Thread: Scholar 5.0 Discussion

Not gonna repeat what many said, I agree that the changes so far are pretty bad in almost all aspects of the class except healing potency, which is pretty good.

If SE really wants us to not use Aetherstacks for Dpsing, I think they should have give us a different way to spend then when needed. If ED is not an option, either some small utility like Increase Damage or reduce received damage for a very short period of time my have been interesting. If it needs to be only healing, maybe a small instant shield that can also be stacked with Adlo and can be spammed quickly to reduce the amount of aetherstack when needed. While you cannot heal more that the maximum health, at least you can reduce the incoming damage, while still retaining job identity. Also perhaps change the DPS a bit to differentiate it from the other healers. If it must be simple, make it so we have only one Instant GCD spell (make Broil III instant but with less potency) and change Ruin II to a DoT spell. While not necessarily more fun, I think that it will help gain more identity to the class if they manage 2 DoTs with a single spammable damage spell, making weaving without losing DPS easier, but having to be more vigilant of both DoTs. This mean that they have more mobility too (not that they lack now), so that could be its strong point compared to the raw power of WHM. I think these two changes would go along the "not DPS" philosophy of SE while still making the class feel less clunky. There are almost certain better ways to improve the class without reverting it back to SB, I'm just not that knowledgeable or creative to come with them, but you catch my drift.

I feel there are actually numerous ways of making the class feel fun to play without resorting to DPS, but SE seemed like they didn't care.

I've played SCH for 6 years and I will keep playing it because I am a loyal fool, at least until they shatter faith in fixing this current problem. Many times has SE changed things or given me what I felt were lackluster skills compared to the wham glam of the new AST or what not, but I always enjoyed my core class. I originally hated my arcanist, but as I gained levels I began to feel the identity of the class form and SCH was even better. I wasnt just a healer, I was a strategic mastermind who had to think about how to weave my heals and dps together, and I had little downtime. It was fun, engaging, impactful. Im only level 72 now but I can say that not once since the patch have I felt like I was playing a SCH. The heals are powerful yes, but I feel like I have had a leg and an arm chopped off without so much as a crutch to move on with. Its awkward, off balance, just wrong feeling. But most of all its BORING! I dont do ANYTHING except pound a heal key, whats the point of dps? it sucks up too much mana and has negligible damage. I realize that SE might be thinking of balance for end game raids and such, but I could care less if its boring. I felt much the same way as when WoW did Cataclysm and that was the expansion in which I lost all interest in WoW. So I'll give SE time, and I hope they hear the voices of everyone on this. The class is still functional, but it is such a boring and lame thing to play, so why play it when more interesting and fun classes exist.
I cant help but feel like this is all to help the level skip players be able to play the class, but its us long time mains who have spent years mastering this class who should be heard. Complexity and mastery is a fun mechanic, simplicity and complacency is only for the get rich quick.

Return ED, we need an aether dump and imo better mana recovery.
Return Bane and Shadowflare. They didnt do too much damage but they were fun to use and see
Give us back the ability to command our fairy, that was what made me choose SCH to start with.
Another DoT would be nice but thats more personal preference.
in a nutshell, let the classes have unique idenity and gameplay and not cookie cutter us all.


These are the humble opinions of a casual but long playing SCH main.

Also, I think it would be interesting to discuss MP management. The issue right now is that we have two options: spam DPS spells and run out of MP or do no or very little DPS to avoid running out. I think is perfectly fine for WHM to be the healer with the easiest and more efficient MP conservation, but the issues is this: the alternative to not running out of MP is to not do anything. This is the issue many of the people that seem to ignore right now. We have no MP managing mechanics to attend to beyond Atherflow and Lucid Dreaming. Nothing. Just picture it, do nothing but wait to heal people, specially awful if there is no really much healing needed because the tank is mitigating effectively. Just poping oGCD heals or on or two GCD spells and then wait, perhaps a dot. And we don't even have to go to extreme situations. If you decided to play the best you can, fill the void with as many spells you can, you will be punish. If I had to compare it to something, it would be like DPS having to slowdown so they don't take the Tank aggro without way to avoiding such situation. While not the exact same case, it is equivalent in the sense that you have to stop yourself from playing your class as optimally as possible to not be screwed.That feels terrible.

Here the flaw of SCH design is pretty obvious. While being simplified, they also lost tools used to manage their MP while upping their spells cost so the focus is on oGCD heals. It actually make the class be incomplete in the sense that there is no way to play optimally, no way to avoid the 0 MP situation. And the solution seems to be sadly to reduce MP costs or buff MP recovery. Yes, I said sadly, as this will be the only solution possible that fits SE current Healer design: instead of making MP management a more significant part of the job to give it more engaging gameplay, forcing you to play tactically, it would make the class harder to play, and therefore SE won't never introduce such changes. Also really doubt they will make big changes mid Expansion anyway.

Originally Posted by AlphaSonic

Aethersink: Convert all your remaining Aetherflow stacks into mana and fey union gauge. Restoration depends on the aetherflow stacks.
1 stack -> 250 mana + 10 faerie gauge
2 stacks -> 500 mana + 20 faerie gauge
3 stacks -> 750 mana + 30 faerie gauge

Boom problem solved, and without any DPS buff involved.

Elegantly put, fix both issues in one go.

I dont want to count myself as a good SCH. I only picked it up as my go-to healer at the end of SB. But here's my two cents.

1) Let me see my fairy in combat. Removing it from the party list but allowing chocobos to remain in the party list? Removing its name in combat DESPITE having the setting to allow it's name to be displayed while in combat? I hate losing where my fairy is if I'm constantly having to place it in range for its abilities.
2) MP in AoE. Art of War is cool and all in name, but man it hurts to use it too much.
3) Aetherflow. Not being able to use it outside of combat makes SCH feel so clunky that it pains me, especially since combat is triggered when you either attack an enemy, or heal the tank after they pull. Delaying me being able to play is poor design IMO.
3a) Not having anything to spend aether on besides healing spells? I'm okay with that. Not 100%, but I get what SE wanted to do. But when you're sitting on one or two stacks when there's no healing going out and aetherflow is either far off from using again, or about to be? Feels bad. Why'd quickened aetherflow trait have to be removed?
3aa) If Aether abilities fuel the fairy gauge, it'd make sense to me to want to use more aether abilities to fuel more fairy gauge. All of which is done for healing, right? So why are SCH being punished for using their abilities too much? Either I sit on stacks, or burn through them too quickly, and have to dissipate to get more stacks for more healing... except the fairy's gone while dissipate is up so I have to wait for the fairy to come back just to use the fairy abilities? SCH needs a way to spend aether when healing isn't needed.
4) Fairy abilities being treated as oGCD player abilities. This makes no sense for SCH. Being able to prep a heal, cast it, and while casting it order Eos to use Fey Illumination was satisfying to pull off those embiggened heals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't SCH supposed to co-function with their fairy, not order it around like a SMN pet?
5) Biolysis. Instead of giving AST an AoE DoT, they... take away from WHM and SCH their AoE DoT? This beggars belief.
5a) Bane. Not having an AoE DoT is... painful. I hate tab targeting each mob individually to apply Biolysis to help mobs die if I'm busy casting a GCD heal. Being able to deal damage to every enemy passively if I have to use a GCD heal helps the party and the dungeon clear more smoothly.
5b) Shadowflare. Sacred Soil can still not be used while another field effect spell is in use... which there is no other one now. What? Removed to reduce button bloat maybe? I don't feel like I wouldn't be able to find room for it on my hotbars if it were still around or readded. Plus that it was passive damage that was only effective as long as the enemy was within its area of effectiveness.
6) Succor. Why does Sacred Soil no longer have a chance of proccing a free succor? Would it be because having SS as a HoT while popping a free succor shield to boot is too powerful? Why actively nerf a healer's ability to heal?
7) Largesse. Why? Why was this removed? Break had its uses for me on RDM if I died, but I get why it and most of the other role spells were axed. But Largesse? If you want healers to focus on healing more, why take away an ability that made them BETTER at healing??
7a) Repose. In overworld content where it would be used, the cast time is too long I feel. Beyond which, just keep running from the enemy til it deaggros you anyway. Why would I want to stop, cast a long casting spell, just to sleep a mob to keep running when I can keep running to wherever I am going? Waste of time. Dungeons? Everyone is using their AoE/damaging abilities so literally pointless and useless. Bosses? See dungeons. Raids? If it's going to wind up like the Omega raids did... refer to dungeons. If it were to be reworked to act as an interrupt, that would be cool. Having interrupts on Tanks/Ranged Physical is nice and all, but if anyone would want to interrupt an enemy from doing more damage a healer makes sense to me. Just make this an interrupt spell that shares a cast speed with physick/cure/benefic.

That's all I can think of, but man. Taking SCH through the MSQ has not been enjoyable in the slightest.