Thread: Preparing Scholar for 7.0

Something that's being repeated around over and over, is how small the FFXIV Job design team is and how poor Yoshi-p has had his attention divided between this game and FFXVI. This is used as justification for many of the game's unrefined aspects, especially the state of combat in general — be it casual or hardcore, be it fight design or Job design. As we all know, in the midst of discontent, healers in particular always get the short end of the stick. "We don't know what to do with it", "go play ultimate", "please try it out first", blah blah blah... y'all know the drill. So I thought we could help, by providing (for starters — we'll see how the experiment goes) a Scholar lvl. 90 base-line that is both satisfactory to all kinds of players and to which the incoming 7.0 Skills can be added without butchering existing actions and without expecting 10 years of content to be completely reworked for the sake of one Role. This is basically a follow-up on what I wrote on that other Scholar Thread.

As a premise, however, I want to say that even just slightly increasing the damage and/or frequency of damage in most content would go a long way to making healers more engaging — if anything because it would actually compel them to fall back on their GCD tools more often. I'm not asking for anything drastic of course, as we don't want to make the entry barrier for healers insurmountable. This is also tied to the over-abundance of oGCD options, but I feel it's not realistic to take stuff away as people are used to that style of healing by now and in general I'd prefer to limit outright removal of Skills.
Another notable thing would be to make MP a relevant statistic again, by upgrading certain Spell costs so they are halfway between what we have now and what we used to have in SB. I shall make an attempt in the final spoiler of this post, alongside a few tentative potency adjustments.

In this pursuit, I followed these rules:
• The Job must be fun to play at all in-game levels and at all player-skill levels;
• The Skills should be useful in as many situations as possibile (in the overworked, in solo duties, in dungeons, in raids, etc.);
• Button bloat must be mitigated to account for (most likely) new Lvl. 91~100 Skills;
• The intrinsic nature of FFXIV must NOT be disregarded by proposing out-of-this-world game-altering changes — which are never gonna happen, as fun as it is to speculate;

This is obviously not easy, which is why I'll be glad to receive a lot of feedback.
I shall be explaining the proposed changes briefly, and then add in a spoiler at the end of the post the full list of Skills and Traits from Lvl. 1 to Lvl. 90.

1) What should be removed from Scholar*

* Please don't panic when you read this and refer to the "what should be added to Scholar or adjusted" section to have a clear understanding of the situation.

• Art of War
• Dissipation
• Summon Seraph
• Protraction
• Expedient

——Overall: -4/5 buttons

2) What should be added to Scholar or adjusted

a) Spells & Abilities

• Cast time of Filler GCD
This is the only general and non-specific consideration of this section. I'm really conflicted about this and I feel only two options are possible.
a) If Fairy Abilities remain normal oGCDs like they are in ShB/EW, I feel like a 1.5s cast time is somewhat necessary. This has the downside of making Miasma II a lot less interesting, both as a weaving tool and a movement tool.
b) If Fairy Abilities go back to having their own GCD, a 2.5s cast time is perfectly acceptable and Miasma II retains its utility like in SB.
Overall, thought the frequency of weaving has increased and will probably increase even more in 7.0, I feel like all non-AST healers should go back to having 2.5s cast time on their filler spell, provided they are given tools with which to weave. Therefore, in my first draft I'll proceed as if SCH has a 2.5s Ruin/Broil AND Fairy Abilities are back to their own GCD.

• Energy Drain
Return potency to 150; return 5% MP recovery; return 3s Recast timer.
At Lvl. 86 add a Trait that makes this an AoE with fall-off potency, for dungeon usage (it's a little late in term of Level, but serves to fill the Protraction hole; it's just a small QoL thing anyway). [Update VFX too maybe?]

• Miasma
This should return at Lvl. 10, exactly as it was in SB: 2.5s cast time, 20 potency, 35 potency DoT for 24s.
At Lvl. 72 it should upgrade via Trait to Miasma III: 2.5s cast time, 50 potency, 50 potency DoT for 24s.
To compensate, Bio II should go back to 35 potency for 30s and Biolysis should be reduced to 50 potency for 30s.
Also to compensate, Ruin potency should go back to ~100; Broil to ~200, Broil II to ~230, Broil III to ~245, Broil IV to ~285

• Deployment Tactics
Make this a Lvl. 30 Ability, with 60s CD and 2 charges. When it's unlocked, make it so it's only able to spread DoTs.
At Lvl. 56 add a Trait that upgrades this Ability to also spread Galvanize shields (and Consolation shields, for when you get them, so there can be interactions outside of the GCD area).

• Rouse
Add back this Ability, still with a 60s CD (but the % increase needs to be adjusted for balance, probably). I had to move it from Lvl. 42 to 60 to replace Dissipation — I don't think that's much of an issue tbh.
If people absolutely can't give up on the Seraph skin it can: a) become a pet glamour; b) appear at Lvl. 80 through a Rouse-specific Trait, provided it does not lock you out of anything. I don't really care for this though, it's all appearance and no substance so it can just stay as an LB3 thing.

• Miasma II
This should return at Lvl. 46, exactly as it was in SB: Instant cast time, 100 potency, 25 potency DoT for 12s.
At lvl. 82 add a Trait which increases base-potency to 120 and DoT potency to 35. [Update VFX too maybe?]
Ruin II's potency should be reduced to ~130 so it strictly becomes a long-distance, prolonged-movement tool (you could argue for its removal, but eh...)

• Shadowflare
This should return at Lvl. 50, exactly as it was in SB: Instant oGCD, 50 potency DoT for 15s + 5% Slow.

• Fey Covenant
Return this in place of the Lvl. 90 Capstone as a substitute for "Desperate Measures" (might seem lackluster compared to other Lvl. 90 healer Capstones, but as a Fairy Ability it always has the added bonus of being useful when people are spread all over the place. Also, Scholar is about the efficiency of its overall toolkit and not OP flash-bangs like Pneuma).
Update it so it is a flat 20s duration, 10% mitigation, on a 120s CD (previously I said "magic" mitigation, but that wouldn't be equal to the mitigation currently provided by Expedient). Add 10 Faerie gauge cost.
Return Fey Illumination to being a 120s CD Ability which gives a 10% bonus to healing ACTIONS (so both GCDs and oGCDs).

• Fey Blessing
Keep it as it is (Lvl. 76, 60s CD, 320 cure potency), but add back 10 Faerie gauge cost.
At Lvl. 90 add a Trait which makes it give an "Expedience" effect: 10s Sprint. [Update VFX too maybe?]
My reason for leaving a 60s CD (vs. Holos 120s CD) despite the added Expedient-Sprint effect, is that SE is never going to design a mechanic that cannot be solved without it, so it's more of a comfort/utility tool than anything.

• Consolation
Make it a normal Lvl. 80 Fairy Ability with 60 CD and 2 charges. Add 10 Faerie gauge cost.
Keep the same potency: 250 healing + 250 shield.

——Overall: +5 buttons

b) Traits

• Aetherdam I + II + III
Return as they were, at Lvls. 6, 20 and 40. [Also, make Aetherflow stacks purple again k thx]

• Quickened Aetherflow
Return as it was at Lvl. 68. This would compensate the missing extra Aetherflow stacks from the removal of Dissipation.

3) Lvl. 100 Scholar

We know we're gonna get a Nuke+DoT upgrade at Lvl. 92, either just potency or also VFX.
If we assume 1 upgrade via Trait circa Lvl. 96 to an existing Ability and 1 original and new Ability at lvl. 100, we might get by with only 1 extra button — which I think would be fine, if all the previous changes are applied.

——Overall: +1 button

4) About the fairies (rather: about Selene)

First and foremost, make Fairies targetable again — immune to ground AoE and Raidwides, but squashed by cleaves.
Also as you might have noticed, I have added a Fey gauge cost to most Fairy abilities. I wonder if that could be reason enough to remove Fey Union, and rework Embrace to actually be targetable like a Fairy-specific Kardia — this could remove yet another unnecessary button, thought it would remove another so called "Capstone skill". It's funny: apparently, many of the Capstone Scholar skills are not so important for its toolkit — which is what a lot of players have been saying for a while.

If we want to have a functional Selene — which I don't think we'll ever get back —, we have to think of 3 useful abilities, not just 1. Keep in mind that Fey Caress could probably never come back, as it would break things like some E8S cleanses, the Throttle cleanses in TEA (would literally save healers 6 GCDs!) and other stuff like the TB cleanse in P12s. Fey Wind was also troublesome iirc, ad not all Jobs appreciated the speed. On the other hand, due to the nature of the game, if we hereto make Selene a real "DPS fairy" I think it would be too polarizing, especially in this age of bloated healer kits that could easily accommodate not having Eos on the field. I'm not sure to be honest. I will gladly listen to everyone's input on this but for the sake of the present exposition, I've assumed Selene doesn't exist.


5) Crazy ideas

These are alternatives to the above I would honestly not push, but I'll throw them around for science (???). They will not be considered for the 1~90 summary in the spoiler tag below, but people are free to discuss them as they please and I'll progressively add the ones that garner attention and approval.

• Change Deployment Tactics to be a Stance-like ability, which turns Physick, Adloquium, Miasma and Bio to AoE versions of themselves.
This would have 2 consequences, one good and one bad: 1) Removal of 2 now-useless buttons (Succor and Emergency Tactics); 2) Impossibility of spreading a Crit Adlo shield.
It should also be noted that it would just end up being a variation of Kardia, but instead of turning raw heals to shields, it turns Single target Spells to AoE versions.

6) Inside the following spoiler you can find the Lvls. 1~90 Spells and Abilities

• Level 1: Ruin (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 200 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120.

• Level 2: Bio (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage over time.
Potency: 40
Duration: 18s

• Level 4: Summon (Spell)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 1.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 200 Mp
Effect: Summons a healer-type Fairy to fight at your side.
When set to guard, automatically casts Embrace on party members who suffer damage.

❖ Embrace (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 30y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 3s
Effect: Restores target's HP.
Cure Potency: 180
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

• Level 4: Physick (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 1.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 500 Mp
Effect: Restores target HP with a potency of 400.

• Level 6: Aetherflow (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Effect: Restores 10% of maximum MP.
Additional Effect: Aetherflow III.

✵ Level 6: Aetherdam (Trait)
Allows the stacking of one Aetherflow.

• Level 6: Energy Drain (Ability)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 3s
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150.
Additional Effect: Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as HP and restores MP
Additional Effect: Increases Faerie Gauge by 10
Aetherflow Gauge Cost: 1.

• Level 8: Repose (Spell)
Range: 30y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 600 Mp
Effect: Afflicts target with Sleep.
Duration: 30s
Cancels auto-attack upon execution.

• Level 8: Esuna (Spell)
Range: 30y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 1s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Removes a single detrimental effect from target.

• Level 10: Miasma (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 500 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 20.
Additional Effect: Unaspected damage over time
Potency: 35
Duration: 24s

• Level 12: Resurrection (Spell)
Range: 30y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 8s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 2400 Mp
Effect: Resurrects target to a weakened state.

• Level 14: Lucid Dreaming (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Effect: Gradually restores own MP.
Potency: 55
Duration: 21s

• Level 18: Swiftcast (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Effect: Next spell is cast immediately.
Duration: 10s

✵ Level 20: Maim and Mend (Trait)
Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 10%. Also increases base damage and HP restoration of your pet by 10%.

✵ Level 20: Aetherdam II (Trait)
Allows the stacking of two Aetherflow.

• Level 20: Whispering Dawn (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Effect: Orders faerie to execute Whispering Dawn.

❖ Whispering Dawn (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 15y
Cast: Instant - Recast: ///
Effect: Gradually restores the HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 80
Duration: 21s
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

✵ Level 26: Corruption Mastery (Trait)
Upgrades Bio to Bio II.

• Level 26: Bio II (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage over time.
Potency: 35
Duration: 30s

• Level 30: Deployment Tactics (Ability)
Range: 25y - Radius: 30y
Cast: Instant - Charge Time: 60s
Effect: Spreads a target's Bio and Miasma effects (except Miasma II) to nearby enemies.
Potency is reduced by 20% for the second enemy, 40% for the third, 60% for the fourth, and 80% for all remaining enemies.
Duration: Time remaining on original effect
Additional Effect: 15% chance that Bio and Miasma duration resets if shorter than original effect duration.
No effect if target is not affected by Bio or Miasma effects inflicted by you.
Maximum Charges: 2

• Level 30: Adloquium (Spell)
Range: 30y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 1000 Mp
Effect:Restores target's HP.
Cure Potency: 300
Additional Effect: Grants Galvanize to target, nullifying damage equaling 125% of the amount of HP restored. When critical HP is restored, also grants Catalyze, nullifying damage equaling 125% the amount of HP restored.
Duration: 30s
Effect cannot be stacked with certain sage barrier effects.

• Level 35: Succor (Spell)
Range: 0y - Radius: 15y
Cast: 2s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 1000 Mp
Effect:Restores own HP and the HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 200
Additional Effect: Erects a magicked barrier which nullifies damage equaling 125% of the amount of HP restored
Duration: 30s
Effect cannot be stacked with certain sage barrier effects.

• Level 38: Ruin II (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120.

✵ Level 40: Maim and Mend II (Trait)
Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 30%. Also increases base damage and HP restoration of your pet by 30%.

✵ Level 40: Aetherdam (Trait)
Allows the stacking of three Aetherflow.

• Level 40: Fey Illumination (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 120s
Effect: Orders faerie to execute Fey Illumination.

❖ Fey Illumination (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 15y
Cast: Instant - Recast: ///
Effect: Increases healing action potency of all nearby party members by 10%.
Duration: 20s
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

• Level 44: Surecast (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 120s
Effect: Spells can be cast without interruption.
Additional Effect: Nullifies most knockback and draw-in effects
Duration: 6s

• Level 45: Lustrate (Ability)
Range: 30y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Effect: Restores target's HP.
Cure Potency: 600
Additional Effect: Increases Faerie Gauge by 10
Aetherflow Gauge Cost: 1

• Level 46: Miasma II (Spell)
Range: 0y - Radius: 5y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 1000 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100.
Additional Effect: Unaspected damage over time
Potency: 25
Duration: 12s

• Level 48: Rescue (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 30y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 120s
Effect: Instantly draws target party member to your side. Cannot be used outside of combat or when target is suffering from certain enfeeblements.

• Level 50: Shadow Flare (Ability)
Range: 25y - Radius: 5y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Envelops a designated area in a veil of magicked shadows, dealing damage with a potency of 50 to any enemies who enter.
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Slow +5%
Cannot be used with any other area-creating actions.

• Level 50: Sacred Soil (Ability)
Range: 30y - Radius: 15y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 30s
Effect: Creates a designated area in which party members will only suffer 90% of all damage inflicted.
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Increases Faerie Gauge by 10
Aetherflow Gauge Cost: 1

• Level 52: Indomitability (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 15y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 30s
Effect: Restores own HP and the HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 400
Additional Effect: Increases Faerie Gauge by 10
Aetherflow Gauge Cost: 1

✵ Level 54: Broil Mastery (Trait)
Changes Ruin to Broil.

• Level 54: Broil (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 200.

✵ Level 56: Deployment Mastery (Trait)
Extends Galvanize and Consolation effects cast by you to party members nearby the target.
Duration: The time remaining on the original target's effects
No effect when target is not under the effect of either Galvanize or Consolation.

• Level 58: Emergency Tactics (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 15s
Effect: Transforms the next Galvanize and Catalyze statuses into HP recovery equaling the amount of damage reduction intended for the barrier.
Duration: 15s

• Level 60: Rouse (Ability)
Range: 30y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 60s
Effect: Increases healing action potency of pet by 20%.
Duration: 20s

• Level 62: Excogitation (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 30y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 45s
Effect: Grants target party member other than self the effect of Excogitation, restoring HP when member's HP falls below 50%.
Cure Potency: 800
Duration: 45s
Additional Effect: Increases Faerie Gauge by 10
Aetherflow Gauge Cost: 1

✵ Level 64: Broil Mastery II (Trait)
Upgrades Broil to Broil II.

• Level 64: Broil II (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 230.

• Level 66: Chain Stratagem (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 25y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 120s
Effect: Increases rate at which target takes critical hits by 10%.
Duration: 15s

✵ Level 68: Quickened Aetherflow (Trait)
Reduces Aetherflow recast time by 5 seconds upon execution of an action that requires Aetherflow.

• Level 70: Aetherpact (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 30y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 3s
Effect: Orders faerie to execute Fey Union.

❖ Fey Union (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 30y
Cast: Instant - Recast: ///
Effect: Gradually restores HP of party member with which faerie has a Fey Union.
Cure Potency: 300
Faerie Gauge is depleted by 10 periodically while HP is restored. Fey Union effect fades upon execution of other faerie actions or when party member moves from within 30 yalms of the faerie.
The Faerie Gauge increases when a faerie or Seraph is summoned and an Aetherflow action is successfully executed while in combat.
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

• Level 70: Dissolve Union (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 1s
Effect: Dissolves current Fey Union.

✵ Level 72: Corruption Mastery II (Trait)
Upgrades Miasma to Miasma III and Bio II to Biolysis .

• Level 72: Miasma III (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 500 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 50.
Additional Effect: Unaspected damage over time
Potency: 50
Duration: 24s

• Level 72: Biolysis (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage over time.
Potency: 50
Duration: 30s

✵ Level 72: Broil Mastery III (Trait)
Upgrades Broil II to Broil III.

• Level 72: Broil III (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 245.

• Level 74: Recitation (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 90s
Effect: Allows the execution of Adloquium, Succor, Indomitability, or Excogitation without consuming resources while also ensuring critical HP is restored.
Duration: 15s

• Level 76: Fey Blessing (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 25y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 3s
Effect: Orders faerie to execute Fey Blessing.
Faerie Gauge cost: 10

❖ Fey Blessing (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 20y
Cast: Instant - Recast: ///
Effect: Restores the HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 320
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

✵ Level 78: Enhanced Sacred Soil (Trait)
Adds an additional effect to Sacred Soil that grants healing over time.

• Level 80: Consolation (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Charge Time: 60s
Effect: Orders faerie to execute Consolation.
Faerie Gauge cost: 10

❖ Consolation (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 20y
Cast: Instant - Recast: ///
Effect: Restores the HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 250
Additional Effect: Erects a magicked barrier which nullifies damage equaling the amount of HP restored
Duration: 30s
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

✵ Level 82: Broil Mastery IV (Trait)
Upgrades Broil III to Broil IV.

• Level 82: Broil IV (Spell)
Range: 25y - Radius: 0y
Cast: 2.5s - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 400 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 285.

✵ Level 82: Corruption Mastery III (Trait)
Upgrade Miasma II to Miasma IV.

• Level 82: Miasma IV (Spell)
Range: 0y - Radius: 5y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 2.5s - Cost: 1000 Mp
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120.
Additional Effect: Unaspected damage over time
Potency: 35
Duration: 12s

✵ Level 85: Enhanced Magic Healing (Trait)
Increases the healing potency of Physick to 450, Embrace to 180, and Seraphic Veil to 180.
Increases the barrier potency of Adloquium to 180% the amount healed and Succor to 160% the amount healed.

✵ Level 86: Enhanced Energy Drain (Trait)
Upgrades Energy Drain to Energy Siphon.

• Level 86: Energy Syphon (Ability)
Range: 25y - Radius: 5y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 3s
Effect: Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150 to target and all enemies nearby it.
Additional Effect: Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as HP and restores MP
Additional Effect: Increases Faerie Gauge by 10
Aetherflow Gauge Cost: 1.

✵ Level 88: Enhanced Deployment Tactics (Trait)
Reduces the Charge Time of Deployment Tactics to 45 seconds.

✵ Level 90: Enhanced Fey Blessing (Trait)
Adds and "Expedience" effect to Fey Blessing.
Effect: Increases movement speed
Duration: 10s

• Level 90: Fey Covenant (Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 0y
Cast: Instant - Recast: 120s
Effect: Orders faerie to execute Fey Covenant.
Faerie Gauge cost: 10

❖ Fey Covenant (Pet Action - Ability)
Range: 0y - Radius: 20y
Cast: Instant - Recast: ///
Effect: Reduces damage taken by all nearby party members by 10%.
Duration: 20s
※ This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar.

Total buttons: 31
• 25 for Spells/Abilities:
• 1 for Summon Eos (which counts as 0 cause it's click-and-forget);
• 5 for Role Actions (but let's be honest: who has Repose in their hotbars, lol? I didn't even count that one. And Rescue... well...);

The hypothetical extra button from 7.0 brings us to 32, which should be a good number for controller players as well.

Expedient is not removed technically though, as both of its effects are still present in the kit (in the rehashed Fey Covenant at Lvl. 90 which is = "Desperate Measures" and in the new Fey Blessing Trait which adds "Expedience" to it). They are simply no longer tied to a single Ability, which is what has been asked to make up for the different timers of the two buffs. I just noticed that I'm a silly boy and forgot to put the Fey Blessing Upgrade in the final spoiler though, so that might have caused confusion — gonna fix it now.

"Never been a fan of DoTs" and "I want GCD Shadowflare" is a funny combination of sentences xD
In any case, DoTs are a part of Scholar's identity since ARR — wether we subjectively like it or not is less important. For example: I love DoTs, but I didn't put them back because of my personal preference, but because that's how the Job has been for many years, before the dark age of healer design. Besides, it's not like we have to go back to having 6 DoTs as it was so long ago. I think 2 is fine overall as it doesn't put too much pressure on lesser experienced players which may have their attention focused on other things.
Sadly, I think a GCD Shadowflare that needs to be up 100% of the time like in ARR/HW could never be back in this day and age, as it would conflict too much with the OP Lvl. 78 Sacred Soil, as you cannot use them together. Besides, Phlegma is on a 40s Charge Time, so an oGCD Shadowflare on a 60s CD doesn't seem too far off. The last option would be to make Shadowflare a GCD with a charge time exactly like Phlegma but... Scholar and Sage are already so similar, they don't need to be made even more similar.

Also important to notice is that none of the changes would make Scholar stronger or weaker than the other healers, provided potency are adjusted properly (which is not something I can do admittedly, but SE should have no trouble doing that). The only thing that would change is the gameplay of the Job, which would undoubtedly be more fun, especially at lower levels and in solo or "casual" content.

Originally Posted by UkcsAlias

-snip-

As I stated, this is "a starter thing" I did for the healer I was most familiar with (as in: both as it is now and as it has been in all the previous expansions). In time, I hope a similar thread can be opened to address all the other healers. But hey, writing this stuff takes time and effort, so let's just tackle each healer individually.

I know — and said — the Sprint from Expedient is never gonna be a necessity, but think about this: if you had to choose, would you sacrifice a 20s, 10% mitigation on a 120s CD for Sprint, or a weak heal on a 60s CD? The answer is obvious, as it is much easier to cover for the "waste" of a 320 pet potency heal than a long-duration, 10%, snapshot mitigation. Holos has a weak heal attached to its shields and mitigation — ideally you want to use all 3 effects, but it's not uncommon to just use it for the shields and mitigation, as the heal is never going to be as important, whether it is for prog or for optimal play. Consequently, a Fey Blessing that gives Sprint is objectively better than the way Expedient is now: it's less sacrificial, it's more flexible, it's more visually coherent.
Furthermore, the "depends on how good the team is" argument is flawed, as the reason you'd be using the Sprint effect is still in response to a specific type of mechanic that requires movement, wether or not you are playing with good or bad people. Improvising with the Sprint of Expedient was never a thing in the first place: it's a skill that requires planning.

Finally no, Expedient shouldn't exist on other Jobs. Come on: we complain about homogenization all the time, and we want a copy-paste of abilities spread across multiple Jobs? And to put a restriction such as the one you proposed to Expedient would feel very bad for three reasons:
1) You'd have to restrict fight design to accomodate such a tool;
2) It would create a "Liturgy of the Bell" effect, where it's effect is so specific 99% of the time you just KNOW you have to use it for THAT individual mechanic so you basically lose agency of when you want to use it;
3) I would consider it an unrealistic thing that is also very artificial;

Lastly, we are not seriously using caster up-time as a real argument for Expedience, are we?

Originally Posted by Connor

-snup-

See, you may think you've listed a number of situations in which Protraction is useful. But in reality:
1) In most situation Protraction won't save the life of a DPS because it's either unnecessary or too weak;
2) No tank needs the 10% extra HP to survive anything;
3) If you need to heal something, the heal-up bonus it's not going to make a significant difference, be it a person who's just revived or a Tank that's taking damage;
Ultimately, its use is to boost Recitation + Adlo + Deploy and even then it doesn't make or break anything and it's worse than Krasis.
I'm not sure if you've ever healed Savage content, but having done that as Scholar for quite some time, I can assure you the Skill might as well not exist. Which is not to say it would be useful in other contexts, as even in dungeon it is absolutely forgettable.

About the DoTs, it seems like you haven't pondered the meaning of your argument. The way you put it, you might as well remove healer DPS completely. Indeed, it doesn't matter if you have 1 button or 10: if you're not using your DPS options, "you suck" to cite your own words. But at least, an extra DoT with a different timer + the need to use Miasma II for weaving would make Broil spam much less obnoxious. Of course, this works for Scholar as it fits the Job thematically. Other healers need different solutions and I would not simply slap DoTs back on every healer — we can do better than that.

I've already answered the Expedient situation above. I can only add that changing Fey Blessing to a 120s CD Ability would not make a significant difference, but since it's utility is less important than that provided by Holos, I felt a reduced cool down was perfectly acceptable.

If I'm not mistaken, Aetherflow restored 20% MP in both ARR and HW and was reduced to 10% only in SB and ShB when Scholar (and Astro) gained Lucid Dreaming (ex-Shroud of Saints from WHM) as a Role action. In all these iterations, Energy Drain gave back 5% MP and Scholar was perfectly fine. So why would it be a problem now? Answer: it wouldn't — if anything, with Quickened Aetherflow back, Scholar's MP economy would just improve.
Like... I know full well the history of the Job since its inception. I'd say I've spent too much time studying it. So as that one lion guy said, do not quote the old magic to me xD I assure I've taken it into consideration.

In short — and I swear I don't want to sound abrasive when I say that — it feels as though neither of you know the history of the Scholar Job before EW or ShB — that is to say: before healer design went down the gutter — and neither of you have interacted with its kit in a meaningful way.

How... just HOW is this the one thing you took away from my post? Is your ego at the same time so big and yet so frail? I swear, it's impossible with you people...
Like, did you despise your teachers in school because it was obvious they knew more than you? Ignorance is not a sin you know, it is the premise of learning and we should all be trying to learn. Your ilk may accuse many of us of being arrogant, but nothing compares to your arrogance in thinking you have nothing to learn.

I've never studied astrophysics. If I go to someone who has for many years and presume to teach him his stuff and disregard all the contents of the subject, they will inevitably scoff at me, shrug their shoulders, and ask me to come back when I have taken a few lessons to back up my "opinions" and have an educated discussion. The situation here is the same — except I answered you with perfect civility.

Regardless, if you think your reasons are so very strong compared to mine, why don't you respond to me point-by-point, instead of finding an excuse and an easy way out? Do you think sentences such as "Way to lose any credibility you may have had lol" make you the winner of the argument? Or perhaps you have nothing else to say?
It's not like my claim was groundless or simply based on your hypothetical inexperience: it was based on my explanations. So answer reason with reason — if you can.
Also, I say "hypothetical inexperience"? It is not hypothetical:
1) Your arguments show you have no idea how Scholar was in the past;
2) It is objectively true (as it can be confirmed) you have no pre-Shadowbringers experience of the game — which is fine: I don't either, but at least I informed myself carefully before offering my take;

If you believe I am wrong, tell where and why. Otherwise what even is the point of posting?

Originally Posted by 5trange

quote

Are you seriously trying to say I started playing in Shadowbringers because that’s when my logs start? I literally did every coil as a Scholar, it just wasn’t logged. How exactly is it an ‘objective truth’ that I didn’t experience the game? Based on what, misremembering Aetherflow?

Is this entirely based on information from a third party website? What a bizarre thing to say

As to your arguments…

Your argument about Protraction can apply to literally every heal in the game. I mean, Savage and Ultimates have been done without healers, so by that logic aren’t all heals pointless and should just be deleted. I could see the point of having it replace something or act as an upgrade, but what benefit is there to deleting it? It’s literally ‘deleting excess abilities’ that’s got healers into the state they are, because SE decided Miasma, Miasma II, and Shadow Flare were ‘excess abilities’, ‘pointless abilities’, or whatever you want to call them. I just don’t see how removing it is going to make anything better besides limiting our healing options even more to ‘flavourless direct heals’.

As for DPS’ing the point I was making is that there’s no point in having 5 different DoTs if they’re just a conveyor belt rotation and don’t actually add anything to how the job is played (namely Miasma and Bio II). If they actually do something, interact with abilities, procs, debuffs, whatever, then sure. But just throwing a bunch of DoTs back into the job won’t make it feel any less like it’s spamming the same thing every fight, it’d just make them feel like they’re spamming the same thing with different buttons. Which is the biggest complaint about current Summoner - plenty of different buttons, all (mostly) do the exact same thing. Outside of managing MP economy and Miasma II the extra DoTs didn’t actually add any decision making to the job. Staggered times are still rotational, you just shorter one first on recast for 100% uptime instead of doing the same pattern every time.

That’s not to mention the issues with ‘porting’ that to the current version of Scholar. MP economy is practically non-existent now, so how do they make Miasma II an actual decision and not just something you use all the time every time?

Then with Expedient, you say the Sprint is the ‘least necessary’ aspect, yet it had to be nerfed. Which doesn’t usually happen to ‘unnecessary’/‘useless’ effects. Expedient is also one of the few recently added Scholar skills to actually be received positively; removing it just hurts the job because it gives you less control over when you can gain the effects.

None of what you’re saying would really achieve anything except limiting the options Scholar has. DoTs aren’t going to make the job suddenly require foresight or understanding, and in my opinion don’t make the job any more fun unless they exist for some reason other than just being buttons you press to damage an enemy. I mean, look at how much people complain about Bard’s DoTs being entirely divorced from the rest of their kit now.