Leveling Rotations and Tips for Scholar — Dawntrail 7.3

Scholar starts at level 30, but it is possible to be level synced below this point in certain content, most notably in dungeons. This guide will start at level 15, the lowest level you can be synced to by a dungeon. Remember to stay up to date with your Scholar job quests while leveling, as most job quests from level 30 to 70 will unlock a new action. After level 70, job quests are fully optional, but you will need to do role quests to receive your Scholar job gear in some level ranges.

It is important as every job to stay up to date on gear while leveling, but this is especially true on tanks and healers, such as Scholar. You can generally just use the highest item level healer gear you have—do not worry about substats at this point. Healer gear can be identified by the presence of the Mind stat, and many pieces of it will have the suffix "of Healing." Use the "Equip Recommended Gear" button in the Character menu to quickly equip your highest item level gear. At the level cap for each previous expansion (50, 60, 70, 80, 90), you can purchase substantial upgrades for Allagan Tomestones of Poetics, sold by Rowena's Representative in major cities, always close to the city's main Aetheryte.

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A more in-depth explanation is provided in the Scholar Guide, but here is a quick explanation:

• Aetherflow: Gain three charges when you use Aetherflow or Dissipation. Charges are represented by the green diamonds inside the gauge and can be used for a variety of defensive abilities as well as one offensive ability.
• Fae Aether: Gain 10 Fae Aether whenever you use an Aetherflow consuming ability. Can only be used on Aetherpact.

• Ruin is your single target damage spell. Use it when you have nothing else to do.
• Broil is your single target damage spell. Use it when you have nothing else to do.
• Broil II is your single target damage spell. Use it when you have nothing else to do.
• Broil III is your single target damage spell. Use it when you have nothing else to do.
• Broil IV is your single target damage spell. Use it when you have nothing else to do.
• Bio is your DoT. Never apply to an enemy that is about to die. Avoid overwriting early. Only use it on mobs while the tank is pulling and you cannot stand still to cast Ruin. Maintain this on bosses until the boss dies.
• Bio II is your DoT. Never apply to an enemy that is about to die. Avoid overwriting early. Apply it to every mob at the start of each pull. Maintain this on bosses until the boss dies.
• Bio II is your DoT. Never apply to an enemy that is about to die. Avoid overwriting early. Apply it to mobs while the tank is pulling if you cannot hit 3+ with Art of War. Maintain DoT uptime in single target and two-target situations. In 3+ target situations, only apply DoT if you cannot hit 3+ targets with Art of War due to positioning.
• Biolysis is your DoT. Never apply to an enemy that is about to die. Avoid overwriting early. Apply it to mobs while the tank is pulling if you cannot hit 5+ with Art of War. Maintain DoT uptime in single target and 2-4 target situations. In 5+ target situations, only apply DoT if you cannot hit 5+ targets with Art of War due to positioning.
• Biolysis is your DoT. Never apply to an enemy that is about to die. Avoid overwriting early. Apply it to mobs while the tank is pulling if you cannot hit 4+ with Art of War II. Maintain DoT uptime in single target and 2-4 target situations. In 5+ target situations, only apply DoT if you cannot hit 5+ targets with Art of War II due to positioning.
• Ruin II is your instant cast damage spell. Use it when you cannot cast your standard damage spell due to movement and your DoT does not need to be refreshed.
• Ruin II is your instant cast damage spell. Use it when you cannot cast your standard damage spell due to movement, your DoT does not need to be refreshed, and you are not in range to use Art of War.
• Ruin II is your instant cast damage spell. Use it when you cannot cast your standard damage spell due to movement and your DoT does not need to be refreshed.
• Art of War is your AoE damage spell and is an instant cast. Always use when you can hit 3+ targets. On 2 targets, use when your DoT does not need to be refreshed. Against a single target, use if in range when you need to move and your DoT does not need to be refreshed. It can also be used as your default damage spell in place of Ruin at this level.
• Art of War is your AoE damage spell and is an instant cast. Always use when you can hit 3+ targets. On 2 targets, use when your DoT does not need to be refreshed. Against a single target, can be used for movement in place of Ruin II.
• Art of War is your AoE damage spell and is an instant cast. Always use when you can hit 3+ targets. On 2 targets, use when your DoT does not need to be refreshed.
• Art of War is your AoE damage spell and is an instant cast. Always use when you can hit 5+ targets. On 2-4 targets, use when your DoT does not need to be refreshed.
• Art of War II is your AoE damage spell and is an instant cast. Always use when you can hit 4+ targets. On 2-3 targets, use when your DoT does not need to be refreshed.
• Art of War II is your AoE damage spell and is an instant cast. Always use when you can hit 5+ targets. On 2-4 targets, use when your DoT does not need to be refreshed.
• Energy Drain is your only offensive Aetherflow ability and deals single target damage. Use it when you have excess Aetherflow stacks that you do not need for healing. Optimizing Energy Drain usage is discussed in more detail in other sections.
• Chain Stratagem is a single-target raid buff that increases the Critical Hit Rate of attacks against the targeted enemy. Use it in you opener and then off CD on bosses. You can find information about the opener in the Rotation section, as well as information about optimizing this ability in endgame content.
• Chain Stratagem is a single-target raid buff that increases the Critical Hit Rate of attacks against the targeted enemy. Use it in you opener and then off CD on bosses. Against trash packs, use it to gain access to Baneful Impaction. You can find information about the opener in the Rotation section, as well as information about optimizing this ability in endgame content.
  • Baneful Impaction is a follow-up attack that can be used once within 30s after using Chain Stratagem. It applies a strong DoT to all enemies within a small area around your target.

1. Against bosses, use Chain Stratagem in your opener and then as soon as it becomes available for the rest of the encounter.
   • In a dungeon, it may be preferable to save Chain Stratagem for the next trash pull if it comes up near the end of the boss encounter. Being able to use Baneful Impaction on a large trash pull should almost always be more efficient than using it near the end of the boss encounter.
2. Keep Bio up.
3. Keep Bio II up.
4. Keep Biolysis up.
5. Use Ruin as your filler.
6. Use Ruin or Art of War as your filler.
7. Use Broil as your filler.
8. Use Broil II as your filler.
9. Use Broil III as your filler.
10. Use Broil IV as your filler.
11. Use Art of War when you cannot cast your standard filler due to movement and are in range of the target.
12. Use Ruin II when you cannot cast your standard filler due to movement.
13. Use Ruin II when you cannot cast your standard filler due to movement and are away from the target.
14. Use Ruin II when you cannot cast your standard filler due to movement.

1. If the enemies will live for at least 15s, use Chain Stratagem on the toughest enemy and follow up with Baneful Impaction. Try to target an enemy in the center of the pack to ensure that the AoE hits as many targets as possible.
2. Maintain Bio II on up to 2 targets if they are not about to die.
3. Maintain Biolysis on up to 4 targets if they are not about to die.
4. Maintain Biolysis on up to 3 targets if they are not about to die.
5. Maintain Biolysis on up to 4 targets if they are not about to die.
6. Use Art of War on 2+ targets.
7. Use Art of War II on 2+ targets.

Summon Eos summons your faerie to your side. She will automatically heal party members (including you) that are missing HP using Embrace. Faerie abilities will originate from her position rather than yours. She can be ordered to stand in a certain spot using the Place and then ordered to follow you again using Heel. Always make sure the faerie is summoned. She will despawn if you Place her and move too far away, so be careful.

All of the following abilities are oGCDs unless specified to be a GCD. Do not be afraid to use AoE oGCD heals to heal a single target. Some of them are still very useful for this, such as Whispering Dawn.

• Physick is your basic single target GCD heal.
• Whispering Dawn is an AoE faerie regen.
• Adloquium is a GCD single-target heal that grants a shield, Galvanize. It has more overall potency than Physick and should be used over it unless you would be overwriting an existing Galvanize.
• Succor is a GCD AoE heal that grants Galvanize.
• Concitation is a GCD AoE heal that grants Galvanize. It is an upgraded version of Succor with a slightly larger shield.
• Fey Illumination is an AoE faerie buff that decreases magic damage taken and increases GCD healing done, including the faerie's Embrace casts.
• Lustrate is a single target heal with a near-instant cooldown which costs an Aetherflow stack.
• Sacred Soil creates a bubble that reduces damage taken for party members inside. It costs an Aetherflow stack. It is generally not worth using over other Aetherflow abilities while at this level unless you are doing old Ultimate level content.
• Sacred Soil creates a bubble that reduces damage taken for party members inside and heals them over time. It costs an Aetherflow stack. It is your highest priority usage of Aetherflow at this level, both in single target and AoE healing.
• Indomitability is an AoE heal that costs an Aetherflow stack.
• Deployment Tactics extends a Galvanize shield from one party member to all party members within range of them. In trash pulls you can use Adloquium on both the tank and yourself prepull and then Deploy your Galvanize once the tank's shield breaks. On bosses, you can Deploy an Adloquium off of the tank prepull to provide a larger party shield than Succor. Do not use over Succor during uptime, as Succor's combined healing plus shielding is more potency.
• Emergency Tactics is a self-buff that converts the Galvanize effect from your next GCD heal into pure healing. This is rarely needed in practice, but is useful if shielding would be wasted either because a Galvanize is already up or a mechanic requires pure healing (such as Dark Knight's Living Dead).
• Dissipation is an ability that forcibly dismisses the faerie for 30s in exchange for 3 Aetherflow stacks and a powerful GCD healing self-buff. The faerie cannot be resummoned via any means during this 30s. This is a strong ability to use when you have already used all the faerie's abilities and still require more healing. It can also be used near the end of trash pulls so that most of the downside occurs in between pulls, allowing you to start the next pull with full Aetherflow and a buffed Adloquium shield on the tank.
• Excogitation is a strong, delayed single-target heal that costs an Aetherflow stack. It heals the target when either their HP drops below 50% (instantly if they are already below this threshold) or after 45s have passed. This allows it to be used in advance of damage so that its CD starts recovering sooner, without risking overhealing. It should be used over Lustrate, as it provides more healing, unless you would rather save Excogitation for a specific upcoming damage instance.
• Aetherpact is a channeled single target faerie heal, effectively functioning as a regen. It costs 10 Fae Aether per heal, with heals occurring every 3s. While channeling, the faerie will not move or cast Embrace, and using any other faerie ability will end Aetherpact. Be sure not to leave her behind while moving between dungeon pulls.
• Recitation is a self-buff that makes the next usage of Adloquium, Succor, Indomitability, or Excogitation cost no MP or Aetherflow and guarantees the action will Crit. This should usually be used on Indomitability in raids and Excogitation or Adloquium in dungeons, but there are exceptions to this which are touched upon in other sections.
• Recitation is a self-buff that makes the next usage of Adloquium, Concitation, Indomitability, or Excogitation cost no MP or Aetherflow and guarantees the action will Crit. This should usually be used on Indomitability in raids and Excogitation or Adloquium in dungeons, but there are exceptions to this which are touched upon in other sections.
• Fey Blessing is an AoE faerie heal.
• Summon Seraph replaces the normal faerie with Seraph. Seraph's Embraces provide a shield, Seraphic Veil, as well as the standard healing. Seraph also grants access to Consolation. While Seraph is summoned, you cannot use Aetherpact, Fey Blessing, or Dissipation.
• Consolation is an AoE faerie heal that also provides a shield. It can be thought of like an oGCD Succor. You have access to two charges of Consolation during each Summon Seraph.
• Consolation is an AoE faerie heal that also provides a shield. It can be thought of like an oGCD Concitation. You have access to two charges of Consolation during each Summon Seraph.
• Protraction is a single target buff that increases the target's maximum HP and all healing received by the target.

• Esuna removes a single debuff from yourself or an ally. Only debuffs with a white bar on top of their icon can be removed.
• Resurrection is your raise ability. Best used with Swiftcast to eliminate the long cast time.
• Swiftcast removes the cast time from the next spell.
• Lucid Dreaming restores 3850 mana over 21 seconds. While you do not want to use it on full MP, you also do not want to wait too long to use it. Try to use it when you are missing about 2000 MP.
• Aetherflow grants you 3 stacks of Aetherflow and restores 2000 MP. It should be used off CD.
• Surecast makes you immune to most knockback effects. It also prevents heavy damage from interrupting casts.
• Rescue pulls a party member to your location. Useful when someone is unaware of a mechanic, but try to not use it unnecessarily.

In a dungeon, the main challenge is keeping a tank alive during big pulls. At higher levels this can feel easy due to your large amount of healing tools, but it can be a struggle at lower levels when you only have a fraction of your kit.

• Ensure your faerie is summoned at the start of the dungeon.
• Use Adloquium on the tank before each pull to give them a shield.
• Use Adloquium on yourself before each pull if Deployment Tactics is available.
• Use Recitation + Excogitation or Adloquium on the tank before the pull if possible.
• Use Bio on mob packs as the tank gathers them up.
• Use Bio II on mob packs as the tank gathers them up.
• Use Biolysis on mob packs as the tank gathers them up.
• At low levels, you will not have an unrestricted AoE GCD to spam, so Ruin will be your only consistent option.
• Use Art of War once mobs are gathered.
• Use Art of War II once mobs are gathered.

Try to exhaust oGCD options before GCDs, and use your free oGCDs before those that cost Aetherflow. Do not be afraid to use AoE oGCD heals, as well. Some of them are great even for healing a single target, such as Whispering Dawn.

If you use a 60-second cooldown at the beginning of a pull, it should come back up at some point during the next pull, depending on how fast the run is going. 90 and 120 second cooldowns will generally not be up again until after the next boss, so try not to use all of them on the very first pull. Try to not use long cooldowns towards the end of a boss fight, since trash pulls require significantly more healing.

• Use Chain Stratagem in your opener and then every time it becomes available for the rest of the encounter.
  • Follow up with Baneful Impaction.
• Keep your DoT up at all times.
• As usual, prefer oGCD heals before GCD heals, and prioritize free oGCDs over Aetherflow oGCDs. You only need to heal the bare minimum to keep people alive. They do not need to constantly be full HP.
• Use excess Aetherflow stacks on Energy Drain, ideally during 2-minute buffs.

Congratulations! If you would like to learn how Scholar functions at max level, please continue on to our full Scholar guide, listed below.