Tips for SCH? :)

[Gemina]

Alright, I have finally gotten SCH, and am on my way to making it my main class (19 levels before I catch up with my PLD!). I wanna post some things I noticed, so I can learn if they're true or not:

I have 3 bars: Healing, DPS, and Cooldowns/misc. The Healing and DPS are my main rotations, the third is for stuff like Protect, Summon, Sustain, and Resurrect: stuff I won't be using often, but occasionally. Both my Healing and DPS bars have my Eos commands on the left side, so I can Embrace whenever I need to manually.

So, that's my first thoughts on playing SCH. Feeling pretty good, so far.

Last post was from my phone, but there are a couple more things I wanted to bring up:

Not sure if you're PC or controller, but keep in mind that your pet already has its own bar. When you have less skills, it can be easier to hotbar some of your pet's abilities so you don't have to access the pet hotbar, but as you acquire more, I believe you will find the hard set pet hotbar much more convenient.

Basically, in average dungeons, it feels like I'm two classes. I still keep the party alive thanks to MP-less Embrace spamming, but I can devote almost the whole dungeon to being an extra DPS; in Cleric Stance, I have the same power as I did when I was ACTUALLY a DPS as an ARC. That means that the dungeon goes significantly faster, because it's like having a Healer AND a third DPS. Also, when I DO need to heal, I basically heal twice every GDC because of Eos, and I have a nifty heal/barrier spell as well. It feels way better than playing as a WHM for me; it feels like there's a massive safety net.

Actually, you have more power! The SCH soulstone provides a significant increase to your MND stat, which in-turn translates to a higher INT stat when you activate Cleric, that's without mentioning that as your item level increases, the MND stat for SCH seriously inflates. SCH DPS can significantly reduce the time spent in an instance, but always remember that healing and DMG mitigation are top priority. I wish you happy travels on your Eorzean travels!

[Gemina]

@zadocfish, you will commonly find that place is highly recommended to maximize the healing of your fairy. I recommend saving a video of one of your runs and monitor your fairies behavior when you view it. You will likely find moments where she's moving when she should be healing.

Now, that doesn't mean you must always place her, but the more you do it, the more relieving it will be knowing she's spamming embrace while you got free reign to do your thing.

It's like you said, being sch is almost like bringing two jobs into the instance. So keep that healer mentality intact, and try to place your fairy in the same position you would put yourself in if you were running as another healer.

[Zadocfish]

Alright, been trying it out a little more, reading up, and came up with a new question. Under what circumstance would I ever use Miasma 2? It seems almost completely worthless. Ruin 2 is a straight upgrade to replace Ruin 1, Bio 2 is a great thing to add to the rotation along with Bio 1... But Miasma 2 has a small range for an AOE, doesn't do much damage over time (roughly 1/4th of Miasma 1 per target), and Miasma already turns into an AOE with smart use of Bane... and the sheer difference in damage means it's more useful just spreading Miasma 1 to each enemy one-at-a-time; one casting of Miasma can lead to about 300 total potency, compared to 70 for Miastma 2... so, you'd need to cast it on a minimum of 4 opponents, and recast it much sooner, to get as much damage in. Miasma 2 is Instant, sure, but you still can't do anything in the GDC...

Is there something I'm missing...? It seems like the most worthless level-up spell in the game I've seen so far, being literally worse in almost every way than its first version.

[Ragology]

I imagine that miasma 2 can be used to instantly knock back objects for bosses that use those sort of mechanics (like brayflox hard.) Other than that I guess you'd be waiting for the 4+ mobs thing,much like Rogue's Death Blossom ( unless the recent potency buff made death blossom useable on 3 mobs.)

[Judge_Xero]

Under what circumstance would I ever use Miasma 2? It seems almost completely worthless.

Until you have Broil any time you have two or more mobs. M2 is 70 Potency per mob. Ruin/R2 is 80.

Ruin 2 is a straight upgrade to replace Ruin 1

R2 is not an upgrade to R1. It is the same damage + Instant Cast and adds blind but costs way too much MP.

[Stuff about dots bane and M2]

The point is to have all your dots running on all mobs simultaneously. B2,M,B -> Bane to Spread them and then M2 on 2+ Mobs because 70 ×2>80 potency from a Ruin.

Is there something I'm missing...? It seems like the most worthless level-up spell in the game I've seen so far, being literally worse in almost every way than its first version.

A 70 Potency AOE with no diminishing returns for large amounts of targets that also debuffs them (heavy). It is pretty good.

[Fernosaur]

You should only use Miasma II if there are more than 2 enemies if you're below level 52 or 54, whenever you get Broil. After you get Broil, you only get damage gains for using Miasma II when there are 3+ mobs. It's also useful to put Heavy on targets instantly, as an example, the True Heart in A7, the flans from A3 or the orbs in Weeping City, etc.

The reasoning here is about the amount of total potency you get per GCD. Miasma II is worthless when used on a single target, because its potency is lower than Ruin, but if you use it on two targets, you're dealing a combined total potency of 140, whereas using Ruin you'd only get a total potency of 80. Its total potency only increases the more targets you hit. Basically, you won't be finding yourself using it too much in raids or trials, but it's good for trash.

I also noticed your comments about Place and Heel. Place is important at slightly higher levels of play, so you can set your fairy in a set location while you move to another one to deal with mechanics. A current example, in Nidhogg Extreme, you can place Eos to stay with the two tanks while you bait the fireball from the Shadow Dragon. Another thing I noticed is that you have Sustain in your bar. Sustain is pretty much pointless for SCH, since you can use that GCD on using Physick on your fairy which will probably restore more HP. That, and the fairy will heal herself anyways.

[Zadocfish]

Ah, okay, so it's added to the rotation for trash pulls as an additional crowd-control DOT. Got it. I was thinking of it as compared to Miasma 1, instead of Ruin 1. Cool. I wonder if I can hold off on using Ruin 2 on my action bar...? Apparently the extra cost usually outweighs the Blind effect?

[Judge_Xero]

Ah, okay, so it's added to the rotation for trash pulls as an additional crowd-control DOT. Got it. I was thinking of it as compared to Miasma 1, instead of Ruin 1. Cool. I wonder if I can hold off on using Ruin 2 on my action bar...? Apparently the extra cost usually outweighs the Blind effect?

R2 is still nice to use during movement or when you want to weave an OGCD skill without losing DPS. Like, Virus, Rouse, E4E, Aetherflow etc.

Once you have Broil you can leave R2 but remove R1

[Rawrz]

Single Target Opener:

Adlo tank - Place Shadow if it makes sense BEFORE COMBAT so that the boss will step into it, but won't pull boss - (POT- if you have time to both pot and precast Bio II . SCH love pull macros <3. As you're casting Bio II activate Fey Wind. I'll usually place her during the Bio II or miasma cast as well) Bio II ~> Miasma ~> Bio ~> Energy Drain~> Aero ~> Energy Drain ~> Broil ~> Broil ~> Ruin II (pot should end here. My spell speed sometimes lets me also get my energy drain in.) ~> Energy Drain ~> Aetherflow.


Single Target without precast Shadow Flare:

(POT- if you have time to both pot and precast Bio II .) Bio II ~> Miasma ~> Bio ~> Energy Drain~> Aero ~> Swiftcast~> Shadow Flare ~> Energy Drain ~> Broil ~> Ruin II ~> Energy Drain ~> Aetherflow.

If saving MP don't use your last energy drain, until you refresh your Bio then Aetherflow. You'll be topped off.


Refresh Dots as necessary. Do not place a DoT unless it can tick for 15 seconds, the two exceptions being Aero and Bio if you can weave an energy drain with them, but they still need at least 9 seconds to beat ruin II, or if you're bane-ing.

Level 50 AOE:
Bio II ~> Miasma ~> Bio ~> Swiftcast ~> Bane ~> Shadow Flare ~> Miasma II ~> Aero targets if 3 or less and that will survive ~15 seconds. Blizzard II if they won't live through aero or if there are 4 or more targets. You may choose to aero if 4 targets, only if they will survive the entire duration.

Level 54+ AOE:
Bio II ~> Miasma ~> Bio ~> Swiftcast ~> Bane ~> Shadow Flare ~> Miasma II (3 or more only) ~> Aero targets if 4 or less and that will survive ~15 seconds. Broil if 3 or less or if they won't survive aeros duration. Blizzard II if 4 or more.

Using Swiftcast before bane buffers bio, so its not skipped with bane, while not cutting into your gcd.


Your skills are competing with each other in priority to see who can deal the most at the current time. Picking the right one ups your dps.

You can change these up to fit your needs, but they will give you solid DPS.