Can Someone Explain . . .

[Bodicca]

Why Stoneskin II is a 6 second cast when it cannot be used in combat? Is it really necessary to require the use of two spells to cast just one? This, of course, is going on the assumption SC is not on CD because tanks never wait around for this to be hard cast; in which case it doesn't get used at all.

What is the reason for this crazy cast time?

[xenowind]

You need swiftcast.

[Seryl199]

It's a QoL addition that was recently added to the game. Before it's addition, to fully buff before a raid, the whm would need to cast Stoneskin 8 times, once for each member, maybe more if they decide to include pets. That's quite a lot of time for raid content where you are expected to wipe a lot and need to buff the party many times. Stoneskin II reduces that time drastically, taking only about a quarter of the time.

In 4 man content, it's rarely necessary. I usually hard cast it at the start, and I can sometimes hard cast it by sprinting ahead of the party in certain areas and timing it as the party passes by. I prefer to use swiftcast for Holy, and if I need/want to stoneskin the party before moving on, I'll do it during the last 30% or so of the last mobs HP.

The long cast time essentially causes you to choose a playstyle for using swiftcast, either aggressive (Holy), or defensive (SSII).

[Ghishlain]

While no direct dev response, you can probably find some of more popular theories of why it has a cast time in this thread. Just take some of the more childish and argumentative responses with a grain of salt and just try to look at some of the ideas people came up with to answer that.

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

You added a double quote between the url tags :P
The topic you're trying to link to:
http://http//forum.square-enix.com/f...2-instant-cast

[VanilleFang]

It's better than spending 12sec just to get Stoneskin up on a light party (pets omitted).

[desufin]

It has the cast time of 2 Stoneskin and applies to however many is in your party (1-8). The cast time is fine and if you really don't want to wait for it to cast there's always swiftcast.

[Shuon]

Wtf there's ss II?!

I have been a very bad whm...

[Kaitlen]

Wtf there's ss II?!

I have been a very bad whm...

Turn in your WHM card on your way out! :P

[Lyzern]

Why not? Why do people always complain about these things? Do you really want the game to hold your hand through everything? Even a 6 second cast time? It exists to create a balance between the 2 stoneskins, to make you choose to either be patient for 6 seconds and add a layer of protection, or rush to battle and possible let someone die from bad positioning, lack of gear, etc.