SCH vs AST?

[Seryl199]

I agree that AST needs buffs, especially in their cards... however a Scholar doesn't have any HoT outside of their pets/Eos. And their direct heal potencies are outright lower than AST. SCH pays half their healing potency in return to make that half they lost into a shield. We do not have consistent access to a cure2-equivalent ability at the same time, nor a media (1) ability equivalent. We traded those abilities for succor (150 healing potency) and aldoquim (300 heal potency). An AST will always have more access to direct healing than a scholar ever will just based upon that.

Also... Lustrate and indominability each cost an aetherflow stack which only 3 can be held every 60 seconds. They are not free and I am starting to become pissy whenever I read it is free. No, they are not free, they are on a separate currency than MP and bound to it. Blow 3 aetherflows on 3 600 potency (same as cure 2) abilities and then you lose access to indominability, 10% damage migation dome, bane and energy drain. You simply do not get these abilities. It is a tether to the abilities restricting their use as much as it is "free". You choose 3, any 3, and once you choose them you're done.

That does not equal free. It is a separate currency that needs to be managed wisely or you face a wipe.

You make a good point, and it's an important distinction. SCH's need to choose how to spend their resources just as smartly as AST. Adloquium and Succor are not spammable abilities, not only because of Galvanize, but their significantly higher MP cost. Benefic II, for example, is nearly 3/4 the cost of Adlo, with a higher potency. Smartly injecting Aetherflow abilities to minimize casted heals is what allows SCH their extended MP reach, not simply the access to 3 lustrates per minute.

AST does indeed have spammable abilities like Benefic II and Helios, but must budget their MP wisely to avoid running dry. We all need to be mindful of our resources, if you tap yourself out just dealing with the mundane in battle, you'll be caught off guard when someone makes a mistake, turning what could be a salvageable mistake into a costly res.