Yeah it would be a completely different game and they would never do it, I was just explaining what would be required to manage difficulty without it spiking uncontrollably.
I miss making clutch plays with tier 1 gcds because healing was more intense, mana management was much more important, and there were less strong OGCDs. ShB kinda killed it. now something like physick is only good for if you have no aetherflow and its too late to adlo (shield will get ignored) or emergency adlo
With how WHM basically has infinite mana due to always keeping their mana regen skills on cooldown (Assize is for DPS and mana, not heals), there's no point in Cure 1 NOT becoming Cure 2 as soon as Cure 2 is granted. That change would help A LOT of WHMs become better as Cure 1 is basically pointless, and the mechanic is one that should really be ignored rather than used.
I'd like to see long cd's (1 min) on aoe GCD heals if only to see the healbots completely lost when they can't spam Medica II and Succor :p
To be fair, WHM mana management is fairly poor around where Cure II is unlocked. They don't get Assize, lilies or Thin Air until after 50. Compare that to AST which has cheaper heals and mana from Draw. It wouldn't hurt to move some mana management to below 50 and/or lower the cost of GCD heals.
For WHM, just reverse Freecure.
Have Cure 2 proc Freecure, which increases the potency of Cure 1 and reduces it's cast time. You then save MP by using a more powerful Cure 1 instead of your usual Cure 2.
I'd like to see Stone/Glare/Holy or Aero/Dia ticks proc freecure and with a longer duration so you can stock it for when it's needed. Reward dealing damage with strong free heals.
If we had a mechanic where a Cure 2 cast made the next Cure 1 heal at 700 potency (and I'd like it OGCD and insta cast), I would be fine with that change to the Free Cure mechanic as it'd allow Cure 1 to become relevant again - especially when you need to push out the single target HPS (like when you have a LARP tank that's wearing a bathrobe covered in tin foil as "armor".) What would be nice with that is also if the Free Cure Cure 1 also sprouted a lily.
On the subject of Cure 3, that's not actually a worthless heal as it's actually a good one to use if you can get the timing right on the stack mechanics where it goes off shortly after the damage is dealt, so everyone gets healed. Yeah, it's not OGCD, but it also allows you to conserve the lilies if doing so makes sense for the encounter. It's really more of a situational heal but I don't consider it a bad one by any stretch.
Medica 1 is fine, it's the same potency as Afflatus Rapture, just 5y less (300). Cure 3 has a potency of 550, which is the highest AoE heal that the WHM has in their toolkit. Assize is second at 400... but I use Assize more for mana and DPS as it's always on cooldown, I generally consider Assize healing as a nice bonus. And for reference, Medica 2 has a 200 base heal with a 100 regen, while Asylum is a 100 potency but it gives everyone in the Asylum +10% HP recovery as the Asylum buff. Temperance is a +20% increase to healing potency with a -10% damage reduction buff.
Rather than getting rid of Freecure why not upgrade it to Freecure II, something like, idk, casting Cure II has a chance the next Cure II is instant and costs no mp (basically a free lily), or make the next Cure spell grant a blood lily charge as if you used a lily
I think the point is that if you gave Cure 3 Medica 1's range, Medica 1 would be useless and I'd be completely fine with that.
The two spells don't need to exist together. Have Medica 1 trait into Medica 3. Let the Cure Spells be for Single Target, and the Medica Spells be for AoE and call it a day.