Less enjoyment in 3.0 raidingas healer (compared to 2.0)

[Kaurie]

I used to love SCH, but now I have to DPS all the time and if my DPS isn't good enough then I get kicked. I like DPSing, but I don't like being forced to. I feel guilty for not healing, and I constantly worry about the WHM or AST not healing enough. WHM and SCH are still the best healing team, but before it meant so much more. I felt like I really was helping the WHM and party out, but now I just feel like a gimp DPS. If I wanted to DPS I would've leveled a DPS class. Some may say that providing more DPS is helping the party out, but it just feels lame to me. Maybe I never did understand SCH and it's best to work on another job.

To be honest, I agree.

Everyone mentions in DPS vs non-DPS arguments how it's acceptable that DPS is big in raiding but shouldn't be the expectation in dungeons. However, I feel the opposite. I'd rather a raid test my abilities as a healer - have healing mechanics, have high damage and make me worry about my MP etc. In a dungeon where mechanics are mostly absent, I can throw out DPS. In a raid, I'd rather focus healing.

[Vlady]

Maybe those who only play dps would understand where most pure healers stand if they were given off heals and had to help off heal in raids.

[Sidra]

To be honest, I agree.

Everyone mentions in DPS vs non-DPS arguments how it's acceptable that DPS is big in raiding but shouldn't be the expectation in dungeons. However, I feel the opposite. I'd rather a raid test my abilities as a healer - have healing mechanics, have high damage and make me worry about my MP etc. In a dungeon where mechanics are mostly absent, I can throw out DPS. In a raid, I'd rather focus healing.

The thing is, right now, we are playing Final Fantasy XIV. Not some games we used to play, and perhaps not even the Final Fantasy XIV we wish it was. But in this game, it is more than fair to expect your healer to help DPS in dungeons. Why? Because Final Fantasy XIV gives you the tools to do so...plus standing around half the time not casting anything at all should be below expectations...which is what when you are in a dungeon as a healer not dpsing. If a DPS only uses a GCD half the time, they are complete scrubs. Why is that okay for a healer to do? It's not.

[Kaurie]

The thing is, right now, we are playing Final Fantasy XIV. Not some games we used to play, and perhaps not even the Final Fantasy XIV we wish it was. But in this game, it is more than fair to expect your healer to help DPS in dungeons. Why? Because Final Fantasy XIV gives you the tools to do so...plus standing around half the time not casting anything at all should be below expectations...which is what when you are in a dungeon as a healer not dpsing. If a DPS only uses a GCD half the time, they are complete scrubs. Why is that okay for a healer to do? It's not.

I agree, I stated in my post that we should DPS in dungeons. I also DPS in raids. However, I would like it if the focus of a healers role in raids was more support, healing and mechanic based rather than DPS based. In a dungeon, I find it fun to help out with DPS while healing, as mechanically they are usually quite simple. I'd like raids to test my ability as a healer, not as a healer who can put out as much DPS as possible. I

[Iromi]

I prefer BCOB, FCOB over the others. I mean, T9 was amazing too...but this Alexander stuff I am not a fan of. Here is hoping to Midas being better ^^

[Sidra]

I would prefer a variety through the raid tier. 1 or 2 fights where they really amp up the damage and healers enmity and running out of MP is a concern due to the high amount of damage being done, where the tank actually risks dying to normal boss attacks. And then 1 or two like now, with high dps checks lighter healing reqs, really make the healing team push dps while keeping everyone alive. That way, to win the whole tier healers need to be skilled in all aspects of their kit and the fights play out differently. I like dpsing as a healer, but I'd also like to heal more. They need variety, imo.

My only comment, or concern is that on the forums a lot of people seem to mix up what they should be doing in game, versus what they wish they should be doing in game. Until they really change the encounters, it is what it is.

[Vlady]

I would love to go back to the time of where going out of mana was a real issue in raids. TP/Mana regen being in the hands of the dps/healers to such a capacity really weakens bard/machinist utility.

[Alisa180]

Count me as someone who gave up on healing altogether and just went SMN (and currently doing fairly well at it some time after the transition). The irony being I originally came from WoW after seeing FFXIV had a trinity system, which meant dedicated healers. I came specifically to try raid healing, not DPS. Its lucky that Summoner was awesome enough to be an adequate alternate main once it became clear raid healing wasn't going to happen, otherwise I'm not sure how my time in the game would have gone from there.

The whole problem in the current meta comes down to two things: Strict DPS checks, and relatively low incoming damage. This has caused the current 'DPS-focused' meta for both healers AND tanks. I would even argue the latter problem is a bigger issue then the former. If a healer can solo-heal an 8-man instance...there's a problem. If a Scholar can go through a whole dungeon without casting a heal themselves ONCE, instead relying on the fairy...There's a problem. If its gotten to a point where tanks no longer view having high HP bars as a benefit to help mitigate damage (forcing SE to change the damage formula to make them use VIT)...There's a problem.

IMHO, it would do a lot for both tanks and healers to ramp up the incoming damage. This would force us back into the roles that we're actually meant to play, rather then the current 'DPS first, tank/healer second' thing going on. Even if there's still a strict DPS check, the higher damage means we wouldn't have time or opportunity to DPS ("Go into Cleric Stance? Are you nuts? I can't spare waiting for that to come off CD because you guys will DIE in the meantime!"), putting the pressure back where it belongs: On the *actual* DPS.

[Kerrigen]

You absolutely get it. That's one of the biggest mistakes they made with Gordias Savage (and maybe with Heavensward as a whole) IMO. They scaled up our abilities and HP bars tremendously, yet bosses hardly hit harder than Bahamut Prime for some reason.
Tank stances are almost completely worthless and regarded as another mitigation cooldown (and I hardly exaggerate when I say this). Tanks shouldn't be able to live through stuff like Drainage without any kind of mitigation on their part while rocking DPS gear and their healers in Cleric Stance.

I may or may not sound like a broken record at this point, but unless I and every healer I've played with got that much better at the game, we weren't DPSing nearly as much when doing Coil back then (and I've always been advocating healer DPS). Hopefully Midas brings back incoming damage to tanks.

[LegoTechnic]

Anyone who came from WoW of an xpac of at least pre-Pandas will immediately realize what's missing in dungeons is mob abilities in general. What are pulls in FFXIV dungeons? They're gather as many mobs as you can handle and AoE them if possible. Occasionally a mob might make an orange zone that you sidestep, or maybe a move that the tank likes to stun if they can. And that's the problem. If you played WoW or almost any other MMO you probably remember having to mark adds for priority deaths because they had dangerous mechanics. Maybe they spawned help, or maybe they developed a stacking buff. Maybe they healed each other. Additionally you may remember a need to CC mobs on pull, as they were all linked together and their combined damage was just TOO MUCH for the tank and healer to handle all at once, either because they hurt like hell or they cast an obnoxious debuff or AoE. There were always trash pulls that you had to think about, and this game doesn't have a single set. It's less "how do we best handle this group" and more "how many faceless mooks can I kill at once".

Dungeons are faceroll. If they ever stopped being faceroll, then perhaps healer's wouldn't be able to DPS and tanks would have to consider their tank cooldowns until their gear outshined the place. But this probably won't happen, because there have been many, many dungeons and while there have been some interesting mechanics none have truly been intimidating (exceptions for bees and their Final Sting). Also while I have fond memories of CC in WoW, this game definately does not give most classes tools for it, as even those with CC abilities see drastic diminishing returns on application.

You absolutely get it. That's one of the biggest mistakes they made with Gordias Savage (and maybe with Heavensward as a whole) IMO. They scaled up our abilities and HP bars tremendously, yet bosses hardly hit harder than Bahamut Prime for some reason.
Tank stances are almost completely worthless and regarded as another mitigation cooldown (and I hardly exaggerate when I say this). Tanks shouldn't be able to live through stuff like Drainage without any kind of mitigation on their part while rocking DPS gear and their healers in Cleric Stance.

This is kind of an exaggeration, as it's just not true in A3S/A4S, though it certainly is for A1S/A2S. The tank busters hurt, and they're fairly frequent. Granted some mechanics like A3S tethers can be cheesed if you have a good SCH/AST shield applied, but A4S especially likes to couple busters with random additional hits like Carnage lasers or Straf Doll cleaves one right after the other (or at the same time), so it is very rare that the MT wants to drop tank stance.