Playing SCH is so awkward and bad

[Shalan]

Have they fixed that issue where if you're multitasking while ordering the fairy to cast something it would sometimes put the ability on CD without actually casting it?
Because that was a lot of fun. Sometimes it feels like they didn't really do much playtesting with the faerie lol

[Dzian]

...until she is blown all over the place. Being in camouflage mode (not clickable from the party member list and disappearing nametags) it can be ridiculously stressful to see where she is, which leads me to simply send her to the middle blindly - even if she would be there already, which should not be a thing.

This very much. Put the dam name tag back please.

Even tried marking the fairy with square but that marker vanishes soon as combat starts. And magically reappears when it ends...

Make it target table again 2 was always nice to deploy of the fairy to ensure everyone was covered.

Edit. Oh one thing that does it me a bit. I wish aetherglow abilities built the faerie gauge even under the dissipation effect...

[SomeRandomHuman]

Is she still able to be blown around by stuff? I thought that stopped when she became untargetable. I never have any issues with sch and I don't even use dissipation or fey union at all.

SCH is a healer that requires a lot of practice to get the feel for the nuances and oddities. Once you get used to everything You can still go entire fights only using Adlo and aetherflow heals. I honestly usually have to use energy drain to use up a spare stack before the next use of aetherflow.

SCH is by no means bad. It just takes more practice and skill than WHM or AST.

[Dzian]

Is she still able to be blown around by stuff? I thought that stopped when she became untargetable. I never have any issues with sch and I don't even use dissipation or fey union at all.

SCH is a healer that requires a lot of practice to get the feel for the nuances and oddities. Once you get used to everything You can still go entire fights only using Adlo and aetherflow heals. I honestly usually have to use energy drain to use up a spare stack before the next use of aetherflow.

SCH is by no means bad. It just takes more practice and skill than WHM or AST.

I'd say your lucky..

Personally I find it's one extreme or the other. I'm either in dire need of stacks because I just can't heal fast enough or I'm sitting on them tossing out energy drains like candy.. just depends on the party

[frostmagemari]

I'd say your lucky..

Personally I find it's one extreme or the other. I'm either in dire need of stacks because I just can't heal fast enough or I'm sitting on them tossing out energy drains like candy.. just depends on the party

I'd honestly feel like SCH would benefit from a more fluid way to gather aether stacks.. y'know, proc'ing off abilities you're going to be using anyway (like how summoner pet abilities build stacks of Ruin IV, but have it proc off the sch abilities rather than pet) and have Aetherflow as an emergency stack button that only adds one (then upgraded to two later on) stacks.
Having your abilities locked behind a cool down like it is feels clunky in itself.

[Dzian]

I'd honestly feel like SCH would benefit from a more fluid way to gather aether stacks.. y'know, proc'ing off abilities you're going to be using anyway (like how summoner pet abilities build stacks of Ruin IV, but have it proc off the sch abilities rather than pet) and have Aetherflow as an emergency stack button that only adds one (then upgraded to two later on) stacks.
Having your abilities locked behind a cool down like it is feels clunky in itself.

Oh yeah I kinda think the same should be true of the faerie gauge. Have it build gauge with fairy auctions as well. I dunno like 5 points for every embrace cast or something and balance it but making illumination and dawn consume gauge. 15 points for illumination 30 for dawn maybe. I dunno. Just feel a bit more functional imo

[EaMett]

Have they fixed that issue where if you're multitasking while ordering the fairy to cast something it would sometimes put the ability on CD without actually casting it?
Because that was a lot of fun. Sometimes it feels like they didn't really do much playtesting with the faerie lol

Not fixed, not even acknowledged by the devs as an issue.

I’ve been very vocal in these forums about the sch issues, and there are a few. The one thing that I find outright offensive is that our faerie skills are both on our gcd AND our faerie’s gcd. Honestly the whole pet changes seem underhanded and an overall afterthought. Especially after they fixed the issues in stormblood and totally reverted them in shb

[SomeRandomHuman]

I'd say your lucky..

Personally I find it's one extreme or the other. I'm either in dire need of stacks because I just can't heal fast enough or I'm sitting on them tossing out energy drains like candy.. just depends on the party

As I said, just practice more. Imo my mentality as a healer is "How much work can I leave to my regens/fairy/ogcds/etc so I can dps more" If it helps learn how to do it on whm first since whm is a bit more straightforward.

I've played healers since 2.1 so a lot of my "luck" comes from experience. Knowing various playstyle habits, the reaction time to adapt on the fly, and the composure to stay away from panicking.

There are very few points in this game where you need to keep everyone at 100% hp at all times. So using the mentality of keeping people above certain thresholds might take some of the stress off. For example, a tank is going to be fine for a bit as long as they float around 70-80% hp unless you're wall-to-wall pulling. Then dps can generally just be slowly healed through a regen or 1 decent potency heal as long as they aren't being lazy/greedy and getting hit by excess damage.

[Melichoir]

So my thoughts...

• 

  My lvl 70 SCH has only access to Aetherflow to get Atherflow stacks every 60 seconds, and yet several of my heals/mitigation tools are locked behind an Aetherflow cost - and actually needing to be in combat to even be able to cast it is just dumb
  As other people pointed out, the pre pull aetherflow caused groups to wait on aetherflow to come near off CD so you can maximize aetherflow stacks. This was also a balance issue cause it allowed for a heavier burst out of SCH due to this. oGCD healing is pretty strong as a thing. If youre not thinking about precasting aetherflow before combat, this should be a non issues cause your opening cast should be biolysis or ruin 2 IIRC - an instant cast attack that will give you plenty of time to weave in aetherflow. Its a minor change that people just need to adjust for.
  
  
  
• 

  Not being able to target my faerie's Embrace leads to her randomly healing injured party members when the tank needs healing the most
  Embrace will prioritize you before everyone else, then randomly select targets to heal. Now this isnt exactly the best case scenario, as it would be better if she was scripted to prioritize lowest target HP after you, but "them's the breaks." This being said, you should be always keeping an eye on tank HP and not passing it off to your fairy. If theres a lot of damage, you should be hard casting heals, using Indom, or using Fey Illumn and Whispering dawn to handle it. I would see this issue as a minor one comparatively. Especially if you want to be direct healing the tank, you have Fey Union.
  
• 

  Healing from max Physic range leads to my faerie not doing anything, even though the range for Embrace is the same as Physic
  Well two things. You can still preposition fairy using pet command or macros, and you shouldnt be standing at max range healing. Theres limited situations where this would happen. Pretty much just use yourself to position fairy, and macro the rest when necessary. Prior to ShB, wasnt this the case anyways?
  
• 

  The non-Embrace faerie casts require me to almost be in melee range due to the 15/20 yard range, or else I miss the cast on half the group
  Again, if youre casting at max range, then you need to be closer. That being said, its also up to your group to be aware of your position. I know the "Healer Adjust" is a meme, but in reality your group shouldnt be always so spread out unless mechanics absolutely demand it. Particularly during AoE damage. So that Bard and BLM whos sitting on the farside of the arena because theyre prepositioning for a mechanic a minute + from now while massive AoE damage goes out, yeah, they need to move and be with the healers. You can maybe give leeway to a BLM, but thats something that should be pre-coordinated.
  
• 

  The non-Embrace faerie casts take 2-3 seconds before she even attempts the cast, which feels so clunky and unresponsive, as during that time-frame I neither get Embrace casts nor immediate effect of the cast as she's still casting it
  Yeah, this is a problem. Fairy should cast skills instantly and not be stalled out like that.
  

[SnowSheikah]

SCH I feel is still about that planning and pet control, as what you should be doing (In trials and savage anyway) is placing her near the center of the room, as that way even if you aren't in range of someone she can still cast embrace. In addition, you and your fairy have a very versatile kit that lends well to a variety of situations. Your fairy themselves have an aoe regen, a strong single target regen, damage mitigation, and an aoe healing buff for both you and your cohealer. Alongside this excogitation has dual purposes in both being used to negate large incoming damage (and rewards you for using it like that) but it also can be used at unexpected situations. To add to this you also have chain strategem, which gives you that damage utility to further add to your versatility. Generally speaking though your job as a SCH is to properly deal with auto-attack damage and to fill in the gaps your co-healer might leave due to your extensive OGCD kit and that is your main job but all the same you have an answer and a plan to pretty much any situation you're in.