[Kaitan]

Ok so I just came back to the game and I'm trying to decide which job to play (my character has blm 18, whm 30, blu 43, sum 27 and bunch of others in the 20's...

I just unlocked sch and it looked fun because it was a mix of blm and whm - Whm bored me really - cast cure, maybe a buff, rest, repeat.

Blm was ok but I really dont like soloing at all so was seeking alot.

Is scholar well liked in groups and is it hard to level? Is it more active than whm? - I've just been trying to get to 50 on one job since this game came out and always end up getting frustrated seeking all the time. I'm on seraph and I guess it doesn thelp that I dont know anyone really and when I found a link shell it usually had only 3 or 4 english speaking people on at a time. Anyways, I ramble but if anyone has any advice it would be appreciated.

I did look through the different threads but they didnt specifially answer my questions is all and I did gain quite abit of knowledge about scholar (it sounds fun)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

SCH is accepted in most PTs, but struggles as a healer early on, so your best bet - at least until level 17 when you get Cure II - is to solo. That part's easy, you just pick on worms and nuke those down. From there you can fill the healer role sufficiently, but not as effectively as others til level 30, when you finally get Cure III.

That's the big catch to SCH, they're slow on growth when it comes to the healer role. Once you hit 40, however, you'll be very welcome in PTs as a main healer and you'll have a lot of fun things to do with Accession by that point.

But if you just are seeking the PT experience, expect to play the healer quite a bit, though your approach will be rather different from a WHM's style of healing. Once you hit 56, you'll be able to put up AoE Stoneskin on a PT and such.

You'll find by 40+ that SCH is more than welcome in most PTs, some melees just begrudge them for not having haste, but once they see how dramatically you can play a role in damage mitigation, they usually shut up about that.

As you get higher, you'll gain access to higher tier nukes than a RDM, but not quite as strong as what BLM. BUt you'll find that you'll have much greater endurance with MP than BLM would thanks to things like Sublimation, Parsimony and Conserve MP. You can get up to Tier IV black magic, so after 70+ the real fun begins.

Its important to keep in mind that BLM, WHM and RDM subs all have a role to play in levelling SCH. I wouldn't overlook finishing any of them as subjobs. BLM will see the most use early on, WHM is going to be your intermediate subjob and RDM will take priority from 68 onward since it grants you the widest range of spells to make use of your Stratagems with.

All that aside, I wouldn't write off WHM entirely. They undergo a radical chance in playstyle after 40 these days, akin to SCH they'll get "stances" that have various effects on thier magic and most WHMs have found it to be very enjoyable.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by Kaitan

Whm bored me really - cast cure, maybe a buff, rest, repeat.

[...]

Is scholar well liked in groups and is it hard to level? Is it more active than whm?

WHM is actually has never been all that passive, even before /SCH and last update's JAs and spells. Heck, even when resting for MP, a good WHM is attentive to party's HP bars, and weighing the risk-benefit of keep resting for more MP or get up sooner for better reaction time and not let people's HP drop lower. The WHM game is a resource management game; it's a bit like Sim City, where you keep everything running in real time with limited MP instead of money.

It requires a cool head in emergencies, too. Someone hit by a big move? Flash? Cure V? Or, can the tank regain control quickly enough that you can get away with Cure III and Regen III? If MP is low, do you risk a Flash and Cure IV back to back? Or toss out that over-curing Cure V and hope you have time to rest right after? Are there 5.25 seconds for a Curaga IV, or should you run in for Benediction after the massive AoE?

But, if curing and buffing turns you off, don't level WHM. Or SCH, since you don't like soloing. (I prefer playing SCH as a healer, though, so I may be biased in that.)

[Kaitan]

I should have stated more clearly, I dont dislike healing/buffing it just seems the whm up to lv 30 was very repetitive. As in I didnt feel like I had much to do other than buff or heal using the same spell over and over forever basically - and things pretty much were always the same. Does that make sense?

Based on the reply before yours scholor does sound like it would be more versitle and fun for what I like to do, while still able to get a party - you said if I dont like to solo dont make a sch, why is that? I though that it could be a primary healer, which would indicate that its probably a good one for getting groups?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Soloing isn't really something a SCH has to do, its just something SCH can do pretty effectively at higher levels, but not so much at the intermediate levels. I would suggest solo for the first 17 levels til you get Cure II, though, as getting PTs that stick you as the healer prior to that will happen and it can be annoying.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by Kaitan

I should have stated more clearly, I dont dislike healing/buffing it just seems the whm up to lv 30 was very repetitive. As in I didnt feel like I had much to do other than buff or heal using the same spell over and over forever basically - and things pretty much were always the same. Does that make sense?

Based on the reply before yours scholor does sound like it would be more versitle and fun for what I like to do, while still able to get a party - you said if I dont like to solo dont make a sch, why is that? I though that it could be a primary healer, which would indicate that its probably a good one for getting groups?

All jobs are repetitive to some extend, really. Even SCH casts much of the same spells in parties, but specifically I was referring to how SCH is typically used as a healer in party, much like WHM. SCH would be missing Haste and Flash, but gain Accession and ability to apply some /RDM spells to buff party members. Otherwise, the majority of spells used are still Cure and Regen variety, punctuated every 30 min by Protect/Shell.

Each job has its routines; just pick the routine you like, and that pretty much determines which job(s) you should play.