Xathra's In-Depth Scholar Guide

[Xathra]

Hi guys! My name is Chris "Xathra" Smith and I've been an avid theorycrafter and hardcore progression raider since World of Warcraft Vanilla. I've raided with one of the worlds' top guilds in World of Warcraft Vanilla and Burning Crusade. I then took a break and played casually through Mists of Pandria. I've also played RIFT and had server first Greenscale Blight clears as well as having the MOST influence on the current Mage Healing class the "Chloromancer". I'm currently raiding with the group Nocturnal Affairs and working on downing Twintania. I consistently stream at www.twitch.tv/xx_xathra_xx. I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn since Phase 3 Beta and enjoy every moment of it. I've decided to write this guide to provide people with top-end insight to how the Scholar Jobs works and the most efficient way to play.

http://xathra.blogspot.com/2013/10/s...ing-guide.html

[Whippet]

No ilv70 should be considered best in slot

[CompSci88]

You don't even follow your advice for BiS

[AylaYukihana]

Thunder spell stat is incorrect. It's a 18s DoT with 35 potency as well as some initial damage (30 potency?).

[Xathra]

I have except for the boots - I bought the boots when resets were going on and before Allagan lists were released.

[Xathra]

@ Whippet. Incorrect. The small mind gain does not outweigh the bonus Spell Critical or Determination bonuses you can gain from HQ Crafted gear.

[Whippet]

I keep telling myself to stop coming here, I really should listen to my tips my wall won't support more head banging at this rate

[cainejw]

Gearing massively for crit in spite of other stats is not a good idea. As such, prioritizing so heavily for crit in BIS gear is silly.

Given this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...=sharing#gid=3

If you prioritize crits over everything else, you'd have a 17% crit rate with 17 crits out of 101 heals.You'd heal 108218 over 250 seconds.
If you prioritize det over everything else, you'd have 11% crit rate with 11 crits out of 103 heals. You'd heal 108213 over 250 seconds.
If you prioritize speed over everything else, you'd have 8% crit rate with 8 crits out of 105 heals. You'd heal 106946 over 250 seconds.

This difference would likely not be statistically significant as the difference between crits and speed is less than 2,000 health over 250s meaning it's approximately 8 hp per second difference.

This is, of course, just a simulation. However, it does show something really important. Based on just heals, no Adlo, there's no real difference between prioritizing crit, determination, or speed.

If you throw in Adlo, the numbers get a little more spread out:

Shield and Heal for Crit, 127908.
Shield and Heal for Det with Allagan book, 125865.
Shield and heal for Det with Relic+1, 124871.
Shield and heal for Speed, 121918.

So the difference between Shield and Heal for Crit and Speed is approximately 8,000 health over 250 seconds. For Crit and Determination, it's around 2,500 health over 250 seconds.

This means the difference between crit and speed in both Adlo and Physick is 32 hp per second. For Crit and Determination, it's 10 hp per second. That may sound massive, but keep in mind that right now in end game, damage is very spiky. Between 8 and 32 hp per second will not save a tank when incoming damage is around 500 to 1000 per second.

[AylaYukihana]

There is a difference, going for speed = weaker faster heals = more MP per HP.

Going for Crit or Det = slower stronger heals = less MP per HP.

[cainejw]

That is a gross simplification of how crit works. Crit is not slower, stronger heals. It is slower and chance for stronger heals. That is why while there is a statistically small difference between Crit and Speed:

If you prioritize crits over everything else, you'd have a 17% crit rate with 17 crits out of 101 heals.You'd heal 108218 over 250 seconds.
If you prioritize speed over everything else, you'd have 8% crit rate with 8 crits out of 105 heals. You'd heal 106946 over 250 seconds.

Difference of 1272 healed over 250 seconds for 5.09 healed per second.

Shield and Heal for Crit, 127908.
Shield and heal for Speed, 121918.

Difference of 5990 healed/shielded over 250 seconds for 23.96 healed/shielded per second.

Take into account Coil 1-4 damage often spiking the tank or tanks for 4,000 every 3-4 seconds for roughly 1,000 every second and I think we should all be asking why are other Scholars advocating an abandonment of Speed or Det to rush to Crit. Your stats should be balanced and split between Allagan and Argute, not Allagan, Agute, and Vanya to get a handful more Crit in the face of more Mind, Vit, Piety, and Speed.

And as a sidenote, the BiS gear given in this guide actually only has 22 more Crit than the Crit given in the spreadsheet that weights crit. You trade 22 crit for 14 more Mind, 16 more Vitality, 22 more Defense, 8 more Piety, 15 more Determination, and 21 spell speed if you use the Crit-weighted gear from the spreadsheet.

In combination, Mind and Determination along with a small spell speed increase will likely benefit you more, over time, than 22 extra Crit and 14 less mind, 8 less Piety, 15 less Determination, and 21 less spell speed. The reason that the Det Weighted model shows so closely to the Crit Weighted is simple: balance. You're keeping a good balance of Mind, Crit, Spell Speed, Piety, and Det instead of dropping everything into Crit and hoping the 15-18% crit chance actually makes Adlo shine.

Simply put, we need to stop advocating a simple push to Crit above any other stat. It's not helping any more than telling Scholars to slap Eos in middle of the room and never move her.