SMN/SCH Follow

I know this probably has been posted about but from personal experiences how viable is the sub in all situations mainly soloing?

It is a great sub for soloing and for xp pts. For campaign and beseiged though it sucks. You can activate sublimation and seconds later you are in the red which cancels the effect until you use the stored mp (lucky to get any mp back).

However you can still use dispel, aspir and drain for campaign and beseiged.

The biggest drawback in any situation is not having the spell stoneskin. Yes we have Earthen Ward but campaign and besieged (unless you have mp items restore items) drains mp really fast.

I duo/trio on imps in the mire as /sch and those who don't have sch leveled to 37 or haven't seen it used as a sub often will be amazed you still have mp after three imps.

I have not tried smn/sch in endgame since I am usually whm/sch but I can do quite a bit without resting.

Edited, Jun 10th 2009 1:26pm by Shastal

Gives you a B+ in the appropriate skills, so yes, you can sleep from your subjob.

At 75, sub SCH when you don't need Teleports or Erase.

/SCH doesn't really change how we work in a group setting, other than the inability to blink/stoneskin "on the run" (which also interferes with resting, should Earthen Ward be done).

That said, Sublimation can cover upwards of 200mp which would reverse the need to rest as frequently.

All said, /sch is a great sub, solo, low man, group, end game, or messing around, should you not need anything specific from other subs. (erase, teleports, utsu, sneak attack, meditate.. the list goes on.)

I /sch regularly now in Campaign to benefit from Downtime. I use the carby method and just let him hack the mobs while I lost hp. I can solo the fiendish imps there easily and the light and dark arts help out with reraise and drain to get hp from other mobs. Overall it is a good subjob to solo to help on down time but gets some getting use to.

There's one other thing I love about SMN/SCH that I haven't seen anyone mention.

Dispel.

Imagine this - you (and Garuda) are fighting a mob that could very easily wipe the floor with you. Every attack has to count or you're toast. You're getting ready to use Predator Claws, but just before you do, the mob uses an Evasion Bonus ability - "Oh CRAP!" you might think. Normally as /WHM, you might use your attack anyway and just hope for the best - but with /SCH, you can easily switch over to Dark Arts + Addendum Black, dispel the evasion boost, and then immediately use Predator Claws for a greater chance at high damage.

I wouldn't recommend using this for solo, the loss of blink and SS without using BP move sucks. As for campaign it is awesome, I can almost always keep mp using carby. Using Sublimation, Aspir, and Spirit Taker and not going totally nuts with BP moves my mp seldom goes below half. Haven't partied on smn in forever so I can't really comment on that aspect.

/SCH is extra work for yourself but better in the end when you get it down.
The only thing I miss when I /SCH is teleport Spells. I'm happy to let someone else get status cures :p

SCH is no replacement for WHM support jobs in parties, but it'll see you to rights far better for any solo applications you can name. Sublimation is a bit of a double edged sword, however, since you cannot rest unless you use Earthen Ward (no Stoneskin available with /SCH), and for most situations, resting for MP will do far more for you than standing while Sublimation charges for 230~ MP.

Aspir is great, but don't overuse it on Greater Colibri as they can Aspir you back for even more MP than you were able to drain!

The biggest drawback with /SCH as opposed to /WHM is the lack of many key spells and abilities. No AoE protectra/shellra. No Curagas. No Erase. No Divine Seal. Not even a bar-ra spell to protect against the elements. If you end up in a main healer type role, you will still be required to sub White Mage for these vital skills!