Arcanist is weird

[Mikey_R]

Aethercharge is a huge DPS gain (+50 Ruin potency/+20 Outburst potency over the 6-7 casts it lasts for is a total of 300/350 potency for ruin and 120/140 for Outburst) ....

If you then take into account the GCD it costs to use Aethercharge (which could have been another ruin), you potency gain is only 60 potency for Ruin 1, 30 potency for Ruin 2 and it is a loss of 10 potency for Ruin 3 (you only get 6 casts in, might be less if you take into account the cast time). Whilst yes, it does provide the gems, it doesn't stop Aethercharge, as an action, feeling underwhelming. Once you hit 58 and get Dreadwyrm Trance, it does pick up, as you do significantly more damage. To add, just to be complete, Outburst is a 20 potency gain, same points as above.

[Post]

Like funky ShB ACN, you cast your pretty lousy GCD not for the action itself by what it brings. 200 and 220 potency over 30 second Bio and Miasma sucked but was made worth it by Fester (and Bane); Aethercharge is made worth it not even by Gems but the summons themselves. The difference being they are big, slow, and not very strong until 50 (dealing 400 until Enkindle) and not very responsive til 90 (Ifrit and Titan slowly wandering up, and guess what, all the egis and Demi summons still ghost attacks, only now it matters way more since they're a larger component of your damage and you don't get a resource from them swinging like ruin IV charges). By contrast, Fester and Bane as the reward for your weak slow low level dots were powerful and responsive oGCDs that at the very least changed up your gameplay priorities or approach to a fight, kinda like what ACN claims to be about in an the quests.

And before, DWT used to give you a free set of DoTs via Tri-Disaster, be oGCD, grant instant casts for the duration and a shorter resurrection timer all without delaying your rotation if you decided you wanted to use the whole action for movement or for utility. You could still end it early if you wanted to launch into Bahamut sooner at no DPS loss.

Point being it's not hard to be better and feel better than Aethercharge, and given the variety of things SMN used to learn while leveling it doesn't seem unreasonable to conclude that they reworked its leveling experience just enough to copy its 90 rotation, not to make it interesting or engaging in its own right.

Should probably mention that the math on Ruin 3 there is screwed, because ruin 3 doesn't reach 310 potency till 84 due to the ruin mastery 4 trait. At 54 it's still 300 potency, meaning it breaks even over 7 casts (Aethercharge + 6 empowered ruins 3 for 350 each). Why they choose to display the full level 90 strength of the actions and only potencies added in the traits instead of just stating the total value at that level I couldn't tell you, but it makes comparing actions needlessly difficult at anything other than max level. Which, again, reinforces that they don't think about other than max level.