Getting the most from Manafont

What's the better sub-job for getting the most from your Manafont? A lot of people would assume RDM because Fast Cast means more spells but a SCH Dark Arts only has 5% less Fast Cast effect and it has two strategems which you can use to half the casting time on two spells...

RDM

In theory, with a RDM sub, you can cast the following spells in 1 minute:

Blizzard IV
Thunder IV
Freeze II
Burst II
Blizzaga III
Thundaga III
Blizzard IV
Thunder IV

This ensures that you can cast all your most powerful spells as many times as possible. With a 90 second recast AM II can only be cast once regardless. If you open with your AM II, which I would do instinctively, then the recast for Tier IV won't be up in time to do both of them again by the end of the minute.

Now, just one caveat, due to lag (or whatever) there is a good chance that Thunder IV won't go off before manafont wears (it's cut very fine - 1.5s to spare). If this is a concern skip Blizzaga III but be aware that Blizzard IV won't be up by the time you finish Thundaga III and you'll have to wait a few seconds.

If you have Rostrum Pumps (or some other Fast Cast gear) you'll probably get enough breathing space to get Blizzaga III and Thunder IV off no problems but it won't give you enough time to get an extra spell off.

SCH

In theory, with a SCH sub, assuming you have both charges ready and Dark Arts up, you can cast the following spells in 1 minute:

Freeze II (Alacrity)
Blizzard IV
Thunder IV (Alacrity)
Burst II
Thundaga III
Blizzaga III
Thunder IV
Freeze II

When compared with RDM you can replace Blizzard IV with Freeze II and still have time to spare to ensure you get Blizzaga III and Thunder IV off. With extra Fast Cast gear you might even get another decent spell off because you already have almost 5 seconds to spare. You can probably improve on this combo too but I'm confident that this combo will work.

Conclusion

This is untested at the moment - I plan to give it a go in Besieged when I get chance.

Also it's only fair to discuss the relative demerits of SCH because in any situation where you are likely to pull hate and take dmg SCH is out! Without /RDM or /WHM sub you can't buff yourself so you are very vulnerable. However, if you can guarantee you won't pull hate e.g. jumping in at the end of a melee zerg for a big finish, or get a SCH or SMN to buff you, it's still an option.

Having said that SCH does give you a nice +2 base INT to boost your dmg!

Short version: if my math is right, SCH kicks RDM ass for Manafont.