Healing as a Scholar - Need advice

[Dogempire]

Basically I need advice on playing as a scholar in general and I guess some tips would help, I'm level 50 and scholar is my only level 50 class at the moment.

Basically when I heal I usually use Eos and set them on obey and typically lrt them sustain the tank for a little bit to prolong how long I need before I actually throw a heal onto them, and usually it's just a physik or two. I tend to monitor everyone's health and keep the dps topped off while not expressing too much concern with keeping the tank at full health, and just tend to toss Miasma and Bio 2 onto mobs and then use bane to infect the entire group of mobs, sometimes I get close and throw a miasma 2 onto them, I tend to avoid regular bio since it doesn't seem worth wasting the global cooldown.

As for healing my minion I usually just throw a sustain onto it and don't worry about it after that.l, the cast is very short and the healing is very large. I tend to not use cleric stance since my action bar is very cluttered since I use almost every skills. I tend to not use cleric stance when dpsing in case I need to emergency heal, which I tend to save aetherflow for so I can use lustrate or energy drain for mana, but I rarely have mana issues since I tend to keep mana potions on me and use aetherflow/energy drain.

Anyways my concerns are as follows:

1. How do I use all my abilities, I know how each ability is useful and I tend to be able to analyze which situation I should use them in, but I have trouble just reaching them or finding enough slots for them.

2. Is there any way in particular I need to micromanage my pet? I see people say they're able to manage their pet well but I'm unaware of what that means.

3. Should I level my thaumaturge to unlock stoneskin? I kind of hate grinding but I guess I should do it, I dunno.

4. How should I maximize my dps as a scholar aside from cleric stance? Any rotations I should use? I tend to just use Bio 2 + Miasma as my DOT rotation, I also use the level 50 arcanist ability, w/e that is.

5. What things do "good" scholars do? I hear playing the class to its fullest ability is very difficult and I'm not sure what that means or what that involves.

Also any tips in general would be helpful.

[Rivxkobe]

First off: Use Bio. Its a strong DoT. You don't have anything else to do anyway usually, so its always good to get it out there.

Also, while you don't HAVE to use Cleric Stance, it is a very good thing to learn. Stance dancing is fun, and helps your team out in killing mobs faster. And as a SCH you should definitely be using, considering a lot of Dungeons can be run with you in it ~60%+ of the time, if the tank is good.

Conjurer teaches stone skin. And yes you should learn it. You don't NEED it, but its a great Cross-Class skill and you don't have that many that are that great.

I'm not really in the mood to go into much more depth at the moment lol. And its been quite a while since I used a SCH.

[Aurelle_Delacroix]

1. Well, you should have enough slots on your bar for all of your skills. if for some reason you don't, then you need to go into your UI hotbar settings and bring out a third hotbar. That's what I did. This is a must because all of the abilities you get as a SCH are vital. Not to mention you'll need more room when you start leveling to 60.

2. Eh. I tend to not micromanage my pet very often. I just keep mine on Obey, let Eos/Selene heal as she needs to and just manage when I use their special abilities. That's about it. Except for larger, raid like instances where I'd place my fairy in the middle so she could reach all party members.

3. And yes, you should level both Thaumaturge AND Conjurer up so you can get your cross-class abilities. Specifically, you'll need Aero, Cleric Stanc, Protect, and Stoneskin from Conjurer. And then Swiftcast from Thaumaturge. Trust me, you use ALL of those frequently.

4. For maximizing DPS, there isn't a rotation per se but you definitely need to be using Cleric Stance and Bio. Otherwise you're falling short. What I did at that level, I'd stoneskin and then immediately adlo the Tank. Switch to Cleric stance. Then Bio 2-->Miasma-->Bio [Bane if trash mob] and then depending on situation switch back from cleric to keep healing OR run up to Miasma 2 and then Aero while running back before using cleric again to go back to healing. Trust me. Much more effective. Also, depending again on how comfortable you are, using Cleric Stance to do a Swiftcast+Shadow Flare during trash pulls is very nice.

5. Really it's what I've already mentioned. SCH is geared to shield and heal and then DPS afterwards. It's really a half and half job. Heal up, shield, DPS until people need healing again. Heal up, shield, DPS...rinse and repeat. Just remember, Adlo on tanks usually and succor should cover your party. Unless one is taking heavy damage from some mechanic. During big raid wide damage always try to Sacred Soil and THEN succor since using Sacred Soil sometimes lets you cast a free one.

Just takes some practice. You'll get it down.

[amihavingfunyet]

Bio is definitly woth using, as are all DoTs you can get (Aero crossclass). Should definitly learn to use Cleric Stance early on, since it's generally easier to learn things when there's not so much damage going out in dungeons/trials. You'll get a feeling for it soon enough and then it will be ez pz.
For crossclass skills, Stoneskin is okay if you get, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. You should definitly get Swiftcast (THM 26) though.
Micromanaging is mostly just having your fairy on Obey and use the skills as you see fit, and also have it in range of all (or most) people.
Think your opener would be Bio 2 > Miasma > Bio + Energy Drain > Aero + Energy Drain + Swiftcast > Shadowflare + Energy Drain. Then it's just spamming Broil (or Ruin until Lv. 54) and keeping up your DoTs.

[Ashkendor]

Think your opener would be Bio 2 > Miasma > Bio + Energy Drain > Aero + Energy Drain + Swiftcast > Shadowflare + Energy Drain. Then it's just spamming Broil (or Ruin until Lv. 54) and keeping up your DoTs.

I usually try to precast Shadow Flare, then use the Swiftcast when I have to recast it.

[amihavingfunyet]

I usually try to precast Shadow Flare, then use the Swiftcast when I have to recast it.

Right, I just got kinda used to since it fits the initial 3 Aetherflow stacks well.
Also might want to keep SC if you are going to use Dissipation in the opener.

[Roxas_Andrade]

1. How do I use all my abilities

For trash, use E4aE, shield the tank, than switch to cleric to help DPS. But remember that your role is to heal and it is your responsibility...

2. Is there any way in particular I need to micromanage my pet?

In progression you can keep your fairy on automatic, but for endgame content, you should learn how to put them on obey and use their skills as needed. As for positioning, you can use a macro like
/pac heel
/pac place
it saves a slot if you're not using the pet hotbar

3. Should I level my thaumaturge to unlock stoneskin?

Yes, and you should also level conjurer for swiftcast, lol

4. How should I maximize my dps as a scholar aside from cleric stance?

Shield tank, E4aE or Virus, cleric, use as many dots as you can, bane and use broil until it's time to put dots again. If someone need healing and your fairy is having a hard time, turn cleric off and HEAL UP.

5. What things do "good" scholars do?

They keep the party alive,lol. Jokes aside, you can help speed things up with your DPS power, but remember: your responsibility is that people don't die, try to know the fight, and if you're comfortable to do more, do it.

[FoxyAreku]

I tend to avoid regular bio since it doesn't seem worth wasting the global cooldown.

Uhh, Bio is the highest potency DoT you have. It's actually stronger than Bio 2, it just doesn't last as long. Rather silly to not use it tbh.

You seem to have the hang of it otherwise judging from your post. General DPS rotation is Swiftcast>Shadowflare>Bio 2>Bio>Miasma(keep applying Miasma until it hits, this skill can miss a lot at max level...)>Aero, with energy drain used after any instant cast abilities (but only if you feel you don't need to save the aetherflow for heals). Broil is filler after all of those are set, you don't need Ruin once you get Broil.

For 8 man content you are mostly a tank healer, as scholar AoE heals are mediocre in comparison to white mage and Diurnal astrologian. Just throw out Indoms and succors when it looks dire, sometimes a lustrate if a dps randomly gets hit by something, otherwise keep the tanks topped with shields and DPS as much as you can.

[Eloah]

The one thing I haven't seen anyone mention is the Aetherflow/Energy Drain combo, to maintain your MP. Your Aetherflow stacks are used for certain healing abilities, Lustrate, Sacred Soil, and later at 52, Indomitability. But the stacks are used with Energy Drain as well. Basically everytime you notice that Aetherflow is off CD you'd want to use whatever remaining stacks you have on Energy Drain, ideally in Cleric Stance, but if you aren't in it the MP restored is the same regardless. Anyway, once you use up the stacks on Energy Drain, you would use Aetherflow again, to regain more MP, and repeat the process each time. This provides you with a steady supply of MP and allows for Scholars to have a high degree of maintained DPS.

[Gamer3427]

I will say that you may want to look into Selene as well as Eos. Eos is good for times when raw healing is needed, but a properly managed Selene is far more useful since 3.0 when they changed her skills a bit. Particularly with her party wide Esuna ability, and her skill and spell speed boost. She's probably not for everyone of course, but once you get more skilled as a SCH I find her to be more useful except in the absolutely most healing intensive situations....

The Esuna skill, (don't remember the skill names right now), Selene has can be a life saver if a few party members get hit with DoTs or paralysis, and can also save you a lot of trouble if you get hit with paralysis because you can use it without worrying about Leeches getting interrupted. I first started using her when I was solo healing an unsynced run of Urth's Font, because she let me clear the party wide DoT with one button press that doesn't interrupt my casting, compared to eight uses of Leeches.....

The skill and spell speed boost, while minor, is fairly effective in either four player or eight player parties due to the raw DPS increase across the board, as well as slightly faster healing on your part. It has a 30s up time, then 30s downtime before you can use it again. If you ever get partied with another SCH using it in eight player parties, try to work with them and use yours when theirs goes down, allowing the two of you to keep it up constantly.....

Selene also has a silence skill which can be useful for the occasional Hunt target or boss that can be affected by it, though you may not want to include that skill on your normal hotbars and instead have it on an extra one that you can bring up for those situations.....

You should also absolutely level your conjurer, (which is what I'm guessing you meant to say instead of thaumaturge), for stoneskin. I can't stand playing CNJ/WHM, but stoneskin is very much worth it. It stack particularly well with SCH's barriers to allow you to prep the party for a lot of damage mitigation before a fight, allowing you to focus either on inflicting damage, or healing the tank if it's a particularly heavy pull. My typical strategy, (other than during boss fights), is to keep stoneskin up on all party members aside from the tank, even taking time during pulls to reapply it when I have some downtime, because this can keep hard hitting AoEs from presenting so much of a problem. You'll also want to keep it up on the tank in between pulls to allow you to get a few attacks off at the start of a fight before you have to start switching to healing. For boss fights, just try to apply it before the fight begins and don't cast it mid fight unless you know an upcoming attack will result in death otherwise. Also, keep in mind that Stoneskin is just as effective if you use it while in Cleric Stance as it is if you use it outside of it, due to the fact that Stoneskin is based on the target's maximum HP, rather than your own healing power....

In my opinion, your four primary cross class skills should be as follows....

1) Protect
2) Swiftcast
3) Cleric Stance
4) Stoneskin
5) Aero or Blizzard II. The reason I give options here is for if you want to choose between single target or multi-target damage, or rather Boss vs Trash damage. Aero is the better skill over all, and I'd recommend it more for newer SCH for sure, but Blizzard II can be more useful if you'd prefer to have an AoE skill that does instant damage rather than DoT. Blizzard II can help speed up a few trash pulls where mobs will die too quickly for Miasma II or Shadowflare to have much of an effect, though for stronger groups of mobs, you should make sure all your other skills are up on them first.....

Aside from all of this, my main point of advice is to remember that SCH is a preventative healer. Your skills put barriers up on your allies to mitigate damage, and it would be wise to keep these up as often as possible, particularly during boss fights. Even if the party is at full health, if you know an AoE is coming up use Succor to give everyone an extra layer of protection to make healing after a little easier. This is particularly the case with the tank in later dungeons. You want to keep a barrier on them frequently if possible, because SCH's lack the raw healing power of a WHM, which makes coming back from big hits a little bit more difficult if you're not prepared. Also, don't underestimate the power of Sacred Soil. I've seen a lot of SCHs who just disregard it completely because it "wastes" an aetherflow stack. It's not something you want to use constantly since you can't have it and Shadowflare up at the same time, but it certainly has it's place in helping the party. Likewise don't disregard Energy Drain as a method of getting back MP if you're getting a little low, or to do a little damage and gain MP while healing scratch damage on yourself. For Energy Drain you'll probably want to wait until Aetherflow is back up to use again, and won't want to use it in big fights or pulls simply because you may need your Aetherflow healing abilities instead....

Anyhow, this is all just my opinion. I've never had any issue healing or dealing damage except with particularly bad parties, so clearly I'm doing something right, but that certainly doesn't mean I couldn't be better.....