A Not So Archetypal Healer Paradigm Shift. 6.0 Concepts

Given the current “State” of the healing archetypes within the game systems ergo “Direct, Regen, and Shield” the very core of the healers displeasure has come down to that which may or may not be in the works for 6.0. After some reading through several hundred pages across DPS, TANK, Healer, and General Forums I have come to one of many conclusions. That in order to create Healer Job “Identity” that many in this forum want to see will require altering the foundation of healing itself. In a sense they will have to at this juncture create not one, but two new healers for 6.0 and change how half of the Job’s core mechanics operate.

Some critical points to note in my thought process before I go into details on my line of thinking and I will be going broad strokes here:
1. Healer DPS is not factored into Normal Duties, Raids, and Trials however it “IS” factored into EX, and Savage content.
2. Buffs provided by healers (if any) are factored in all content based on probability that such a buff may be there.
3. Job design overall is looked at what is “Fun” and how can we make it work within our system.
4. UI Implementation limits based on Cross Hotbar ~36 keys max.
5. Server strain from Data transfer limitations and Server Ping on Client side.

That out of the way here is my feedback on where I think Healing needs to head, and back to my original point give us five of them even though it would be a utter nightmare to balance. While using our current three overall Archetypes and divide the five healers into the following base ideas. Two Direct “Pure” Healers, Two “Shield/Regen” Healers, and a “Buffer Healer” with spells to round out how the overall Role operates. They of course would have some overlap in ability types and as a point of reference I am using the current 5.0 WHM setup 1 Shield Spell, 1 Regen Spell, 1 AoE Heal/Regen Combo, and the rest as Direct Heals as my “Pure Healer” example.

So for Direct Heals: White Mage and Chemist.
For Regen/Shield: Scholar and Time Mage.
Buffer: Astrologian.

Direct Healers:
White Mage can pretty much stay the same; Presumed Chemist would be something akin to MCH and have them be a “Mid Ranged Healer with Ranged and Melee type abilities with a combo of thrown flasks or heal zones like Sacred Soil and or Asylum and Magitek Bits.

Regen/Shield Healers:
Scholar would get more Emphasis on the pet/caster synergy brining back Eos and Selene having different abilities keeping the idea that the SCH is dealing out the direct healing component while the two Fairies do the regen side. Eos should be a single target, and Selene should act similar to some of Alphinaud's Carbuncles being a AoE HoT zone centered around it making Fairy placement a choice for effective use. While giving each Fairy one action they perform on their own and one or two commanded actions. Example Selene or Eos could do a "Fey Pulse" that would work similar to Indomitability centered on their location.

Time Mage would be the reverse of SCH and be heavy on the regens or reversing damage that was done example have a regen that would heal for X Potency over X seconds then apply a Shield for X % of healing done. I would also say that Time Mage would be the second healer to get a Benediction type ability to round things out or a self res on a very long CD. As for a mirror to Chain Stratagem give the Time Mage a spell like Tempus Fugit aka times flies a haste buff it would fit since Selene doesn’t have Fey Wind anymore. As for the lore the river of time has already been upset.

Lastly the Buffer Healer and this one’s a hot topic yes the Astrologian. Now I will preface this and say I like the current AST as I have found ways using macro setups to get around its shortcomings and enjoy how it now requires more fight knowledge and planning than SCH did in SB in order to truly make it sing so there is some slight bias on my part, so with that out of the way let’s get started as I can’t see them ever using this idea yet it is fun to dream, alright here goes.

Healing on AST is good I think that said what I think needs to happen for the choices that the Astrologians miss is have the cards become the centric mechanic of healing and dps itself.

Balance, Bole, and Ewer would become cards you use to buff players. Balance increases damage, Bole becomes a Shield, Ewer becomes a HoT. Example Ewers regenerative properties as heal overtime.
Spear, Spire, and Arrow would become Damage cards you use on targets. Spear and Arrow become direct damage spells, and Spire becomes a DoT. Example using the Spire would make lightning strike the target for a DoT. (I am at a loss as to appropriate timing and potency’s to make this viable at this time.)

The gauge could change by getting rid of seal fishing and make Divination remain the AoE Damage Buff as a standalone ability on a two minute CD, and after drawing five cards would allow access to a new ability “Hand of Fate” letting you immediately draw a sixth card from a little menu akin to Dancers Standard Step this card could be Heal, Res, or Damage card and then start a CD for the ability after it was played.
It would make AST arguable the most difficult healer to play, yet that seems to be what quite a few AST players in these forums want.

Well those are my thoughts and feel free to expand on them. I will note that I won't be back to comment on this thread this is a post and forget moment. Good luck healers!

Not saying it's impossible, but I think it is a very difficult task to balance healers into these different archetypes. It would be even harder to balance the archetypes amongst themselves. Why not bring two shield/regen healers? Should the buffer replace the shield/regen healer or the pure healer? Will a buffer be mandatory or be a liability? These would all be concerns if we try to fit healers into these archetypes. At the end of the day, there are two things that matter here:

1. Can we clear the content? (i.e. can we meet the healing checks and can we survive the mechanics)
2. What setup that meets the above requirement does the most damage?

With that being said, I can see why SE wants to make healers the same. In this case, being the same meaning all healers have access to powerful direct healing, mitigation, and regens in some form. I don't like it being done, but I can understand why they are moving in that direction (I completely disagree with the way they've gone about it though, but that's a tangent that isn't for this thread). While I dislike homogenization, it can be done in a way that is healthy to the game. I think the type of job identity players care about most pertains to playstyle, not their role in a raid. Having all the healers do the same thing through different means would be a compromise that I would be willing to accept for the sake of balance. This doesn't mean I agree with what SE did. If I'm just dpsing as a scholar, I'll press 22 broils and 2 biolysis per minute for 7360 potency. Instead of this, I would much rather have multiple DoTs to upkeep, with broil as a filler. The potency on broil or any of the DoTs does not matter too much as long as it adds up to 7360 per minute. I can't speak for everyone, but this is the type of job identity that I want.

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Originally Posted by Lagomorph

Not saying it's impossible, but I think it is a very difficult task to balance healers into these different archetypes. It would be even harder to balance the archetypes amongst themselves. Why not bring two shield/regen healers? Should the buffer replace the shield/regen healer or the pure healer? Will a buffer be mandatory or be a liability? These would all be concerns if we try to fit healers into these archetypes. At the end of the day, there are two things that matter here:

1. Can we clear the content? (i.e. can we meet the healing checks and can we survive the mechanics)
2. What setup that meets the above requirement does the most damage?

With that being said, I can see why SE wants to make healers the same. In this case, being the same meaning all healers have access to powerful direct healing, mitigation, and regens in some form. I don't like it being done, but I can understand why they are moving in that direction (I completely disagree with the way they've gone about it though, but that's a tangent that isn't for this thread). While I dislike homogenization, it can be done in a way that is healthy to the game. I think the type of job identity players care about most pertains to playstyle, not their role in a raid. Having all the healers do the same thing through different means would be a compromise that I would be willing to accept for the sake of balance. This doesn't mean I agree with what SE did. If I'm just dpsing as a scholar, I'll press 22 broils and 2 biolysis per minute for 7360 potency. Instead of this, I would much rather have multiple DoTs to upkeep, with broil as a filler. The potency on broil or any of the DoTs does not matter too much as long as it adds up to 7360 per minute. I can't speak for everyone, but this is the type of job identity that I want.

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homoginization of tools not play style is how i feel it seems to be the direction tanks went in i just wish healers got that treatment too

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Originally Posted by tikiwiki

homoginization of tools not play style is how i feel it seems to be the direction tanks went in i just wish healers got that treatment too

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the identical twins DRK and WAR would like a word with you, but i get what you mean.