Originally Posted by
Slib
I'm trying to point out how Scholar can do things that a White Mage generally can not. Scholar brings MORE to the fight than a White Mage. Sure, the extra mitigation is nice. Is it necessary? No, as long as people stay alive. I do love having our White Mage there, but would would be even better was if he could put out as much DPS as I can in a raid fight while maintaining effective healing. For a White Mage, that is VERY risky and also will run you dry of MP fast in a long term fight.
What I am trying to get at is perfect play. I agree that having a white mage is nice, but it could be better and more on par with Scholar. Having a pet heal while you are dpsing and having Lustrates be your Guardian Angel is far better than tossing a Regen on the tank, swapping into Cleric Stance, then someone messes up and you have to Bene them because they got hit by Lunar Dynamo and they are about to get meteor striked. 5 Minute cooldown used when it could have been 2 of 3 charges that have a 1 minute cooldown.
You also don't always need magic defense in raids. Most of the painful magic AoE happens during a phase transition, like T9 and T11. That's where fey covenant takes over as being a staple in the Scholar utility, along with sacred soil and succor + 10% stoneskin (if needed)
Stop thinking that I think White Mage is completely USELESS. It just has a lot less Utility/Versatility than Scholar.