A Scholar's Education (Guide)

I'm an up-and-coming SCH, and what the heck do I use my Lugh's cape for? I know the bookworm's cape has regen potency up to 10 (I got Regen +9 and Helix duration +19 on mine and +1 INT), but I'm scratching my head if I should use the Lugh's cape for duration instead of using the potency cape. Is there a nuke set I need the cape for?

Generally the bookworms is used for Regen now and Lughs for nuking.

Bookworm is the biggest source of potency so noone gives it up for a little more duration usually.

Lughs generally built with 20INT 20MACC/MDMG 10MAB to nuke with it. Add 10 MACC or 10 INT with Dye if commited. You will have to work around not being able to use Seshaw for your +MagicBurst set tho. It's very possible just annoying with the endless pit of Merlinic augmenting.

So I've noticed that my Tier V nukes are taking longer to cast than I think they should. I have seen solo videos of SCH's near insta-casting tier V's yet mine always seem to take at least 10s to go off. If I magic burst my own skillchains with a Tier V I don't have time to MB a low tier after it.

This is my current fastcast set:

ItemSet 346536

Is there something I'm doing wrong with this set or is it just swapping out too quickly?

This is what I use as a midcast fastcast set:

ItemSet 346537

Merlinic augmented with FC+6.
Alternatively, can make a Lugh's Cape with FC+10.
A bit overkill, I know. This set is +73 FC in gear alone.

Your set is FC+52 (55 with 1st place Unity). With /RDM (+15) and Dark Arts (+10), total is +77 (+80 with Unity); just 3 off cap, so you're fine.

Your set isn't perfect, but it's good enough where your Tier V's shouldn't be taking 10 secs.

Are you mashing your macros when casting? That can sometimes cause precast gear not to equip properly. Another possibility is your in-game macros/sets/gearswap lua aren't set up correctly. Might wanna double check those.

(Tip: might wanna make a separate FC set for elemental spells without quick cast so you can guarantee midcast swaps for potency. Replace Impatiens with Sapience/Incantor's, and Witful Belt with Channeler's Stone)

Can also use Barkarole Earring as part of your Elemental Precast.

I'm using windower script macros so maybe I just need a longer wait time between gearset changes. I only hit the macro once, right after the SC, it just doesn't seem to cast very fast.

FC set for my BLM is basically identical

ItemSet 344416
Obviously Akademos would probably be on for SCH(However for HELM NM when MP is absolutely NO issue I do switch staffs for Enhancing/Enfeebling/Nuking)

This maximizes FC/Quick Magic, not trying to start another debate on quick magic but *IF* you like it (I do), then this is a great set

Slightly off topic but is Grioavolr better or worse than Akedemos/Lathi given INT/M.acc and MAB augments? It can also get Magic Burst Damage too?

I'm just curious because my GEO mule has Grioavolr and I`ve recently started gearing BLM on it, just wondering if it's worth getting a Lathi.

Lathi and Akademos outperform Grioavolr generally. Grioavolr is more a weapon for the jobs that don't have these specialised staffs.

The only situations where Grioavolr is interesing is for BLMs with HQ Amalric that need to get +MB on a weapon.

I disagree with that, the Grioavolr on my SCH mule has 29 INT, 58 MAB, and 9 MB vs Akademos's 32 INT, 58 MAB, 10 MB except the Grioavolr has a whole 27 MAcc. over Akademos. If you want to put in the time to get a good Grioavolr it's a really powerful weapon for anything that matters. Having a good Grioavolr on BLM lets you swap around gear (usually accessories) or give you a lot more leniency on your Merlinic augments so you can priotize getting higher MAB/MAcc without having to worry about getting higher MB values with it.

Thanks, guess I`ll have to keep doing Yilan.

That needs a pretty godly roll on Grioavolr and you are missing out on the 2% weather bonus for SCH.

It does, hence why it's only for people who want to put in the time. Each of my Grioavolr took me about ~1500 pellucid stones to get but at the end of the day I don't have any use for Akademos/Lathi any more. Regarding the 2% bonus, I understand that I'm giving up a little bit of damage for basically a Chocolate Crepe's (Pear if it's BLM) worth of magic accuracy.

As an aside, a ~15 INT and >25 MAcc/25MAB Grioavolr is not uncommon if you want one for free nuking as well.

I am not disagreeing with you btw. Just for 95% of the population your situation will most likely never arise.

True.

I don't think anyone is heavily against it, I find it quite nice for every spell except nukes. Sucks for nukes because it has a chance to cast too soon and mess up everyones damage.

Ah, I see. Thank you, that helps a lot.

Loaded plugin statustimer but my buffs count up, how do i set it to count doww instead? thx

Hello SCH Thinktank,

I´m currently wondering where I could make the biggest impact, gear-wise, in my sch performance.

My FC gear is fine I think (at 80% cap with /rdm). I don´t use any quickening items (perimede cape etc.) for nuking as, to me, that generates more problems than benefit.

Enhancing: I miss some key items (like Telchine body, Coeus) and I don´t have +10duration augs on the other 4 so my regen/weather are only 7:30ish long. What would be a good duration to aim for?

Here´s what I have for offensive purposes (not put into sets as they don´t show augs anyway...)

Akademos Path C
Grioavolr (augmented that for FC mostly. m.acc+28 mab+17 fc+5)

Merlinic Head, macc+26 mab+20 burst+9%
Pixie Hairpin +1

Sanctity Neck, Mizukage-no-Kubiazari
Bakarole, Frimosi, Dignitary's Earrings

Merlinic Body, mnd+10 m.acc+26 mab+27 burst+8%

NQ Almaric Gages Path D
Chironic Gloves, int7 macc+29

Locus Ring, Mujin Band, Stikini Ring (x1), Perception Ring

Lugh's Cape with int/macc/md/mab

Hachirin-no-obi, Channeler's Stone, Salire Belt (lul)

Merlinic Legs, int+10 macc+24 mab+30
Merlinic Legs, macc+3 mab+24 bust+11

Arbatel Loafers +1

Add to this a Jhakri +1 Set, and some Merlinic Feet that I only use for either FC or +drain/aspir potency.

In my MB set, I use +burst on Akademos, Mizukage, 8 on body, 9 on head, and Arbatel feet, along with Mujin/Locus/Almaric for 42+10.
Outside MBing, I use Grio and Merlinic on the slots that surpass Jhakri+1 on macc/mab, else I just use those.
I miss some obvious pieces like refoccilation stone and any of the tathlums but that can be fixed.

But basically, what bugs me the most is my somewhat low INT. In weather/klimaform set with obi and arbatel, it´s +234 before food and vorseals. How much damage potential am I actually missing out on?
I guess I could toss some money on some merlinic legs to get some with high macc/mab and at least burst+3% so I could switch locus ring with shiva+1. Worth it, or not worth the gil? In general, what´s a good +int to go for anyway?

Also, for a kaustra/noctohelix set, is it worth dropping the +burst on head for pixie, or does it gimp the damage too hard?

It just feels like I´m somewhere between 70-80% there... any suggestions appreciated.

Pixie will rock Kaustra and Noctohelix.

Your gear seems sound in the grand scheme. There are only minor tweaks left and most are sadly tied to getting better augments.

- Better Chironic gloves for non MB nuking.
- Possibly some Chironic Feet for the nieche situations where Klimaform somehow isnt on/reapplied.
- Better Merlinic outside of MBs to not having to use a single Jhakri+1 piece.

A "good INT" isn't a problem we are having right now in FFXI since most gear choices are pretty much set in stone at this point and you are left at the mercy of your augment luck.

Better Rings for non-MB nuking. Shiva/Shiva+1. Arbatel Hands for slightly longer Perpetuance buff.

Weather spells, try to max out your Enhancing Magic Durations on your Telchine armor, and use 5/5, unless you are using Perpetuance, then go 4/5 + Emp Hands. You can also augment Grioavolr with Enhancing Magic Duration.

Regen, same as above, with some differences. You can go two different paths. Duration or Potency. While you can augment Telchine with Regen Potency, I think the max augment is only +3, so not really with it. The main slots that will change are the Main Weapon, Head and Back slots. Coeus, Emp Head and Bookworm Cape for higher Potency, versus an augmented Grioavolr, Telchine Head and Lugh Cape for Duration.

thanks guys! I´ll try and make the best out of your suggestions.
I think I totally neglected regen potency on bookworm :o I obviously stopped rerolling it after getting +20 helix duration.

some more things:
-is there any point in keeping magic damage augs if the macc/mab roll isn´t supergood anyway?
-do I have to wear empy head during nuke to get the ebuillence bonus, or only gs it in for the stratagem use?


my to-do list

short-term (as in, today):
- toss gil at merlinic legs and get them to like 30+/30+ with at least 3% burst so I can rotate locus ring out of my mb set
- get coeus (not horrible to have for an enfeebling set too I guess)
- get empy hands
-get shivas (or +1, depending on budget)
- get telchine body

mid-term (rest of the week? w)
- get refoccilation stone
- get an ammo that is better than witchstone
- reroll grioavolr
- get bookworm with regen potency
- cap telchine augments on all pieces
- reroll chironic hands to mucho macc/mab
- get chironic feet and roll good damage augs (sabotender drop, never tried to solo it, can it be helix zombied?)

Speaking of rings, how do acumen ring and strendu ring hold up against NQ Shiva?

Is Bookworm's really not worth using for helices when it could add another 5-6 hits of damage?

Bookworm doesn't work on Helix IIs iirc, and the 30 int and 20 mdmdg from Lugh's is quite large.

Was working just fine when I initially was looking for durations:
~274s without Tabula Rasa
~321s with Tabula Rasa

Helix works in "Tock" invervals which is 10 seconds compared to "Ticks".

https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Tock

Which means you can get 2 more damage instances out of bookworm cape maximum while giving up all the sweet stats.


The only times you use Bookworm for Helix is when...

- Helix Zombie something for the raw duration
- You are sure to cap Helix at 10k damage on the current enemy



It used to not work with it. They fixed it quite recently.



The Sabotender is quite easy for a decently geared SCH. It won't use ??? needles before is used some of the lower tiers. Throw tank trusts at it to soak up the damage while you stand outside of its spell range. If August has his wings up he might survive the first ??? needles. If not it really doesn't do a ton of melee damage while you have phalanx up. I can usually kill it without having to die, sometimes when it's grumpy the Helix strat works.

It's not a +20s boost, it's a x1.2 boost after any additive stuff.

Base: 90s
Dark Arts: 170s
JPs: +60s
Tabula Rasa: +40s

For a delicious max of 324s.