FFXIV Healer Strike and the 'How would you fix it?' line

[ForsakenRoe]

The Scholar. Unparalleled master of tactical warfare. Calling forth a faerie ally to assist and cover their metaphorical blindspots, a well practiced Scholar's control over the battlefield is unmatched, with a tool in their arsenal for almost any situation. Able to fend off countless invasions from Mhach, the Scholars, their Faerie companions, and the Marauders in the front lines, beat back the Black Mages again and again, often outnumbered, even by as much as 10 Mhachi forces to 1 of Nym's. A true testament to the incredible strategies, maneuvers and formations the Scholars employed in each and every battle.

In this design, I intend to capture that Scholar fantasy, of utilizing Tactics and Strategies to achieve victory. Bringing back some of the old 'stance dancing' gameplay of Cleric Stance, but with a much lower 'punishment' factor and much more thematically appropriate to the Job via Strategies. The example potencies of healing actions have been crafted based on the potencies of the Endwalker Dawntrail Scholar. As such, the barrier to entry (that being, 'keep the team alive') should be only as high as the Scholar design of Endwalker Dawntrail. Theoretically.

Additionally, I sought to bring back the DOTs the Job was known for, and retuned the potencies such that forgetting one is much less of a damage loss as compared to previous incarnations of the job. I have also returned Bane, allowing the player to easily apply their DOTs to a whole pack of enemies at once. I have also had a stab at reworking the oft-slighted Dissipation, so that the pain point of 'can't use Faerie Actions because the Faerie is gone' is addressed, allowing for more ease of use regarding that skill.

Finally, I fear that oftentimes we see our flying friend too much as another 'tool' in our kit, rather than as the 'healing partner' she deserves to be recognised as. For example, many of us simply refer to her as 'Eos' or 'Selene' (or sometimes when we wipe, 'stupid faerie' which is a little uncalled for, she's trying her best), but her true name (from the job quests) is Lily. So, by having our SCH gameplay interact more with Lily (via her Embrace/certain Faerie actions being modified by Strategies), I think it'd be nice to view her as 'the 9th member of the team', and (hopefully) foster a newfound appreciation within the playerbase for Lily and her hard work.

SCHOLAR ACTIONS

Level 1: Ruin, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 150.

Level 2: Bio, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage over time.
DOT Potency: 20
Duration: 30s

Level 4: Physick, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 500 MP, Spell
Restores target's HP.
Cure Potency: 400

Level 4: Summon Faerie, 3s, Ability
Summons your faerie ally, Lily, to your side.
Lily will automatically cast Embrace on party members, prioritizing those who need its effect.

NOTE: Lily will change aspects depending on your currently selected Strategy, taking the form 'Eos' when in Strategy: Emergency
or Strategy: Offensive, and 'Selene' while in Strategy: Defensive. This changes the effects of Embrace, please
see Embrace in Pet Actions for details.

NOTE: Summon Faerie changed from a Spell to an Ability, allowing for the player to 'get back into the action' faster after a death.
Alternatively, Lily could be made to automatically be summoned upon swapping to SCH, allowing for this action to be removed (saving hotbar space)

Level 6: Aetherflow, 60s, Ability
Grants 3 stacks of Aetherflow to self, stored in the Aetherflow Gauge.
Additional Effect: Restores 2000 MP

Level 6: Energy Drain, 1s, Cost: 1 Aetherflow, Ability
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100.
Additional Effect: Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as HP
Additional Effect: Grants 10 Faerie Gauge

Level 8: Miasma, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 120.
Additional Effect: Damage over time
DOT Potency: 10
Duration: 24s

Level 12: Resurrection, 8s, Cost: 2400 MP, Spell
Resurrects target to a weakened state.

Level 16: Enthuse, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 1000 MP, Spell
Restores HP of self and nearby allies.
Cure Potency: 250

Level 20: Whispering Dawn, 60s, Ability
Orders Lily to execute Whispering Dawn.
Effect: Gradually restores HP over time
Potency: 80
Duration: 21s

Level 26: ShadowFlare, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Envelops an area around the target, dealing damage to all enemies within instantly, and over time.
Initial Damage Potency: 100
DOT Potency: 20
Duration: 15s
NOTE: The AOE is centered on the targeted enemy. 5y Radius. Does not overwrite Sacred Soil.

JOB QUEST
Level 30: Strategy: Offensive, 0.5s, Ability
Increases the initial potency of Bio, Miasma and ShadowFlare by 10 while active.
Effect is active whenever no other Strategy is selected.
This action replaces the currently active Strategy on the hotbar.

JOB QUEST
Level 30: Strategy: Defensive, 0.5s, Ability
Adds additional protective effects to certain actions.
Action button changes to Strategy: Offensive while active.
Replaces any active Strategy when activated.

Level 30: Adloquium, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 500 MP, Spell
Restores target's HP, and applies Galvanize, a barrier equal to 100% of the HP recovered.
Cure Potency: 400
Additional Effect: If this spell critically heals the target, additionally applies Catalyze,
a barrier equal to 100% of the HP recovered.
This action replaces Physick while Strategy: Defensive or Strategy: Offensive is active.

Level 30: Succor, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 1000 MP, Spell
Restores HP of self and nearby allies, and applies Galvanize, a barrier equal to 100% of the HP recovered.
Cure Potency: 250
This action replaces Enthuse while Strategy: Defensive or Strategy: Offensive is active.

JOB QUEST
Level 35: Rouse, Ability
Increases the potency of Lily's casts of Embrace by 50%, and orders her to focus on one ally.
Costs 10 Faerie Gauge per empowered Embrace delivered.
Lasts until cancelled, effect ends upon reuse, issuing another Faerie Action order or reaching 0 Gauge.
NOTE: If Lily cannot cast Embrace (eg her target is full HP), then no gauge is consumed while waiting.
She will, however, only focus on the target ally, so as long as that specific target is full HP, she will ignore
all other ally HP bars until Rouse is cancelled!

Level 38: Ruin 2, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 190.

JOB QUEST:
Level 40: Fey Illumination, 120s, Ability
Orders Lily to execute Fey Illumination.
Fey Illumination Effect: Increases HP recovered by 10%, and decreases Magic damage taken by 5%.
Duration: 20s

Level 42: Bane, 1s, Cost: 1 Aetherflow, Ability
Deals unaspected damage to target and all nearby enemies with a potency of 100.
Additional Effect: Spreads any active Bio or Miasma effect from primary target, to all secondary targets.
Potency of Bane is increased by an amount equal to the initial damage of Bio or Miasma, if said effect is present on primary target
Effect Duration: Time remaining on original effect
Additional Effect: Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as HP
Additional Effect: Grants 10 Faerie Gauge
NOTE: Energy Drain upgrades into Bane. Later, upon learning it, Chain Stratagem is also spreadable via Bane

JOB QUEST
Level 45: Lustrate, 1s, Cost: 1 Aetherflow, Ability
Effect varies depending on current Strategy.
Strategy: Offensive Effect: Restores target's HP.
Cure Potency: 600
Strategy: Defensive Effect: Restores targets HP, and applies Galvanize, a barrier, to the target.
Cure Potency: 600
Galvanize Potency: 300
Strategy: Emergency Effect: Restores target's HP.
Cure Potency: 900

Level 46: Art of War, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 400MP, Spell
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150 to all nearby enemies.

JOB QUEST
Level 50: Sacred Soil, 30s, Cost: 1 Aetherflow, Ability
Shields the target area, causing allies within to take 10% less damage.
Duration: 15s

JOB QUEST
Level 52: Indomitability, 30s, Cost: 1 Aetherflow, Ability
Effect varies depending on current Strategy.
Strategy: Offensive Effect: Restores HP of self and nearby allies.
Cure Potency: 400
Strategy: Defensive Effect: Applies Galvanize, a barrier, to self and nearby allies.
Galvanize Potency: 250
Strategy: Emergency Effect: Restores HP of self and nearby allies.
Cure Potency: 500

JOB QUEST
Level 54: Broil, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 230.

JOB QUEST
Level 54: Bio 2, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage over time.
DOT Potency: 25
Duration: 30s

JOB QUEST
Level 54: Miasma 2, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 160.
Additional Effect: Damage over time
DOT Potency: 10
Duration: 24s

JOB QUEST
Level 56: Deployment Tactics, 120s, Ability
Spreads the effect of Galvanize and Fey Galvanize from target to all nearby allies.
Duration: Time remaining on original effect

JOB QUEST
Level 58: Strategy: Emergency, 0.5s, Ability
Reverts Adloquium to Physick, and Succor to Enthuse.
Doubles the HP restored by Physick and Enthuse.
Adds additional restorative or utility effects to certain actions.
Action button changes to Strategy: Defensive while active.
Replaces any active Strategy when executed.

JOB QUEST
Level 60: Synchronization Tactics, 120s, Ability
Orders Lily to execute Synchronization Tactics, with the following effects:
Lily will copy your cast healing spells, with a potency equal to 25% of your own.
Lily's copied spells will originate from her location, rather than your own (allowing for long-distance AOE healing).
If a barrier would be applied by Lily's copied action, the faerie-applied barrier is named Fey Galvanize,
allowing your barrier to stack with Lily's for additional mitigative potential.
Your Aetherflow are fully restocked upon execution.
Execution of 'Faerie Actions' is still possible.
Duration: 30s

NOTE: Lily will continue casting Embrace, and respecting Rouse targeting for Embrace. She will, however, cast single target healing on your
target, which can be different from the Embrace target! This means, for example, you could have Lily healing the OT with Embrace via
Rouse/Union, and simultaneously helping to heal the MT via Synchronization Tactics' effect (by healing the MT yourself with Adloquium/Physick)

NOTE 2: Due to Summon Seraph being changed to be an empowerment of Lily, rather than summoning a separate entity, it is possible for Summon Seraph
and Synchronization Tactics to be used together. Note that they would have no effect on each other's efficiency.

Level 62: Excogitation, 45s CD, Cost: 1 Aetherflow, Ability
Applies Excogitation to target. Upon expiration, or HP falling below 50%, Excogitation's effect is
triggered, restoring HP.
Cure Potency: 800
Bonus effect varies depending on current Strategy.
Strategy: Offensive Bonus: None
Strategy: Defensive Bonus: Additionally applies Galvanize upon cast, a barrier, to the target.
Galvanize Potency: 250
Strategy: Emergency Bonus: Additionally restores HP on cast.
Initial Cure Potency: 400

Level 64: Broil 2, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 260.

JOB QUEST
Level 64: Bio 3, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage over time.
DOT Potency: 30
Duration: 30s

JOB QUEST
Level 64: Miasma 3, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 200.
Additional Effect: Damage over time
DOT Potency: 10
Duration: 24s

Level 66: Chain Stratagem, 120s, Ability
Increases the rate at which target enemy takes Critical Hits by 10%.
Duration: 20s
Additional Effect: Grants 'Press The Advantage', allowing one use of Bane without cost
NOTE: Chain Stratagem can be spread by Bane (due to this version of Bane not resetting DOT durations, it prevents an 'infinite loop')

JOB QUEST
Level 70: Aetherpact/Fey Union, Ability
Orders Lily to create a Fey Union with target ally, empowering Embrace casts by 100% and focusing on that ally.
Lasts until cancelled, effect ends upon reuse, issuing another Faerie Action order or reaching 0 Gauge.
Costs 10 Faerie Gauge per heal delivered.
NOTE: If Lily cannot cast Embrace (eg her target is full HP), then no gauge is consumed while waiting.
She will, however, only focus on the target ally, so as long as that specific target is full HP, she will ignore
all other ally HP bars until Fey Union is cancelled!

Level 72: Broil 3, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 290.

Level 72: Biolysis, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 20.
Additional Effect: Damage over time
DOT Potency: 30
Duration: 30s

Level 72: Miasmalysis, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 220.
Additional Effect: Damage over time
DOT Potency: 10
Duration: 24s

Level 74: Recitation, 90s, Ability
Negates the MP/Aetherflow cost of the next Excogitation, Indomitability, Adloquium, Succor or Enthuse.
Additional Effect: Guarantees healing and shielding will be Critical for listed abilities

Level 76: Fey Blessing, 60s, Ability
Orders Lily to execute Fey Blessing. Effect varies depending on current Strategy.
Strategy: Offensive Effect: Restores HP of all nearby allies
Cure Potency: 350
Strategy: Defensive Effect: Transforms effect into Fey Warding, a Barrier. Upon breaking or expiring, Fey Warding
becomes Fey Blessing, restoring HP over time.
Fey Warding Potency: 150
Fey Warding Duration: 10s
Fey Blessing Regen Potency: 50
Fey Blessing Regen Duration: 12s
Strategy: Emergency Effect: Restores HP of all nearby allies
Cure Potency: 450

Level 80: Summon Seraph, 120s, Ability
Empowers Lily with a Seraphic soul, empowering Embrace into Seraphic Embrace.
Additionally, Fey Blessing is empowered into Seraphic Blessing, which has a separate cooldown.
This action changes to Consolation while active.
Cannot execute Fey Union while Lily is in Seraphic form.

NOTE: Lily does not 'leave', or 'get replaced', this is instead a buff on her which causes her model
to change state, rather than summoning a new entity. By doing so, Lily can still execute any ordered
'Seraphic' actions, even if the timer expires, should her ability queue still contain actions that have
yet to be executed (removes 'ghosting' as an issue).
NOTE: Seraphic form should have /petglamour text command options available, allowing Lily to take on
the form of other Fae entities, such as Feo Ul (requires miniquest at level 80), Statice (requires completion of Aloalo Island), etc.

Level 80: Consolation, 30s, Ability
Orders Seraphic Lily to execute Consolation.
Consolation Effect: Restores HP of all nearby allies, and applies a barrier equal to HP restored.
Cure Potency: 250
Maximum Charges: 2

Level 82: Broil 4, 1.5s Cast, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 300 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 320.

Level 82: Art of War 2, Instant, 2.5s Recast, Cost: 400 MP, Spell
Deals Unaspected damage with a potency of 180.

Level 86: Protraction, 60s, Ability
Increases current HP and Max HP of target by 10%.
Bonus effect varies depending on active Strategy.
Duration: 10s
Strategy: Offensive Bonus: None
Strategy: Defensive Bonus: Additionally applies Perpetuation
Perpetuation Effect: Increases current HP and Max HP by 10%
Perpetuation Duration: 10s
Strategy: Emergency Bonus: Additionally heals upon execution
Cure Potency: 300

Level 90: Expedient, 120s, Ability
Grants Expedience and Desperate Measures to self and nearby allies. An additional effect is added, depending
on current Strategy at the time of execution.
Expedience Effect: Increased movement speed
Duration: 10s
Desperate Measures Effect: Reduces damage taken by 10%
Desperate Measures Duration: 20s

Strategy: Offensive Bonus: None
Strategy: Defensive Bonus: Reduces damage taken by 15% instead of 10%
Strategy: Emergency Bonus: Increases duration of Expedience to 15s

Level 92: Baneful Impaction, 1s, Ability
Deals unaspected damage to target and all nearby enemies with a potency of 100.
Applies Baneful Impaction to target and all targets near it, dealing damage over time.
DOT Potency: 140
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Spreads any active Bio, Miasma or Chain Stratagem effect from primary target, to all secondary targets.
Potency of Bane is increased by an amount equal to the initial damage of Bio or Miasma, if said effect is present on primary target
Effect Duration: Time remaining on original effect
Additional Effect: Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as HP
Additional Effect: Grants 10 Faerie Gauge
Can only be executed while under the effect of Press The Advantage.

NOTE: Baneful Impaction is an upgraded form of Bane, and replaces Bane on the hotbar, when under the effect of Press The Advantage.
While the player would still have to use Chain Stratagem to access Baneful Impaction,
the re-addition of Bane and the ability to 'spread' Chain Stratagem with it reduces the 'unintuitive' feeling of Baneful Impaction's DT implementation.

Level 100: Tabula Rasa, 180s, Ability
Upgrades Adloquium to Manifestation and Succor to Accession.
Additionally, increases the potency of Biolysis, Miasmalysis and Shadowflare's base casts by 10p. (Does not stack with Strategy: Offensive's boost)
Additional Effect: Restores HP over time to allies within 50y
Regen Potency: 100
Duration: 20s
Shares a cooldown with Seraphism.

Level 100: Seraphism, 180s, Ability
Upgrades Adloquium to Manifestation and Succor to Accession.
Additionally, increases the potency of Biolysis, Miasmalysis and Shadowflare's base casts by 10p. (Does not stack with Strategy: Offensive's boost)
Additional Effect: Restores HP over time to allies within 50y
Regen Potency: 100
Duration: 20s
Shares a cooldown with Tabula Rasa.

NOTE: Seraphism and Tabula Rasa are functionally identical, and their shared CD means that you can only use one or the other.
Effectively, they're a 'choice' for the player to choose the aesthetic they prefer for their SCH's level 100 action: Military Commander, or Angelic/Seraphic, rather than being forced into one by SE.

Level 100: Manifestation, Instant, 2.5s Recast, 400MP, Spell
Restores HP to target, and applies a Barrier equal to 75% of the HP restored.
Cure Potency: 900

Level 100: Accession, Instant, 2.5s Recast, 800MP, Spell
Restores HP to self and nearby allies, and applies a Barrier equal to 65% of the HP restored.
Cure Potency: 600

NOTE: The potencies of Manifestation and Accession work out to provide the gameplay of 'being in Strategy: Defensive, and Strategy: Emergency, simultaneously'.
Additionally, Seraphism/Tabula Rasa provides the DOT boosting effect from Strategy: Offensive, allowing players to have access to all three effects at once with a truly powerful capstone action

PET ACTIONS

Level 1: Embrace
Effect varies depending on Strategy.
None: Restores target's HP
Cure Potency: 120
Strategy: Offensive Effect: Restores target's HP
Cure Potency: 150
Strategy: Defensive Effect: Instead applies Fey Embrace to target, a barrier equal to a heal of 125 potency.
Barrier Duration: 30s
Strategy: Emergency Effect: Restores target's HP
Cure Potency: 175

NOTE: Deactivating all Strategies to get the '120 potency' listed here is only possible when synced below
Level 30 and unable to access Strategies. At Level 30 or above, Strategy: Offensive automatically activates
whenever you deactivate any other Strategy. Effectively, Strategy: Offensive is the new 'baseline' beyond Level 30.

Level 20: Whispering Dawn
Gradually restores HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 80
Duration: 21s

Level 36: Rousing Embrace
Focuses Embrace casts on a single party member, and increases Embrace potency by 50%.
Lily remembers the Strategy at time of execution, and behaves that way until Rouse is cancelled, even if
the Scholar swaps to another Strategy. (in other words, Lily will 'snapshot' the current Strategy)
Faerie Gauge is depleted by 10 for each cast of Embrace.

Level 40: Fey Illumination
Increases HP received via healing actions by 10%, and reduces Magic damage taken by 5%, for all nearby allies.
Duration: 20s

Level 70: Fey Union
Focuses Embrace casts on a single party member, and increases Embrace potency by 100%.
Lily remembers the Strategy at time of execution, and behaves that way until Union is cancelled, even if
the Scholar swaps to another Strategy. (in other words, Lily will 'snapshot' the current Strategy)
Faerie Gauge is depleted by 10 for each cast of Embrace.

Level 76: Fey Blessing
Effect depends on current Strategy.
Strategy: Offensive Effect: Restores HP of all nearby allies
Cure Potency: 320
Strategy: Defensive Effect: Transforms effect into Fey Warding, a Barrier. Upon breaking or expiring, Fey Warding
becomes Fey Blessing, restoring HP over time.
Fey Warding Potency: 150
Fey Warding Duration: 10s
Fey Blessing Regen Potency: 80
Fey Blessing Regen Duration: 12s
Strategy: Emergency Effect: Restores HP of all nearby allies
Cure Potency: 420

Level 80: Seraphic Embrace
Restores target's HP, and applies Seraphic Veil, a Barrier, equal to HP restored.
Cure Potency: 250
Barrier Duration: 30s

Level 76: Seraphic Blessing, 60s
Restores HP of all nearby allies, and applies Seraphic Vigil, a Barrier to them.
Upon breaking or expiration, Seraphic Vigil becomes Seraphic Blessing, a healing over time effect.
Cure Potency: 420
Seraphic Vigil Potency: 150
Seraphic Vigil Duration: 10s
Seraphic Blessing Regen Potency: 80
Seraphic Blessing Regen Duration: 12s
NOTE: Seraphic Blessing does not share a CD with Fey Blessing, so one use is always available when you use Summon Seraph

Level 80: Angel's Whisper
Gradually restores the HP of all nearby allies.
Cure Potency: 80
Duration: 21s

Level 80: Seraphic Illumination
Increases HP received via healing actions by 10%, and reduces Magic damage taken by 5%, for all nearby allies.
Duration: 20s

Level 80: Consolation
Restores HP of nearby party members, and applies a barrier equal to the HP restored.
Cure Potency: 250
Duration: 30s

TRAITS

Level 20: Maim and Mend
Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 10%

Level 30: Strategic Mind
Enables the execution of Strategies, modifying the effects of some actions.
Strategies last until another Strategy is executed.
Upon execution of Strategy: Defensive, Lily will become the moon aspected Selene.
Upon execution of Strategy: Emergency or Strategy: Offensive, Lily will become the sun aspected Eos.

Level 35: Faerie's Flight
Enables the accumulation of Faerie Gauge, upon execution of any action that costs Aetherflow.
Faerie Gauge can be spent on Rouse, and later Fey Union, to empower Lily's Embrace spell for a time.

Level 38: Offensive Maneuvers
Upgrades Ruin to Ruin II.
Increases the damage over time effect potency of Shadowflare to 25.

Level 40: Maim and Mend II
Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 30%

Level 50: Wisdom of Nym
For each SCH-based Damage Over Time effect an enemy suffers from, their autoattack damage is reduced by 2%.

Level 54: Offensive Maneuvers, Chapter 2
Upgrades Ruin II to Broil.
Upgrades Bio to Bio 2, and Miasma to Miasma 2.
Increases the potency of Art of War to 155.
Increases the damage over time effect potency of Shadowflare to 30.

Level 64: Offensive Maneuvers, Chapter 3
Upgrades Broil to Broil 2.
Upgrades Bio 2 to Bio 3, and Miasma 2 to Miasma 3.
Increases the potency of Art of War to 160.
Increases the damage over time effect potency of Shadowflare to 35.

Level 68: Rapid Deployment
Reduces the cooldown of Deployment Tactics to 90s.

Level 70: Faerie's Pact
Upgrades Rouse to Aetherpact, and Rousing Embrace to Fey Union.

Level 72: Offensive Maneuvers, Chapter 4
Upgrades Broil 2 to Broil 3.
Upgrades Bio 3 to Biolysis, and Miasma 3 to Miasmalysis.
Increases the potency of Art of War to 165.
Increases the damage over time effect potency of Shadowflare to 40.

Level 78: Enhanced Sacred Soil
Adds an additional healing over time effect to any ally within the area.
Cure Potency: 100

Level 82: Offensive Maneuvers, Chapter 5
Upgrades Broil 3 to Broil 4.
Upgrades Art of War to Art of War 2.
Increases the potency of Biolysis to 40, and the damage over time effect of Biolysis to 30.
Increases the potency of Miasmalysis to 250.
Increases the damage over time effect potency of Shadowflare to 45.

Level 85: Healing Mastery
Increases the healing potency of Physick to 450, Enthuse to 300, Offensive Embrace to 180, Emergency Embrace to 200, Defensive Embrace to 150, and Seraphic Veil to 200.
Increases potency of Adloquium to 450, the barrier potency of Adloquium to 125% the amount healed, Succor potency to 300p, and the barrier potency of Succor to 125% the amount healed.
NOTE: Current EW values have Adlo shield potency at 540p and Succor at 320p. These percentages give Adlo a shield potency of 562.5p, and Succor a shield potency of 375p.

Level 88: Deployment Mastery
Deployment Tactics can now spread Galvanize, Fey Galvanize, Excogitation, and Protraction.
When Deployment Tactics is used on Excogitation, the final heal effect is reduced by 50%.
When Deployment Tactics is used on Protraction, the 'Max HP increase' effect is reduced to 5%.
If Recitation was used on Excogitation to guarantee it critically heals, all of the Deployed Excogitation effects will also critically heal.
NOTE: Catalyze (Adlo Crit) and Perpetuation (Protraction under Stratagem: Defensive) cannot be Deployed.

Level 92: From Chaos, Opportunity
Bane upgrades to Baneful Impaction while under the effect of Press The Advantage.
Duration: 30s

Level 94: Fall Like A Thunderbolt
Increases the potency of Broil IV to 340.
Increases the potency of Art of War 2 to 190.
Increases the potency of Biolysis to 70.
Increases the potency of Miasmalysis to 280.
Increases the damage over time effect potency of Shadowflare to 50.

Level 96: Nymian Contingencies
Reduces the MP cost of Physick/Adloquium from 500mp to 400mp, and Enthuse/Succor from 1000mp to 800mp.
NOTE: The potency boost Concitation provides compared to Succor, is baked into the level 85 trait 'Healing Mastery'

Level 98: Enhanced Recitation
Reduces Recitation recast time to 60 seconds.

SIDE NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

The intention behind the design of the Scholar here, is to evoke the feeling of a sense of 'tactical mastery' of the battlefield. Of 'everything is according to plan' when well-versed in the content. Of adapting Strategies depending on unforseen circumstances. Of Lily, the faerie, not just being a 'totem' from which certain actions are executed, but a full member of the duo that the SCH and their faerie ally are comprised of. By having some of the Faerie Actions, including the core spell Embrace, be modified by the current Strategy, this lends a feeling that the SCH and their faerie are working together under said Strategy, EG: if the current Strategy is Defensive, then both the Scholar and Lily's tools will be more Defensive in nature.

For the gameplay when healing is not required, the additions are much more simple as compared to the other 3 healer re-designs I've written. Simply, re-adding two actions that Scholar had and lost with the transition to Shadowbringers: Miasma, and ShadowFlare. Miasma is a single target damage over time spell, adjusted from how it was in Stormblood to have a lower potency per tick, but a much higher 'up front' damage, thereby making it a pseudo-replacement for Ruin2 (allowing that ability to finally see an animation update), but ShadowFlare is more akin to its Heavensward incarnation than the Stormblood variant, being capable of 100% uptime. The potency of ShadowFlare's cast is low enough to prevent repeated uses to be more damage than Art of War, but high enough via the Damage over Time component, that using and maintaining it during AOE situations is more damage than just spamming Art of War.

While it is true that there are more DOTs to manage (and thus complexity may seem higher at first glance), the damage difference between the DOTs and Broil IV is negligible. At max level, Broil IV is 340p, and Biolysis is 370p in total, Miasmalysis 360p in total, and ShadowFlare 350p in total. By ignoring the DOTs entirely, and only casting Broil for 2 minutes (since all 3 DOT durations line up at 2min), a player would lose 4 Biolysis, 5 Miasmalysis, and 8 ShadowFlares. That's a total of 300p lost. But these potency losses are over the course of two whole minutes, and a total loss of 'less than a single Broil IV over the span of 2min' is very lenient, in my opinion. By comparison, ignoring current Endwalker Biolysis entirely is a loss of 1620p per 2 minutes.

Additionally, with the extra DOTs to manage, trying to put those DOTs on every enemy one at a time would be a nightmare, and so Bane is readded, as an upgrade to Energy Drain, giving this action an extra use beyond 'use Aetherflow you don't need on it, for a little extra damage'. Unlike previous expansions, Bane here is not listed as 'reduces damage of Bio/Miasma by X%', as I do not believe they do enough damage to warrant such a reduction. Because the effect durations do not get reset by this rendition of Bane, it allows for an additional effect to be added: The ability to 'Bane' Chain Stratagem to spread it to all nearby enemies, allowing for our single-target raidbuff to be wrangled into being AOE (thereby making the DT addition of Baneful Impaction feel less weird, as it is an AOE DOT locked behind the use of a ST raidbuff action)

The Faerie Gauge is learned at an earlier level, to both get players more acclimated to having it (as learning it at level 70 currently is a bit weird), and to allow for the return of the fan-favourite skill, Rouse (albeit with some adjustments). Rouse (and later Fey Union) buff Embrace directly, and normally this would be an under-the-hood 'way it's implemented' change, but by doing so, it allows for the design to actually have Embrace's effect change based on your Strategy (with Defensive giving a barrier and Offensive/Emergency giving HP recovery), while still allowing Rouse/Union to affect it, since it's a percentage increase. As such, if you're applying Strategy: Defensive and Rouse Lily's Embrace casts, the barrier applied goes from 150p to 225p, a 50% increase just like the healing version would receive.

Deployment Tactics gets (quite late in levelling admittedly) the ability to Deploy more than just the barrier from an Adloquium. Being able to Deploy Excogitation and Protraction means being able to mitigate raidwide damage to the party, without being forced into using a GCD heal, more easily. It does potentially take more setup though, as you'd want to apply them both while in Strategy: Defensive, which may conflict with your desire to be in Strategy: Offensive at all times (for that juicy potency boost). Originally, I considered making Deployment Tactics into Strategy: Deployment, causing Adloquium to become Succor, Lustrate to become Indomitability, Bio to become ShadowFlare, etc. to allow for a lot of hotbar consolidation, but it didn't make much sense when thinking certain interactions out. As such, Scholar has Strategies, as 'stances' that are permanent until executing another, and Tactics, skills that have their one-and-done effect, such as Deployment. I would rename Chain Stratagem to something like 'Optimization Tactics', to better fit the naming theme, but I think the current name's already implanted in people's minds (see: everyone calling the NIN raidbuff 'Mug' even though it's now called 'Dokumori')

Synchronization Tactics is my rendition at a 'rework' of Dissipation, a controversial skill due to it removing the faerie from the field for its duration. The main reason for this divisive stance, I believe, is the inability to execute Faerie Actions while Dissipation is in effect, such as Whispering Dawn or Fey Union. As such, by changing it to a more fitting Synchronization, putting our character and Lily in perfect synch with one another, we can allow the player to still execute those Faerie actions, as Lily is still present to receive the order. The Synchronized heal will be of the same Strategy type as the Scholar casts (so if the Scholar is in Strategy: Defensive, Lily's copied skill will also be the Strategy: Defensive variant)

While the idea of 'stance dancing' and memorizing the different effects each Strategy has on each skill may sound overwhelming at first, I believe that players will find it intuitive and easy enough to learn, especially new players, ironically, as they'd learn each skill one at a time, and internalize them over time as they level up, rather than having a whole kit change on them all at once as veteran players would. But then again, we have to suddenly get used to a whole different gameplay when certain Jobs get a mid-expansion rework (NIN 5.1, PLD 6.3, etc), don't we?

With a recent doublecheck of potencies and effects, those who lament that their gameplay as a SCH would be upended, or that they'd be 'forced' to play differently, need not worry, as the potencies and effects of actions while using Strategy: Offensive have been rewritten to be functionally identical (and in some cases, stronger) to the effects and potencies we see in Dawntrail. Thus, 'stance dancing' would be an entirely optional gameplay choice, for those who wish to eke out a little more effect from their tools.

Thank you for reading. If there are any typos, please mention them.

To Square Enix, should someone from SE see this post: I give full permission for parts or all of this design to be taken and used for 8.0 or beyond, I do not ask for any credit.