Scholar

Eleven GCDs, one shape

The opener is an 11-GCD sequence of Broil IV with Biolysis at each end. Its job is to put Biolysis at the start of the burst and refresh it on the final GCD so the DoT lands under raid buffs.

Pre-pull and weave rules

Aetherflow pays for everything

Aetherflow is Scholar's only recurring MP source and its only oGCD healing budget. Energy Drain spends the same stacks, so every stack has two possible uses: damage or healing.

The arithmetic that decides a stack

Resource table

Spending priority for stacks

Community priority order for stacks: Sacred Soil → Excogitation → Indomitability → Lustrate → Energy Drain. Reserve stacks for the healing your plan needs first. Whatever is left over is what you drain.

Biolysis, clipping, and the burst

Biolysis is a 30-second DoT ticking 85 potency every 3 seconds, 850 in total. Compared with a Broil IV GCD it only pays off when it will tick at least four times.

The early refresh

Raid buffs are now 20 seconds long, so clipping Biolysis on the final GCD of the buff window is a gain. It aligns future refreshes with the buff windows instead of leaving them in dead time. The payback is about two minutes of uptime with one extra raid buff, and about four minutes with none. At a 2.49–2.50 GCD, put the DoT on the same GCD as your sixth Energy Drain instead, or it will miss the Chain window.

Multi-target thresholds

The 1, 2, and 3-minute loop

After the opener, Scholar runs a fixed loop: Aetherflow every minute, Chain Stratagem and Baneful Impaction every two minutes, and Dissipation every three. Energy Drain fits in only where it is free.

0:00  Dissipation (3 stacks)      ── first Aetherflow stacks of the cycle
0:60  Aetherflow (3 stacks)       ── spend over the next minute
2:00  Aetherflow + Chain Stratagem + Baneful Impaction  ← the real burst
3:00  Dissipation (3 stacks)      ── every other two-minute window
      Biolysis every 30s          ── refresh with 0–3s left, never drop it
      Broil IV in every other GCD ── this is most of the job

The ladder: free, then Aetherflow, then GCD

Scholar's healing is ordered by what each option costs in damage. Use the cheapest option that covers the mechanic.

Burst-healing combo

Protraction, then a critical Adloquium, then Deployment Tactics. Protraction adds 10% to the shield and to the healing received. Deployment Tactics spreads the Galvanize half to the party, not the Catalyze half.

Shield and healing notes

What the sources disagree on

These are the points where the sources conflict, or where a claim has no support in the Lodestone entry. They are listed rather than settled.

Where the numbers come from

Lodestone is authoritative for potencies, recasts, and effects. The community sources cover how to play. Where the two disagree, the Lodestone value wins.

Patch 7.55 values as of 10 Oct 2026. Full write-up with citations: Scholar_Opener_and_Rotation_Guide.md in the repo root.