New healer idea: Necromancer

[Malkria]

So due to a sale and friends I was playing the new ESO expansion and discovered one of my favorite class types had been added: Necromancer.

After playing I realized they intended that it could be used as a healer, and I rather liked the way it did. It basically took the essence from dead enemies along with the normal healing abilities you could get as any class.

All this made me think that this job could make a fantastic debuff/healer for the healing lineup. It could put a DoT on the target that would pulse out life to party members. It could do a direct channel siphon that would debuff the target but push out healing to the party. So on and so forth, it would be a very easy thematic design to come up with even if it didn't get undead minions...which not all necromancers need.

Plus...it IS a job that has been in the franchise before, so there is that.

[Truen]

I like the idea, but maybe something with a different name...like a Dark Cypher, a Grey Wizard, or an Umbral Mage would be better. Necros are just so common in other games, it's hard to think of the job without immediately comparing it to multiple other titles. I like that FF14 does it's own thing (mostly) with job design.

But, in terms of the design options you've mentioned I also don't think SE would be very keen on making a job with such a vibrant identity. After what they did to our jobs in 5.0 I honestly think they hate healing jobs and are incapable of making anything but boring, stripped down healing professions.

[LalafellDown]

Isn’t the hammer lady from 5.0 the next healer?

[YusiKha]

Isn’t the hammer lady from 5.0 the next healer?

She has shown 0 healing abilities so far, and is in a place with no access to the ARR zones (unlike every job added besides HW).
No, she isn't.

[Mimilu]

Isn’t the hammer lady from 5.0 the next healer?

Gaia was designed by Tetsuya Nomura as a guest designer for the Eden raid.
He gave her a hammer without knowing/forgetting there wasn't a job that used hammers (at the time).
The dev team kept the hammer anyway.
Not to say they couldn't use Gaia as a jumping point for a new job though... >w>

[EaMett]

I'm pretty confident that Gaia is actually demonstrating the next healer skills. It's just that the hammer weapon design is probably a one off. Otherwise she's shown off a time based skill in e8n which in addition to AST's time spells being removed this expansion would make me believe time mage is an upcoming healer in 6.0

[Malkria]

I like the idea, but maybe something with a different name...like a Dark Cypher, a Grey Wizard, or an Umbral Mage would be better. Necros are just so common in other games, it's hard to think of the job without immediately comparing it to multiple other titles. I like that FF14 does it's own thing (mostly) with job design.

Well I think they are sticking to jobs that have shown up in the game series already, and...well even if it is "cliche" it IS a job that has shown up before.

That said, what wouldn't be as cliche is if there was less dead raising and maybe themed around spirits and life force manipulation. At most having ghosts or spirits as summons and/or auras and skipping on the undead skeletons/zombies/horrors like most games use. Which actually is how the necromancer in ESO plays for the most part. Not with raising the dead but using attacks to regain life or siphoning health from corpses left from either killing mobs or from abilities (like the bone armor).

[Tulzscha]

That sounds right up my alley. Necromancers in pretty much every game including FF have been more about dps though. In FF it was actually more like a Blue Mage in that it learned abilities by killing certain enemies, and all of them dealt damage and applied some kind of status effect.

Afaik ESO gives every class the capacity to either heal or tank, FFXIV isn't so generous. Even in GW2 where every class can do just about everything their Necromancer has the least support out of everyone, it tends to be a very selfish job only healing itself.

I mean if FFXIV did come out with a healing Necro it'd be my new main for sure but chances are if anything it'd be caster dps.

[EtherRose]

Chemist > Necro

[BasicBlake]

I can't think of any FF titles were Necro was a class. Though it would be an interesting take on a healer concept.