer cooldown just outright swaps sects for a few seconds in a similar vein to Lightspeed, letting you then combine it with the ET-cooldown to simply get the enhanced spell in your normal sect.

In doing so SE could balance around the relative strength of shields pretty easily, as their use depends on certain damage thresholds to begin with. They're good in burst situations and against busters. They're weak to moderate amounts of damage over extended periods of time. Add more situations where the latter happens and they'll see less efficiency overall.

SCH+AST already has excellent synergy. It really doesn't need game breaking buffs.

If you want to buff noct AST, you need to make it replace SCH, not synergize with it. AST+WHM is the lowest performing healer composition, compared to SCH+AST being the top one and, with the recent AST buffs, it'll probably be highly preferred for 4.4.

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Originally Posted by Mahrze

Idk, toggling between "fairy: yes/no" doesn't feel like it'll fix anything or go in a direction of improvement. Pets are too bare-bones on SCH (and SMN) and could definitely use a considerable rework.

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At the very least Selene needs a complete overhaul. Right now most of her
Kit is extremely niche, and you have to give up a lot if you choose to use her. Not to mention the aoe cdr feels like garbage to use.