Secondary healer job, problems choosing it.

[SovereignAegis]

I have mained SCH since it's release and adore the class. Absolutely not going to change my main from it.

However during raids I still utterly despise SCH+SCH parties. So I am going to sink some time in and level a second healing job. Obviously now I have a choice, WHM or AST.

To me I always have appreciated the unbridled AOE healing power a WHM brings to the table. Medica 2 + divine seal (+30% heal) has alwaaaaysssss blown me away with the sheer sustain power. In my brain with asylum (which I am shocked I don't see being used more as a free AOE regency?) and assize only have added onto this.

However this may be my own internal bias of healing with a lot of talented WHM in the past. Ialso look at AST and they no doubt hhave strong heals too and the ability to change aspect to suit any situation. Obviously for me as that is my current motivation for running away from SCH... That is... Appealing.

So if anyone wants to sell me on a healer... Please do lol.

[Gallus]

SCH + SCH isn't that bad anymore. Have one SCH cast adloquium and the other one stoneskin on tank busters. If you need AOE heals desperately, emergency tactics and indomitability are really a thing, just rotate between them and you'll always have one burst AOE heal available, (30CD is very short), so no need to succor spam anymore if you are smart and can manage your CDs (Whispering Dawn is good too there, and they do stack).

Also, fairies bring a lot of versatility onto the table. You can have double selene for 100% fey wind uptime (pretty damn nice if you ask me), a balanced setup with a 50% fey wind uptime and EOS taking care of more healing intensive phases...or 2 EOS which would be safe mode on my book.


Buuuuuuut...if you still despise SCH + SCH, right now the more viable option is WHM. AST is atm a poor version of WHM with a random feature that doesn't make up for WHM's clear superior heals and far better MP management.

[Ashelia_Ferron]

Iirc, only WHM gets faster Stoneskin due to the removal of granite skin.


It's still 3.5s on everyone else

[Ghishlain]

I would say level all three to 60 and just pick whatever suits your fancy. This way you'll also have a healer for any situation you deem fit and the gear is interchangeable between all of them.

If I were to recommend a healer to level first, I'd say WHM just because I'm biased towards WHM =p

Just some clarifications though:

Ialso look at AST and they no doubt hhave strong heals too and the ability to change aspect to suit any situation.

ASTs can't stance swap Nocturnal and Diurnal stance in combat, so you'll need to pick one for the specific fight.

SCH + SCH isn't that bad anymore. On single target, you no longer have only adloquium to mitigate stuff, have one SCH cast adloquium and the other one stoneskin on tank busters (SS cast time was decreased so it's more viable now).

The SS cast time reduction is a specific trait granted to WHMs since they removed Graniteskin (18% HP Stoneskin) and replaced it with Quick Stoneskin (2.5s cast time instead of 3s) and thus not available to SCHs.

Sorry for the nitpick, I just dislike misinformation ^^;...

[Gallus]

Iirc, only WHM gets faster Stoneskin due to the removal of granite skin.


It's still 3.5s on everyone else

True, all this time I thought they nerfed the cast time of SS for all the classes. Well I was wrong lol, good to know, sorry about that. I didn't notice this new trait "quick stoneskin" from the WHM.
Btw it is 3s cast time on SCH and AST, and 2.5s on WHM.

[Mortalitasi]

If it was me in your position I'd be picking up WHM for my 2nd healer atm. It's not that SCH & AST are bad together, but its generally a much easier time with whm/sch.

[GideonHighmourn]

I'd say WHM, and that's just because the new skills WHM got are pretty awesome. Ive always kept WHM leveled for the same reason you've mentioned, and am really enjoying it so far in 3.0

[winsock]

Honestly, just focusing on the healing aspect of each class, with the exception of 2 skills while in nocturnal, AST has a similar feel to WHM. The big difference in the healing spectrum is that AST has weaker heals, but more access to insta-heals.

[Krixus]

If you DF alot, whm carries baddies much better. If you are in a skilled static, astro for the buffs and its more fun to play. Hard to carry as astro though.

[Seryl199]

If you're looking for raw power, WHM is the way to go, hands down. You just can't beat it. If you want something different, give AST a whirl. It's my new main since 3.0. While not as bursty as WHM, AST is able to use fast casting abilities on the move and has a lot of chances to use oGCD abilities. It performs well by sustaining the party and requires you to think on your feet to decide who to buff when. It's an increasingly busy job as you level up (though not as busy as micro-managing on SCH) and is satisfying to pull off tight healing clinches without the raw heals of WHM or the free heals of SCH.