New scholar changes are not great

[Calysto]

Give me an army of fairies to lead in battle instead of chicken wings

[Eloah]

Give me an army of fairies to lead in battle instead of chicken wings

Why not both, lol.

[Eloah]

But, the Scholar is a summoner.

Correct, that's why the devs pulled from the healing summons, for some of their skills.

One trope of sumnoner is, that they obtain the ability to merge with the summon. Or, obtain a form that is based on the summon (best example is Lucy from Fairy Tail and her Star Dress).
It looks like a naturaly way, that the scholar would infuse himself with the angle power of his fairy (angels looks similary to fairys and could be a evolved form). And than obtain this saint dress (no idea, what the name is).

Its even a contrast to the reaper. Both use familairs. On looks holy. On looks dark. The reaper has allready a merged form. The holy dress would fit as a opposite part to that to (except, that the scholar dont merge with the fairy).

Not saying it can't be a thing, since each Final Fantasy game has it's own version of summoning; see the "it's not a real SMN" discord from 2.0-5.0. But when has a Summoner in the FF series ever merged with their summon. To my knowledge, FFXVI is the first game where the summon and Summoner are the same being. But, maybe I missed a game.

Also, it's the way the form itself is presented that people dislike. The alleged removal of the Military Tactician theme could be overlooked if the form fit better. Like if the coloring matched the Seraph more, or if it looked more faerie-esque, like Titania. The fact that it looks too much like a Christmas Tree topper is the glaring issue. Plus SCH has never had robes for an outfit, it was always some sorta military or academic uniform. Giving them a spiritual outfit just feels off.

[Mihka]

Also, it's the way the form itself is presented that people dislike. The alleged removal of the Military Tactician theme could be overlooked if the form fit better. Like if the coloring matched the Seraph more, or if it looked more faerie-esque, like Titania. The fact that it looks too much like a Christmas Tree topper is the glaring issue. Plus SCH has never had robes for an outfit, it was always some sorta military or academic uniform. Giving them a spiritual outfit just feels off.

I more or less agree with most of what you posted, but I want to disagree here. It's not just the form itself and how it's presented, but I want to reiterate that a lot of us dislike transformations that override your character model as a concept in its entirety. The form respecting Scholar's roots more would be preferable to what we've been shown thus far, but it wouldn't solve the core issue in my opinion. That aside, though, I like the rest of your posts

[Supersnow845]

Im of the opinion that both a “nicer fairy” transformation and just a transformation in general are both the wrong answers here

A thematic transformation would be slightly better (but anything angelic is not it) but they just shouldn’t use transformations at all

[Aravell]

Im of the opinion that both a “nicer fairy” transformation and just a transformation in general are both the wrong answers here

A thematic transformation would be slightly better (but anything angelic is not it) but they just shouldn’t use transformations at all

Agreed. A transformation of any kind, thematic or otherwise, does not fit a tactician role.

You summon constructs and make pacts to do things that gain you an advantage, you do not augment yourself, that's just not what a tactician does.

[Teno]

Stormblood had the onset of a pretty good direction, even if the additions were still bland, for the sole reason that you could command the fairy to directly heal, commit and focus someone. What they should have down is triple down on that, and keep adding commands but on the dps/utility side, true to the tactician's roots.

Do like enkindle or something but keep her as an entity. Build on what used to be heavensward spreadlo crit on her so that positioning her is important and you can interact with her.

Command her to throw dps or utility spells (like back with Selene) or make it so that you can target her and cast spells on her to spread things or simply use her as a catalyst for other skills. Imagine if you had to target your fairy to enkindle her, and she would in turn gain access to dps/utility spells... literally a mini TPRG for what was such a unique take on the healer role in mmos.

So much potential, yet the current state is such garbage.

[GrimGale]

Agreed. A transformation of any kind, thematic or otherwise, does not fit a tactician role.

You summon constructs and make pacts to do things that gain you an advantage, you do not augment yourself, that's just not what a tactician does.

The idea that a "buff" translates to a visual upgrade is fantastic. Rather than just get a numerical addition, to go the extra mile to give the player visual feedback is great. Of course this then necessarily means that the aesthetic choice to convey that upgrade is important.

SCH has multiple skills that "augment" themselves. Recitation, Dissipation, Emergency Tactics, even Aetherflow. So I wouldn't say self buffs/modal changes are out of line for SCH.

But the thing is, SCH has a pretty strong thematic link with "authority" and "command". You evoke laws, you command creatures. You are a savant, you have the know how in regards to warfare. So your skills should reflect that authority over war and over your soldiers.

If you'd ever empower yourself to transform, that new form should be authoritative, commanding. It should convey a sense of "Hey, I'm in command here. I coordinate and give orders."

I don't think what we got matches that at all.

When you use Seraphism you should feel exalted, not censored. The person in command is not hidden, their body covered up, their identity obscured. Quite the contrary, they should get dressed in a manner that tells everybody who they are and what their rank is. When Seraph throws a blanket on you it doesn't feel like she's honouring you, it reads like she's saying, "now you're under MY power, you are my servant" rather than the other way around.

[Calysto]

seraphism fail on every level.
I can't understand how they were ok with showcasing that ; or maybe it was a hoax to say they listened to players and fixed it later (cope)

Anyway ; seraph itself doesn't have a higher potency than Eos/Selene ; the only way the "buff" would make sense would be if it made Physick and AF heals apply a barrier too. Of course not expecting it to be that.

[Pip_Chick]

The more I think about it the more I would like to see Seraphism from more angles. I do think it will be a strong healing ability. Still, would prefer a Faery transformation rather than an angel.