Latest census (4/8/22) and healers

These are the latest numbers from the Lucky Bancho census:

https://i.imgur.com/OtmotFq.png

https://i.imgur.com/u9YLQV8.png

https://i.imgur.com/R9cc0Kc.png

Some interesting highlights (Or, at least, interesting to me):

• There's really very few healers at all below level 60, but I suppose not much of a surprise considering there's only one healer you can start the game as
• Healers make up a mere 18% of jobs at level 90, but when you look at main hand, the healer population looks much better. It seems a lot of people are leveling tanks but not even minimally gearing them. Conversely, the ratio of level 90 healers to geared level 90 healers is much higher. So, those leveling healers seem to be much more dedicated to them.
• In terms of "leveled and at least somewhat geared", white mage is the most popular healer, but in terms of "has the savage raid weapon", sage is the most popular healer.
• Despite its strong raid performance - and the very weak raid performance of its main competitor - Astrologian is just not very popular (it is also the least popular healer on FF logs); this may explain SE's hesitance to tweak healer balance, a situation we've seen in previous expansions as well.
• Scholar is another strong performer (the strongest, really) that isn't very popular. This may suggest that SCH and AST especially have design issues players aren't happy with, but it is also possible Sage, as a newly-introduced job, may drop in popularity over time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Risvertasashi

There's really very few healers at all below level 60, but I suppose not much of a surprise considering there's only one healer you can start the game as

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Which is the exact reason they're expanding Trusts to the lower levels. A lack of healers is an unsustainable yet predicable outcome when they've been neutered so badly.

Re: Only 1 healer at the start.

All low level caster job gear has both INT and MND on them. You can heal just fine as an ACN with physic as it scales on mind and you get a lot of it.

Hell, in ARR I healed as a BLM cross role'ing physic in ice form with unlimited mana.

I wonder how many sages are just scholars that will move back when sage isn't the new shiny.

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Originally Posted by deadman1204

I wonder how many sages are just scholars that will move back when sage isn't the new shiny.

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Considering its the most pug friendly of the two, the best at free healing of the two, the best performer in dungeons and the one with the most involved "rotation" there thanks to the downtime between pulls + a lot of its attacks being AoE and how players can reach it without having to play a dps I woudn't be surprised if it stays consistently more populated than Sch unless Sch gets a rework or something

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deceptus

Which is the exact reason they're expanding Trusts to the lower levels. A lack of healers is an unsustainable yet predicable outcome when they've been neutered so badly.

Re: Only 1 healer at the start.

All low level caster job gear has both INT and MND on them. You can heal just fine as an ACN with physic as it scales on mind and you get a lot of it.

Hell, in ARR I healed as a BLM cross role'ing physic in ice form with unlimited mana.

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Sure, but it won't fill the green slot in the duty finder. And, of course, roulettes pull in high level players to heal that early stuff.

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Originally Posted by deadman1204

I wonder how many sages are just scholars that will move back when sage isn't the new shiny.

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I think many are WHM's.

I never played SCH. I didn't like it and went between WHM and AST in ShB. In Endwalker Sage is my healer main. It's simply far better than WHM.

Sage popularity skyrocketed at launch because it was the new shiny. Then it dropped and WHM became the most popular healer even in Savage as SCH's went back to their main, SCH being very strong this expansion. But then SGE picked up again and became more popular in Savage while WHM started dropping off.

It's likely to stay that way until they fix WHM.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Risvertasashi

[*]Healers make up a mere 18% of jobs at level 90, but when you look at main hand, the healer population looks much better. It seems a lot of people are leveling tanks but not even minimally gearing them. Conversely, the ratio of level 90 healers to geared level 90 healers is much higher. So, those leveling healers seem to be much more dedicated to them.[/LIST]

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While there might be more healers RPing with their artifact gear, it looks like Tanks pull out head ever slightly when you move into Savage.

Healer vs Tanks
IL605: 15,230 16,603
IL600: 7,591 7,901
IL590: 24,604 23,339
IL580: 48,671 49,135

>IL590: 47,425 47,843
>IL600: 22,821 24,504

SE would look at though and be like 18% of people playing healers. Man we're doing something right....

People playing the role doesn't mean there happy with it though

WHM will always be the most popular healer, no matter what. It's the worst healer in the game, makes no difference. It's one of the worst-designed jobs in the game, who cares. It has awful gameplay, but whatever it's WHM! We have to play it because it makes me feel the most like Princess HealsALot Simulator.

My hot take as someone who's getting on a bit and who's hands don't have the dexterity they had back when:

As superior as AST is. It's forever been cancer to play since Stormblood, each expansion has made it feel progressively worse to play whilst also making it feel less rewarding at the same time.

WHM might well be basic and simplistic, but it's comfy. I don't have to focus on a multitude of obtuse systems to get negligible unsatisfying buffs, instead it just lets me focus on the fight and/or chat away with the group whilst we are raiding without leaving my hands trashed after an even of progression.

I'm fairly confident that this sentiment plays a factor in why AST has never really seen success in player numbers.

Gotta remember these numbers can always been somewhat misleading, too. For example, I leveled my WHM and AST both entirely through frontline roulette and wonderous tails turn ins (ie, never actually played them, much less in group content with other people). So like... I increase those numbers, but not in the way SE would like.

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Originally Posted by Icecylee

Gotta remember these numbers can always been somewhat misleading, too. For example, I leveled my WHM and AST both entirely through frontline roulette and wonderous tails turn ins (ie, never actually played them, much less in group content with other people). So like... I increase those numbers, but not in the way SE would like.

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Yeah. Tracking the main hand weapon tries to compensate for people that level but don't play, but obviously that has its own limitations too. Still, Lucky Bancho is pretty open with their methodology - and I think the data they collect is interesting. But for sure, always keep the limitations in mind too.

Is this data from all DCs or just NA? I play on JP DCs so, just curious.

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Originally Posted by Sebazy

My hot take as someone who's getting on a bit and who's hands don't have the dexterity they had back when:

As superior as AST is. It's forever been cancer to play since Stormblood, each expansion has made it feel progressively worse to play whilst also making it feel less rewarding at the same time.

WHM might well be basic and simplistic, but it's comfy. I don't have to focus on a multitude of obtuse systems to get negligible unsatisfying buffs, instead it just lets me focus on the fight and/or chat away with the group whilst we are raiding without leaving my hands trashed after an even of progression.

I'm fairly confident that this sentiment plays a factor in why AST has never really seen success in player numbers.

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I don't really think that's a hot take. To me EW AST feels really bad to play since you have to press all these buttons just for astrodyne. if it was a buff i can cast on other people it'd be more interesting but rn is way too much work for nothing.

AST and SCH have always been unpopular to play. It's the perceived notion that they're too difficult to play.

Well at for AST that's somewhat true.


SGE is the WHM equivalent (except not terribly designed) to SCH: easy to pick up, no raid buff, straightforward design, pug-friendly.

Yet WHM popularity remains high and probably will skyrocket. WHM's popularity is either one of two reasons. One, comfy playing (braindead but at least you don't have to think). Two, classic ff job so people latch onto it being their favorite healer.

The changes are good but they need to keep making changes that aren't tone-deaf and bring WHM up to par rather than nerf the others.