What makes WHM special? Nothing anymore.

[RichardButte]

But the AST's HoT actually comes with a front loaded heal (which the WHM does not), so just comparing the HoT portion is misleading. They are equivalent really, and your comparison doesn't account for it.

Aspected benfic:
190 Cure +140 for 18 sec = 2710

Regen:
150 for 21 sec = 3150

WHM comes a bit slower but gets a MUCH better deal overall, here. It gets MORE healing for LESS MP.

Does the WHM really have a better bubble? The AST's has both damage reduction and a linger HoT that does not require standing in the bubble. That seems more flexible from a raid perspective to me.

A bubble which has to be channeled to maintain it is definitely not more "flexible". I'd much, MUCH rather have a bubble I can throw down, then proceed to follow up with other healing. AST can't do that, and while the ticking HoT afterwards is nice, the AST is literally putting the raid into the hands of the other healer because you KNOW they're not going to be keeping the raid up with a 150 potency tick...

Does the WHM really have better mana recovery? The AST can add an additional 5 seconds onto their LA, no? I don't know if this balances out the recovery of Assize, but also in addition to Ewer? I wouldn't say it's a surefire win, and someone else in this thread clearly stated that in identical encounters, they had better mana management with their AST over their WHM.

Assize is an AMAZING ability. 10% mana recovery guaranteed every 90 seconds is vastly better than praying that you draw an Ewer when you can use it (ie when you don't have something else RRed that you cannot afford to lose). Then, there's the fact that Assize is also a magnificent "OH SHI-" button as it does an AoE heal to boot.

Also, using CO to extend your LA 5 seconds would be criminal: you'd barely get any usage out of it and you'd MUCH rather be trying to hit your entire party with it while they have an expanded balance on them.

I understand that the WHM does have better range and slightly better cooldowns. I am still trying to figure out which class to take into end game, but I think your list was clearly one-sided and not helpful, other than as a rhetorical bludgeon perhaps.

The list is accurate, as I just demonstrated.

WHM is, bar none, the best healer. I like AST because it challenges me to try to squeeze more out of the class via micromanaging. Really, it's down to personal preference (as it should be) as hopefully AST can at least hold its own as a healer now as it was a joke before.

I just wanted to clarify that Synastry's potency boost does affect HoTs. I've tested it several times.

Then it's a bug and they need to fix it, as the tooltip says otherwise.

Feel free to mock whoever you want Richard, it certainly reveals more about your personality than those you are mocking.

I haven't directly mocked anyone and I don't intend to.

The simple fact is this: WHM is the vanilla healer. The thing that makes it unique is that it has the best healing throughput of all healers. It doesn't have a gimmick like a fairy or a deck of cards (that loves to f**k you over all the time) because it doesn't NEED either one. If someone can't outheal an AST on a WHM, the problem isn't with either class.

Asking that WHM be made "unique" may as well be asking that BRD be given a turret because it's the "vanilla" ranged physical DPS, or PLD get Darkside because it's the "vanilla" tank.

And furthermore, what reeks of hypocrisy in all of this is that, BEFORE this patch, WHMs weren't complaining up a storm about how "vanilla" their class was. So you felt unique as long as AST was sh*t, but now that they're not, "OH WE'RE NOT SPECIAL ANYMORE!!!!", despite still having THE BEST healing throughput for mana spent in the game?

The only buff WHM needs is to have super virus.