AST Sect Theory

[Apeiron]

Arguing that Diurnal is only effective when recovery is important while arguing a hypothetical situation where you're focusing on the recovery process doesn't really prove your point. Dirunal helps far more in every situation in terms of recovery as opposed to Nocturnal, which is only situational. Yes, Diurnal is supposed to be used to "lead" or "prevent" damage, but their shields are far less potent than SCH's, and will overwrite them regardless of strength. Diurnal has all of the CD's you listed; they aren't specific to Nocturnal. Going Nocturnal with a SCH only gimps your groups total healing potential even more, especially when you consider shield overwriting.

While I appreciate the reason you're asking people to "test" this, we've tested it already with SCH+SCH in 2.0; it doesn't work, and only takes one fight of "testing" to see why shield stacking/overwriting is a major detriment to overall recovery potential. Especially with AST shields overwriting SCH's regardless of potency, all it takes is one Aspected Helios after Succor (or heaven forbid, Deployment Tactics), and I'd be swiftly trying to shove my face through my desk. At least with SCH+SCH, the stronger shield would always stay.

I wasn't trying to say that Diurnal is only effective in recovery, but that it's effectiveness is dependent on the 50potency healing more than the damage someone is receiving. Comparatively, a SCH is better off using Eos's Whispering Dawn, shielding, and letting the AST help heal up than they are in letting them drop A. Helios.

Whispering Dawn 21sec 100pot/tick - 7 ticks = total potency of 700
A. Helios 30sec 140+50/tick - 10 ticks = total potency of 640

A. Helios also costs nearly 1.5x as much Benefic II with a lesser cure potency per single target. In the instances where people take too much damage, it'd be better to rely on SCH shield while the AST follows up with stronger Helios and Benefic or Benefic II to keep up with the damage, as you can cast benefic and benefic II quicker than you can wait on regens.

The problem with SCH+SCH is that they don't work effectively together because you have one SCH at any given time overwriting the other's shields in an attempt to either protect party members or or provide AoE healing. When paired with an AST, this is not the problem. The SCH gets shield priority, while the AST assists with keeping HP up. Their AoE has a potency of 304.5 (again I don't know if this is rounded up or down) compared to Succor which has a potency of 150 -- twice the potency of Succor, and without worrying about shields being overwritten.