So.... will it still be worth it?

[LeonTrifang]

The new change to SCH will make it so we can’t tell our fairy who to use embrace on, or where to stand, right? If so, is there really any point to having our fairy out all the time? I made a secondary set up where I just summon my fairy to use their Whispering Dawn, then they away right after. That way I can in a round about way, position the fairy without needing to be able to command them to. Only reason I can see to actually keep it up is for the fairy bar, so I can cast the occasional party fairy heal that will cost 20 of our bar.

[Freerider]

The fairy is still going to be a part of sch's toolkit and if you aren't using her it's just going to make you lose assets you would otherwise have. Also you can still control placement from what I saw.

[LeonTrifang]

The fairy is still going to be a part of sch's toolkit and if you aren't using her it's just going to make you lose assets you would otherwise have. Also you can still control placement from what I saw.

Oh! As long as I can move the fairy I’m happy. I just thought I’d have to use my emergency macro set up I made to cope with the loss of my ability to position my fairy.

[Urthdigger]

The fairy will still follow you, is immune to damage, and will automatically cast embrace on people. So, yeah. Keep her out.

[Sebazy]

In the past, the Fairy has usually prioritised her owner, then the closest target with further targets going down in priority accordingly.

Whilst you won't be able to manually spam embrace on a tank even if they aren't under the embrace threshold anymore, it does look like you'll still be able to quite literally plop her right in the tanks face to skew the embrace priority towards them.

Also, don't forget Dissipation. That ability is shaping up to look like a powerhouse now and it's stock will only go up further if SCH do get some offensive usage for Aetherflow again.

[Deceptus]

Also, don't forget Dissipation. That ability is shaping up to look like a powerhouse now and it's stock will only go up further if SCH do get some offensive usage for Aetherflow again.

The entire point of Dissipation (for the most part) as it stands right now is to either:

1) Give aetherflow for more Energy Drains and Quicken Aetherflow
2) Fish for a massive Critlo - Deployment to avoid a mechanic

Both of those are going to be gone in ShB. While they were pruning or changing abilities I always thought Dissipation was a prime candidate.

If you're in an Oh Sh!t situation, losing your fairy is the last thing you want to do. Especially in ShB with Seraph.

[Eloah]

Also, don't forget Dissipation. That ability is shaping up to look like a powerhouse now and it's stock will only go up further if SCH do get some offensive usage for Aetherflow again.

Wait? How is Dissipation shaping up exactly? It's still the same "useless" skill it has been. The only good thing they added was resummoning the fairy automatically, when the status ends. Otherwise, you are still losing about a 1/3 of your kit, to get a slight boost to another 1/3, leaving the remaining 1/3 unaffected. If anything it's a bit more skewed since the fairy is getting more emphasis and there are no DPS options anymore, Aetherflow is purely for healing now.

Don't get me wrong if Dissipation effected more than just spell healing, it would be a good skill. But even under Dissipation Physick is barely 500 potency, it's only 480, Adlo would be 360, with a 450 shield, and Succor would be 180 with a 270 shield. Compare to WHM natural 450 Cure, 700 Cure 2, 300 Medica, and a Sect AST 440 Benefic, 715 Benefic 2, and 330 Helios. Medica 2 and A. Helios aren't included, since they are the equivalent of Succor normally.

Anyway, those numbers on the surface sound great, but that's if you can spam the spells, on SCH you cant. You can only use Emergency Tactics every 20 seconds. And SCHs don't have a first tier heal. Only an "augmented" second tier. Based on the new info first tier heals are 1000mp and second tier are 1300mp That's an extra 300mp per cast, of which only one will get to us ET in a 20s window, though you shouldn't be spamming for that long honestly.

It's not like the skill couldn't be good, even if it was for healing, but it needs something "more". I cant say what, since any suggestions might sound OP, but it's still awkward, like when Excognition was first introduced, and Excog is a great skill now, and fits the SCHs kit nicely, so I do believe Dissipation can be fixed.

Maybe lower some MP costs, or make the spells instant, or make ET's CD 1s for more use, something to give us that extra piece we lack when we don't have the fairy, but the other healers do.

Maybe if Aetherflow is off CD it can convert remaining Aetherflow into Fey Gauge, though that only works as a complete rework, and if Dissipation is moved to 70+. Not to mention you need more skills that can use the gauge more frequently. Even the new AoE heal can't be spammed. So the gauge, while good could still be a bit awkward. It's harder to increase now, and if you eat her and regain 6 hearts, does it stay as is?

[Sebazy]

I'm thinking that it'll be interesting in downtime phases rather than moments of panic. Think phases with a substantial amount of consistent damage rather than any Burst. Kefka's melee attacks are a great example of the lines that I'm thinking of, but this could apply to AoE to a lesser extent as well.

SCH is going to have a huge amount of oGCD healing pretty much sitting there with the main limitation being how much you can tidily weave in vs when it's actually worth clipping, perhaps for the sake of allowing both healers to keep bombing those DPS GCDs out. Think about how much healing is going to be coming out from Sacred Soil with a 50% uptime, coupled with Indom filling in alongside an Excog on the tank. Emergency Tactics will comfortably allow them to fill in the gaps if they fall behind on the tanks and the penalty is minimal if you plan ahead a little bit.

Taken in isolation, the clipping will suck. Horridly. However, I'm thinking that this may well push the min maxers even further down the road of the SCH doing all the heavy lifting whilst the WHM simply throws rocks between Asylums and Tetras. Comfortably skipping a bunch of Regen refreshes will pay dividends pretty quickly.

I could be wrong of course, I'm no SCH theory crafter and haven't raided with it at the top flight in years. This is just my opinion.

[Deceptus]

I'm thinking that it'll be interesting in downtime phases rather than moments of panic. Think phases with a substantial amount of consistent damage rather than any Burst. Kefka's melee attacks are a great example of the lines that I'm thinking of, but this could apply to AoE to a lesser extent as well.

SCH is going to have a huge amount of oGCD healing pretty much sitting there with the main limitation being how much you can tidily weave in vs when it's actually worth clipping, perhaps for the sake of allowing both healers to keep bombing those DPS GCDs out. Think about how much healing is going to be coming out from Sacred Soil with a 50% uptime, coupled with Indom filling in alongside an Excog on the tank. Emergency Tactics will comfortably allow them to fill in the gaps if they fall behind on the tanks and the penalty is minimal if you plan ahead a little bit.

Taken in isolation, the clipping will suck. Horridly. However, I'm thinking that this may well push the min maxers even further down the road of the SCH doing all the heavy lifting whilst the WHM simply throws rocks between Asylums and Tetras. Comfortably skipping a bunch of Regen refreshes will pay dividends pretty quickly.

I could be wrong of course, I'm no SCH theory crafter and haven't raided with it at the top flight in years. This is just my opinion.

The problem with all of this (respectfully) is what's been the problem with Dissipation from Day 1: The majority of SCH heals aren't affected by it's effect. All the oGCD stuff are Abilities and not Spells.

The new Sacred Soil with it's Regen is an Ability, not a spell.

The only things that it affects are Physic, Adlo, an Succor.

[Sebazy]

The problem with all of this (respectfully) is what's been the problem with Dissipation from Day 1: The majority of SCH heals aren't affected by it's effect. All the oGCD stuff are Abilities and not Spells.

Oh I know this. It's about having more Aetherflow charges than we really know what to do with at this stage. The new Sacred Soil is going to see quite some use unless things change. Indom is still an absolute powerhouse and Excog is as good as ever. Using these abilities isn't going to carry quite the same potency loss as it did prior and Dissipation is just going to further fuel them now that that doesn't carry anything like as much of a penalty as it did prior. SCH is going to be packing absurd amounts of oGCD healing and I fully expect to see the likes of Momo abusing this hard for speed kills if the next tier allows it.

On a side note, it's interesting to note that the new Mantra and Asylum for 5.0 should boost SCH's oGCDs assuming the new tooltips can be trusted. Given the lack of VIT melds moving forward, it'll be interesting to see if this becomes a key part of the race for world first clears.