Thread: Questions/Tips for Scholar - in general 4.0 and progressing to endgame content?

Hey everyone! (Please excuse the multi-post I didn't know you could edit afterwards to bypass the limit xoxo)

So I've been maining Scholar since I first bought the game about a year and a half ago, and what initially drew me to the class was A. its utility-healer style and B. the sharing of levels with an entire other class, something unique to Scholar/Summoner and allowed leveling up to be done in a fun and diverse way.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the long MSQ grind when starting from scratch, and taking a long break from the game before even progressing into Heavensward content, I just hit 70 now as I blow through the last few MSQs and I've never even done a single raid. Getting to endgame gear / raid content has always been a goal of mine, and now that the goal is in sight, are there any tips that can make me better at what I do as a scholar going into my first reach of endgame?

I've been reading a lot and I see that scholars are in a tough spot right now - it feels like AST does everything we do utility-wise, but better, and we get out-healed by both AST and WHM. However, progressing thus far I've always liked the way that Scholar feels as a very mobile, damage-slinging healer class and I like the ability to DPS while healing mostly with oGCDs and keeping roused whispers on cooldown.

I think that despite the apparent nerfs and struggle to perform well in comparison to WHM and AST in brute force healing, Scholar is still really fun for me to play and I enjoy the ability to change rotations and weave different oGCDs as necessary on the fly to quickly adapt playstyle, and I don't think that's something the other two healers can do nearly as well, though I don't have personal experience at high levels with either of them. (I've just begun leveling my AST, it's 35.)

So a few questions:
- Is Fey Union even viable? Given that it fails to be boosted by anything at all and I read something about embrace potency in the same timeframe being better is there a reason to even use it, or is the top-level skill that I just got going to go to waste?
- Other than Lucid Dreaming or a dedicated manabattery on your team, what else can I do as a scholar to work on MP management? Sometimes between DPSing and throwing GCD heals when necessary I just wind up struggling in the lower portion of my bar, especially when solo healing 4-mans. I'm really feeling the Aetherflow nerf with this one, as I never noticed such a struggle when I used to play casually pre-4.0.
- Going into raid content, is there really a place to just... start? Do I find a group to run coils with or do I just jump into Omega progression, and how do I even start that? Any tips for a first-time scholar who will probably wind up as an off-healer?

As far as I can tell, I have a pretty decent grasp of my class and I'm not letting myself get salty or discouraged at the seeming lack of effectiveness because I think much of it is just perceived that way, when in reality the function is still at a very very viable level. But I've never even touched a raid so maybe I'm just completely wrong and scholar just sucks now and I should go level my AST if I don't want to waste my time lol, so a little insight would be really cool for a newbie here.

Thanks so much, this is a big dumb wall, but I appreciate any responses in advance! <3

You can edit your post to bypass the character limit (it's much easier to read if it's all in one post). Sorry about not being able to reply to your topic though!

I'm far from the best SCH but I'll do what I can to answer some of your concerns.

Fey Union isn't useless, rather it's a fairly potent single target heal. Usually, it's strong enough alone to heal that you can just focus on DPSing, or healing others while the tether focus heals whomever its on. Its a place and forget heal while up so it's far from useless.

Honestly, I haven't had much MP issues with SCH, unless I'm mass rezzing or was recently rezzed myself. I usually just pop Lucid Dreaming if Aetherflow is on CD and I'm currently below 75% MP. Weaving in Energy Drains between Miasma 2 and Bio can help also, if you don't need the Aetherflow stacks. You can't spam Adlo like you could before so try using it sparingly, such as the start of a pull and pair it with Emergency Tactics as a last resort "big" heal in case you're out of A-flow stacks for Lustrates.

As for raids, I just say just dive right into Omega

Hi, first off I would like to state that I am by no means any pro sch but I would like to offer some of my experiences to answer those question.

Is Fey Union even viable? Given that it fails to be boosted by anything at all and I read something about embrace potency in the same timeframe being better is there a reason to even use it, or is the top-level skill that I just got going to go to waste?

Yes, granted it's not an almighty lvl 70 skill one would expect but it is viable. The way I see it is that you can use it as a constant flow of physick spam while you yourself are free to be more mobile, this only really shines in dungeons/raids where moving and positioning to stay alive is prioritized as the fairy seems to be immune to mechanics. Also a great help when you know huge raid wide aoe dmg is going to go out and both you and co-healer are going to be spending 1-2 gcds to heal the pt up.

Other than Lucid Dreaming or a dedicated manabattery on your team, what else can I do as a scholar to work on MP management? Sometimes between DPSing and throwing GCD heals when necessary I just wind up struggling in the lower portion of my bar, especially when solo healing 4-mans. I'm really feeling the Aetherflow nerf with this one, as I never noticed such a struggle when I used to play casually pre-4.0.

From my own experience, my mp could drop as low as 10% in 4 man's but usually the group of mobs dies at this point and I was also using Miasma II as soon as the dot finishes so I could've save more mp if needed. I feel the only time where you're really strapped for mp even with lucid dreaming is if you overused adloquim too much. Despite what people say, physick + embrace is actually pretty damn viable in 4 mans to keep the tank alive should it come to that. Using your aetherflow aggressively on skills like lustrate, excog, energy drain even is encouraged now with quickened aetherflow. That being said it's still on you to manage these. You should be able to refresh your aetherflow stacks between each pull, if not in the middle of one.

In 8 mans I've never really felt like my mp was too little. I think as sch you have to be a little bit selfish when it comes to healing. This isn't to say that you shouldn't be doing any and letting your poor co-healer solo everything for you, but instead know how much healing is needed through each raid wide aoe. If your co-healers Medika II + Assize is enough to heal through it, then you can just sit back and continue to dps, if it isn't then throw out a succor if you don't need immediate heals, a lustrate if you do.

Going into raid content, is there really a place to just... start? Do I find a group to run coils with or do I just jump into Omega progression, and how do I even start that? Any tips for a first-time scholar who will probably wind up as an off-healer?

Unfortunately there aren't that many people who are doing older raids like coil or alexander anymore and even if they are, they're doing it unsynced which kind of defeats the purpose of getting raid experience. I started with omega 1-4 then slowly but surely pugged my way into omega 1-4 savage. I'm now practicing on o4s despite still being on my 1st sub payment since I started the game, an achievement definitely but I'm no way close to seasoned raiders. In the end I think it all comes down to having the right mentality and being able to find a group that would be willing to pick you up. Of course you should do everything in your own time to polish what you can before joining these statics.

Hope I was able to help you with your sch!