SCH Gauge rework proposal

[Renathras]

Note that this isn't a proposal for the complete kit. So what damage buttons, CDs, etc, are not part of this discussion, as presumably such things would be the other part of the kit. This is talking only about the gauges themselves.

New Trait:

Secrets of the Fae:
Level 30
Generate 1 unit of Faerie Gauge every second, up to 100 units when the gauge is full. [Some actions may increase Faerie Gauge, and this is 60 units per minute baseline.]

Abilities removed from the gauge system:

Aetherflow (baseline MP regeneration/spell costs have been changed to reflect the MP change here)
Aetherflow stacks
Energy Drain (could still exist as an oGCD with charges or something on the DPS side of the kit)
Aetherpact (could still exist as a toggle that simply doesn't interact with gauge)

Abilities reworked (major):

Dissipation:
Orders your Faerie away while drastically increasing rate of Faerie Gauge generation and increases healing by all actions by 20%. Faerie Gauge generation increased to 5 units per second. Your Faerie automatically returns at the end of the duration. Cannot resummon your Faerie for the duration.
Duration: 20 seconds
[Generates a total of 100 gauge over 20 seconds and increases all healing done, including by Gauge spender oGCD actions, by 20%]
CD reduced to 90 or 120 seconds (from 180)

Abilities reworked (minor):

Aetherflow spenders now consume Faerie Guage. The cost is dependent on their relative power. They function as they do now, but instead of consuming one Aetherflow stack, now consume Faerie Gauge as follows:

Lustrate: 20
Sacred Soil: 50 (30 sec CD)
Indominability: 50 (30 sec CD)
Excogitation: 40 (45 sec CD)
Fey Blessing: 30 (60 sec CD)

[Note Excogitation still works as it does now, removing the cost and guaranteeing a critical hit with any abilities it is used with]

Ability level learned changes:

Secret of the Fae [New]: 30
Lustrate: 30 (from 45)
Adloquium: 40 (from 30)
Fey Illumination: 45 (from 40)


.

So, what does all this...do?

First and foremost, it makes Faerie Gauge actually important.

It gets rid of the very blocky (units of 33% of max) Aetherflow gauge and the "press on CD" AF button in favor of a granular gauge where different abilities have different costs, encouraging use of different abilities like Lustrate that are currently very lackluster. By removing the Energy Drain competition, it allows more frequent use of these abilities as well.

It also makes Dissipation actually work with the kit.

It establishes the Faerie Gauge and its use early on (as soon as you get the Job Stone) with Lustrate, building out from there as you gain the more powerful abilities, encouraging new players from an early point to engage with the system. (While I moved Adlo to a higher level, it's not THAT much higher, and likewise, Fey Illumination which you don't really NEED at level 40 in any content). In other words, it encourages baby SCH's to learn to heal with oGCDs like Lustrate instead of with GCDs like Adlo, establishing better long-term habits.

It both streamlines the gauge process, while also giving the player some agency with Dissipation use (might lower the level on that...) to manipulate it, but also giving it more granularity and depth between which abilities you choose to use, and actually allowing for more meaningful choice.

.

Note again this is JUST the gauge side of the kit. I'm not talking at all about damage in any way. This system could also work with it in some ways (e.g. if you had Fester that consumed all DoTs on the target, it could give 10 gauge per DoT consumed or something, etc etc).

This is JUST talking about reworking the gauge so that the Faerie Gauge is actually used and...honestly, at this point, much as I feel nostalgia for Aetherflow, it really is a relic at this point whose time may have come.