Scholar Healer Gear and Best in Slot — Dawntrail 7.1

These are the maximum Item Level sets for this tier. They are the safest sets because they provide as much HP as possible, in addition to having more Piety than the other sets. Notably, they also provide one additional Defense tier compared to the lower Item Level sets, which will allow you to take slightly less damage from the many physical raid-wide attacks in this raid tier.

These sets provide slightly less DPS than the lower Item Level sets due to the extra Piety on the boots and gloves, so if the extra HP, Defense, and Piety are not needed, you may prefer to take the extra "free" damage from using one of the lower Item Level sets. However, if you do Futures Rewritten (Ultimate) when it releases, you should absolutely use an Item Level 730 set for that.

This first set has excellent MP economy with such a slow GCD, and it should provide perfect alignment for Chain Stratagem, Aetherflow, and Biolysis. If you are unsure which set you should use, pick this one.

This set may be used as an equivalent to the 2.50 set if the 2.50 set does not work for you. The game cannot actually begin performing your next action until the next frame update, so if your framerate does not align with your GCD timer, your 2.50 GCD may function more like a 2.505 GCD. This is less likely to be an issue if you maintain a high framerate, but it can be fairly noticeable if your framerate is low, unstable, or locked at 60 frames per second.

The purpose of this set is to functionally achieve a 2.50 GCD for proper alignment. This set is only recommended if an actual 2.50 GCD does not give you clean alignment for Chain Stratagem and Aetherflow. You can test this by unequipping any gear that has Spell Speed on it and hitting a striking dummy for 4-6 minutes, using Aetherflow and Chain Stratagem on cooldown to see if they drift. If their cooldowns do not come back up exactly during a weave window so they can be used exactly on cooldown without drifting them or delaying your next GCD, then the 2.50 GCD is not working as intended. In that case, you may use this set to compensate for the issue and see if it provides better alignment for you.

This set has a less forgiving MP economy due to its much faster GCD, but with this much Piety, it is still unlikely to be an issue. This set is expected to provide the highest DPS out of the Item Level 730 sets, about 52 (0.39%) more DPS than the 2.50 set listed above, and it should have decent alignment for Chain Stratagem, Aetherflow, and Biolysis.

This set is also identical to Astrologian's 2.32 Item Level 730 set, so if you prefer a fast GCD and you want to play both Scholar and Astrologian, this set should serve you well.

This final set is expected to provide almost exactly the same DPS as the 2.50 set, offering perfect alignment for Chain Stratagem and Aetherflow, but poor alignment for Biolysis. It also has poor compatibility with other healers' gear sets. It is listed here as an option for players who rarely play other healers in high end content and have a personal preference for a 2.40 GCD.

These Item Level 729 sets are a reasonable middle ground for DPS optimization without sacrificing too much HP and MP. Compared to the Item Level 730 sets, these sets give up a single (physical) Defense tier, about 1300 HP, and 165 Piety. These sets are ideal for players who generally want to optimize their DPS but are not specifically dedicated to chasing the top ranks on FFLogs.

This set is expected to provide the highest DPS of all the Scholar sets. It is my top recommendation for DPS optimization. It should provide very good alignment for Chain Stratagem, Aetherflow, and Biolysis. Its faster GCD makes its MP economy less forgiving, so you may need to be careful about how many GCD heals you use. Still, with this much Piety, the MP economy should not be too bad. It is expected to provide about 87 (0.65%) more DPS than the 2.50 Item Level 730 set, or about 49 (0.36%) more DPS than the 2.32 Item Level 730 set.

This set is expected to provide about 50 (0.37%) less DPS than the 2.31 set listed above. Use this set if you want the extra DPS from using an Item Level 729 set, but you strongly prefer a slower GCD. It is expected to provide about 38 (0.27%) more DPS than the 2.50 Item Level 730 set.

This set may be used as an equivalent to the 2.50 set if the 2.50 set does not work for you. The game cannot actually begin performing your next action until the next frame update, so if your framerate does not align with your GCD timer, your 2.50 GCD may function more like a 2.505 GCD. This is less likely to be an issue if you maintain a high framerate, but it can be fairly noticeable if your framerate is low, unstable, or locked at 60 frames per second.

The purpose of this set is to functionally achieve a 2.50 GCD for proper alignment. This set is only recommended if an actual 2.50 GCD does not give you clean alignment for Chain Stratagem and Aetherflow. You can test this by unequipping any gear that has Spell Speed on it and hitting a striking dummy for 4-6 minutes, using Aetherflow and Chain Stratagem on cooldown to see if they drift. If their cooldowns do not come back up exactly during a weave window so they can be used exactly on cooldown without drifting them or delaying your next GCD, then the 2.50 GCD is not working as intended. In that case, you may use this set to compensate for the issue and see if it provides better alignment for you.

This final set is expected to provide about 18 (0.13%) DPS than the 2.50 set, offering perfect alignment for Chain Stratagem and Aetherflow, but poor alignment for Biolysis. It also has poor compatibility with other healers' gear sets. It is listed here as an option for players who rarely play other healers in high end content and have a personal preference for a 2.40 GCD.

These sets may be used to gain about 9 (0.06%) DPS compared to the 2.50 or 2.49 Item Level 729 sets, sacrificing an additional ~1300 HP and 165 Piety. The 2.50/2.49 Item Level 729 sets are so close to these sets that it is difficult to justify the trade-off. I would not recommend these sets for anything but gearing Scholar as an alt role with minimal gear investment. If you are looking for DPS optimization, you would be much better served by simply using the 2.31 Item Level 729 set, which should perform considerably better than these sets.

This set may be used as an equivalent to the 2.50 set if the 2.50 set does not work for you. The game cannot actually begin performing your next action until the next frame update, so if your framerate does not align with your GCD timer, your 2.50 GCD may function more like a 2.505 GCD. This is less likely to be an issue if you maintain a high framerate, but it can be fairly noticeable if your framerate is low, unstable, or locked at 60 frames per second.

The purpose of this set is to functionally achieve a 2.50 GCD for proper alignment. This set is only recommended if an actual 2.50 GCD does not give you clean alignment for Chain Stratagem and Aetherflow. You can test this by unequipping any gear that has Spell Speed on it and hitting a striking dummy for 4-6 minutes, using Aetherflow and Chain Stratagem on cooldown to see if they drift. If their cooldowns do not come back up exactly during a weave window so they can be used exactly on cooldown without drifting them or delaying your next GCD, then the 2.50 GCD is not working as intended. In that case, you may use this set to compensate for the issue and see if it provides better alignment for you.

Portions of these gear sets can only be acquired by completing the Abyssos raid tier. A guide for the content can be found in the link below.

These sets are expected to be about 0.64% DPS apart. The 2.40 set provides slightly less damage, but it is much easier on your MP. If you are confident in the encounter, the 2.31 set provides slightly more DPS and better Biolysis alignment, but it will require stricter MP management.

With the arrival of Patch 6.3 and the new dungeon, Lapis Manalis, dropping iLevel 605 gear, we are now able to cap item level on certain pieces to make a stronger build, averaging about 1% higher in DPS compared to previous sets.

Portions of these gear sets can only be acquired by completing the Asphodelos raid tier. A guide for the content can be found links below.

We have decided to not include full gear sets for The Epic of Alexander anymore, as your gear choices make very little difference in how much damage you do due to how gear syncs and removes melds. The item level listed below will outline what item level is required to max out both substats on gear for the fight. All gear above the specified item level will work:

• Item level 595

With that being said, the biggest difference that can be made to your gear set will be equipping a Shadowbringers Relic weapon. Due to the nature of how substats are allocated on these weapons, it enables you to utilize more substats than what is intended on a normal weapon. The Relic weapon provides a 1% damage increase for The Epic of Alexander. Stat allocation is as follows:

• 184 Critical Hit / 184 Determination / 99 Spell Speed

Keep in mind, the Relic weapon is NOT mandatory to clear these fights. It only provides a buffer for mistakes. It is up to the player to decide if the grind is worth it.

We have decided to not include full gear sets for The Weapon's Refrain anymore, as your gear choices make very little difference in how much damage you do due to how gear syncs and removes melds. The item level listed below will outline what item level is required to max out both substats on gear for the fight. All gear above the specified item level will work:

• Item level 500

With that being said, the biggest difference that can be made to your gear set will be equipping a Shadowbringers Relic weapon. Due to the nature of how substats are allocated on these weapons, it enables you to utilize more substats than what is intended on a normal weapon. The Relic weapon provides a 3.5% damage increase for The Weapon's Refrain. Stat allocation is as follows:

• 136 Critical Hit / 136 Determination / 133 Spell Speed / 63 Piety

Keep in mind, the Relic weapon is NOT mandatory to clear these fights. It only provides a buffer for mistakes. It is up to the player to decide if the grind is worth it.

We have decided to not include full gear sets for The unending Coil of Bahamut anymore, as your gear choices make very little difference in how much damage you do due to how gear syncs and removes melds. The item level listed below will outline what item level is required to max out both substats on gear for the fight. All gear above the specified item level will work:

• Item level 470

With that being said, the biggest difference that can be made to your gear set will be equipping a Shadowbringers Relic weapon. Due to the nature of how substats are allocated on these weapons, it enables you to utilize more substats than what is intended on a normal weapon. The Relic weapon provides a 3.5% damage increase for The Unending Coil of Bahamut. Stat allocation is as follows:

• 127 Critical Hit / 127 Determination / 123 Spell Speed / 90 Piety

Keep in mind, the Relic weapon is NOT mandatory to clear these fights. It only provides a buffer for mistakes. It is up to the player to decide if the grind is worth it.