SCH opinons on the change

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Originally Posted by Ahki

I think you are completely misunderstanding why scholars are complaining. It is great that AST is no longer that job that no one wanted to take, and yes SCH did need some nerfs, but you have to realize that SCH was nerfed too much and all these nerfs did was bring out the flaws that were always there - clunky fairy, low potency heals, clunky skills. These things were overlooked because SCH was able to heal while providing a good source of DPS and damage mitigation. No other job could fill that spot. Things are different now though. The DPS is not high like it was, the fairy cannot heal as much, but the mitigation is still there. SCH is being forced to play like a WHM, but they don't have the healing power of a WHM.

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you took the words right out of my mouth. homogenization at it's finest, am i right?

It still feels like SCH in terms of playstyle when doing things like deployment tactics but this patch did nothing to make me feel more SCH, instead it makes it feel more like the other two healers.

Is Scholar really that trash ? 9/10 of fastest kills on ex primals are AST/Sch still. Don't beat me, i'm not into job balance things.. (I'm not saying SCH is fine by any mean).

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Originally Posted by Born_Free

And I'm sure you never complained about how bad AST was in the last expansion either. For someone who's played all three classes you certainly seem to be painfully biased. But hey, I'm sure belittling anybody who doesn't agree with your opinion will make you feel better about yourself. I guess. When things actually are balanced between the three classes, people won't complain. These threads exist because they aren't. Get over it.

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I honestly have never complained about how Astro was last expansion. Find ONE post. One. You won't be able to, promise! Nor did I bash Scholars or White Mages. I have never called for nerfs or cried on the forums when I didn't get my way. I understand Scholar got some much needed buffs -- I've been advocating for them as well -- feel free to check. But hey, I guess you got me pegged, eh?

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Originally Posted by Sillmeria

Is Scholar really that trash ? 9/10 of fastest kills on ex primals are AST/Sch still. Don't beat me, i'm not into job balance things.. (I'm not saying SCH is fine by any mean).

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Pre-Patch Rouse + Whispering Dawn still outputs a heck of a lot more free GCDless healing than Whm can do.

Post-Patch though, we'll see. Those Lily and Confession changes could be pretty big.

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Originally Posted by Sillmeria

Is Scholar really that trash ? 9/10 of fastest kills on ex primals are AST/Sch still. Don't beat me, i'm not into job balance things.. (I'm not saying SCH is fine by any mean).

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These forums don't ever know what they're talking about when it comes to job balancing. It's the reason we have AST broken since 3.x. They bitched too hard about how underpowered it was so it got way overbuffed.

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Originally Posted by Ahki

SCH is being forced to play like a WHM, but they don't have the healing power of a WHM.

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The way I see it, SCH could still Single Target DPS harder than the other two healers due to the amount of Mitigation they could provide all at once.
Yes, the shield might be weaker than AST's, but now there's Excogitation, which can be stacked on top of Galvanize or Noct Shield. And now, excogitation actually heals much more HP than Lustrate or non-boosted Cure II. Which is great, and that's what makes me like Scholar to begin with.

Nocturnal Astro doesn't have a DPS capability of a Scholar with just Malefic III+Combust II, or a regen in form of Fairy.
And WHM needs to react to damage, and they'll drop DPS even more often in Trials. (Holy is still great in dungeon however due to the stuns.)

Man, y'all don't realize when Good is Good.

Let's take the SCH buffs one-by-one:

Emergency Tactics: CD reduction to 20s will be nice for the single-healer or oh shit moments but otherwise I don't think this will make much of a difference.
Indomitability: Potency increased to 500. Nice to have. Indom was lacking behind Assize & ES so this will bring the instant-AoEs in line.
Excogitation: Potency increased to 800. This is exactly where is should be! This makes it more powerful than Lustrate, even without the crit effect: 800 effective Excog potency vs 720 effective Lustrate potency (600 * [1.2 crit chance]). This move was already good in large pulls and for some tank busters and will be even more useful now.
Fey Union: Increased range. Exactly what is needed. The healing potency is already stronger than roused embrace and now it will be faster (no need to place fairy next to tank beforehand) and more potent (no lost stacks to out-of-range).
Quickened Aetherflow: A CD reduction of Aetherflow to 45s, period. If you weren't already using all your stacks before Aetherflow has 10s off CD, then you weren't doing it right. The RNG reduction previously was terrible for planning and now the move will encourage proper Scholar play without fixating the player's eye on the hotbar.
Miasma II: Wow oh wow. People actually got what they wanted and still want to complain?? At 2+ mobs this is already stronger than Broil II. At 3+ mobs, this is now spammable. Not only has it received a buff from HW, it's actually an implicit buff to Ruin II because it now affords Scholar more weaving opportunities. This will be a huge boon in Single target situations and the opener which is already heavily front-loaded with oGCDs.

My overall thoughts:

Scholar is not a "shield-healer", it is a "free heals healer", and these buffs reinforce this archetype. Admittedly, this is a transition from the powerful shields we've had before, but each expansion inherently brings a shuffling to the job landscape (see BRD, SMN, etc).

Scholars should strive for a cyclical gameplay-style on a 60s rotation. At the top, you Aetherflow, Rouse, and activate the current fairy buff (Fey Wind or Whispering Dawn). Once Rouse is off, you should consider tethering the fairy. Use Fey Covenant and Aetherflow properly. As Rouse comes off cooldown, you repeat the 60s cycle, inserting Fey Illumination every other time. Additionally, every other Fey Union, you should consider using Dissipation as the fairy doesn't add much value once her abilities are on CD and you have no Aetherpact. Once you learn to get in this 60s cycle (choosing to Fey Illumination one time, possibly Dissipate the next), you will discover that Scholar's abilities actually do not "compete against one another", but work in tandem or sequentially depending on the situation. You should be making this evaluation every 15s seconds or so.

I don't hate them, but they certainly not what the Job needed. Did Indom need more potency? Not really. What it needed was a shorter cooldown. Did Emergency Tactics need a shorter cooldown? Probably, but 20s is still too long for what they want it to be. Miasma II is nice, but do they want it to be an AoE DoT or an AoE damage spell? They tried both, and it seems underwhelming that way (and it's still point blank).

However, Adlo and Succor are still too expensive and inefficient. Healing boosts don't affect all of SCH's abilities. Dissipation still locks out the fairy gauge and a lot of the SCH's kit. Selene is still vastly inferior to Eos. Fey's Union is still underwhelming as a "reward" for using Aetherflow. Excog and Sacred Soil still cost Aetherflow. Excog can't be passed via Deployment.

There are just so many missed opportunities here, and a lot of the buffs didn't address all of the issues SCH has. Sure, it seems better in dungeons, but, if they have to heal on their own, it's a struggle.

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Originally Posted by Iveriad

Nocturnal Astro doesn't have a DPS capability of a Scholar with just Malefic III+Combust II,

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This is where cards come in.

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Originally Posted by Iveriad

or a regen in form of Fairy.

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Practically a consolation to SCHs for not having a cure2/benefic2 equivalent, while the other two healers have them with possible regens on top. So can we really count that as an 'advantage' at this point when comparing the bread and butter of healing kits, especially after yet another nerf to embrace in 4.0, and cleric stance/mind change taking away from the fairy's original selling point of 'healing not cut by cleric stance'?

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Originally Posted by RajaVamberaux

Scholar is not a "shield-healer", it is a "free heals healer", and these buffs reinforce this archetype. Admittedly, this is a transition from the powerful shields we've had before, but each expansion inherently brings a shuffling to the job landscape (see BRD, SMN, etc).

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So SCH lost an identity to AST, and... retained the other identity it always had? Yay...?

Call me a grouch, but I'm just not fond of that idea at face value. Why exactly did SCH have to lose part of their identity to ASTs who can now do it better in nocturnal sect? SE couldn't be bothered to create a more unique healing role for AST so SCH had to share a kidney?

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Originally Posted by RajaVamberaux

Scholars should strive for a cyclical gameplay-style on a 60s rotation.

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The thing about scholar right now is that it looks good on paper. Just like what you just mentioned about using faerie, however the fae is super clunky to use. To make it cast a spell you want at the right time might take up to 5 seconds.

Try casting whispering dawn mid fight... if your fae don't have any embrace queued for healing others its fine. Except for the fact that you want to use fae spells to help bring up the team at the most chaotic time. Imagine your team is suffering huge AOE damage and you try to use whispering dawn.... takes at least 5 seconds to do it cause of the AI messing up thinking she gotta embrace the whole bloody team with her tiny hands.

You can tell scholars to get gud by planning the AOE phase but fights like Susano is more reactive. If there is just one person that sets off the lightening on the team... you can't "pre-plan" that.