Stoneskin Midbattle waste of time?

[technole]

I'd rather a SCH be putting some dps on the board instead of being bored with a non-traited 10% stoneskin on a party, which is pretty much a waste of MP compared to actually using a real shield in a "hit is near" situation

There are some situations in raid content where stoneskin mid-battle is sort needed like for FCoB Turn 11 before the critical-hit nerve cloud. But that would be the WHM's job because they can use Presence of Mind to get it up on everyone much quicker, and it's 18% traited. Whereas the SCH's job in that situation is to mitigate that damage with Succor/Virus/Fey Covenant. Just another example of why one should leave the stone skin duties to the WHM.

[Alisi]

But thoughts?

That's funny. I just ran a dungeon on my sch that had a black mage reapplying the SS whenever it fell of anyone. XD It was one of the level 20 dungeons and I just decided not to make a fuss about it. He was probably a poor, lost soul about to find his purpose in life in a healer class and was testing his wings... *wipes away tear*

[Nibb]

Pretty sure if the healer doesn't run out of mana it doesn't matter how they use SS. Some healers have their own mitigation healing style and just feel more comfortable having that minor sponge in case something unexpected happens.

[desufin]

Stoneskin is a situational spell, it doesn't really matter who has it (PLD, WHM, SCH). WHM obviously has the better one but you aren't always going to have a WHM around and sometimes when you do they wont be casting Stoneskin midcombat for whatever reason.
People often overlook the fact that Stoneskin stacks with the Galvanize buff so if a SCH has both the time and MP to apply both before a big hit I don't see the problem. Stoneskin also isn't affected by Cleric Stance while Adlo and Succor are meaning you can use it while DPS'in for that minor shield (that is almost on par with a non-crit Adlo on tanks!).

[Blessedbythesun]

As a SCH, I have never been in a situation where stoneskin was a good ideal to use midbattle other than T12 when dealing with brand.

There are exceptions, of course but I would use Fey Illumination with adlo or succor than spend that time on a meh stoneskin, especially when there is a WHM in 8 man parties. You have to remember that adlo heals and shields at the same time. And with aetherflow, there shouldn't be an issue with mana unless you have a really shallow MP pool... Unless people keep dying all over the place and you are raising them. If that's the case, stoneskin is the last thing they really need...

[Sunako]

For PLD and WHM stoneskin is really useful but I rarely use it for the sch. Maybe if other players are busy and some dps have weakness and you think he/she is not gonna survive next mechanic without stoneskin, then it can be good.

[Nerael]

SCH i rarely use Stoneskin, it just isn't worth it. Adlo often has a larger effect and costs slightly more mana. Like some other people said: Only use it when you know a huge hit is incoming. in CoD when i see 3-4 stacks? Hell yea I'll be casting it on the squishier and more important(Priority tanks and healers) party members.

Definitely beats ressing folks that's for sure.

Preventing damage is often better than healing it afterwards in my opinion as long as you do not waste too much mana doing so.

[Sanguisio]

the parrots on these threads.

[Nihility]

It's just a bit of an awkward spell for a scholar since their natural skillset kind of does what stoneskin does but better and i don't think anyone can refute that it is kind of a slow, costly spell. Especially on a scholar that doesn't get the full effect

adloquiem ends up giving a pretty equal or way better shield with a crit and casts faster and heals a bit
succor is a nice little aoe shield
sacred soil while not providing a direct shield is almost guaranteed to negate far more damage than anything else

There are situations like someone that has res sickness and a big boom is on the way, or someone that played poorly and has a lot of damage up debuffs

It's just generally unnecessary for a scholar to use but has it's moments, like a perk for having it when the moment shows itself
WHM on the other hand stoneskin is a big deal

[Gamer3427]

When I heal as a Scholar, it depends. In boss battles I only ever reapply stoneskin to the tank, and even then I focus more on standard healing practice. If I'm just in the midst of running a dungeon however where the tank will be taking the vast majority of the damage, then I use a constant barrier of overhealing Aldoquium and midfight Stoneskin on them with the occasional midfight Stoneskin and Succor if anyone else gets hit by an AoE or if the tank loses the aggro for a moment. Doing this, I can keep the tank from ever even so much as loosing health from all but the hardest hitting enemies, though the MP drain is quite high in the long run compared to standard healing methods.....

When I'm playing as my DPS however, I'll often stoneskin mid fight once my DoTs are up. When I do this though, I typically just focus on the tank(s) and healer(s), since in the long run their lives are worth more than mine.....

In either instance though, if there's a pause while a boss is charging a heavy hitting attack, then a good stoneskin on whoever you can cast it on, can be more valuable than anything IMO.......