Quote Originally Posted by dezzmont View Post
No, you don't understand. Aetherflow doesn't intrinsicly need a dump, and the 'dump' isn't actually a dump. It completely changes your relationship with aetherflow because now using Aetherflow for heals is a DPS loss.

This is, low key, why I am starting to level WHM. The fact you don't need to think about Lilies as anything but a healing resource is a feature, not a flaw.

Imagine if Aetherflow DIDN'T have a dump. You only used it on heals. Suddenly if you had aetherflow but no oGCD heals, the choice between using an aetherflow heal and a non-aetherflow heal is a no brainer, just use the aetherflow heal you dummy: they don't cost MP, they heal more, they have shorter recast timers.

But with a dump, suddenly every heal you use aetherflow on is a loss of an extra 100 potency, so your not just dumping aetherflow you didn't have, the entire class plays differently... Now you only use aetherflow to heal if it is actually required to keep someone alive. It is actually a pretty substantial change to the job to have it or not have it. Having a 'resource dump' is a non-issue, like you don't need a resource dump for say... MP or HP if your capped out from your regens. But ED makes it so you view the entire resource as a different type of resource, its now a DPS resource you can burn for emergency heals, and that reminds people that healers are green DPS in most content in a way that can make people feel weird, even though it is actually interesting and a good way to differentiate good SCH and bad SCH by how much they can ride that line and maximize ED usage.

This is also why they keep removing and adding ED back in: They don't like that it isn't a pure healing resource but its also super interesting and SCHs love it and it makes the job feel distinct, so any time they remove it people get upset. There is a lot more going on than just 'Oh I can spend my aetherflow to hit the button again and get more mana back.'
Here's the problem: Aetherflow uses ties directly to another one of your skills (in this case, Aetherpact/Fey's Union). Without dumping those resources, you don't generate the amount of Fey's Union that the game expects you to. Granted, Fey's Union isn't that great a skill, but it's a part of SCH's healing kit. Without the Aetherflow "dump", you don't generate the amount of Fey's Gauge that you should. That's the problem with the removal of Energy Drain.