Honestly, it doesn't matter one way or the other. To those who argue that damage > DR, I'd remind them that at lower levels the difference in damage is negligible between cleric and non-cleric for Arcanists, and not really worth more than a footnote on Astro's either. In addition, the difference in protection at low levels with or without Protect is also pretty negligible. Basically, go with whatever you're more comfortable with.

I think people are just used to seeing shiny buff icons though. They want to see Protect on whether they need it or not, just because they're used to having it not because it offers much in the way of protection at low levels.
Quote Originally Posted by seekified View Post
I once had a tank in Snowcloak who refused to tank unless he got a Stoneskin. I proceeded to point out to him that Stoneskin is a fairly useless crossclass as a SCH, and he proceeded to become angry and leave.
I'm going to be controversial and say that Stoneskin in general is no longer very useful as a whole. With the one good trait long since removed from the game (Conjurer's stronger Stoneskin), it's basically a longer casting cure spell that costs more. With a single cure, I can restore 3k hp at high levels, the equivalent of Stoneskin on a 30k HP tank. I'll cast Stoneskin~ga at the start of a big fight, but it's not something that's worth recasting since it doesn't do anything of note anymore.

So yeah, Stoneskin isn't just a useless crossclass, it's pretty useless in general these days.