How SE Can Fix SCH

[Silver-Strider]

Bane saved GCDs spreading dots one by one. Precious time you could be using on something else. Shadow Flare had chance to slow enemies; minor but it was added damage + mini utility we lost with its removal. This would definitely make SCH more interesting if it didn't compete with Sacred Soil ( we could then have both up: Slow + Dot + 90% damage + Regen).

If they wanted to make SCH dot management more simple, they could have combined Bio II & Miasma III into the new Biolysis spell (100 potencies combined maybe?) similar to Tri-Disater on SMN.

And hitting Bane after Bio 2 and spamming Art of War for 30 seconds is somehow interesting? Are you serious? Same thing with Shadowflare. Neither ability would break the monotony of SCH's current situation in any meaningful way and would do nothing for serious content and be of minute benefit in casual content since you'd only use them once every 30/60 seconds and just twiddle your fingers for the rest of the time in between. It's more damage but that's all it realistically offers SCH at all. Energy Drain would offer the same while being more beneficial to SCH's toolkit as a whole by being a MP management/Aether Stack burner tool on top of damage without being stuck on a CD. It's offers a much more meaningful addition to SCH's toolkit than Bane or Shadowflare can ever hope to match.

[OmegaSinX]

And hitting Bane after Bio 2 and spamming Art of War for 30 seconds is somehow interesting? Are you serious? Same thing with Shadowflare. Neither ability would break the monotony of SCH's current situation in any meaningful way and would do nothing for serious content and be of minute benefit in casual content since you'd only use them once every 30/60 seconds and just twiddle your fingers for the rest of the time in between. It's more damage but that's all it realistically offers SCH at all. Energy Drain would offer the same while being more beneficial to SCH's toolkit as a whole by being a MP management/Aether Stack burner tool on top of damage without being stuck on a CD. It's offers a much more meaningful addition to SCH's toolkit than Bane or Shadowflare can ever hope to match.

Your seriously underestimating the value of Bane + Shadow Flare, with our dots up, that was like 850 potency dps over their duration that could be spread every. With this change, our dps plummets because in most scenarios that matter, you won't have time to add dots to 3+ enemies. In serious content, I only use ED to dumped Aether or if I was low on MP; otherwise, bane was more valuable in dungeons or end game content that has a lot of trash mobs since ED is single target. Lets not forgot how valueable it was if an encounter required alot of movement.

Lastly, the monotony is much worst now. Now we're forced to: apply dot> wait for GCD > apply dot to mob 2 > wait for GCD > apply dot mob 3 > wait for GCD. Your better off just spamming Art of War since by the times your dot is applied across the mobs, they're about dead

[Silver-Strider]

Your seriously underestimating the value of Bane + Shadow Flare, with our dots up, that was like 850 potency dps over their duration that could be spread every. With this change, our dps plummets because in most scenarios that matter, you won't have time to add dots to 3+ enemies. In serious content, I only use ED to dumped Aether or if I was low on MP; otherwise, bane was more valuable in dungeons or end game content that has a lot of trash mobs since ED is single target. Lets not forgot how valueable it was if an encounter required alot of movement.

Lastly, the monotony is much worst now. Now we're forced to: apply dot> wait for GCD > apply dot to mob 2 > wait for GCD > apply dot mob 3 > wait for GCD. Your better off just spamming Art of War since by the times your dot is applied across the mobs, they're about dead

No, I'm not underestimating anything. You're living in the past when SCH actually had DoTs to use whereas I'm looking at the current rendition of SCH. Shadowflare would add only damage to SCH's toolkit and nothing else. Bane would spread Bio and that's it for 30 seconds. These actions being reintroduced would do nothing to help SCH in its current state. They wouldn't break up the monotony of SCH gameplay at all.

Let's compare this to AST. For the past 2 years, AST has had all of 3 DPS skills but was not viewed as overly monotonous because it had its card mechanic to keep the monotony at bay. SCH does not have the micromanaging component to it anymore due to the simplification of its toolkit to such an extent that, reintroducing Shadowflare/Bane would do nothing to break up the monotony since they're simply fire and forget. There's no unique aspect to them, no mechanical awareness to them to be mindful of, and no value to them outside of extra DPS. AST can sit there and Spam Gravity while having its cards to manage while SCH spamming Art of War wouldn't have anything really to think about when using Bane or Shadowflare

Sure, a DPS increase is fine and dandy but its clear SE is having a hell of a time balancing Healers and have fallen to a flimsy Damage vs Utility mindset in which WHM is the damaging healer, having the highest potency DPS skills of all healers but lacking any utility, AST has the most utility but lowest DPS skills and SCH is in the middle. Given that mentality, it would be hard to just give SCH more DPS since it would overset into the only asset that WHM has, which is high personal DPS. With this in mind, I see reintroducing Energy Drain as a far more likely scenario to happen simply due to the fact that it actually aides in furthering SCH's toolkit on both a DPS level and Healer level since it helps remove access Aetherflow, helps with MP sustain and grants them more damage but not to such an extent that it would be overstepping on WHM.

[Jerichai]

The other thing that annoys me to no end with the "aetherflow only in combat" thing is:

There seems to be a variable amount to time from when you damage an NPC to when aetherflow becomes available for use. I've had times where I'll throw a dot and the ability is immediately up. Other times I'll don't and it seems to take a second or so for the game to fully realize that I'm in combat and the ability should be available. This just adds to the clunky nature of the change in my eyes.

[Sebazy]

<snip>

This is probably the game waiting on a dot tick to register? Theoretically Ruin II should be instant every time although I could be wrong!

[Jerichai]

This is probably the game waiting on a dot tick to register? Theoretically Ruin II should be instant every time although I could be wrong!

Honestly you're probably right. I'm so used to opening a fight with setting up dots that I was just doing that out of habit. I'll given ruin 2 a try when moving with the tank.

[Avih]

The other thing that annoys me to no end with the "aetherflow only in combat" thing is:

There seems to be a variable amount to time from when you damage an NPC to when aetherflow becomes available for use. I've had times where I'll throw a dot and the ability is immediately up. Other times I'll don't and it seems to take a second or so for the game to fully realize that I'm in combat and the ability should be available. This just adds to the clunky nature of the change in my eyes.

To be more specific. "Aetherflow only in combat and you have to be on the hate list(rank doesn't matter)".
Currently, if you don't do anything in the combat, you won't be able to cast Aetherflow. So even in the combat there's a situation Aetherflow is unavailable.
This is very frustrating. SE should at least let us cast Aetherflow once your PT member gets on the enemy's hate list.

[OmegaSinX]

if you don't do anything in the combat, you won't be able to cast Aetherflow. So even in the combat there's a situation Aetherflow is unavailable.
This is very frustrating. SE should at least let us cast Aetherflow once your PT member gets on the enemy's hate list.

This is extremely annoying, to get around this I have to use Biolysis on the mob as tank pulls. Theres have been times I've was taking damage and still couldn't use aether.

[Yulja]

I think your points are pretty good and I really think SCH needs Bane + Miasma back, so Biolysis + Miasma 3 could be a thing again. Why is SE so scared of castable DoTs?

My brother played a lot today(DRs) to test SCH, AST and WHM. His points are pretty clear:
The identity of SCH is completely gone, SCH feels unfinished and clunky. Not having Aetherflow before a fight is making no sense at all, it just gives SCH a less good feeling, not seeing the fairy in the party is horrible. He didn't even notice that Eos was gone today and had to call her back and you know what he said? "It doesn't even matter if she is there".
Today we were playing with a lot of really horrible tanks and some good. Even with the horrible tanks he was DPSing in Alliance Raid around 90% of the time. DPSing = Broil. It feels not engaging, it feels unfinished, the identity(and this is a mmoRPG, which means identity is IMPORTANT, espacially in a game with Job quests) and the healing is just instant heals and then Broil again.
He said that it feels like losing the core skills on a job because not seeing the fairy, not really having a Pet Hotbar makes Eos/Selene feel like a turret which just passive heals and you yourself use skills but not the pet. This is different from what SE was expecting, SCH doesn't feel like having a Pet anymore. I am SMN main, for SMN it is the same, not seeing the Pet, not having the skills on the Hotbar, using 2 skills for the Pet, is feeling weird, but for SCH the problem is that the Fairy feels unnecessary and weird.

Also seeing Healer in Need explains a lot.
He is very disappointed and I see no way that SE is changing the PvE content that you heal nonstop because you do not do so in synced DGs this means lowcrew and mediocre gameplay is dead for SCH.

What should be done: Energy Drain back, with DMG and MP, Miasma back, Bane back and AoW DoT based instead of this horrible thing.

I really hope SE is changing this.

[AureliaF]

There seems to be a variable amount to time from when you damage an NPC to when aetherflow becomes available for use. I've had times where I'll throw a dot and the ability is immediately up. Other times I'll don't and it seems to take a second or so for the game to fully realize that I'm in combat and the ability should be available. This just adds to the clunky nature of the change in my eyes.

Very true, and I've had the flipside annoyance happen as well: I'll go to hit Aetherflow when the final mob in a pack has 5-10% HP left, and I'll even hear the Aetherflow sound effect go off, but presumably because the mob died just before the game registered I'd hit my skill, I don't get a stack. Ugh, it's made me want to flip a table the stupid combat-AF thing.