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Meanwhile, I haven't seen a use for Esuna except WoDarkness Alliance-Roulettes - but again, speaking as a dungeoneer rather than a raider. Even Rabanastre doesn't really have much call for dispel.
O4N will kill two people at the start of the fight without it. Hashmal's Extreme Edge puts up a DoT, and while that often kills people in one tick, it is possible to Esuna it off before it does if your timing is really good or they're a tank class, preventing a death. I honestly never take it off my bars at all because inevitably I'll wind up in a roulette with someone who doesn't have it where it is needed, and only after the fight starts will I realize I don't have it. For what I could put there instead, I don't find that worth the hassle or error risk. ("Both healers never used Esuna" isn't exactly unheard of in the Tales of the Duty Finder thread.)
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With that in mind, I can only assume their goal for the change was to allow for that customization so that Healers could decide whether none, one or two of whatever is needed - but I still think that's a bit sad when little is lost by just having Esu/Prot as base for all Healers and letting them customize in other ways.
Honestly, I think their goal for the change was to give all the tanks the same base cooldown suite and let them customize between Shirk and such (although raiders will probably just take Shirk), give DPS customization options (they have it best with this system), and the healers got it because everyone else did. I don't think it's added much to healers because you've got "effectively mandatory", "occasionally mandatory", and "who cares?" as options.
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If you know your content, you know when Esuna can sit on the bench. Protect, well, unless you ENJOY editing your bar when you know Healer#2 has it, then, well, who wants that nuisance? Quick-Cast? Even if you have mega-faith in your squad, it's best not to throw this way just in-case. I can't speak for everyone but I'm rolling with Prot, QC, Lucid, Cleric and Large (swapping Cleric for Esuna if the content demands it). The rest just seem completely naff.
I've always got Swiftcast, Lucid, Largesse, Esuna, and Surecast (mostly because I don't find anything else really worth bothering with in this slot for a lot of the content I do). I cast Protect via macro which does the juggling for me, and the fact that you can do such a thing shows how silly Protect as an optional spell really is.