The elephant in the room

[cidbahamut]

I love my White Mages to death, but someone has to say it: White Mage is OP.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a head start before the lynch mob catches wind of this.

[SpankWustler]

I'd say White Mage and other jobs that perform really well right now are just about right, and all jobs should be brought to that level. Jobs that fulfill one purpose should feel extremely powerful while fulfilling that one purpose, and jobs with multiple purposes shouldn't perform below acceptable standards in many of those purposes.

If Voidwatch is any indication, it's not like we can steam-roll over content that's intended to be challenging just by bashing our numbers against a monster's numbers anyway.

Sadly, if the pointless and ineffectual change to Restraint is a sign of pointier and Super Effective changes to come, the development team has other ideas about job balance. The unsettling kind of ideas that a twelve-year-old boy has when he wonders what's inside of a squirrel.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

I agree OP.

WHM should be powerful no doubt about it, but there are limits. When a role in a game can only be performed by one job it's bad game design.

[Retsujo]

WHM is a great healer, but a shitty enfeebler. It's great with enhancements but not as great as RDM or SCH. I would say a WHM's healing power is really potent and strong, but I wouldn't call WHM OP.

Just my opinion

[Mirage]

WHM is a good healer and an somewhat ok enfeebler, RDM is a very good enfeebler and somewhat ok healer. One of the the problem is of course that most of the content in this game lately doesn't need anything but a good healer, and the few enfeebles you need, a whm can stick on a mob anyway because of atmas that send your magical accuracy through the clouds.

I'd rather for example RDM got enfeebles that were strong enough to make up for its shortcomings on the healing side, as well as mobs that are so strong that the lack of one RDMs enfeebles would require like 1.5 more WHMs in order to not die.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

WHM is a great healer, but a shitty enfeebler. It's great with enhancements but not as great as RDM or SCH. I would say a WHM's healing power is really potent and strong, but I wouldn't call WHM OP.

Just my opinion

WHM is the best Magical Enhancer. It may not increase the duration but it's not like casting it is out of their way. AoE buffs make that easy. The only one they don't have AoE is Haste.

I think when there is only one job for every bit of content that can heal then it's a bit OP, monopolies have never been fun.

If you need a DD you have multiple choices, magical DD you have quite a few too with BLM being the best (as it should be), Need a healer? Well you only have one option there.

[Retsujo]

WHM is best for Protect/Shell/Barspell I agree. We even have merits to enhance those spells. But Taking away P/S/B-ele, RDM and SCH have a better opportunity. In fact, SCH has the ability to cast Protectra, Shellra, Hastega, and pretty much anything aoe (albeit through its own methods), and RDM can keep up with the enhancement recasts far better than any other job.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

WHM is best for Protect/Shell/Barspell I agree. We even have merits to enhance those spells. But Taking away P/S/B-ele, RDM and SCH have a better opportunity. In fact, SCH has the ability to cast Protectra, Shellra, Hastega, and pretty much anything aoe (albeit through its own methods), and RDM can keep up with the enhancement recasts far better than any other job.

Haste is blocked from Accession, outside of that their is nothing worthwhile to AoE WHM can't do.

RDM is an OK enhancer. Refresh and Haste is all they have worthwhile though. More or less everything else is self cast bar Protect V and Shell V which a RDM shouldn't be casting when a WHM's is so much better.

WHM is the ultimate party support job, no other can even remotely come close to it. Don't get me wrong I don't want other jobs to be better at doing what WHM does as it's the WHM's job. It's just as I said poor design for no other job to even be a close second.

[Merton9999]

I agree with the way SpankWustler put it. I love what I'm able to do on WHM. The other jobs that are ostensibly designed to heal just need to be boosted to come close or be passable. I don't want my WHM capabilities to be nerfed in any way, I just wish every time I played it I didn't have to laugh inside when I think of how I would be accomplishing anything remotely similar on RDM or SCH.

A big part of this is mob design too. It makes no sense to try to balance RDM in terms of enfeebling over cures then make mobs immune to enfeebles. It makes no sense to try to balance SCH in terms of enhancing over cures, then make mobs dispel or absorb everything or prevent a majority of AOE enhancements with fatal auras. It makes for a very mundane and exclusive sort of set up where, despite the vast array of interesting enfeebles and enhancements available, only boring cures are acceptable.

[Babekeke]

Of course, if you're fighting a mob/mobs that hit very fast but for only a little damage... Phalanx > cure 5/6. So WHM doesn't ALWAYS win... just 99% of the time.