Why does White Mage feel so bland?

[MXMoondoggie]

WHM is your basic healer

That's what they have been made for and what the class is good at. It's all about burst vs sustained. WHM is pretty much burst everything including on damage. A SCH rotation can sustain DPS and their heals do the same. AST is still trying to work out what it's good at which is why they keep buffing various things like it's heals and cards.

From the start all they have really done with WHM is nerf it which shows the developers feel it's OP since it's the primary Healer and can solo heal pretty much anything in the right hands.

[Verdan]

Basic isn't really something that's good to first come to mind. Complicated isn't really super good either, especially since this game is pretty relaxed when it comes to that stuff(No 183 point placement that determines your skills or ridiculous math going on to even figure out how dots work). But every class has a thing that it brings and that people can identify, and a lot of the time it's kinda crazy. White mages don't even really have a mechanic, which only the Paladin can say they don't have either; but the paladin is now a very unique tank class because it has a cast time heal and can make barriers, as well as use stoneskin, raise and protect. White mages feel bland compared to other classes cause they totally are, and I think the "heals real good" as the defining attribute of the class has to change so that they can make more and new healing classes without the White Mage either being needed to do anything or tossed aside.

[AlphaSonic]

Well, SE with the expansion brought a big problem.

They homogenized Healer classes too much. ALL healing classes share too many similar skills that step on what other job is supposed to do. With the addition of Astro is even worse because what it was supposed to be a WHM or a SCH niche, is no more.

[Soladiirn]

Personally, I've always thought of White mage as being the most bland class simply because it strikes me as filling the generic starting healer class niche. Don't get me wrong, it's still interesting, but I see it as being like a Holy priest in WoW or any other healer whose main attribute is that they do pure healing and not much else. For me, it's the class that I'd pick if I'd never healed before in order to get a good idea of how to do straight healing while leveling, then move on to either SCH or AST for a more interesting role.

Of course, I can see other people enjoying it vastly more than the other healers, but that's just not my play style, and the decision of what you play for healers, especially after the AST buffs, comes down to what play style you prefer. However, I can't claim to know definitively that any class is better than another, or that they are all viable, as I have yet to reach 60 and will probably not raid even when or if I do hit max level, of course.

[Liselsia]

This been on my mind. WHM was my first job to 50 in 2.0 and my first to 60 in 3.0

In 2.0 WHM was fun enough. They felt distinct. They were "The Healer that doesnt use shields but has stronger direct heals and better aoe healing". Since SCH balanced that out by being tank buster healer it worked out.

Entering 3.0 leveling WHM was fun. Getting new tools was exciting. New aoe heals, cool bubble heal, new dmg skills. But after I was 60 for awhile I realized "I am mainly doing exactly what I did in 2.0, new tools are cool but super situational". Situational they were, most the time I would end up sitting on most my new skills and stick to CureI/II formula. Maybe a situation would come up when I get to use a new healing tool once per dungeon if I was lucky. But I quickly got bored and went to level AST.

AST basically was WHM but with its own "support gimmick". Everything was so much more fun Essential Dignity feels 100x better then Tetra. Overall it made me realize that WHM never had a identity in first place. It whole identity was "I am a regular healer with no shields". Atleast AST has a support identity to it.

I really want to love WHM. It was my first job and I want to be loyal. But its not fun to play. It has no identity, no gimmick, no meaning. Honestly I am not sure what they could do to give WHM a identity, making it unique.

[mp-please]

.

Being a burst healer and burst dps with pretty good aoe dps is a pretty good identity if you ask me. SE just needs to stop watering down all classes and make them the exact same just to make them viable to endgame.

[Ninimo_Babamo]

Why does White Mage feel so bland?

Because, you're playing it wrong.

White Mage is the king of pure raw healing output. Yes, AST has a couple of spells that have a tiny bit higher potency than white mage, but never forget DAT REGEN! On a normal A1S clear, regen is about 30% of my total healing, another 30% coming from the HoT from Medica 2 with about 15% coming from the initial Medica 2. AST + WHM in savage is just LOLEASY to heal. All of those HoTs are insane. White Mage still has Cure 3, Presence of Mind, Divine Seal, Assize (♥the love of my life♥), and Benediction. White Mage will never grow obsolete with our current 3 healers.

[Blitzace]

I've got a good solution to the whiners out here. How about you deinstall the game as the SECOND a different class than you're class gets buff, Your class is suddenly worthless. Get over yourself and stop playing the game. God i tell you these little kiddy's now a days, all they do is cry & whine. Maybe appreciate the game a bit and enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with WHM.

[Leigaon]

I personally love my white mage. Oh that beautiful job..I like the burst of healing potency and the regen that lets me sustain a player, party and do damage to the mob for a short period if needed.

I use my regens to sustain a DPS who I know is going to stand in things so I can focus on the main tank, I can use asylum with regen to keep them up so I can go into DPS stance apply my DOTS right before I jump back and Tetra the tank back up to full. My mind just goes with all that is being taken care of. I believe it is like any other job, there's a basic way to play then there is an exceptional way to play. You utilize everything at your disposal it make things much more fun. Or maybe people are and are still bored, in which case I don't know I find plenty to do. I got friends who like SCH or AST more, and that's fine by me. But if you are not happy with your job, try another you might find the complexity in some way that keeps your interest. As for me..I am going to grab my booby staff and pop that Presence of Mind and let the spells flow!

[Selli]

Assize (♥the love of my life♥)

You said it best, Lala Mario. c: