Potential Fixes to SCH's Ongoing Design Problems

[Saefinn]

I don't think it needs a complete rework, but it does need thinking about.

IMO the 2.0 design for SCH was fantastic. But there was 1) the perception that it was too weak, 2) shields did not stack so a SCH/SCH set up wasn't entirely great and 3) delay on faerie actions.

I think we just need an evolution of that design but with those 3 things addressed.

The perception that it was weak I think is what brought on what I felt were unnecessary additions to the job that inevitably made it OP and that was its boost to pure healing. So I think we should roll it back a bit again make its pure healing less efficient than its shield healing BUT don't completely nerf if its pure healing, they still need to be able to handle stuff like Living Dead and certain types of Doom.
In addressing the shield stack problem, I think one way this could be addressed is a to add a shield cap over Max HP. Eg if the cap is 40k HP, and the play's Max HP is 120k then the max HP + shields it can have is 160k, but say they drop to 100k, they could have a 60k shield because it doesn't exceed the 160k total. If I recall the reason shield stacking wasn't a thing is because it could mess with mechanics. But the real benefit of shield stacking would be when people's health has dropped and this is where it is kinda gimp.
The delay on faeries actions is an awkward one, and I hate they got rid of Selene's actions. It seems actions queue now, so I think that's fine, there isn't really much of a delay here just a queue, which you can account for, I've not found enough of an issue with how faerie actions work to complain about it (even if lament being able to properly micromanage pets, I know the problem that had and this seems like the compromise). Also modernise Selene, don't delete her.

As for the evolution part, healers now have more emphasis on oGCD's, I think we can shift more shielding onto the oGCD's to help shift some of the older design philosophy into how healers play.

"Simple and complex healers"
Oh no. This is "Keep White Mage boring and make Scholar overpowered again" isn't it?

I think having a tiered approach is a good idea, so people who want complexity can have it and the main reason SCH got OP is because its handicap got patched but it was that handicap that stopped it being OP. That handicap made SCH /feel/ weak, when played properly it wasn't weak. Like the perception DRK was always squishy but wasn't when played right.

As for WHM, I think it can be both simple and not boring. I reckon they could steal ideas from BLM's level 50 rotation. I suggested it in another thread but maybe something along the lines of:
Stone IV procs -> It becomes Quake (stronger version of Stone)
Aero II Procs -> It becomes Tornado (delivers total Aero II damage at once)
Dia -> This becomes a debuff (WHM utility), perhaps a defense debuff
Glare -> I thought it could work as a lily dump and build up for Afflatus Misery

It's not complicated but it adds variety straight away. The healing side is already pretty fluid, but I think upgrading the DPS side like that could help break up some of the monotony whilst remaining simple.

And I think then both its healing and DPS would lend to WHM being the "powerful" healer and with SCH retaining a "tactical" healer and maybe AST as a "technical" healer.

[Kabooa]

Glare -> I thought it could work as a lily dump and build up for Afflatus Misery

I'm going to have to insist that all Blue Lily actions remain heals. We already have trouble valuing them properly as is, adding a damage option that still builds Blood Lily buries the entire system.

But this is a scholar thread so -

I've never liked the pet. There's not been an iteration of it that hasn't annoyed me in some manner, and the continued issues with Scholar and Summoner have only steered me more to "Get rid of them" over the years. So if we're just throwing out what we'd like to see...

As a rough and basic overview, I'd like to see Eos/Selene become passengers rather than be their own entities. They have two basic functions they heed.
A) Follow. Orders a Faerie to attach to a target. By default they are on the scholar's shoulder. Eos provides whoever she's 'following' Embrace, a HoT effect. Selene provides whatever Enemy she's attached to a DoT effect, and will move to the nearest aggro'ed enemy should the current be defeated.
B) Set. Places the Faerie at target location. They extend their default skill to an area at weaker potency. (Eos aoe regens, Selene AoE Dots)

This serves as scholar reimplementation of the old Cleric Stance system. You have Eos out to heal, you have Selene out to deal damage. This also gives us a significant way to improve Dissipation - While the Scholar can swap Faeries by default, Dissipation effectively empowers the opposing Faerie - Locking you out of one for 30s but greatly improving both their, and your, effectiveness.

Example: Eat Eos - Improve your healing capabilities, improve everything sourced from Selene (Usually damage). Eat Selene, improve your damage, improve everything sourced from Eos (Usually healing.)

With this design point in mind, we have a pretty clear goal. We build the Scholar (and faeries) around separate and limited damage/healing kits. When the Scholar is on the offensive, Eos is out to cover. Once the Scholar's offensive options are extinguished, Selene comes out.

We could enforce this via action swapping based on which Faerie is active, but I imagine old scholar mains would much prefer to treat this more as a 'guideline' than a requirement - If you can get away with Selene out and going offensive, that should be an option, just as the ability to turtle up with Eos should be an option.

The introduction of the Fey gauge and Fey Union we'd take a different approach with. Rather than be limited to two abilities, instead the Fey gauge is drained to allow both Faeries to be active at once. Fey Union becomes a cooldown, causing all active faeries to mimic your GCD actions at the chosen target, as weakened and separate effects.

Seraph is now a temporary summon for 30s / 120recast. She grants the ally she follows a Barrier every 6seconds, or applies it to the area she is set at a weaker potency.

[glamazon]

I like these ideas