SCH needs some nerfs

[Kurando]

snip

Well I'm not suggesting SCH was ever weak per say, but it did need some adjustments and some changes did actually happen after the raids were released. When you have enough players complaining and SE acting on them quite quickly, then clearly there must of been something wrong to begin with. I mean we have regular threads/debates about WHM but SE still isn't doing much to it, so either WHM isn't it dire need of anything or SCH/AST needed them much more.

[Risvertasashi]

I mean we have regular threads/debates about WHM but SE still isn't doing much to it, so either WHM isn't it dire need of anything or SCH/AST needed them much more.

SE's balancing decisions are a mystery. They don't tell us why they do the things they do. It is true that a strong community reaction can force their hand, but they clearly don't mind catapulting certain classes into must-pick status (WAR for tanks, SCH for healers, etc etc). They (substantially) buffed AST when it was already meta.

It's not really fair to say "they must have needed it" when there's rather large piles of evidence that they didn't. Or in the case of early-SB SCH, simply no evidence. Yeah, a few skills were questionable then. But now SCH is once more, the god-healer must pick for... the whole expansion.

[NobleWinter]

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed a significant change in MP economy since the last patch hit but I know that in my personal experience MP flows a lot less freely and I see myself constantly battling against running bone dry while trying to be constantly casting. I never even thought about using Break for mp free dps before but its definitely appealing now. It seems like an intentional adjustment based on the way Piety seems a bit more scare across the current Healer Gear. If so it is a buff to White Mage and nerf to Scholar. For Scholars using Energy Drain for MP is a direct cost to any other healing skill that could have been used instead and managing Aetherflow effectively for shields and heals and cutting back on dps to sustain mp means that White Mage can push their dps a lot harder than Astro or Scholar. I may be imagining it but simply changing mp economy could be the key to pushing WHM forward.

[number473]

Yeah, the problem with Scholar at the start of SB was that it wasn't OP. SCH players are so used to being far and away the best that they couldn't take it when they actually needed to work a bit to get their job done.

I'm not saying that there weren't things that were wrong with all of the healers at the start of the expansion, but if WHM is fine right now, the SCH certainly could have put up with it's position compared to the other two healers at the start of Stormblood.

[KDSilver]

I don't want SCH to be nerfed because they don't know how to properly nerf a class without completely destroying it.
Right now at least, it is really good and strong, but not insanely either.
They should work on what they want to do about WHM/AST/the 4th healer to know what exactly they should nerf in comparison.Otherwise, it'll be a mess like SB's start. I don't want that to happen again. If slight nerf has to happen, i prefer it to be gradually during the next expansion.

But also, small note to OP. While we can't ignore that fact, SCH also is one the hardest healer to play/learn.
With all the micro-management, you need clear planning on how to properly use your cooldown if you want to be able to heal efficently/have really good dps and weaving without running dry on mana.
Others healers have to, of course, but you're more punished for a wrong CD usage as SCH (AF, fairy...).

So, in the end, with all the road you have to get through to be one of those super good SCH, I don't mind, i even wish he'll keep that "best healer" category

[MoroMurasaki]

Honestly I don't think scholar needs to he dumbed down. It's toolkit is very synergistic and it plays really well as a shielding pet healer.

They should strive to bring the other two healers up to scholars level, fix whm's petals and 70 skill, give them utility. Give astro it's own identity (as in lose sects) so white mage can shine.

And if they do change anything about scholar it has to be their fairy that heals on no mp and affords them all the gcds to dps.

I'll pop back for more later but for now...

I didn't call for it to be dumbed down, they could easily adjust potencies to compensate without changing the fundamental playstyle of the class. This is, even if not intended to be so, a strawman.

As far as buffing the other healers to SCH's level all that accomplishes is a psuedo-nerf to high-end content and an even easier time in the rest of the game. We have already seen what circle buffs do, look at BRD and MCH at the end of 3.x. I don't want to imagine how easy Savage would become with every healer balanced to the current SCH.

AST sects don't alienate WHM - WHM's lack of any rDPS buff, group mitigation tool and having the lowest pDPS alienate WHM.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

SCHs have been broken since forever. The one time they were slightly behind they were instantly buffed up again. I think people don't bring it up often because we know SCH is SE' baby. For whatever reason, it isn't allowed to be anything but the absolute greatest.

It sounds silly, but it does seem like they have their job preferences. WAR and SCH are absolutely untouchable and everyone just accepts how broken they are. I just hope the next healer can challenge SCH, instead of being another "WHM with X ability" like AST is.

[Lastelli]

It sounds silly, but it does seem like they have their job preferences. WAR and SCH are absolutely untouchable and everyone just accepts how broken they are. I just hope the next healer can challenge SCH, instead of being another "WHM with X ability" like AST is.

*cough cough* BRD *cough*

Either they have job preferences or they don't understand their game so well. Honestly, I want to believe it's the former.

[MoroMurasaki]

But also, small note to OP. While we can't ignore that fact, SCH also is one the hardest healer to play/learn.
With all the micro-management, you need clear planning on how to properly use your cooldown if you want to be able to heal efficently/have really good dps and weaving without running dry on mana.
Others healers have to, of course, but you're more punished for a wrong CD usage as SCH (AF, fairy...).

I have another free minute so I think I'd like to address this.

If you find SCH difficult to learn or play, cold as this may sound, that's on you. I started the game as a WHM and swapped mains in HW to SCH because I felt like it was easier for me to play. These things are always relative. I find BLM to be insanely difficult but for some others it just clicks with them. That shouldn't have any impact on the balancing of the class.

In my opinion SCH is still the easiest healer to play well if you give all 3 a go. The amount of emergency buttons you get on top of the shields and free fairy healing that you have to do absolutely nothing for is insane. Still I'm not arguing for it to be nerfed just because I think it's easy to play but because it's too strong compared to its would-be competition.

If you don't feel SCH is overpowered look at the disparities in things like clear rates and just plain pDPS. The answers are there. It needs to be knocked down a peg, it's been this way (with the exception of a few weeks during SB launch) since early HW. I think, like AST, SCH feels amazing right now. I don't want them to do anything drastic to it that would take away from the fun of playing it but I think in terms of raw numbers it needs to get put in check.

[Heliantheae]

Maybe something like a Discipline Priest from WoW could challenge SCH. It has a Shield that they give out that gives Atonement buff that when the deal damage it heals everyone with Atonement.

So maybe if we get the Dancer, it could have a dance that does the same thing. Like when we start the Dance we give a shield and as long as the dance is active some of our DPS heals the target.