why are all healers "casters"

currently we have three flavors of dps but only one kind of healer.

I feel that we could have much more diverse healers if they werent all contingent on being "caster" types.

Chemist as a potion healer with Mix as a mudra-esque mechanic, maybe in 6.0 or 7.0

but it will still cost MP for balancing reasons.

Please look forward to it.

I would love to see a melee healer, where their HPS is directly based on their DPS. Unfortunately, this has been tried a few times (see: Disciple of Khaine from WHO), and it always ends up with the class being gutted (read: "balanced") until it's basically just another caster healer.

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Originally Posted by Reinhardt_Azureheim

Chemist as a potion healer with Mix as a mudra-esque mechanic, maybe in 6.0 or 7.0

but it will still cost MP for balancing reasons.

Please look forward to it.

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Chemist sounds like a fun job, but now I'm wondering. Why isn't there a healer job that doesn't use MP?

Now I get why a healer would have to be ranged; their healing skills would have to be able to reach others from a distance. Imagine having to run up to your teammates to heal them. It's like how tanks kinda have to be melee for it to work.

I can see chemists throwing out healing potions that explode into vapors. I can see chemists having skills where they can mix chemicals to have different effects or to boost existing ones. What I don't see is how this would, lore-wise, use up MP.

Would a (ranged) healer job that doesn't use MP be unfair or too powerful? Probably. As you said, it would be for balancing reasons. Unless they found a way to balance it somehow.

If they did, then we can have another healer job that would feel different from the existing ones.

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Originally Posted by Hunky

Chemist sounds like a fun job, but now I'm wondering. Why isn't there a healer job that doesn't use MP?

Now I get why a healer would have to be ranged; their healing skills would have to be able to reach others from a distance. Imagine having to run up to your teammates to heal them. It's like how tanks kinda have to be melee for it to work.

I can see chemists throwing out healing potions that explode into vapors. I can see chemists having skills where they can mix chemicals to have different effects or to boost existing ones. What I don't see is how this would, lore-wise, use up MP.

Would a (ranged) healer job that doesn't use MP be unfair or too powerful? Probably. As you said, it would be for balancing reasons. Unless they found a way to balance it somehow.

If they did, then we can have another healer job that would feel different from the existing ones.

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Chemist was hinted at in the Hildebrand questline. They were shown to throw their concoctions. They'd very likely be ranged.

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Originally Posted by Hunky

Chemist sounds like a fun job, but now I'm wondering. Why isn't there a healer job that doesn't use MP?

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better question, do we really need mp when we've done away with tp?

Because 14 is really bad at the innovation part of being an mmo, and for every step it's taken forward from 11, it took a step back in a different way.

It's the reason red mage is the way red mage is. It's an 11 red mage with a sword that got streamlined into a red 14 class.

Theres a lot of things you can ask "why dont we have x" and the easiest answer is "because it's hard to make into an exact flavor of blue, red or green".

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Originally Posted by Hunky

Chemist sounds like a fun job, but now I'm wondering. Why isn't there a healer job that doesn't use MP?

Now I get why a healer would have to be ranged; their healing skills would have to be able to reach others from a distance. Imagine having to run up to your teammates to heal them. It's like how tanks kinda have to be melee for it to work.

I can see chemists throwing out healing potions that explode into vapors. I can see chemists having skills where they can mix chemicals to have different effects or to boost existing ones. What I don't see is how this would, lore-wise, use up MP.

Would a (ranged) healer job that doesn't use MP be unfair or too powerful? Probably. As you said, it would be for balancing reasons. Unless they found a way to balance it somehow.

If they did, then we can have another healer job that would feel different from the existing ones.

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Lore-wise one could explain combat chemistry requiring imbuement of aether to hasten, strengthen or alter the chemical reaction to make it a viable combat technique rivalling conjury.

Balance-wise, it would be difficult to balance a healer being purely limited by cooldowns, especially when considering their "raise" (Phoenix Down). Cooldown too short and it is OP, cooldown too long and it is trash.

Real time healing is magic, or possibly technology beyond what we know. There is no real world equivalent, not yet, not to the extent we see in games. Healing needs to be applied to player characters. So there will always be the tendency to make healers some sort of caster, casting spells on PCs. Damage based healing is odd, but fun. If it's based on damaging the enemy it needs to either be either "smart heals" were the target is chosen automagically or AOE, where everyone is healed, thus removing the importance of choosing your healing target. So usually that will be a minor part of healing and spells still do the main healing (MW Monk or Disc Priest in wow). SWTOR has 2 tech based healers which might be similar to the chemist concept. One of the healers use to actually shoot to heal, but it was a minor heal and was later removed.

This reminded me of my D&D Orc Rogue who has healing daggers. He stabs his party to heal them!

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Originally Posted by Lihtleita

better question, do we really need mp when we've done away with tp?

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Yes. MP exists as a resource to manage on healers and a limit to rezzing on rdm/smn. Tp existed as bar that told melee they were no longer allowed to aoe in dungeons after 30 seconds. It was different in ARR/HW, but in SB even if you died and came back with no tp, you still could not functionally run out in single target.

They have such issues with balance in almost afraid of a non caster healer lol it might end up OP or bad just like early HW AST with no in between. But it would be a nice change in pace

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Originally Posted by Lihtleita

better question, do we really need mp when we've done away with tp?

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This is actually a pretty interesting question you can discuss very in depth. But the tl;dr to "do we need MP?" is "no, but".

In short, that 'but' being you can balance healing strength around unlimited resources (at least for MP), instead focusing more on cooldowns, timing, etc, but it most comes down to how much you think MP management adds to the game. If you're not careful, as with stripping other types of resource management, you can end up with a game that is more bland instead of less frustrating or whatever - and walking that line can be tricky.

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Originally Posted by Reinhardt_Azureheim

Chemist as a potion healer with Mix as a mudra-esque mechanic, maybe in 6.0 or 7.0

but it will still cost MP for balancing reasons.

Please look forward to it.

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Stands for "Mixing Potions"

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Originally Posted by CazzT

I would love to see a melee healer, where their HPS is directly based on their DPS. Unfortunately, this has been tried a few times (see: Disciple of Khaine from WHO), and it always ends up with the class being gutted (read: "balanced") until it's basically just another caster healer.

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Inquisitor (melee cleric) from Everquest 2 comes to mind. They were excellent healers. Capable off-tanks in some situations too. Capable of using one hand and shield or two hander. They specialized in Reactives, a mechanic I haven't seen used often in MMOs. Their heals were reactive, having 5 charges and healing the target each time they took damage. There was reactive debuffs that could be used on enemy targets that caused them to be debuffed whenever they attacked a party member. And damage reactives that did direct damage whenever a party member struck the target.

Paladins in both Everquests were hybrid healer/tanks as well. They still needed to cast like a caster healer, but were capable tanks also.

I thought dancer would have been a different type of healer. A midrange or melee tp healer but nope we just got no new healer.. again and tp is just gone. I love ShB. It's the best story but idk wth is up with the jobs.

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Originally Posted by CazzT

I would love to see a melee healer, where their HPS is directly based on their DPS. Unfortunately, this has been tried a few times (see: Disciple of Khaine from WHO), and it always ends up with the class being gutted (read: "balanced") until it's basically just another caster healer.

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Back when DNC was speculated to be the next healer job, I was crossing my fingers it would be like that. Another good example of this is (was?) Mistweaver Monk from WoW.

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Originally Posted by Kaethra

Inquisitor (melee cleric) from Everquest 2 comes to mind. They were excellent healers. Capable off-tanks in some situations too. Capable of using one hand and shield or two hander. They specialized in Reactives, a mechanic I haven't seen used often in MMOs. Their heals were reactive, having 5 charges and healing the target each time they took damage. There was reactive debuffs that could be used on enemy targets that caused them to be debuffed whenever they attacked a party member. And damage reactives that did direct damage whenever a party member struck the target.

Paladins in both Everquests were hybrid healer/tanks as well. They still needed to cast like a caster healer, but were capable tanks also.

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GYAH! I knew I was forgetting one! For a while, Melee Warden was insane for non-raid healing and dpsing. With enough MultiAttack and Flurry, you could heal an entire party's HP bar with a single auto attack if it crit. Prolly why they nerfed that AA build into the abyss... :( RIP Melee Warden

Let me be a healer that has to attack to help keep the party alive! Disc Priest in WoW is one of my favorite healer styles to play. Well, it was before they gutted that too. Or give me a class that focuses a lot on HoTs. I'm stuck playing WHM because at least it doesn't hurt knowing I lost everything from my SCH kit lol.

I've said this before but, if we ever get Garlean themed classes a Chemist as a healer would work there since the Garleans couldn't use magic so their non-conscripted healers would probably people throwing around various kinds of healing concoctions.

DAoC had some decent melee healers in Friar, Warden and Valkyrie. Warden and Valkyrie had piddly dmg but offered significant healing and/or dmg mitigation to party. Friar is probably closest to what could work in XIV though, it's weapon skills were directly tied to heals and buffs for the party and it did decent dmg to boot.

One of my fav healers I've played is still Imperial Operative from SWTOR... I shoot kolto needles at my allies to heal them. It's to help you, I promise! :^)

A physical healer would be cool. I heard that OW (never played it) has a healer where they 'shoot' people heals xD It inspired me to come up with a long ranged physical healer that uses explosives to heal, buff, debuff, et cetera, but I never posted it up because it seemed like a waste of time. I'd definitely be interested in seeing a physical healer. Hell, DNC could have been a physical healer based on its storyline alone (but no, SE said no healers, yo).

I just want a job that uses the classic Healing Rods of yore. Literally have to attack teammates to heal.

Because they haven't made a different type of Healer for XIV yet.
Don't worry, I have faith we will get a Non-Traditional Healer in the near future...we have to. They'd not sell us a new Healer and Not Make it different then the others.

because tanks are melee , and having 4 "melee" (5 sometimes) is too much already

i can see ranged healer , xbow maybe? or boomerang ! or whip!

I wouldn't mind the healer jobs with inspiration from Dragon Nest. They had a healer that would melee with a mace and protect itself with a shield. He could cast a lot of lightning base skills and then drop a huge cross on the field, like WHM with their healing bubble, and it would sit there for a bit to heal. It had other ways to heal but I feel those who want to be a bad @ss healer would like that. They also had a chemist in that game that did most of their damage with poison and would toss bottles at their enemies and toss heals too. Although the chemist was also a gunner, I think they can tweak it to fit here. I miss that game ;-; but I think those types of healers would be a nice addition to this one.

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Originally Posted by Warlyx

because tanks are melee , and having 4 "melee" (5 sometimes) is too much already

i can see ranged healer , xbow maybe? or boomerang ! or whip!

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Yep, even if not caster, still has to be ranged due to positional requirements in game. A healer than can only heal in melee distance would not be good for FFXIV in my opinion. Imagine having to chase someone down to heal them.

All I pictured was healers angrily becoming Scorpion from Mortal Kombat screaming "GET OVER HERE!" while using rescue to heal someone xD.

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Originally Posted by AngeliouxRein

All I pictured was healers angrily becoming Scorpion from Mortal Kombat screaming "GET OVER HERE!" while using rescue to heal someone xD.

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That...would be awesome to see, but also disaster in the making.

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Originally Posted by Lihtleita

better question, do we really need mp when we've done away with tp?

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I don't care what it's called, but I'd like to see a resource still be used. It allows for more means of generating urgency and compromise, deliberate action or gambles, and flexible breakpoints.

Melee healer! Get over here so I can punch the health into you!

But real talk, because some fights in game would make melee or close quarters healers a very dangerous thing to the party. Example, Ifrit has a specific attack that targets the healer and makes them give off shockwaves with knockback. So this would require a melee or close quarters healer to completely remove itself from the fight until the mechanic is clear or they'd be a big hindrance to the party. There are also a lot of other examples, but I can't think of or list them all right now cause I'm dead tired...