Scholar Discussion #3 (post March patch)

[Tsukasaz]

Aren't you losing a lot of INT with that setup (not that I'm saying it's bad, I have a similar setup)?

There aren't many pieces that are middle of the road, but for example wouldn't Goliard Feet and Hands (4INT, 2Macc and 4MAB, 4Macc) beat out 4 skill and 8 skill in lost damage versus lower resist chance?

Basically, is the whole 320skill and 120INT (iirc) a hard rule? I just thought it was the best combo a BLM wanted to have, and they have a much better array of gear to reach both sets, where we have to give on one area or another.

Yeah, I have really shitty INT with that setup, didn't have goliard hands until like 3 days ago either.

[Eldelphia]

Mirror tiara not being accessible to SCH severely pissed me off too >.> All I seem to do is carry all my non job specific WHM and non job specific BLM gear around with me for SCH + SCH af. Still not comfortable with what gear setups are best for some things.

SCH on Morrigans would be nice but I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up on Marduk. Just glad that -6 EMN leg piece I got from Tav once has a use.

[The Blackrose]

320 Skill, 120+ INT is a general rule for high resist HNMs due to the eventual diminishing returns on Elemental and the closing of the gap in terms of INT difference between player and target. Of course, that is for Black Mages.

As SCH, we sit at 256 Elemental under Dark Arts. On top of that, we see +15 from the AF Body and an additional +16 from merits, bringing it to 287. Considering Elemental Torque is a default piece for most people, that brings it up to 294

It's not that grand. But then you have to start taking into account the MACC gear we are getting. I've been full-timing Goliard Clogs and Omega Ring these days. That's an additional +7 MACC to add into the Elemental skill. Goliard Cuffs would bring that to +11, but at the same time I'm more favorable towards Yigit. Furthermore, people are not including Klimaform into the mix. Adding MACC, even if it is strictly dependent on weather, is no laughing matter. Speaking of which, is 1 MACC == 1 skill? I don't think I've ever seen that worked out.

After all of that is done, you can start factoring in INT/MAB to your other slots. Right now, this is my configuration:

Main: Ele. Staff
Sub: Bugard Leather Strap +1
Range: Phantom Tathlum
Head: Scholar's Mortarboard
Neck: Elemental Torque/Uggalepih Pendant
Ear 1: Moldavite Earring
Ear 2: Phantom Earring (Eventually Novio? Still debating)
Body: Scholar's Gown/Errant Houppelande (Shit is situational)
Hands: Viscious Mufflers (eventually switching to Yigit or Goliard, this is up in the air)
Ring 1: Snow Ring
Ring 2: Omega Ring
Back: Prism Cape
Waist: Penitent's Rope or Obi
Legs: Mahatma Slops
Feet: Goliard Clogs

That comes to (and I hope my math is right):
Elemental +22 (+7 without Scholar's Gown)
Intelligence +45 (+54 with Errant Houppelande, assuming Cream Puffs in use along with Yigit Gages instead of Viscious Mufflers, +40/+49 without Obi)
Magic Accuracy +7 (Klimaform = ??)
Magic Attack Bonus +7 (+14, -2 INT with Novio)

Considering most of the time I'm jumping back and forth between free-nuking and support, this gear is optimal for me barring a few tweaks here and there.

[shukuffxi]

When damage nuking (i.e: not using my full skill setup) I opt for for using Ixion Cloak over AF1 Hat + Errant body, it's a 1 INT loss for +5 M.Acc, although I might reconsider it in the future if I ever get a Mahatma body + AF1+1 hat has 1-2 INT more, as it stands now a 1 INT for +5 M.Acc on normal nukes is a worthwhile trade off for me.

[Kriz]

Blackrose, that's a good setup. I like Goliard hands and, if I can get away with it, Mahatma body. If you have the spare inventory, Mahatma hat is the same INT as AF but you get -enmity.

When damage nuking (i.e: not using my full skill setup) I opt for for using Ixion Cloak over AF1 Hat + Errant body, it's a 1 INT loss for +5 M.Acc, although I might reconsider it in the future if I ever get a Mahatma body + AF1+1 hat has 1-2 INT more, as it stands now a 1 INT for +5 M.Acc on normal nukes is a worthwhile trade off for me.

Looking at the Ixion Cloak now, I think it is solid for SCH. You would give up the -enmity from using Mahatma/Errant in both places and 2 INT, but for regen/refresh/5macc it'd be worth it.

Edit: Forgot to add in this link on Magic accuracy: http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64059

[Alistaire]

Seen this on otherwiki about Rapture: "Increases potency by 50%. Works with cures, dia, and banish."

What exactly does rapture do with dia? Does it enhance the defense down? dia 2 x 1.5 = dia 3 for def down...

[Grandphoenix]

You know what I want on SCH one native divine spell. I have capped divine on whm and a high B or low A with some of my normal gear on SCH (light arts of course) but we have no divine magic when /rdm or /blm but still good enough skill.

[Marcicus]

Seen this on otherwiki about Rapture: "Increases potency by 50%. Works with cures, dia, and banish."

What exactly does rapture do with dia? Does it enhance the defense down? dia 2 x 1.5 = dia 3 for def down...

I was wondering about this myself. I was looking over Ebullience not too long ago on wiki and I noticed it listed Aspir potency. So I tried it and sure enough my Aspirs were a lot better. Best way to test Dia would be to do ballista IMO.

[LD]

Dia does damage. Rapture enhances damage on damaging spells. Rapture enhances Dia's damage.

[Ratatapa]

320 Skill, 120+ INT is a general rule for high resist HNMs due to the eventual diminishing returns on Elemental and the closing of the gap in terms of INT difference between player and target. Of course, that is for Black Mages.

As SCH, we sit at 256 Elemental under Dark Arts. On top of that, we see +15 from the AF Body and an additional +16 from merits, bringing it to 287. Considering Elemental Torque is a default piece for most people, that brings it up to 294

It's not that grand. But then you have to start taking into account the MACC gear we are getting. I've been full-timing Goliard Clogs and Omega Ring these days. That's an additional +7 MACC to add into the Elemental skill. Goliard Cuffs would bring that to +11, but at the same time I'm more favorable towards Yigit. Furthermore, people are not including Klimaform into the mix. Adding MACC, even if it is strictly dependent on weather, is no laughing matter. Speaking of which, is 1 MACC == 1 skill? I don't think I've ever seen that worked out.

After all of that is done, you can start factoring in INT/MAB to your other slots. Right now, this is my configuration:

Main: Ele. Staff
Sub: Bugard Leather Strap +1
Range: Phantom Tathlum
Head: Scholar's Mortarboard
Neck: Elemental Torque/Uggalepih Pendant
Ear 1: Moldavite Earring
Ear 2: Phantom Earring (Eventually Novio? Still debating)
Body: Scholar's Gown/Errant Houppelande (Shit is situational)
Hands: Viscious Mufflers (eventually switching to Yigit or Goliard, this is up in the air)
Ring 1: Snow Ring
Ring 2: Omega Ring
Back: Prism Cape
Waist: Penitent's Rope or Obi
Legs: Mahatma Slops
Feet: Goliard Clogs

That comes to (and I hope my math is right):
Elemental +22 (+7 without Scholar's Gown)
Intelligence +45 (+54 with Errant Houppelande, assuming Cream Puffs in use along with Yigit Gages instead of Viscious Mufflers, +40/+49 without Obi)
Magic Accuracy +7 (Klimaform = ??)
Magic Attack Bonus +7 (+14, -2 INT with Novio)

Considering most of the time I'm jumping back and forth between free-nuking and support, this gear is optimal for me barring a few tweaks here and there.

That is pretty nice, do you mind posting other setups? like curing, helix etc?

Thx

[Tsukasaz]

For Helix I use:

HQ Staff
Bugard +1
Phantom Tathlum
Elemental Torque
Moldavite
Elemental Earring
Ixion Cloak
Yigit Gages
Omega Ring
Snow Ring
Prism Cape
Penitent's Rope
Mahatma Slops
Yigit Crackows/Goliard Clogs

ALWAYS with storm spells.

I don't cure on SCH really for what we do but...:

Apollo's Staff
Staff Strap
White Tathlum
Yigit Turban
Benign Necklace/Promise Badge
Magnetic Earring
Novia Earring
Errant Houppelande (DAMN YOU TO HELL ROCL! ! !lol)
uh............. I think AF1 for hands, I can't remember my other hand pieces other than nuking crap........
Aqua Ring
Trooper's Ring
Errant Cape
Theta Sash/Penitent's Rope
Mahatma Slops
Scholar's Loafers

[The Blackrose]

That is pretty nice, do you mind posting other setups? like curing, helix etc?

Thx

The idea behind Helix is pushing your INT as high as you can, similar to the principle of pushing to 150 INT for BLM Elemental Enfeebling series.

Helix:

Staff: HQ Stave of choice (usually Thunder or Ice)
Sub: Bugard Leather Strap +1
Ammo: Phantom Tathlum
Head: Scholar's Mortarboard
Neck: Prudence Torque / Elemental Torque
LEar/REar: I'm not sure if it's better to put Phantom's/Morion's here or to go with the standard Novio/Moldavite. I'll have to play with it a bit.
Body: Errant Houppelande / Scholar's Gown
Hands: Yigit Gages
LRing: Omega Ring
RRing: Snow Ring
Back: Prism Cape
Waist: Penitent's Rope or Obi (still up in the air on this one, I have Light/Dark/Thunder/Ice at my disposal)
Legs: Mahatma Slops
Feet: Goliard Clogs

Light Arts:

My Light Arts build isn't as strong as my Dark Arts builds are, mostly due to the fact that a lot of my BLM stuff carries over to SCH really well. I'm still picking up things here and there and plan on concentrating on it better once I finish MNK.

Mostly it's a mix of MND, +MP and -Enmity

Main: Staves (Neptune's for +Mind ie. Stoneskin, Light for cures, etc)
Sub: Bugard Leather Strap +1
Ammo: Phantom Tathlum (plan on getting a Hedgehog Bomb at some point)
Head: Yigit Turban / Scholar's Mortarboard (Goliard Chapeau needs to drop)
Neck: Morgana's Choker
LEar: Loquacious Earring
REar: Magnetic Earring (Novia will eventually go here)
Body: Errant Houppelande (Once again, Goliard Saio needs to drop)
Hands: Scholar's Cuffs
LRing/RRing: MP rings (no Tamas, I have Ulthalam's\Rajas)
Back: Intensifying Cape (One day I may get an Errant Cape)
Waist: Heirarch Belt / Penitent's Rope
Legs: Scholar's Pants
Feet: Goliard Clogs

By default I usually stick in MP+\MND gear until I need to use something with Accession or a spell that has high hate by default (Cure IV, for example). Then I macro in -Enmity gear. Kaeko has a better set up than me by far.

[The Blackrose]

Category 2 Merits:

Altruism
Light Arts Stratagem (requires two charges).
Increases the accuracy of your next white magic spell.

Focalization
Dark Arts Stratagem (requires two charges).
Increases the accuracy of your next black magic spell.

Tranquility
Light Arts Stratagem (requires two charges).
Your next white magic spell will generate less enmity.

Equanimity
Dark Arts Stratagem (requires two charges).
Your next black magic spell will generate less enmity.

Enlightenment
Optimizes both white and black magic capabilities and allows access to both addenda for your next spell. Recast: 10min.

Stormsurge
Storm-type spells grant a bonus to attributes associated with their element.
Initial bonus value: +3.

Now is it just me, or do the 4 strategems seem too much in terms of cost? 2 each? They better be damn good, otherwise Stormsurge/Enlightenment is going to be the flavor of the day.

[LD]

I dunno, Altruism looks like the only one I wouldn't put points into (unless they add a spell that would actually make it useful.) Stormsurge is only really good for Hailstorm and maybe Thunderstorm for melee....though now that I think about it, how will it work for Aurorastorm and Voidstorm? Anyway, unless each storm increases the secondary stat (att, acc, eva, MAB, MDB, etc.) by more than the attribute would by itself (15~ instead of 7.5), it's still going to have situational usefulness (and Hailstorm will still be the best one either way.)

[Reapz]

Stormsurge looks like a definite, then it all depends on how good Focalization is(2 stratagems is ouch) and if it sucks then Enlightenment it is

[LD]

Even if Focal is good enough to justify the 2 charges, that's still probably more than most people will be willing to pay. Enlightenment, on the other hand, looks like it'll be useful to everybody, since using a Light/Dark Arts spell at full efficiency while in the opposite Art is something a SCH will want/need to do at one point or another.

[Vail]

Even if Focal is good enough to justify the 2 charges, that's still probably more than most people will be willing to pay. Enlightenment, on the other hand, looks like it'll be useful to everybody, since using a Light/Dark Arts spell at full efficiency while in the opposite Art is something a SCH will want/need to do at one point or another.

2 charges is defiantly ouch, especially if you're trying to say combine it with any other stratgems, like manifestation

but on the other hand... how strong can they be? if you basicly give SCH a 2minute verison of Elemental Seal, shit would be broken for some fights (hi2u sleep-fest / solo ES-slow vs any mobs etc.)

[Lasareth]

I can't justify doing anything but 5 in storm and 5 in equanimity. 2 charges on the new strategems is too steep and would better serve your other strategems which are often in short supply if you're making the most of the tools available to you.

An elemental seal every 2 minutes is nice in itself but considering what you're giving up for it, it doesn't seem worth it. I haven't had a lot of problems sticking sleep as far as magic accuracy goes. Having +15 accuracy or whatever stormsurge will give universally on storms just seems great, even if the bonus is lower.

[Vail]

though now that I think about it, how will it work for Aurorastorm and Voidstorm?

LS mate pointed out that light stuff is often CHR+, makes since.

Brisingamen is the best indicator:
STR = Fire
DEX = thunder
VIT = earth
AGL = wind
INT = ice
MND = water
CHR = light

however nothing on darksday from Brisingamen, so no clue what voidstorm would do

[LD]

If PUP attachments are any indication, Light would be HP and Dark would be MP, meaning Stormsurge might give HP/MP boosts (I REALLY doubt Regen & Refresh).