Evolved mode aims to do away with raid buffs, enabling more flexible job design as leeway won't be pushed to the limits anymore to fit as much as possible into the buff window.
This increased flexibility means the removal of a lot of "use this button at this exact GCD or lose damage" scenarios by allowing for more actions that hold multiple stacks, or buttons that get unlocked with wider windows of use.
That being said, while this increased flexibility allows for much greater flexibility in designing timers and cycle durations for DPS, on a defensive/supportive side, messing too much with what's available could seriously throw old fights into disarray.
Yet, it's also desirable to remove or consolidate buttons where possible, so as to remove hotbar bloat. So I've tried to imagine a new Scholar with a much lighter hotbar, that in return also fits the concepts I like within the job.
Of course, this is not meant as a prediction. It's more in the realms of wishful thinking. For all I know, Evolved Scholar could be even better. Or it could be hot garbage, only time will tell.
So, the two main things I want to keep in mind for Scholar are:
Eos must contribute. Eos in her current state is pivotal for a lot of Scholar's supportive options, and she should continue to play a central if not expanded role in this regard.
Energy Drain should reward Scholar for not needing to use Aetherflow. This one is simple. The big appeal of Scholar is that unlike Sage, we can squeeze out extra damage if we don't need to use our oGCD resource for healing or defense.
For starters, Summon Eos is now a Trait instead of a Spell. Eos is automatically summoned so long as the player is a Scholar and has at least 1 hitpoint. She will however not cast any actions while the player has Transcendence.
Unchanged is Broil IV. I know that Whitemage's Glare has been turned into an Instant cast, but Scholar is the one healer whose kit simply contains a no questions asked, no catch "lower damage for mobility" spell in Ruin II.
In line with this, "Away" on the pet hotbar is replaced with "Recall", which instantly returns Eos to the Scholar's side while also setting her movement to Heel, similar to what happens if you use Summon Eos while Eos is already summoned in the current game. Furthermore, to go along with "Guard" and "Steady", the pet hotbar gets the new command "Direct", which instructs a pet to focus on an applicable target. In the case of Eos, that would be a party member. Eos will furthermore indicate when this option is used by drawing a tether to that target, similar to using Aetherpact in the current state.
Ideally, we'd also be allowed to edit the pet hotbar, but I can cope with just allowing us to put key actions from it on our normal hotbar.
That being said, Ruin II I will change. On top of dealing damage, it now also inflicts Biolysis for fifteen seconds, or if target already suffers Biolysis inflicted by caster, extends the duration of this effect by fifteen seconds instead. Yes, having mobility attack and DoT built into one button is how White Mage currently has it, but if they're not gonna keep it, then I hope Scholar steals it. This one will lean more strongly on the upfront damage and less on the DoT though, so using it for mobility even when it would overcap duration isn't as big of a loss as using Dia as a mobility button can feel like.
Personally, I don't agree with the removal of Healer DoTs. I understand that a DoT is effectively just a skill cooldown placed on the target instead of on the user, but here I think that SE should simply take a note from how say... Reaper's Death's Design already works. 15 seconds stacked up to a minute on replication is effectively like having 4 stacks of a 15 second cooldown, which provides plenty of flexibility on when to use it.
Physick is axed, but Adloquium, Concitation, Emergency Tactics and Deployment Tactics stay. The only duty I'd ever use Physick in is to heal the pots in Labyrinth of the Ancients, but if Evolved mode gives us the full kit at lv. 50 anyways, this version would have Emergency Tactics for that, so Physick won't be missed.
Next up, a button merge. Energy Drain and Aetherflow are now fused into one single Energy Drain button. 2 stored uses, 60 seconds cooldown, gives three stacks of Aetherflow and deals damage with a potency of 100. For each stack of Aetherflow already held, increase potency by 100 and increase Fairy Gauge by 10. Restores 2000 MP to user as well as healing the user for 50% of damage dealt.
So yeah, any Aetherflow that would overcap is converted into damage with the same potency as what we'd currently get if we manually dumped it on Energy Drain. Getting the damage for unused Aetherflow actions when restoring the resource, rather than having to use a dedicated skill to dump the resource on damage first means we don't have to pick between using the Energy Drains early and risking not having Aetherflow when needed or scrambling to use the Energy Drains right before refreshing, so this should be more approachable while still providing the same reward for not needing the resource.
And hey, it's now matching Summoners in gaining Aetherflow upon using Energy Drain, so that's nice.
As for Aetherflow actions, I imagine that Lustrate, Sacred Soil and Exocogitation remain unchanged. However, I'm consolidating two buttons here. Indomitability and Fey Blessing are now one button that sports 20 seconds recast, 2 charges, and will have the Fey Blessing potency increased to match Indomitability. By default, this button is Fey Blessing, providing the effect centered on Eos. Fey Blessing grants Fairy Gauge.
Whispering Dawn is still a 60 seconds recast, but now has two charges, and on top of the regen it provides 10% bonus to healing magic potency and 10% damage reduction. It has basically absorbed and improved Fey Illumination.
Here's the big merge: Seraphism and Disippation have a large overlap in function while being mutually exclusive. Now it's just Seraphism. 90 seconds recast, 2 charges, cannot be used while Seraph is summoned. Dismiss Eos for 21 seconds, provide 100 potency regen in 50 yalms, turn Adloquium into Manifestation, Concitation into Accession, Fey Blessing into Indomitability and Whispering Dawn into Expedient (10 second speed boost and 20 seconds of 10% damage reduction and +10% healing magic potency). Also set the Emergency Tactics recast timer to 1 second. Oh, and provide 3 stacks of Aetheric Abundance. Aetheric Abundance will be used instead of Aetherflow to execute actions that would consume that resource and last 60 seconds.
Basically, eating Eos for damage is now only actually extra damage if you'd actually use that Aetherflow for support, since these stacks will allow you to preserve Aetheflow for Energy Drain, but won't themselves feed it. This way, we can retain the "eat Eos for damage" option, without doing the whole "encourage Scholars to leave the party high and dry" bit.
This action is slightly stronger than Seraphism and Disippation each are individually, so maybe a slightly longer recast would also be acceptable. I just figured 90 seconds is fitting since they're both 180 and it's filling in for both of them. The main idea here is that this toggles between Eos AoEs and player AoEs. Oh, and preferably, they'd fix it so that Eos remembers if we've given her a Stay command when she reappears. If that's not feasible, then maybe she could just go dormant instead of being dismissed altogether. The extra Aetheric Abundance compared to just the Aetherflow obtained from current Disippation also helps make up for some of the earlier consolidations causing certain Eos actions to cost Aetherflow.
The Whispering Dawn / Expedient transformation also comes with a tangible change in function on top of the change of origin point (and also now shows why Whispering Dawn got that extra charge, because it had also basically absorbed Expedient).
Protraction and Recitation are now just Protraction, providing Protraction to target party member and Recitation to self, both buffs functioning as they already do, except Recitation now applies to Fey Blessing (since it's taking Indomitability's role), as well as to Manifestation and Accession (honestly, it should already apply there).
Next up, the Fairy Gauge spender: Instead of Aetherpact, we have Summon Seraph. Can only be executed while holding at least 50 Fairy Gauge and only while Eos is active (i.e. not under Seraphism). When Seraph is out, replaces Embrace with Seraphic Veil. Seraphic Veil has the same potency as Embrace, but provides barrier absorbing damage equal to HP healed and has 1.5 seconds recast instead of 3 seconds. Each use of Seraphic Veil costs 5 Fairy Gauge.
This essentially combines the effect of Summon Seraph and Aetherpact into a slightly more potent package. 150 potency every 1.5 seconds is roughly the same as a 300 potency regen (although the latter does benefit from spell speed), and drains the gauge at the same rate, with the added benefit of the barrier. In return for the standard Summon Seraph now having been lost as a standalone and only functioning here.
When Seraph is summoned and the Scholar has at least 25 Fairy Gauge, Summon Seraph becomes Consolation. Instead of being a charged action, this is simply a gauge action that costs 25 Fairy Gauge, provides the effect we already know and love, and then transforms Seraph back into Eos. If you have 20 or less Fairy Gauge, the button simply becomes "Dismiss Seraph" turning Seraph back into Eos normally.
This does mean that once you Summon Seraph, you either need to pop Consolation for 25 gauge or let the gauge run down to 20 or below to get Eos back, so plan accordingly. In return, Seraph now allows more flexibility in how far apart we can spread our Consolations, in return for requiring a bit more legwork to do 2 Consolations back to back (although also potentially allowing 3 Consolations in short successions if the cards are played right).
Other standard unchanged stuff is Art of War, Resurrection and Role Actions.
And just for fun, one last button: Chain Stratagem, 3 charges, 90 seconds recast. Obviously, with party buffs gone, this either needs to go or be reworked, but I quite like what I thought up here.
Inflict 3 stacks of Chain Stratagem (duration 30 seconds) upon target and enemies nearby target. When the caster of Chain Stratagem hits an enemy suffering the debuff with a spell, hit every enemy suffering Chain Stratagem inflicted by the caster with that same spell (including a second copy on the original target), and consume one stack of the debuff on all of those enemies.
Think of it kinda like Synastry, but for damaging spells, and 100% instead of 50%, and also including secondary effects like the Biolysis being applied to everyone.
I dunno, just feels like a fitting effect for the name. No Baneful Impaction follow up though, that button is just gone now.
Anyways, I stress once more that this is not a prediction or anything like that. Just a way I (a person who has no experience designing or balancing MMOs, so take all of this with a massive helping of salt) think it could be cool for Evolved Scholar to function, in a manner that largely maintains most of what I like about the job, and hopefully at least cuts some of the unneeded buttons from my hotbar. I can at least count six fewer buttons (assuming we're already using action changes where applicable), which I think is decent enough. I am well aware that what SE eventually gives us is unlikely to resemble this even in the slightest.
Do we think it means something that the Scholar fairies have Greek mythology names, like the Ancients?
Hades (Emet-Selch), Hephaistos (Lahabrea), Artemis (Mitron), Gaia (Loghrif), Demeter (Halmarut), Themis (Elidibus), and Hermes (Fandaniel) are all Ascians and former members of the Convocation of Fourteen, and Athena was the former Lahabrea (Note: Venat, as the former Azem, breaks from the Greek name pattern because her name is a reference to a character from Final Fantasy XII, which is also where the Ascian mask sigils originate from); the wings of Myths of the Realm are named after a trio of goddesses called the Charites, with Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia; and the Scholar fairies are Eos and Selene, named after the sister-goddesses of Dawn and the Moon- which is ALSO interesting, because they also had a brother, Helios, who was the god of the Sun- which is a motif associated with Azem...
Scholar's quests told us about the origins of the Scholar's arts, being Nym's part in the War of the Magi, but we know next to nothing about the actual fairies themselves- which makes their usage of the Ancients' Greek naming scheme so much more notable! I like the Tonberry lore, but I wish we knew more about the actual fairies themselves- since those two are what define the entire Scholar aesthetic.
I think that's also why I fundamentally hate Summon Seraph as an ability for Scholar- why did we go from fairies named after Greek goddesses, to an Abrahamic angel? And HOW did we get there? Now, I get that there was an Esper in FFVI named Seraph, so it's a reference to to an older summon, but like. Neither VI's version of Seraph nor XIV's version of Seraph is an actual Seraphim angel, since they're defined by having six wings (Or rather, three pairs of wings and recurring trinity motifs. Because Abrahamic religion) and Seraph is explicitly pulling from Abrahamic mythology, where Scholar previously had exclusively pulled from Greek- and White Mage is the job that lines up with Abrahamic motifs, FAR more so than Scholar! Scholar's LB3, Angel Feathers, is the ability of the Seraph summon from VI, so it makes sense that Angel Feathers as a limit break would be given to the job that can summon Seraph. And, I'll even grant that it makes sense that White Mage kept Pulse of Life, since it's an Aerith reference, and she's a White Mage. But why, then, did we give an Abrahamic reference to Scholar, when they had Greek references before? If you're going to give any Job an Abrahamic-themed ability, it should be the one with Holy spells. Again, I get it- Aerith reference, White Mage consistency, sure, but like. Thematic consistency! Astrologian got a wholly unique LB3 with Astral Stasis. Why did Scholar not get the same?
Now, I will grant- it is also kind of weird that Scholar's fairies are named after Greek celestial gods. Especially given that the Astrologian Medica-equivalent is named Helios, sharing a name with the mythological brother of Eos and Selene. But again- thematic consistency, and also, if that was a concern, they could've changed the names of Scholar's fairies back then, too!
Head: Kupo Knit Cap - default / default
Body: Orastery Robe of Healing - default / gobbiebag brown
Hands: Critical Hit A-2 Tour Armlets - gobbiebag brown / snow white
Legs: Idealized Arbatel Bottoms - gobbiebag brown / gobbiebag brown
Feet: Hraesvelgr Boots - gobbiebag brown / snow white
Earring: The Emperor's New Earrings
Neck: The Emperor's New Necklace
Wrists: The Emperor's New Bracelet
Right Ring: The Emperor's New Ring
Left Ring: The Emperor's New Ring
Main Hand: Faerie Fancy - gobbiebag brown
Off Hand: --
|| listen here, you little shit. dissipation is a DPS cooldown. cast it every once in a while, give me a break, and cast Energy Drain like the Twelve intended. ||
