New scholar changes are not great

[benji42]

I don't post on the forums much, but I do want to give feedback on this.

I started playing in EW, and scholar was the job I started with and was my favorite for a long time. I do enjoy how this job works right now, despite it's flaws.

However, these new changes just make it seem like SE wants me to switch over to sage. It looks like SGE is getting Miasma II, while scholar gets a new DPS ability locked behind a 2 minute cooldown? I don't think anyone wants more buttons that can only be pressed every 2 minutes. In addition, the new seraphism ability just doesn't fit the scholar aesthetic. I like WHM, but if I wanted to play WHM I'd play WHM.

I know SE probably doesn't read this, but please reconsider. At the very least, don't lock buttons behind other cooldowns. That just sucks.

[Lesan]

At this point, with 1.5 months until release, it is a done deal. The smart choice if you disagree is not to put up with it, or even go Sage/WHM - but to stop healing until an expansion comes along that returns out beloved bookworm nerds and their fairy buddies making jokes about Sun Tsu and various Prussian tacticans.

[benji42]

Well... I'm not gonna be playing a healer in the MSQ to begin with. 11111 solo duties are actually the worst experience imaginable. I'm sure others feel the same way so I know queues are gonna be super fun this expansion launch.

[Cabalabob]

I am starting to wonder what about scholar is even scholar anymore.

A classic scholar is basically just a magic focused red mage and 2.0 SCH embodied that pretty well having a good mix of both healing and attack magic, the spell names suggested we were a kind of doctor using things like physick and bio. The fairy just felt tacked on because they had to fit in being linked to SMN somehow.

But now it summons fairy’s and angels and turns into an angel… what about angels has anything to do with scholar?! Are we a theologian now?

[Lesan]

I am starting to wonder what about scholar is even scholar anymore.

A classic scholar is basically just a magic focused red mage and 2.0 SCH embodied that pretty well having a good mix of both healing and attack magic, the spell names suggested we were a kind of doctor using things like physick and bio. The fairy just felt tacked on because they had to fit in being linked to SMN somehow.

But now it summons fairy’s and angels and turns into an angel… what about angels has anything to do with scholar?! Are we a theologian now?

The 3.0 and even 4.0 was still a tactican, and if you only own the starter, or stop leveling SCH at 70, it still is. The origin of the Scholar was the very formulaic and mathematical magic of the Arcanists, as you know. The Concept of the Scholar as a job took that and integrated lost knowledge, originally intended to just learn from recovered scripture and stone tablets, but you ended up with the fairy companion, who literally taught you the spells as part of the job quests in ARR and HW. Most SB ones were gained while leveling instead. The fairy basically was there when the techniques used by the Scholar were developed and written down, and was the partner of one of the original scholars.

Even early in ShB, with Bio getting upgraded (Broil just gets another rank), still fine. The manure hits the rotary impeller once you get Seraph, that is where the Angelfication began.

[Kimmay]

Scholar's limit break is called Angel Feathers. The Lv50 relic is an angel winged book. The lv60 Anima has swirling angel wings. Scholar has been angelic since 2.0

[fulminating]

Scholar's limit break is called Angel Feathers. The Lv50 relic is an angel winged book. The lv60 Anima has swirling angel wings. Scholar has been angelic since 2.0

1. Angel feathers is the ability of seraph (esper/summon) from ff6.
1b. personal limit breaks were a heavensward thing.
2. the level 60 white mage artefact weapon, seraph cane, is called seraph cane and has a seraph on it.
3. if you consider the amdapor archetecture and golemancy in lost city of amdapor (hard), there's a clear angelic bent.
4. every angel mention either of us has brought up is from heavensward specifically.

Edit: so in the expansion with heavy religious overtones both healers were given the same religious imagery. However, white mage continued using the christian/angelic theming - divine benison, plenary indulgence, afflatus rapture, temperance, liturgy (of the bell) and seraph strike. I'm not going to count miracle of nature there, as that tends to refer to more natural wonder than overt divinity. Scholar on the other hand has excogition, chain stratagem, recitation and protraction as tactical themed names, with expedient being a forced march effect that tends to have militaristic connotation. The other scholar abilities having fairy naming convention.

I just don't think you can fairly say that this is anything other than out of left field.

[AmiableApkallu]

I just don't think you can fairly say that this is anything other than out of left field.

Every capstone ability starting at Lv.60 is either directly related to the fairy, or fairy/butterfly themed (Expedient). Yet another fairly-related capstone ability is completely expected.

[fulminating]

Every capstone ability starting at Lv.60 is either directly related to the fairy, or fairy/butterfly themed (Expedient). Yet another fairly-related capstone ability is completely expected.

Angels aren't fairies. It'd be like if warrior got a direct crit capstone with 4 digit potency, but the visual theming was water based instead of earth/angry.

[Kimmay]

1. Angel feathers is the ability of seraph (esper/summon) from ff6.
1b. personal limit breaks were a heavensward thing.
2. the level 60 white mage artefact weapon, seraph cane, is called seraph cane and has a seraph on it.
3. if you consider the amdapor archetecture and golemancy in lost city of amdapor (hard), there's a clear angelic bent.
4. every angel mention either of us has brought up is from heavensward specifically.

Edit: so in the expansion with heavy religious overtones both healers were given the same religious imagery. However, white mage continued using the christian/angelic theming - divine benison, plenary indulgence, afflatus rapture, temperance, liturgy (of the bell) and seraph strike. I'm not going to count miracle of nature there, as that tends to refer to more natural wonder than overt divinity. Scholar on the other hand has excogition, chain stratagem, recitation and protraction as tactical themed names, with expedient being a forced march effect that tends to have militaristic connotation. The other scholar abilities having fairy naming convention.

I just don't think you can fairly say that this is anything other than out of left field.

I've played this game since 2011, I'm quite aware of when the individual limit breaks came out. Just because they didn't appear until Heavensward doesn't mean that SE thought of them the patch before they came out. It was long before decided, during the 2.x patches, that SCH would have Angel Wing. Just like long before the relic weapons were finished, it was decided that SCH would have an angel book. And note then, that Whm had a nature themed weapon. Whm becoming more and more divine has no bearing on whether or not Sch has always had an angel association. And the vast majority of abilities added to Whm, and every other job, are simply the abilities they have in FFXI. Afflatus Solace and Misery, for example, are called Heart of Solace and Misery in Japanese. Which are the stances added to Whm in FFXI. Divine Benison was a trait that allowed Whm (and Scholar) to cast status healing spells faster, and with less enmity.
Scholar does have a military theme. It also has a butterfly theme. It also has a scholarly/school theme (Broils' Japanese names are literally about scolding and lecturing someone). Transforming with the power of Lily may be out of nowhere, especially now that Sch is making a hard break from its Arcanist roots, but angel themes are not.