Healer Guide/Class Comparison

[UlricCraft]

Why did I fall for the bait.
"Healer Guide" should have run at "Class Comparison".

This is a guide. It does not compare thoroughly. <- My simple views.
I'm fed-up with half-baked 'guides' and irrational, non-factual and biased/situational comparisons. 90% of the information is valuable and relevant. The comparisons need to be reviewed.

You do not elaborate on Whispering Dawn/EoS cooldowns enough.
Cure III is exceptional and has no draw-backs.
Medica II has functionality in Ultima, Titan, T2, T4, Thornmarch, AK... Specifically, MEDII reduces the requirement of MEDI during intense AoE healing situations. (T2 enrage) Weak HoT = has a use other than "Better range to help heal derpy pugs"

My advice:
Review the original post.
If you wanted a discussion, title the thread appropriately.

Both classes are very balanced.
Fix Benediction activation and we're square, Square Enix.

[Tandy]

I have a scholar sitting at near BiS ilvl90 (just missing allagan weapon) and my whm is at ilvl88. I have at least seen every fight in the game even though I still haven't gotten Twintania down (I am not as hardcore as I was when I was younger!)

I tend to main my scholar, just because when I play my whm with a bad scholar I find it annoying. A bad scholar who lets their fairy run around like a chicken with its head cut off, using all cooldowns at the start of combat...not using succor before AoE hits and the like...they are horrible to even watch let alone try to heal with. At least when I am with a bad whm I can semi make up for it with being proactive with everyone not just the tank, which is one strength the scholar has over whm.

However, if coupled with a great scholar who knows what they are doing? I love the white mage. Being able to make sure everything runs well and keep everyone topped off is what a white mage does well. When you have a good white mage with you, a scholar can concentrate on the tank, throw succors/sacred soil as needed and not worry about the rest of the group...period. They have a great synergy that I enjoy quite a lot. When with a bad scholar, I tend to draw aggro on whm and run low on mana...because lets face it when the tank gets down to 1/4 life and 3 of the DPS are also near dead....a scholar cant get them all back up as fast as a whm can.

With that said, I dont favor one over the other in 4 man content. I can just as easily get through any content with either. Regen is "easier" to deal with over the fairy for hectic things like some boss fights. Scholar is better when the fight drags on and on and on cause of mistakes or someone being undergeared and you go through mana like crazy. Whm is better when everything is going smooth and you want to pull half the hallway and AoE it down with a regen on the tank and some Cleric stanced Holy.

It all depends on what you want out of healing, and what situation you find yourself in. Benediction does need fixing with the animation/lag on the hit....and a shorter cooldown to bring it more in line with Lustrate though, I will say that.

[Eriane]

SCH and pet can heal a diff target, rouse + illum WD, lustrate, adlo, stoneskin + sacred soil. EVERYONE talks as tho those skills magically pop out of their skill bar onto the field instantly. Do you know how much button a SCH need to press to get all these out? Sometimes, you just only have enough time to do a few and that is not enough to cover every healing aspect in the game. Therefore, before theory crafting everything, go play them out in end game and tell me just how fast your SCH can take care of MT healing and also AOE heal.

Lol first of all, are you implying that Sch is hard to play? How is pressing one or two buttons or a macro while waiting for gcd's hard?

Either way, i have no idea what you are saying. Are you actually saying it is a bad thing that you have the options to do multiple things vs. doing EVERYTHING one gcd at a time?

[Azoryl]

I like Regen way better the Embrace. Simply put... you are counting 1 regen vs 1 emabrace. What about 3 or 4 regens running,, and you can only embrace 1 target. Regen works great when you know the next AE won't be coming for a bit, and you got a couple DPS down a little bit.

[Eriane]

I like Regen way better the Embrace. Simply put... you are counting 1 regen vs 1 emabrace. What about 3 or 4 regens running,, and you can only embrace 1 target. Regen works great when you know the next AE won't be coming for a bit, and you got a couple DPS down a little bit.

If you can afford that many gcds on dps great, either the tank doesn't need healing or your sch is working alot harder than you. But keep in mind regen still costs mana and needs to tick at least twice to outheal an embrace. A fairy embrace is at least double the healing of regen, free, not on your gcd, causes no threat for you, and gives you a ss buff when it crits.

Regen is fine for what it is, but embrace takes the prize as far as im concerned.

[Tandy]

If you can afford that many gcds on dps great, either the tank doesn't need healing or your sch is working alot harder than you. But keep in mind regen still costs mana and needs to tick at least twice to outheal an embrace. A fairy embrace is at least double the healing of regen, free, not on your gcd, causes no threat for you, and gives you a ss buff when it crits.

Regen is fine for what it is, but embrace takes the prize as far as im concerned.

Your comparing a HoT to a direct heal. Each is better in different situations. It's almost apples and oranges.

[Eriane]

Your comparing a HoT to a direct heal. Each is better in different situations. It's almost apples and oranges.

Irrelevant. They both act as a supplemental healing. The purpose is the same, the execution differs.

Why is supplemental healing needed? Two main reasons.
1. To patch up damage that doesn't require a direct heal and to be as efficient as possible. (Regen being cheap for the amount of healing, and the potential of healing further minor damage preemptively.)
2. To supplement tank healing.

Embrace is the more viable solution until 3 targets need supplemental healing without the downside of potential problems, like extra threat from overhealing, mana and wasted gcd's. Any more than 3 you may decide it would be more time efficient to use a raid heal.

I like regen well enough but it did amuse me in harder content before i was geared to see a tank drop or nearly die because i used a gcd casting regen... on the tank much less a dps. In certain fights i don't even bother with the spell.

Once you outgear content... well who cares?

[Tandy]

Irrelevant. They both act as a supplemental healing. The purpose is the same, the execution differs.

Why is supplemental healing needed? Two main reasons.
1. To patch up damage that doesn't require a direct heal and to be as efficient as possible. (Regen being cheap for the amount of healing, and the potential of healing further minor damage preemptively.)
2. To supplement tank healing.

Embrace is the more viable solution until 3 targets need supplemental healing without the downside of potential problems, like extra threat from overhealing, mana and wasted gcd's. Any more than 3 you may decide it would be more time efficient to use a raid heal.

I like regen well enough but it did amuse me in harder content before i was geared to see a tank drop or nearly die because i used a gcd casting regen... on the tank much less a dps. In certain fights i don't even bother with the spell.

Once you outgear content... well who cares?

It is not irrelevant. One requires a cast for its healing every time healing is given. One requires a cast for 21 seconds of healing over time. They function entirely different for different purposes. It is an apples and oranges comparison. If you want to compare them, you have to take into account that they are a direct heal vs a HoT. Its not complicated or anything, any healing in any MMO is based on what type of heal it is....HoT, Direct heal, Shielded heal etc. That must be looked at when comparing and contrasting heals.

You may as well try to compare Summoner DoTs to Black mages Direct Damage, after all both damage the target, but they do it totally differently. If you put them side by side and compare one tick of a DoT to one cast of Fire 1 without looking at the long term effects/benefits/drawbacks of each, its the same as your doing with a HoT and a direct heal. Of course Fire 1 looks better.

[Eriane]

snip

...
You cast regen on a target. You proceed to heal as normal. There is no point to casting regen on the same target as you can only refresh the duration.

A sch is healing as normal, the fairy embraces. Why does it matter if the fairy has to keep casting? It doesn't affect you. Just think of the fairy as a free, double potency hot that has better synergy.

Sure the fairy has to cast but regen has to tick. It only begins to out perform embrace on three targets. What fight have you done where you needed to heal 3 or more targets and had upwards of 7.5 seconds just to put hots on people?

[Tandy]

...
You cast regen on a target. You proceed to heal as normal. There is no point to casting regen on the same target as you can only refresh the duration.

A sch is healing as normal, the fairy embraces. Why does it matter if the fairy has to keep casting? It doesn't affect you. Just think of the fairy as a free, double potency hot that has better synergy. Sure the fairy has to cast but regen has to tick. It only begins to out perform embrace on three targets. What fight have you done where you needed to heal 3 or more targets and had upwards of 7.5 seconds just to put hots on people?

The fairy healing the DPS means you have less heals for the tank, and I dont know about you but when I play in 8 man I tend to focus on the tank and the white mage handles the dmg on the group between spot heals on the tank. I micro manage my fairy too, so it is to me one of MY heals. I dont let my fairy run around like a chicken with its head cut off, blowing cooldowns and not topping people off and only casting when someone is below 80ish%. A good scholar is in control over every tool in their arsenal...fairy included. Her spells are mine, not "free" spells that just help me out.

Also your forgetting one thing...You are acting like its one class that can pick from either one. Your comparing abilities from 2 different classes. Regen us what a white mage uses and the fairy is what a scholar uses....each is balanced in my mind with the tools they have in regards to regen and fairy heal. In other ways, they need some tinkering sure...but this is all kind of pointless since apparently the idea of a HoT vs direct heal is beyond you anyway.