Is this proof enough that this ability is useless? ( Divine Benison )

[Kazrah]

Didn't Stoneskin have an annoyingly long cast time, only absorb 10% and had an AoE version that couldn't be used in combat? Yeah, I think I'll pass.

[Princess_Momoka]

Didn't Stoneskin have an annoyingly long cast time, only absorb 10% and had an AoE version that couldn't be used in combat? Yeah, I think I'll pass.

swiftcast. Also it used to be 15%, they nerfed it.

[Spiroglyph]

Ugh, I am almost afraid of what I am about to say, but, I actually DO like this ability.

Being a SCH main (currently having truckloads of fun with noctAST), I love all forms of shields and mitigation - I fell in love with this little thing when I first ran Bardam's Mettle on my WHM, and first boss was about to stomp flat a leaf DPS who was being targeted by the column attack.

Even without full lily gauge it is on cooldown short enough that you can use it frequently, be it for busters, to panic protect someone low on HP from getting wrecked, etc.

I would prefer if it was not LOCKED behind lilies and it worked instead like asylum or assize in that lilies shorten its cooldown without you NEEDING the lilies to use it.

Sure this is not an invencibility cloak upon its target, but I'd not call a practically free insta shield useless.

[Tint]

So why take out an ability from .. 34 I think it was? only to replace it with something with the same use at level 66 with very restrictive casting ability? couldn't they just buff stoneskin to be 15% and not bother making this ability at all?

Stoneskin and Divine Benison may seem to be the same skill at the first glance, but they are not. they have different uses and should be using different. Divine Benison is an instant shield wich lasts only a few seconds and can be used to mitigate the next hit wich is coming in the next few seconds - especially tankbusters.
Stoneskin on the other hand was rather useless for tankbusters. the cast was long and the shield was not strong enough to even compensate for the auto hits the tank was eating while you was casting the shield in most cases. so you put a 10% shield on the tank who lost 10% health while you was casting it.
however, Stoneskin was great to shield DDs and healers with weakness oder vulnerability stacks and other stuff. Stoneskin lasted for 30 minutes, so you could cast it on someone at any time and the next hit would be mitigated. no timing required. and you could cast it on multiple people.

so we lost a shield wich was good to mitigate damage on DDs and healers and not so good for tankbusters and we got a shield wich is good for tankbusters but not so good on DDs and healers.

[Fyce]

swiftcast. Also it used to be 15%, they nerfed it.

I don't think I ever saw a WHM using Swiftcast for a Stoneskin. That'd be a ridiculous thing to do.
Besides, the only time where you'd put Stoneskin on someone during combat was: 1) when you are a bad WHM and had nothing else to do between your Cure spam, 2) when that idiot in your group kept dying and had a big HP reduction (but that's gone now).

So, yeah, Divine Benison is way better than Stoneskin. Because it's actually useful and usable in combat quite frequently. Stoneskin was not.

[Jybril]

Actually I used SS back in the day for tank busters and sometimes myself or other healer when we have lb3 and I know one of us will make it when there's another aoe coming..

They need to fix the fact it consumes ALL lilies. you get the same shield percentage no matter the Lily. that needs a fix right now lol.

[Niraves]

They need to fix the fact it consumes ALL lilies. you get the same shield percentage no matter the Lily. that needs a fix right now lol.

This is the only thing I dislike about this ability. I'm fine with it costing a Lily to use, but if I have two Lillies in my guage it should NOT consume both of them.

[Ayer2015]

So why take out an ability from .. 34 I think it was? only to replace it with something with the same use at level 66 with very restrictive casting ability? couldn't they just buff stoneskin to be 15% and not bother making this ability at all? What did it even do in this pic? it is so useless >< Why is it dropping in the same frame it was applied? need to delete useless abilities, even if they are gained at level 66.

I like it... and its far from useless.

[Neophyte]

Divine Bension is in every way better than SS, which was basically only used when a pre-shield mechanic (like T10 preys) was going on or people had weakness (which is not a thing anymore).

I already casted more Divine Bension in the 1 month of SB than I did normal SS in all of Heavensward (if you don't count the ones to make weakend people survive).

[Spiroglyph]

I don't think I can really put SS and DV in the same bag tbh, they are too different :/

SS:
Long cast time
Ineffient MP wise
Took up a swiftcast if you needed an insta shield
Weak shield

DV:
Only thing it costs is lilies (arguably its biggest issue is taking up all lilies even though it already has a relatively short cd)
Instant
Covers slighly more HP than post nerf SS (15% of target HP)

???

I do not think it is bad at all :/ can kinda mess with your lilies but that is not enough to warrant a "useless" label.

In combat it surpasses SS usefulness by a long shot