Sch does not feel like sch...

[Sebazy]

<snip>

I'm inclined to think the issue here is that the HW's kit was basically a bunch of quirky and situational cooldowns built ontop of a very solid foundation of abilities and strengths. SB eroded away rather a lot of that leaving them with the same quirky kit but not nearly so much core strength underneath it.

[Sinquleur]

Thank you so much for that ^. Glad to have the actual numbers down. I get that AST can't spread that shield which is a good and understandable difference but the CD on Deployment Tactics makes this feel negligible to me. I've been told my some of my guildmates that I should really just focus on AST if I really want to reach a satisfying top-tier level and I've also had parties tell me they dread getting a SCH.

Pretty sad as I'm quite taken by this job and it's play style. I feel like a Holy Priest in WoW.

[Kabzy]

I've been told my some of my guildmates that I should really just focus on AST if I really want to reach a satisfying top-tier level and I've also had parties tell me they dread getting a SCH.

You should play whatever you want. Each of the healers have their own perks, and personally I feel like SCH (totally being a little biased here) is a lot more involved/satisfying when played at a higher level. The good thing about the current state of healers is that all three are not just viable, but actually good additions to any team.

As for teams that dread getting a SCH, avoid them like the plague. While it may not be as amazing as it was, the consistency in buffs via Chain Strategem and Selene (or Eos' extra healing), is not something that either of the other two can compare with. Singling out a job because it got a bad image at the start of the expansion only shows ignorance, and you don't want to be involved with those people if you're serious about raiding.

AST can buff, but they don't have that level of consistency and most likely would not be able to line up with party buffs outside of openers. These are all things to consider in group comps.

[Sebazy]

I've also had parties tell me they dread getting a SCH.

The only point where I legitimately notice the difference between having a SCH or AST as my co healer currently is in mitigating Almagest on O4S.

[era1Ne]

I've been told my some of my guildmates that I should really just focus on AST if I really want to reach a satisfying top-tier level and I've also had parties tell me they dread getting a SCH.

Some healer comps are more used than others, but in general the balance is better than it was in heavensward imo and every healer comp has its advantage and disadvantage. Of course some work could be done, to make the classes (even) more fun, but at the end of the day, healers as they currently are, are decently balanced, especially compared to other games. Imo the developers are doing an good enough job, despite some smaller mistakes and when i see some comments around the internet for "balance" suggestion, then i am really glad they don't listen all the time and just take feedback (*) into consideration. At the end of the day, when i think/guess how much the dev team has to consider for job balance imo, i am just glad, i am not an mmo developer myself and can just enjoy the game

In general it is sad to see guys like your raid members seem to be, who maybe (!) heared or read something about scholar problems or that he is not as good as before and turn this into an "he is garbage" or similar situation. Also some take the "meta" or the discussions about it way to seriously. Even if whm and ast would be considered "meta", the scholar would still be an valid option and you should play what you want. The (speedkill) "meta" only really matters, if you do speedkills which very, very few people out there actually do and those guys use ast/sch most of the time btw. That said, if you do progress you shouldn't really follow the speedkill meta anyway, since bringing an rdm with the instant rezz is more important than an mch/brd range combo for example.

* Don't get me wrong. Feedback is very important, but some of the suggestion on different sites from people have nothing to do with balance and all to do with "i want my job to be op (again)"

AST can buff, but they don't have that level of consistency and most likely would not be able to line up with party buffs outside of openers. These are all things to consider in group comps.

An Scholar has also much higher own dmg and still brings eos, which is still strong aswell. For some the class is not as fun as in hw and certainly, he isn't as powerful, but he is still an very good option imo.

[Riyshn]

Some healer comps are more used than others, but in general the balance is better than it was in heavensward imo and every healer comp has its advantage and disadvantage.

I do have to ask the question though; Is it that healer balance is the best it's been, or that this expansion hasn't yet had a fight on the level of Gordias/Midas that really highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of them?

[Kabzy]

I do have to ask the question though; Is it that healer balance is the best it's been, or that this expansion hasn't yet had a fight on the level of Gordias/Midas that really highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of them?

Well the stengths and weaknesses are already there. The highest DPS comp is still SCH/AST, so you could argue nothing has changed there. The only reason the balance between the three is much better now is because WHM are no longer restricted by their mana or Cleric Stance. So they can use their DPS kit a lot more freely than they could back in 3.x. Pair that with their powerful oGCD heals, and a WHM still makes a very good personal contribution to any raid team. Just those few who go for speed kills will most likely opt for SCH/AST.