The Arcanist Thread.

[Elcura]

Yeah, it's pretty obvious that going full INT and playing SCH is just less effective.

[samalis]

Is using Shadow Flare on single target a dps loss or increase?

[Seravi Edalborez]

I wasn't entirely clothed or naked for those stats, mostly was using them to show how big an increase it is from ACN. Here's them again totally naked (and again with 27 points invested in MND point allotment)

Arcanist: INT 215, MND 174
Scholar: INT 215, MND 247
Summoner: INT 233, MND 183

I dunno how/why some are seeing SCH as having more INT. Cleric Stance will actually swap those INT/MND numbers on that screen while active, if that matters.

[Pepinot]

Thanks, Seravi.
I must say, taking into account your 27 points in MND, the baseline Scholar stat differential between INT and MND is only 5? Compared to a 50 (and that's with 27 in MND, so potentially 77) point difference between INT and MND for Summoner.
Either something fishy is going on, or there's been a major design oversight?

Edit: looking at your previous stat post, seems like SCH gets other attribute boosts like PIE over SMN (if not attributed to gear). Still interesting SCH only has a 5 point spread difference between INT and MND...

[Seravi Edalborez]

Figured it out after stripping and checking again: The reason INT seems higher than it should be is partially because of the Enhanced INT traits from Arcanist and that the gap between INT and MND is already big on the base Arcanist class.

(Hit 48 in the time since I last posted)
Naked ACN
INT: 221 = 211 (base) + 10 (weapon)
MND: 179 = 141 (base) +28 (allotment) + 10 (book)

Enhanced INT 1/2/3 seem to be already included in the base portion. However I don't know if they're all counted (+12 total) or just the highest (+6). But in any case points are already heavily skewed towards INT even at the Arcanist step. Probably why SMN doesn't make it go up that much while SCH gets a huge MND boost to accommodate the role shift.

"Naked" stats at 48 for me, excluding weapon and MND points.
Arcanist: STR 158, DEX 181, VIT 177, INT 211, MND 141, PIE 190
Summoner: STR +10, DEX +10, VIT +10, INT +19, MND +10, PIE +9
Scholar: STR +10, DEX +10, VIT +10, INT +/-0, MND +76, PIE +37

[Pepinot]

Many thanks for looking into this.
m(_ _)m

[Deuce]

Is using Shadow Flare on single target a dps loss or increase?

I'd consider it an increase because of the fact it lasts for 30s and has short cast and recast timers, 2.97s and 2.48s respectively, so I use it on encounters with enemies that have more HP than your typical Lv. 50 trash mob. Obviously if what you're fighting will die in less than 15-20s it isn't really worth the nearly 3 second cast time. On longer boss battles and on pulls with multiple mobs then it is really useful, especially when you should be able to keep it up during the duration of a long fight.

[cassiraa]

It seems to me like ACN in general does better against larger enemies that live long enough for your DoTs to really take hold, as opposed to the swarms of cannon fodder.

[Niiro]

SCH does have more INT than MND at certain levels apparently, SCH keeps a very high INT value unlike SMN's MND.

That, combined with INT traits that ACN gets, means SCH's MND growth doesn't outpace the boost from the high base value + the traits.

At level 38 with points spent evenly between MND/INT (9/9) and an equal bonus from weapon (7/7) I have 169 INT 168 MND as a hume.

With numbers so close race will actually matter in which is higher, but I assume that as I level more the MND growth will pull ahead as there are no more INT traits.

[Ratatapa]

Here are my stats if it can help




And some Cure results (did them about 100 times but only noted 1 HQ sorry for the weak span of test)

Physick

671-707

Critical 1071

Adloquium
505-529

Critical 766

Succor
249-262

Critical 391

[Deuce]

It seems to me like ACN in general does better against larger enemies that live long enough for your DoTs to really take hold, as opposed to the swarms of cannon fodder.

That's what I've noticed so far, at least from doing the MSQ. SMN even has slight disadvantages in smaller 4 man dungeons because of the way it deals damage. Otherwise the class is really good and the fact that you can add Swiftcast can be beneficial in case you need an insta-Raise.

[miokomioko]

However, swarms of cannon fodder, if they are close enough together and there's enough of them to bother, Bio + Bio II + Miasma > Bane will fuck them up (and/or get you killed).

Speaking of, the AoE range of Bane is pathetic and is the biggest mark against ever bothering with it if there's not 5+ mobs all within an inch of each other. :/

[samalis]

However, swarms of cannon fodder, if they are close enough together and there's enough of them to bother, Bio + Bio II + Miasma > Bane will fuck them up (and/or get you killed).

Speaking of, the AoE range of Bane is pathetic and is the biggest mark against ever bothering with it if there's not 5+ mobs all within an inch of each other. :/

I was having trouble with Garuda a little. Our whm would use holy and stun them right on top of Garuda and I would use Bane to spread to the adds but there was always 1-2 adds that it didn't spread to even though they were all on top of each other. Was bugging me.

[Alkar]

Yeah, Bane's range needs to be increased. Shadow Flare helps at 50 though, it's a nice spell to cast when there's a bunch of mobs and it has a nice range too.
Another trick at 40+ is BioII>Miasma>Bio (add Thunder in here only for your current target)> Contagion>Bane. Include Raging Strikes at the beginning for extra damage. You can add Miasma II as well but the increased duration will only apply to the current target like Thunder.

[chichicha]

Contagion available ?
Xivdb.com said its under development ?

[Seravi Edalborez]

Contagion available ?
Xivdb.com said its under development ?

Contagion is the same as Emerald Carbuncle's level 40 attack Shining Emerald; extends all of your currently active DoTs on a target by 15 seconds.

[chichicha]

I see, that's from pet ?

[Sodalitas]

I see, that's from pet ?

Yeah, it's the level 40 Emerald Carbuncle/Garuda-Egi ability.

[Alkar]

They really need to add/change something to make ACN/SMN/SCH more useful with AoEs, my WHM can deal with adds that need to be killed fast way better than any of them.
Wanderer's Palace is a breeze with WHM, I'm sure a SCH wouldn't be able to do the same.

[Elcura]

You mean shit like sacred soil wouldn't help deal with adds? You might not be attacking the adds directly, but there are ways to deal with them so the party doesn't suffer.