Hints at Blue Mage in the level 60 ALC quest?

[Eecka]

Well that's another issue with AST that I really don't understand the reasoning behind. AST has weaker healing output as some form of compensation for their ability to fulfill both the WHM and SCH role... but they can only ever fill one at a time so there is no reason for them to be given weaker heals in the first place. When in the healing stance they should heal as well as a WHM, and as well as a SCH when in the shield stance.

Because that would flat out make AST better than WHM or SCH. Not better in the sense that in a single individual encounter they'll do better, but in the sense that they can then cherrypick whichever type of healing suits the encounter they're at, while SCH is then locked into just 50% of what AST can do. If I ran a hardcore static, in that situation I would always prefer an AST over anything else. Why take a SCH, if AST gives same party buff, has 100% equal "preventative healing" and can switch to "health healing" if the encounter calls for it?