Patch 2.45 December 9th

[vp_cmc]

Know what would be cool? Somewhere between 50-60 CNJ gets a battle SS2. Big AOE coming? Swiftcast SS2.

Sure. But it will cost all WHM's mp, like flare.

[M0xie]

also we don't know if schs will be able to cross-class this.

If they can, I want a weaker, shorter stoneskin built in to medica. My favorite thing about healing with a scholar (for fun) is succor and the galvanize.

Still, I hope this means we'll be more likely to see reapplying SS before more pulls.

WHMs should already be doing this.

stoneskin affects the fight. time saved by doing one spell instead of 4 affects the whole run.

A seasoned healer reapplies stoneskin when the battle is nearing its end, when killing the last mob of the pull. This really wouldn't change much if a WHM does this throughout a dungeon, but will be an improvement when starting off or if they just want to do this at the end of the fight instead.

Watch this have a 24-second cast time.

Shame on you!

[ReddAxel]

Anyone else see this? Coming in 2.45 apparently http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/pr/blog/

[CGMidlander]

WHMs should already be doing this.

Not all bosses really benefit from pre-stoneskinning the whole party before the pull.

e.g. Titan EX. The first Tumult will eat through it and you will overheal anyway, so no real benefit there.

[Recaldy]

Tanks will still run off before they get Protect.

[Zirael_Foxfire]

As mentioned during Letter from the Producer LIVE, we will be adding Stoneskin II to the array of conjurer’s spells in Patch 2.45. This spell will allow you to cast stoneskin on your entire party when you are not in combat.

White mages rejoice! Soon enough you won’t have to spam stoneskin on the entire party before you begin your next battle. I know Bayohne is as excited about this as everyone else.

Um... Why White Mages deserve the upgrade more than Scholars? What if you enter Duty finder and there are two Scholars and they have to cast Stonesking manually? It's discriminatory.

[axemtitanium]

No, they don't. Succor is not Stoneskin: it last a few seconds, it's weaker and the best part is that they stack. There's no reason to not apply both before a pull other than pure laziness.
SCHs need this as much as WHMs.

Because I was responding to someone talking about 4-man dungeon runs where you could get a scholar instead of a white mage. The change is equalizing, not imbalancing since now both jobs are equal in being able to cast an aoe shield before a pull. If SCH gets the aoe Stoneskin as well, then you'll just unbalance it again by letting SCH able to put up two different shields on the party in just 2 casts. In 8 man trials and raids, you're correct, there's no reason not to cast both before a pull.

[M0xie]

Not all bosses really benefit from pre-stoneskinning the whole party before the pull.

e.g. Titan EX. The first Tumult will eat through it and you will overheal anyway, so no real benefit there.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day! Let them take full tumult damage and not mitigate any of it with stoneskin? You know there's more than one tumult right? I've never overhealed on this mechanic.

[Zumi]

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day! Let them take full tumult damage and not mitigate any of it with stoneskin? You know there's more than one tumult right? I've never overhealed on this mechanic.

You have to cast an aoe heal medica or medica 2 on the first aoe it will over heal and thus you wasted all that time casting stoneskin.

[CGMidlander]

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day! Let them take full tumult damage and not mitigate any of it with stoneskin? You know there's more than one tumult right? I've never overhealed on this mechanic.

Depending on semantics, Tumult can be treated as "multiple Tumults" or "a multi-hit attack." (Another example would be Bahamut's Claw in T9)
I treated it as the latter. My reasoning is because once the cast goes off (in the case of Tumult, instant cast time) the boss will finish the attack before changing actions/phases.

You have to cast an aoe heal medica or medica 2 on the first aoe it will over heal and thus you wasted all that time casting stoneskin.

^ yes

Pre-pull whole party stoneskinning is, on a macro level, a waste of time in Titan EX. It doesn't make a lick of difference to the party's survivability whatsoever.