Let's talk about the Scholar opener

[Aryn_Lastrov]

Having watched a lot of videos of other scholar's openers, it is plain to me that there isn't a standard opener for scholars to follow like there is for Dps or Tanks. Yet this is surprising given that there is a level of complexity with scholars' openers.

-> Energy Drain has a 3 second cool down yet the GCD for our skills is less at 2.5 seconds. It is hard to weave in consecutive ogcds. This can cause clipping.

-> Ruin II allows us to weave ogcds yet is a dps loss at 80 potency vs broil's 170 potency. If possible, ruin II should be avoided.

-> Aetherflow needs to be put on cooldown ASAP (in most cases) so we need to dump our 3 stacks quickly so none are wasted.

-> Our DoTs obviously have to be reapplied, so they need to be set down in an order where their reapplication lines up nicely and the dps loss of missing DoT ticks is minimised.

-> We are important for other people's openers. It is possibly to have fey wind for every pull regardless of which fairy you want to start the fight with, as long as you have a pull macro.

The opener which I have designed attempts to incorporate all of the above elements, and I would like to hear the input of other scholars so we can create an optimised opener for us to follow. I have multiple openers for different scenarios, so I will try to include the most relevant ones.

STANDARD OPENER (w/ selene)

7secs pre pull: Mind potion

6secs pre pull: Shadow Flare

Precast Miasma -> Bio + Energy Drain + Rouse(Optional) -> Bio II -> Aero + Energy Drain + Swiftcast -> Broil + Energy Drain + Aetherflow -> Broil etc and reapply DoTs as appropriate.

If you cannot precast shadow Flare due to the boss's position , replace the swiftcasted Broil with shadow Flare.

For PURE personal dps it is better to hold Aetherflow until your next bio and weave it in there, yet in my opinion, getting it in cooldown ASAP is worth the slight GCD clip. If you do not clip, you should be able to cast an extra Broil before your first miasma reapplication, but I prefer not to fit this in as your DoTs will sync up better. If you do clip, you will have to hold Aero for one gcd around 1:20 in to weave in Aetherflow. The opener looks like this: http://ffxivrotations.com/87j

The rotation looks like this in practice: (No Shadow Flare pre pull , no rouse, selene) https://youtu.be/eEoLJ4B6o4M

I'm sure this opener is not what many scholars are used to seeing. Many scholars still open with the traditional Bio II > Miasma > Bio > Aero (or swiftcasted shadow Flare > Aero) opener but I believe this to be suboptimal for many reasons.

-> Your instant casts are too close together and your energy drain will clip.

-> You are forced to use ruin II to weave.

-> Miasma and Bio are your 2 DoTs with the highest PPS - it is logical to apply them first.

A more popular opener is the one I have listed above, but with the positions of bio II and miasma replaced. However if you do this, you will instantly lose a tick of either bio II or miasma as their timers will sync up. The main reason for using miasma first is purely timing. The opener I have proposed ensures that you only lose a tick of either Aero or shadow Flare. All DoTs and energy drains are also buffed by a potion. With that in mind, I'll leave the eos opener down.

EOS OPENER:

Summon selene pre pull

10secs pre pull: Shadow Flare

7secs pre pull: Summon

3secs pre pull: Fey Wind

Precast Miasma -> Bio etc.

Now you can always have fey wind for everyone's opener \o/!

As a side note, there is a very simple trick which I have learned to ensure you have 3 stacks + Aetherflow ready for pulls after you wipe, without having to make your group wait a long time. If you wipe, and Aetherflow is on cooldown, summon a fairy and dissipate her, gaining 3 stacks instantly. When dissipation falls off, summon selene and prepare for pull. Your Aetherflow will be ready. This should take 50secs max and is a very nice time saver.

I think that is all of my input on the opener at the moment. I would like to hear other scholars' opinions on this so we can attempt to create an "end all be all" opener! Thank you for reading this and I appreciate any contribution which you can give o/

[Mikana]

Personally i always pull every fight with selene and do this one :
-15s Adlo (+ deploy if needed)
-8s shadow flare
-5s eye for an eye
-4s Mind potion
-2.5s Bio II
Miasma
Bio + Energy drain
Aero + Energy drain
Broil
Ruin II + energy drain + aetherflow (bit of clipping but i find it worth)
The mind pot last till the last energy drain, you get dots out quickly, lose a bit of dps due to ruin II but aetherflow is out faster, ruinII+energy drain deals more than broil (maximising the potion). Wonder if i can upgrade that opener though so free to suggestions

[Nekotee]

In my case I don't really bother with mind pot (but i probably should...)

Pre-cast shadow flare (at 6/5 sec if the boss move like A6S or 3sec if the boss doesn't)
Pre-cast bio2 (if shadow is pre caster)
Aéro + energy drain
Miasma
Bio + energy drain
Broil + energy drain
Aetherflow
2 x Broil

Then in order DoT are falling like this : aéro, bio, miasma and bio2

...

I'm so not a fan of ruin2
Well maybe because of ARR when it was a huge mana burner
I almost never use it

[Werhusky]

Luckily most bosses get moved at pull or like in A5 become big so I go

15-10s on pull macro - 2 Adlo to bait a Critlo (War in defiance if I use Eos Fey Illu if not needed/mantra/conva)
E4e filler and deploy
Timer usually hits like 7s now precast - shadow flare
Timer hits 3.x s precast - bio II (make sure auto attack enabled)
miasma (go in smackrange) + energy drain
Bio + energy Drain
Aero + Energy Drain
Aetherflow

Depending on fight i change it up a bit like in A8 where I save the deploy for legislation or I get into a team that does't move the boss. I am definitely not optimised here but I am happy with my output.

About a pot... Whenever I use one my team wipes horribly and the next pull it's on CD lol

Maybe will remember the dissipate trick though.

[Nekotee]

What i hâte the most on crit adlo + deploy is that most of the time the timing is off or the tank too slow to pull or whatever... And the huge shield fall off 1 sec before the raid wide aoe
Which make me yell so many Cute birdies name
And also not popping out Cs letting the main heal deal with that
Because damn i tried

[Werhusky]

What i hâte the most on crit adlo + deploy is that most of the time the timing is off or the tank too slow to pull or whatever... And the huge shield fall off 1 sec before the raid wide aoe

That is why I tell my deploy target to click away a critlo if a pull gets delayed or abandoned. Or just adjust my "opener" and only Adlo on pulling tank + succor in fights where the AoE damage just won't happen within first 20s.
In A5 it's a gamble if we get share tankbuster or single tankbuster first as it just fall off around then (need pop out of cleric still in case we should see the prey). In A6 it lasts just long enough for mirage drops, in A7 i think its a nice buffer on tank and the beamtarget but wears iirc off before the spark /Shrug

I hate random pulling tanks or silent pull macros... Had yesterday in DF a epic "pulling in 5" (no sound) - pulls lol