Change SCH Dissipation

[Rilifane]

I'm with Nizzi here.
Although Dissipation could really use some adjustments to better fit into current time fight and toolkit designs, Dissipation isn't something that should just get nuked from our spellbooks.
I personally like the trade-off aspect and that you have to think about when to squeeze it in, whether you use it for healing with the additional AF or DPS. Although I dislike that we still have to spend a GCD on resumming our fairy after a death, Dissipation is useful for a quick AF snack during prog and especially after dying. It's also useful on p8s part 2 for replacing GCD heals with AF heals with much lower opportunity cost. We managed to trim every uptime GCD heal during part 2 right up to the later part of Dominion with this. It's also great for buffing downtime Spreadlos, I used to delay Dissipation on Carby to get a buffed Spreadlo off during jumps.

It's not a core part of the toolkit, no. On that I can agree.
But it does fit the trade-off/ opportunity cost design of SCH that makes you think more about when to use which skill, something I miss on the other healers. And despite having to pay opportunity cost, SCH is still one of the meta healers so it's not like it's the heavily punished niche healer that either doesn't heal enough or doesn't bring enough dps. It's in a great spot even with paying opportunity cost and having toolkit lockouts.

[Renathras]

As if the people making these arguments are playing the job at the organized optimal level where this is all you use Dissipation or Aetherflow for.

Here's the thing, people not doing super high end content only use it for that. So that is all they see. There are two points where it's used that way: Mid-core players doing mid-core tent that aren't optimizing it like you are, and ultra-high-end players that have their party comp and overall CD planned perfectly to avoid needing any GCD healing that would require Dissipation. The only people who consistently benefit from it are probably speed runners, and even there, at the highest end, they may use it for Energy Drains, or to free up other AF stacks to be used on EDs.

Ryu has the right of it:

If you need Dissipation for the heals right now, things have gotten really bad to where just the AF by itself isn't going to do anything for you. You're either recovering from a death, at which point the AF heals are already nerfed by the weakness to where they're not going to be as useful, or things are so out of control that you're being forced to spam Lustrate or throw everything out to save the run. You've lost your fairy for this, so best pray that you don't need any of her abilities (if they're up).

That's a really bad trade-off, always has been.

Dissipation has never been a good ability. Ever since its original incarnation where you had to resummon your Faerie after it ended (ONE thing about it they thankfully fixed), it's never been a great ability at any point in the game's history, and has most often been shoehorned into being a DPS CD because of how it nerfs your healing. It has niche applications where it can be useful as a healing tool, but they are niche.

I'm not sure I'd say "hot trash", but more that it's a relic of the pre-EW days when SCH was consistently clunky for no good reason, and it's one of the stubborn hangers-on. I have always contended that "mastering clunk" is not a measure of skill. Sure, you can get a copy of Superman 64 (legendary for how bad it was and how bad its gameplay and controls were) and play the game, maybe even master it...but why would you ever do that to yourself? You could, instead, get a challenging game like Remnant: From the Ashes that has a spot on control scheme such that, when you die, you say "Okay...yeah, that was fair, that was on me", and when you succeed, it feels like you did so with knowledge and skills, not by mastering clunk and having the stars align.

3 AF stacks sounds great in vacuum, but cons matter. Suppose you have an ability that gives you 3 AF stacks but inflicts Silence and Pacify on you for 30 seconds. Surely that wouldn't be seen as a good ability just because it COULD be useful in niche situations with very specific party and build strategies?

...

I think it's more the argument of just HOW niche it is, and how rare it is to use it for its actual purpose. Something like Plenary Indulgence is pretty niche (you really pretty much never strictly need it), but it's straightforward in the sense of what it does and it doesn't actively tie your hands to use it. Worst case scenario, it's wasted through either overhealing or you not being able to use an AOE GCD heal during it, but it's not actively working against you. Dissipation being a bit more complex is fine, as that's SCH's MO, but the anti-synergy with your kit isn't, since SCH's theme is synergy; being synergistic with their Faerie partner, being a synergistic component of a tactical unit, using its abilities synergistically with each other. Deployment Tactics, Emergency Tactics, and Recitation are all examples of good abilities that do this, as they modify and work with other abilities, and even with each other in the case of Recitation and either of the other two. They don't actively fight each other directly. You could argue Emergency Tactics and Deployment tactics indirectly do, but neither locks you out of or prevents use of the other, either.

Dissipation doesn't work with anything else any better than Fey Illumination does. And Fey Illumination works with ALL of your heals and provides party mitigation vs magic on the side. And has a shorter CD. The only thing Dissipation actively works with are Physic, Adlo, and Succor. It gives you 3 AF, but doesn't work with or modify them in any way.

Not to mention use of your Faerie IS a core part of SCH's toolkit, and what Dissipation locks you out of. Thematically and mechanically, it's at odds with SCH's identity for no good reason.

I don't think it needs to be deleted, but it should be made to not have that level of dissonance with the overall kit and theme of the Job, imo.

[Calysto]

Wanting to keep Dissipation for "complexity reasons" really isn't a valid argument.
SCH went from "complex" with dot managment and fairy micomanagment to nothing, Clinging to this ability just because it's a remnant of a better era doesn't help the job and if it was be be removed, healers are so easy to balance now it would be replaced with something equal or greater instantly, be it damage or heal wise.

The concept of It being one of the only tool for skill ceiling doesn't help when its a problem for the whole role and not just SCH.

Also telling people to "go play SGE" if they don't like it isn't fair and to that I raise you a "if you want complexity, go play DPS instead" that we all love.

[fulminating]

Scholar is themed around tactics and battle planning, not synergy. This is especially evident as they didn’t bother redoing the arcanist quests, which also harp on about planning, despite both jobs now being reduced to a near single button rotation.

Rather than elevating the other healers to scholar’s level, you want to also kill scholar? Sage’s entire identity is “easy scholar” so that is a pretty valid option. Or you know you could just think for a second beforehand.

[UkcsAlias]

Rather than elevating the other healers to scholar’s level, you want to also kill scholar? Sage’s entire identity is “easy scholar” so that is a pretty valid option. Or you know you could just think for a second beforehand.

The problem is that the ability isnt worth using in most cases. The benefits are barely noticed, yet if you dont use it, you always have the benefit of passive healing which already is close enough to using this ability..

In good teams, this ability effectively only grants 300 extra damage potency as you arent going to need the stacks for anything else.
Yet in lesser team, ordering it away removes the constant passive healing, which is already the same healing value as 3x lustrate. And there that passive healing value does add up.

The risk/reward ratio for 300 potency to me feels very weak, while it takes away quite a lot of passive healing potency. Mistiming here will cost you more than 1 GCD in healing, which negates any benefits you could have gotten. And in later levels this only becomes worse as broil gets higher potencies.

Making this ability easier makes it more reliable, and therefor used more often. Which on that would actualy help as it again gives a bit more buttons to press as options. And with proper balancing can actualy give even more depth. I realy hope next expansion they are going to boost this a lot so ordering it away suddenly becomes part of your rotation (imagine it giving 2 times a full stack, it suddenly will beat the passive healing by a big margin, or at least balances it out a bit better making the dps part more reliable).

What is the point of having abilities if you never use it anyway because its not needed or lacks good rewards?

[Calysto]

Scholar is themed around tactics and battle planning, not synergy.

Lore-wise SCH is themed around tactics and battle planning.
No tactician would forgo notable advantage and the safety of it's troops for a little of damage. The fact a SCH can't think of anything else that "it's safe, better eat my fairy as it gives me things of which I'll use one" isn't good planning or resource management either.
The base of a good tactic would be to use your assets in a way that earn you more that what you spent.

Gameplay-wise, SCH theme is a mess, but you have synergy and had even more. From dots into bane, accel.aetherflow in SB, to AF generating fairy gauge (only synergy remaining in 5.0+).

Rather than elevating the other healers to scholar’s level, you want to also kill scholar? Sage’s entire identity is “easy scholar” so that is a pretty valid option. Or you know you could just think for a second beforehand.

All healers need to be improved to have a real skill ceiling, but don't act as if SCH still has any identity or complexity.
SGE isn't "easy scholar", it's "another aestetic scholar" improved to be more reactive, and has more potential for complexity that SCH right now.

[Deceptus]

Wanting to keep Dissipation for "complexity reasons" really isn't a valid argument.
SCH went from "complex" with dot managment and fairy micomanagment to nothing, Clinging to this ability just because it's a remnant of a better era doesn't help the job and if it was be be removed, healers are so easy to balance now it would be replaced with something equal or greater instantly, be it damage or heal wise.

The concept of It being one of the only tool for skill ceiling doesn't help when its a problem for the whole role and not just SCH.

Also telling people to "go play SGE" if they don't like it isn't fair and to that I raise you a "if you want complexity, go play DPS instead" that we all love.

QFT

Scholar is themed around tactics and battle planning, not synergy. .

They aren't and haven't been for a long time (since at least 5.0)

[Rilifane]

You really trust SE to delete a skill from a healer and then give us something better in exchange at this point?
Have the last few years taught you nothing?

[Renathras]

Scholar is themed around tactics and battle planning, not synergy.

Did you not read any of the SCH quests or even their lore blurb?

"In an age long past, when mankind flourished under the radiance of arcane mastery, the island of Vylbrand was home to a city-state called Nym. Though the history of that age tells of countless wars waged with earth-shattering incantations, it was the brilliant strategic maneuvering of Nym's scholars that allowed their mundane army of mariners to throw back would-be conquerors time and again. These learned men and women defended the freedom of their tiny nation with their unique command over spell-weaving faeries, utilizing the creatures' magicks to heal the wounded and bolster the strength of their allies."

(Source: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/jobguide/scholar/ )

It's in the Job tagline. All of the SCH quests have you working with Eos, including her and you both channeling healing magics. The final and capstone SCH quest at level 80, where you cure your first Tonberry, has you and Eos side by side channeling healing magics together. Every part of SCH's lore says "Tactician that works with your Faerie partner". Exactly zero parts say "Eat your Faerie partner for power". Dismiss is effectively the same thing; you're effectively draining/consuming her for power. That's much more of a necromantic or warlock-ish trait, not a SCH one.

Wanting complexity is fine.

Wanting clunk and pretending it's complexity is stupid.

Rather than elevating the other healers to scholar’s level, you want to also kill scholar?

Removing clunk is not going to "kill scholar". And "elevating the other healers to scholar's level"? Come now, that's just a low energy posting. At the very least, AST is already at that level, and arguably has more planning required than SCH, both on a strategic/operational level (CD planning) and on a tactical level (execution with timing, such as Earthly Star or Horoscope or Macrocosmos all having timing elements involved between initial execution and when you need the abilities to go off). So at the very least, AST is on or above SCH's level, and Dissipation or its alteration doesn't change that.

Sage’s entire identity is “easy scholar” so that is a pretty valid option.

No, SGE's entire identity is "heals by doing damage augmented by weaker outright heals than most other healers but a strong mitigation kit with high uptime to smooth damage and make it manageable when planned". Further:

"The nation of Sharlayan is the cradle of knowledge, and the Studium its foremost institution of learning. Yet more so than its incomparable library and formidable assemblage of Archons, this prestigious academy is famed for blending traditionally distinct fields to produce revolutionary new disciplines. Among these, perhaps the most distinguished is an altruistic art which draws upon the wisdom of aetherology, sorcery, and medicine. Dubbed somanoutics, the art seeks to heal and protect by manipulating corporeal aether through the use of nouliths, a flying array of foci. Practitioners are dedicated to the betterment of mankind, and for their wisdom and compassion, eventually came to be known simply as sages."

I don't see "easy scholar" there in the description anywhere. Maybe I'm just missing it. Can you show me where the words "easy scholar" appear in SGE's tagline? I'd like to see where you're seeing it, but...but I don't even see the word "easy" in that description. Or the word "scholar". So maybe you need to reevaluate your position.

Further, if you ever find yourself considering saying "Go play X", that's your mental hint to reevaluate your position and also to not say it.

Or you know you could just think for a second beforehand.

Or, you know, you could just actually read things, not make up things, and also not defend clunk as a form of challenge/skill/complexity/identity?

You really trust SE to delete a skill from a healer and then give us something better in exchange at this point?
Have the last few years taught you nothing?

I mean, they made Misery damage neutral and improved Lilybell, so it's not exactly unheard of.

to AF generating fairy gauge (only synergy remaining in 5.0+).

Agreed with basically all of this post other than this bit. SCH is a mess, but it has some other synergy abilities, which are the things I most like about the Job. Recitation, Deployment Tactics, Emergency Tactics, Fey Illumination, Protraction, and if you can break through the clunk and make meaningful use of it, Dissipation's positive sides (anti-synergy aside) all allow for synergy between abilities. They went the wrong way with Fey Blessing (they should have removed the CD, or stuck a shorter one like 20 sec, but preferably removed, and left the Gauge cost so the Gauge would have a second use and you could stock burst AOE healing that way if you wanted to), but there is some potential there.

There's still some complexity with several of the Healer Jobs - SCH and AST both have a lot of planning and skill expression/ceiling (just not in damage output so much), such as an AST solo healing an Ultimate - but again, clunk is not complexity.

QFT

Hear hear.

[Nizzi]

Wanting to keep Dissipation for "complexity reasons" really isn't a valid argument.

Wanting to remove it because "umm its clunky??? the fairy is like um,, your partner???? i dont like?? it punish me wtf??" isn't a valid argument either. "Punishing" is not an argument.

healers are so easy to balance now it would be replaced with something equal or greater instantly, be it damage or heal wise.

It boggles the mind that you seriously believe this given the past two expansions track record with healers.

The concept of It being one of the only tool for skill ceiling doesn't help when its a problem for the whole role and not just SCH.

Scholar is affected less by this because Energy Drain optimization is something constantly present even in reclears. I will absolutely always be against removing that, no matter what.

Also telling people to "go play SGE" if they don't like it isn't fair and to that I raise you a "if you want complexity, go play DPS instead" that we all love.

It absolutely is fair, you have SGE, a healer job without Dissipation or Energy Drain optimization that is a shield healer with a similar healing kit. When the people complaining and crying about Energy Drain come up with takes like "turn it into a Phlegma copy and give it charges :O" there's no discussion to be had. It's not telling you to play an entirely different role, it's telling you to play the job within that role that doesn't have the thing you're complaining about.
Seemingly unlike a lot of you, I still love one healer job in this game, and that's Scholar. I'm quickly getting to the point where your cries of boredom with the 1 button healer rotation fail to make me sympathetic anymore when you then go and request that any sort of skill ceiling and management present in a healer job be gutted and sanded down further to be just like other jobs. This is the healer design you deserve, remember that.