Stoneskin for Scholars, is it necessary?

[Thaliss]

for me it is

Swiftcast : (resurrection and summon)
Protect : 4 man dungeons / solo
Stoneskin : 4 man dungeons and for thoses occasion better to have tank topped or yourself
Cleric Stance : time to dps a bit
Surecast : almost never use it but I hope one day they add "can move and cast"

But on topic in my opinion stoneskin is a great skill to have as a sch.
Even with a whm in group, in combat if everybody is topped, as a sch you usually don't mind to spend your mana on a few stoneskins to either protect the squishies or reinforce the tank.

[Bigpurpleharness]

Because really, there's nothing better that you can put there

Which is pretty much the case for everyone except some DPS and WARs. Which is kind of sad. :\

[kayuwoody]

You're assuming you will always have someone else in the party who can cast stoneskin. Even if you did, sometimes healing situations are such that the other guy can't cast stoneskins because he's busy keeping the tank topped up.. in which case hey guess who's job it is?

[Akiva_Ninazu]

Stoneskin can be very versatile for 4 and 8 man runs. If a WHM is in the party, sure, their's is better, but they can't afford to spam it like a SCH can. Even at 10%, it can be a huge bump, especially on the tanks.

I'm the WHM in my static and the other healer is a SCH and it works out very well. At the start, I use the WHM protect and stoneskin the heals and tanks. He stoneskins the DPS. From there out, he can apply it much more liberally than I can for the duration and, in some of the really tough stuff, that 10% can make a huge difference, especially if you swiftcast it (although getting many healers to break from the "I must save swifcast for rez!" mindset can be tough).

SCH Cross-Class:

- Swiftcast (used w/ more than just Rez. It's only a 60-sec cooldown and a swiftcast Stoneskin or Succor can go a long ways).

- Stone skin (Sure, SCH doesnt get granite skin, but pop stoneskin, eye for an eye, and galvanize on a tank and watch the damage *stop.*)

- Protect (useful in 4 mans and re-application during a fight if someone is rezzed. It won't over-write a WHM protect, but it can be handy to have two ppl to cast it, especially if the WHM is running low on MP. Protect isn't the costliest spell out there, but it's not free, either.)

- Cleric stance (a must-have for any SCH DPS situations. The damage from the SCH DoTs is pitiful w/out it.)

- Surecast (this is a HUGE help in several parts of coil and the HM & EX primals and allows you to pre-cast in a big way)

[Staris]

No it is not.
4 man content is irrelevant, and you can do more dps with aero.
8 man content if you run with a WHM in existing content there is no need for stoneskin on the SCH. (obviosuly 2 SCH is different).
Future content? I find it highly unlikely that when pushing content with minimal gear that aero won't be a bigger advantage then stone skin. However, it is possible depending on mechanics.
Luckily you can can change on demand....

By the way, If you don't know any uses for surecast you are bad.

[TheHomieData]

i love stoneskin on my SCH

- if my adlo happens to crit, i may just throw out a swift-cast stoneskin for extra mitigation. the combo of the adlo crit+stoneskin usually gives me about enough time to pop into cleric stance and safely apply all my dots (bio2/mia/bio/aero/shadow) before the tank takes any major damage (for content that i know well, at least)
- 4 man content
- if i need an excuse to blow some MP so that i can make full use of my next aetherflow and the tank already has an adlo on him
- if i expect the whm to be getting low on mp soon, or i just want to help the whm conserve mana

idk, i just figure a sch is the best when it comes to damage mitigation, and stoneskin is mitigation so, why not have it?

[Calyanare]

No it is not.
4 man content is irrelevant, and you can do more dps with aero.

By the way, If you don't know any uses for surecast you are bad.

I know this may come as a shock to you, but DPS isn't a healer's purpose in dungeons. Yeah, I don't really leave Cleric Stance, but Bane doesn't apply to Aero, which makes the already small DPS gain even smaller. If I'm going to be synched down, I'd rather have Stoneskin (because most people I meet in leveling dungeons are significantly undergeared for their level, and it allows me to not have to leave Cleric Stance to heal them).

I know a few uses for Surecast, but honestly... Maybe I'm lucky or something, but I almost never get interrupted, even by the things everybody mentioned as times to use Surecast. I never use Surecast, and I can't even remember the last time I had a spell interrupted, so I don't really think it's worthwhile.

[Thorauku]

You're assuming you will always have someone else in the party who can cast stoneskin. Even if you did, sometimes healing situations are such that the other guy can't cast stoneskins because he's busy keeping the tank topped up.. in which case hey guess who's job it is?

If you actually read my post in last page, Casting Adloqium + Stoneskin without using Swiftcast to catch a huge damaging skills (i.e Mountain Buster / Death Sentence) is nearly impossible. So what's the point?

And with the situation you provided, usually SCHs are the one who topped up tanks which leaves WHM assisting for a bit Heal and focusing on AoE / Stoneskin.

[jojober]

It sounds like you have already decided it isn't worth having stoneskin considering you shoot down reasons given as to why it is in fact worth having. Most damaging skills are predictable and can be anticipated allowing plenty of time to cast.

At the end of it, yes, stoneskin is worth having. I wouldn't say it is required though. But again, it is worth having for all the reasons already listed

[Thorauku]

It sounds like you have already decided it isn't worth having stoneskin considering you shoot down reasons given as to why it is in fact worth having. Most damaging skills are predictable and can be anticipated allowing plenty of time to cast.

At the end of it, yes, stoneskin is worth having. I wouldn't say it is required though. But again, it is worth having for all the reasons already listed

Nah, not at all. I'm just trying to justify to this thickhead of mine if it's really worth taking or not, in any case, I might get it eventually when I'm not doing anything. What I'm more concerned is the fact that most players that I'll encounter might expect me to have it while I can barely see any use for it. So ye.

Teehee~