fresh 50 sch looking for advice on how to up my game!

[Anova]

In terms of 8man progression and difficulty, it is easy to say that the difficulty rises from Ifrit, Garuda, CT, and then Titan. Coil is probably on par with Titan.

I can't answer your question about the party order although I believe it should be in the same place as the pc: your party menu that displays member location, class, etc and the up/down arrows.

It will depend on the boss and the tank's gear, but you can usually get a DOT combo off safely with an adlo + stoneskin. Be aware your tank will take some damage and may be at 50% hp after the full rotation. If you don't want to chance it, trigger the rouse + fey illumination + whispering dawn combo and have Eos make up for your healing. I use it to great effect in T4 when I use my SCH to add a full dps and shadowflare rotation on the juggernauts. Tank hasn't died once. For the most part, you will be able to dps during most primal fights and coil, except maybe Titan (depending how much damage your group is taking).

I would recommend using shadowflare over sacred soil unless you're using it to absorb a primal aoe or in coil. Your aetherflow stacks are generally better used for lustrate. Of course, feel free to sacred soil or energy drain if you have extra stacks and are using aetherflow again.

I can't give you specific numbers for SCH dps, but you will be able to contribute quite a bit. Do not discount the spellspeed and skillspeed buff from Selene. She's actually automated now too for a very quick and easy boost to party dps.

A thorough understanding of a WHM does help you in understanding their healing practices, especially the burst healing you see coming from them. As a SCH, you also have fewer aoe heals, mp management, and aggro management issues, so knowing how the WHM works does wonders for teaching you how to position yourselves and make it easier for the WHM. Generally, it will teach you to top everyone off with a barrier so you reduce overall damage and save your WHM some mp and aggro. You probably do not need to level a WHM to 50 to learn it, but just spending some time to talk healing with them should be enough. If anything, WHM seem to learn more from playing SCH than the other way around.

Adloquium is your bread and butter. It is on par with your stoneskin on a tank normally, and when it crits, is 3x more effective. You will always cast ado first, followed maybe by stoneskin. I usually put up a stoneskin before any big damage or pull, but find it less than optimal to cast during a fight. The biggest advantage is to give your tank some extra time to build aggro during an initial pull or add spawn (caduceus, T4, twintania snakes, etc) before you are forced to throw out heals on them. Be aware that an enemy will eat through adlo first and then stoneskin, which is very useful to know if you have to buff your tank up in T4 or anytime where adds appear while enemies are still attacking them.

I am in the habit of always placing my fairy. But you will find that some fights make it less than optimal. Place your fairy at any time you don't want it getting involved in a fight or if you want it in a very specific location (T2 if you're not doing enraged, twintania, etc). Be aware that placing the fairy will increase its overall healing as it will not spend time moving and will simply heal. Find the right place and you might not even have to move or re-summon it.

Otherwise, definitely get swiftcast. A caster without swiftcast is like a monk without blood for blood, pre-2.1.

I am assuming since you have rosegold circlet on your wishlist, that you want both int and mnd and are going smn as well. The Vanya hats are better if you need the extra vit and hp for survivability. Choose one or the other depending on your needs and playstyle.