sch has low heals? we mitigate damage

[Manuka]

-snip-

Yeah I've had the same issue of the "What if" shadow looming over me and held onto my CD's for far too long sometimes but if ya think about it, by holding onto all of your CD's for those 'oh god no' moments you're actually making the party vulnerable to those very situations by allowing the damage to slowly creep up on you. Honestly after I started to be more proactive with my CD's and using them consistently (even if badly) the difference in difficulty was night and day. SCH's have a ridiculous amount of invisible power rolled up in their kit that it's difficult to appreciate it until you start using it often. So just keep in mind, it's better to use a CD incorrectly and eek some benefit out of'em than save'em till s**t hits the fan and realize you already passed the point of no return. Granted, as I say that I still forget Virus exists sometimes ;-;

[insert applause for Manuka here]

/blush

[Kitru]

SCH's have a ridiculous amount of invisible power rolled up in their kit that it's difficult to appreciate it until you start using it often.

This is one of the biggest problems with a vast majority of SCHs. I like to them that they play SCH as if it were WHM (saving Aetherflow for mp regen and only using the stacks and CDs when they absolutely have to, casting Physick instead of Adloq when a target is low on hp because it restores more hp, keeping everyone topped off constantly) which they just shouldn't be.

A SCH should be only be throwing Physick when the target needs a heal, already has Galvanize, and you're out of stacks you can spend on Lustrate (sometimes you have to keep them in reserve for Sacred Soil or tank burst Lustrates for specific mechanics). She should be using Rouse and Fey Illumination as much as possible and letting her pet top people off instead of trying to do it herself all the time. She should be precasting shield spells and using Sacred Soil/Fey Covenant to prevent the group from taking damage rather than waiting for it to happen and healing reactively (that's what Whispering Dawn is for). She should be using her Aetherflow stacks on a regular basis, making sure that she uses 3 every minute so that Aetherflow isn't wasted, sitting there when it's off CD.

SCH is very much so a class about using it or losing it, and, if you hold stuff in reserve like people do with WHM (for good reason), you're going to lose it.

[Menae]

This is one of the biggest problems with a vast majority of SCHs. I like to them that they play SCH as if it were WHM (saving Aetherflow for mp regen and only using the stacks and CDs when they absolutely have to, casting Physick instead of Adloq when a target is low on hp because it restores more hp, keeping everyone topped off constantly) which they just shouldn't be.

A SCH should be only be throwing Physick when the target needs a heal, already has Galvanize, and you're out of stacks you can spend on Lustrate (sometimes you have to keep them in reserve for Sacred Soil or tank burst Lustrates for specific mechanics). She should be using Rouse and Fey Illumination as much as possible and letting her pet top people off instead of trying to do it herself all the time. She should be precasting shield spells and using Sacred Soil/Fey Covenant to prevent the group from taking damage rather than waiting for it to happen and healing reactively (that's what Whispering Dawn is for). She should be using her Aetherflow stacks on a regular basis, making sure that she uses 3 every minute so that Aetherflow isn't wasted, sitting there when it's off CD.

SCH is very much so a class about using it or losing it, and, if you hold stuff in reserve like people do with WHM (for good reason), you're going to lose it.

Pretty much this. Scholars are almost like a DPS in that they are best played by maximizing throughput, in a sense. By that I mean that unless a fight mechanic demands more than three Aetherflow charges in very short succession, you are best served by using them up and getting Aetherflow back on cooldown. Every 20 seconds you leave Aetherflow available but unused is a Lustrate or a Sacred Soil or even Energy Drain thrown away. Every 60 (cumulative) seconds you leave Aetherflow unused is hurting your mp regeneration to the point where you'd actually be better off as a WHM using Shroud for two minutes.

Even WHM should try and use cooldowns regularly, but Divine Seal aside, they are longer cooldowns and holding them for a few seconds doesn't really affect the number of uses you get over a fight. For SCH it is ESSENTIAL to playing the class well - two of your biggest advantages over WHM are Lustrate and Aetherflow's MP regen, and by leaving Aetherflow unused you are losing a lot of both.