Anyone else feeling a hit to SCH?

[MarinaShore]

Not to take from the WHM struggle, but with ASTs getting yet another shield buff what's the point of keeping SCH as a healer? I already struggled enough to be taken seriously with the current Noct shield potency, now ASTs practically cast a critlo with every aspected benefic. What's the point of a SCH shield?

Granted yes, we have a new fairy skill, we have another burst heal. But shields were our primary niche and now we can't even compete with AST.

But at least we have good DPS potential right? And fairies! So who really needs our flimsy shields anyway?

WHMs are feeling shafted for being pure healers, but at least your heal potency is better than potato. If SE wants SCH to pure DPS so bad, why not just remove the job entirely and leave SMN?

[Verdan]

Everyone is being crushed under the ast

[BlueMageQuina]

SCH definitely took a hit too. AST is essentially the only class I've seen coming out of buffed in the 4.0 release and was also really the only class who didn't need it.

SCH is losing dots, the ability to keep Shadowflare running as it will now have a 60s CD, it's losing potency from Bane, losing Sustain, losing blind from Ruin II and I believe some amount of MP restoration from Aetherflow. All of SCH's nerfs are DPS related--which as the DPS and shield healer, is its healing niche---while its heals are largely remaining the same in potencies and effects.

SCH is being buffed with Divine seal where when combined with Fey Illumination and Dissipation will skyrocket the SCH's healing. However, that Illuminated Sealed Dissipated Lustrate is still no match match in potency to AST's Earthly Star before AST even entertains the idea of Divine Seal.

Don't forget, it's going to take a crit Galvanization to even pretend to compare to Aspected Benefic/Helios. Fortunately for SCH, it's getting a CD to increase a target's reception to critical hits--but does that mean critical healing or all critical from all sources? Because what's the point of a critical barrier that will just be broken the next hit because that hit is critical too?

[Cynfael]

I can't say that I'm super excited about SCH, but most of the healer updates look rather blah compared to AST's shower of blessings. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy AST and want good things for it, but their toys are definitely much shinier than most of ours. Chain Strategem will be in very high demand, but frankly I wish it pooped out a galaxy. Too much to ask?

I doubt that SCH will have actual difficulty healing (judicious use of the Fey Union skill will probably be rather helpful). It does bug me a little to see Noct AST be such a stronger barrier healer (sure, Noct A.B. lost some base potency, but holy crap, 300% shields), but I'll have to get in line behind the WHMs who feel totally crowded out by both AST sects.

[Fernosaur]

Snip.

The new Divine Seal + Fey Illum + Dissipation combo doesn't affect Lustrate, though, it only affects healing magic potency, and Lustrate is not a spell, just an ability. These buffs never have affected it. It will only affect Adloquium, Succor and Physick.

Also, the DPS hit is mostly to our AoE DPS (which is still sucks and has me incredibly upset), since our single target DPS is actually getting a little buff in my perception. Broil and Broil II's potency are pretty high compared to Broil in HW, and Ruin II got a slight potency buff which makes SCH more mobile. The loss of Aero isn't a hit anymore, since its potency of 200 is lower than Broil II's potency of 230, and Bio was a 240 potency spell: still a DPS loss to not have it, but one that isn't too big because of Broil II's potency. Shadow Flare I'm not sure if it's a DPS loss, since being instant makes it kind of "free" damage that you can weave in after an instant spell and for no MP cost, which isn't so bad. Weaving it after Bio II is around 550ish potency in just one GCD.

I'm not saying this to counter this thread, though. I do feel SCH was more nerfed than buffed, mostly getting some QoL changes in the new skills, only to have our AoE potential ridiculously gutted. Doing dungeons on SCH is going to be a pain in the ass now...

As for the new Critical+ skill: I think it's something that you can only use on an enemy, meaning that it's pretty much a single target Battle Litany that has a slightly more powerful effect, kinda like Ninja's Trick Attack. It's a good offensive utility, but I don't know if it outweights the AoE nerf. At least AoE tends to not be too important in raid :').

[Rawrz]

Said this in another thread, but the aggravation is real. SCH got nerfed to the ground. They bring a single crit debuff, but lose their entire AOE roots. Bane nerf without bio and reduced potency like flare/holy.They lose weaving in their single target DPS rotation from the removal of aero, leaving just a traited bio II. They lose Blizzard II for AOE Spam. They lose Miasma II, which was still better than nothing. They lose the 10% boost from cleric stance. They lose the SS proc from their pet actions, which synergized with their need for crit, allowing you to spread your dots with increased damage. They lose the ability to replace a shadowflare if the tank is stupid. RIP VIRUS. SCH'S GREATEST WEAPON AGAINST MASSIVE AOE AND TANK BUSTERS. HOPEFULLY A NOBLE RED MAGE WILL CARRY ON THE DAMN FLAME.

What do SCHs get? More mind numbing broil spam, a fairy tether which will probably end up having a fairy based potency aka 50% of real healing potency, a heal that only procs if you dont get one shot at 51%, and a crit debuff, the only real jewel of the expansion.

Good idea SE. Lets cut off 4 fingers from a SCH's hand and put a ring on the remaining finger. That'll make up for it.


Looking at maining RDM for SB. It looks like a sexy savior. Instant cast raises and a cure that actually heals well. Vera Cure -> Instant Raise -> Vera Cure -> Instant Raise. The recovery potential is beautiful.



[Click to play]

[LegoTechnic]

Excogitation is interesting. It's an anti-tankbuster with a large auto-trigger heal effect (650 potency) for when a tank dips below 50%, or barring that a safety net in dungeons for if you want to switch into cleric stance an...oops, uh, I mean just want to throw a few broils while not worrying about the tank for a second.

Chain Strategem is more or less the new raid defining role for the class. Battle Litany on half the cooldown timer, but applicable to only a single target rather than a party buff. Probably the biggest reason we won't be seeing double AST parties other than that card buffs don't stack.

Fey Union is basically telling the fairy to focus heal a single target, and it's pretty high potency for a fairy (480 potency per tick currently). As much as we all love macro'ing embrace to physick, I'd just as soon do this I guess.

DPS has been neutered. Down to two dots, Bio and Miasma series, and we don't get Bio III either (SMN only), and no more using Bio I and Bio II together. Aero is gone. Bane is nerfed drastically with 20% damage decrease per next target as opposed to Holy's 10%, and Shadowflare is now on a 60 second cooldown (uuuuuugh). Miasma II is gone, and we can't cross-class Blizzard II either, so Bane and Shadowflare are the absolute full extent of our AoE. Honestly we are now probably one of the worst AoE in the game; it would probably be interesting to see if we could outperform a MNK with TP issues in this regard. The sole positive is Broil II is no longer the weakest direct damage healer spell with a potency of 230, which is 30 less than WHM's Stone IV and 20 more than AST's Malefic II (so middle road). We also retain Ruin II for instant damage on the move. However this also means DPS as a SCH will be mind-numbingly dull. Pray to whatever you worship that damage will be flying everywhere because 2-dot -> one-button spam is why I never liked WHM.

Virus is gone, as is Disable. They are now in the hands of DPS. You were an iconic spell, Virus, situational in your annoyance, and you will be missed.

Succor is still worse than Noct stance Aspected Helios. Succor is 150 potency with a shield of 100% healing done per target. AspHelios is also 150 potency with a shield 150% the healing done. Note that Noct stance confers an additional +15% to healing though, so it's actually stronger than 150 potency in effect. Easily better than Succor, but less effective than Deployment Tactics + Adloquium. Succor is 2280 mana with a 2.5 second cast time, and AspHelios is 1800 mana with a 3 second cast time, so that's alright I guess.

And speaking of Adlo, Aspected Benefic has been retooled to have 200 potency and confer a shield 300% of the amount healed. It costs 1320 mana and is instant cast. Compare to Adloquium which is a 300 potency cure that creates a 100% shield that doubles if it crits, costs 1800 mana and is a 2 second cast. When you consider this with the Noct +15% bonus, Adlo will still actually heal for more but it will create a weaker shield. AspBene has the effective benefit of landing a critical adlo shield upon every cast, so while it will heal less HP it's instant and can be chained after a standard Benefic for a big result (note that Benefic II now has a +15% crit rate trait as well). So yes, if you thought shielding mechanics defined Scholars, looks like we're sharing.

I will admit that I recall fondly the days of yore where WHM and SCH stood side by side with completely separate healing focuses, and it's weird to see the little sibling able to do both roles equally well while ALSO bringing unique party buffs to the table, BUT we still have our fairy. That is additional free healing to use as we wish, and using whatever divine seal is called we can still pump out better adlos if we really work for it since it has a greater effect on our higher potency. Emergency Tactics is still a 175% strength version of Helios on a 30 second timer, and Lustrate is still great, which is good because we're going to be using a lot of broil spam while the fairy works, and lustrate will likely be our go-to heal again. Or maybe we can energy drain more, I don't know. Scholar is still a class, and with the three new abilities we're definitely fantastic at preventing tank-busters, especially with the old toolkit remaining. AST can't take that from us, and crit trick attack makes sure everyone remembers we're team players.

[Cynfael]

As much as we all love macro'ing embrace to physick, I'd just as soon do this I guess.

Side note: please don't do this if you are playing with a keyboard. Old topic, but this macro is limiting and should be avoided.

Yes, Chain Strategem is genuinely good, but I'm weighing whether or not this is enough for me to be sufficiently excited about continuing as a SCH main.

Bah, who am I kidding. I'll almost certainly level SCH first for the raid, then promptly get AST to 70 as well....

[Naria]

I'm thinking about taking AST up to 70 first. I will still level SCH, but a lot of what I enjoyed about the job--the versatility, aoe, and good MP management--seems to be shifting over more to AST. Of the three healers, AST is the one I've played the least of, so I'll probably try it out more seriously to see how I like it. I'm not sure if I'll even bother taking WHM past 60 as it is going to be now.

[Transient_Shadow]

as a sch main I literally couldn't care less that another class is 'cutting into my role' we actually have the best of it out of all the healer classes.