I leaned on Esuna pretty hard in Einherjar and sometimes in CoP Dynamis, but I guess it's continued usefulness depends on which junk monsters appear in events from here on out.

Same goes for really solid magic damage mitigation, it really depends on what kind of monsters pop up. Against generic mages or something that uses a strong light or dark attack, the additional 5% from Shellra V alone is less than epic.

It is definitely true that many of White Mage's advantages depend on the kind of monster being fought.

I'm not suggesting Cure V for anybody with healing magic skill as a magic bullet. I just think it would be better, or no worse, than the healing scene is right now.

Giving Cure VI to non-White Mages with healing magic would also be a solution. I think the result would be similar to adding an extra cure, as far as MP efficiency goes. It would allow several jobs to cure huge amounts of HP for low amounts of enmity, but at the cost of twice the MP a White Mage would spend. Almost three times the cost, if you factor in Orison Pantaloons +2.

This would enable Red Mage or Scholar to take over the healing role in a pinch, but due to MP costs they wouldn't be able to cast much other than vanilla support spells. Essentially becoming the worst White Mage in all of Vana'Diel, but able to keep people alive.

I'd love to have more unique spells and abilities in the game, but I'm also weary of them. It seems that around a third turn out awful and useless and pointless. Humpty Hump's Healing Helix could be similar to Cure III with the soft cap and VIT modifier both removed every 10 seconds, or it could just end up as a concrete 200 HP every 10 seconds.

I get the feeling that there's a one guy on the development team who isn't so bright, but they all feel bad for him and let him work on a spell or ability sometimes. He's probably the dude who came up with the formula for Cure VI, actually.