Quote Originally Posted by Pells View Post
I'd define sustained dps as the damage you can maintain over an indefinite period of time. This would include both the burst periods where you're burning cooldowns, as well as the lull and maintenance periods where you're regaining MP/TP and waiting for the cooldowns to reset.
B-But there's never a lull period where you're regaining TP/MP (unless you're a BLM/DRK where MP management is your gimmick). TP should be a constant drain from start to finish. If it's not, your DPS is suffering, hard. The burst regen from Invigorate every 2m doesn't really count as a period of regaining TP.
Quote Originally Posted by Werhusky View Post
This is basically the reason why people want SCH to DPS while the other heals, even tho WHM and AST have the burst... it just has the better manamanagement while doing said DPS and the fairy does the rest...
It's less about Mana and more about utility. Healers are not DPS. They can do DPS, but they are not DPS. Their Job is healing, first and foremost. When a SCH is doing DPS, their Fairy picks up some of the slack. When the WHM is doing DPS, they're just not healing at all outside of maybe having HoTs flowing.

Fact is: WHM+Fairy is better raid heals in the majority of situations than SCH+Fairy, due to WHM's burst heal capabilities with Divine Seal, Presence of Mind, Assize, Med II, and Cure III. SCH has tools as well (Fey Illumination, Dissipation, Emergency Tactics, Whispering Dawn), but 2/4 of those are Fairy skills - and they're the two most powerful skills in that arsenal.


I didn't add to the discussion of Sustained DPS, because I feel it was quite sufficiently answered on the first page in the Burst v Sustained way.