Quote Originally Posted by Shurrikhan View Post
My only real question there is what comparison do they have for whether Healer dps is "in check". Is it combined HPS-DPS output compared, in which case they've almost always exceeded DPS, or even HPS/Mitigation-DPS output, in which they'll now likely outdo tanks in casual fights? By either of those comparisons, it's not exactly "in check" right now, not that I especially mind this. After all, DPS is unlimited, where as healing and mitigation quickly max out as soon as fights lose their challenge, making it unlikely that a DPS would lose their spot to a bonus healers in virtually any content, even if healers were given bonus accuracy enough via Cleric Stance to need only half as much melding as they would now for 'rain-proofing'.

To be clear, I'm not a fan of removing accuracy entirely, I'd just like to see the amounts needed reduced, and to see less of a gap between "raid" content and all other content types. It makes no sense that the larger the enemy gets, the harder he is to hit.

I'd rather see the requirement reduced, especially the base from zero bonus accuracy to back-cap, so that it stands at least as much an optional stat for hitting from the flank and front, at least for melee dps, as it does a stat dump. Have its relative cost increase a bit, as it does now, but such that it's still no more than maybe 8-12% of our overall secondary stat expenditure, down from some 18-22%, and likely decreasing that proportion a bit with further ilvls.

An additional option would be to increase magic accuracy requirements to be equal to flank-cap for melee, at which point their average expenses are equal, but that's just to keep caster stats from gradually scaling ahead of physicals' now that a larger portion of accuracy only affects flank>frontal capping, in other words now that the optional range is a larger portion, rather than relatively small compared to the base (zero to back). In the first case, Cleric Stance and Rain of Death could each cover one step out is the progression of Zero Accuracy > Halfway > Back/Caster Cap > Flank Cap > Frontal Cap, guaranteeing healer hits with Rain of Death without allowing others to bypass accuracy requirements outright, while in the second, Zero > Half > Back > Flank/Caster > Frontal, Cleric Stance would get you 25% of the way, and could either give another 25%, nearly guaranteeing healer hits, or 50%, guaranteeing hits for healers and nearly for no-acc casters. While it's true that this would give a lot of free stat to healers, at present, no one else has to consume nearly every materia slot they have just to reach cap. Moreover, with such changes the overall value of accuracy will have been reduced. At that point it's really not much different from when accuracy was included for free on i100-130 gear.

inb4 "Why keep accuracy as a stat sink at all?"
Mostly so that Rain of Death and other evasion reducers still have a place, and to keep that optionality from being either too expensive or too trivial a cost, especially if caster cap remains equal to back cap. I mean, ideally it'd be a much more analog stat, where excess still contributes in some way, but as it functions now in gameplay I feel that roughly equal halves are perfect, especially with an adjusted caster cap.
"In check" might not have been the best way to describe. However Accuracy is a good way to arbitrarily limit Healer DPS to a curve that satisfies the dev team. If a Healer has 85% accuracy on content and can do 200 DPS on a dummy, then that 85% accuracy will restrict them closer to 170 DPS (ASTs and SCHs will most likely be slightly higher due to non-missing DoTs). When it comes to pushing DPS, healer's are the easiest way to add that in a raid. It's much easier for a Healer who's not DPSing in the first place to add say, 100 to 150 DPS versus a DPS who's already pushing 1,200 DPS to add that 100-150 DPS when they're already pushing 98% of their capacity due to the nature of the fight.

That's also why I feel the Accuracy stat is here to stay - because of Healer DPS. It's an arbitrary limit that the Dev team can put without actually removing Cleric Stance from the game. Healer DPS has so much potential in this game due to the nature of Cleric Stance (you get enough INT to rival a BLM/SMN of equal ilvl), they want to try to control it so it's harder for healers to contribute damage. Of course if they make the accuracy requirement to stringent it'll just dissuade any healer from DPSing because it starts to become a waste of MP. We're not at that point yet but if we continue the current trend we'll probably hit that point in 3.4.

Having Cleric Stance have a accuracy bonus based on ilvl is a good way to work around that. Healer's will still need Accuracy but perhaps not to the magnitude we will most likely expect at 3.4. ATM it's not bad, but it has the potential to become absolutely terrible in the future and should be addressed at least in some capacity. Even if that address is "Please meld Accuracy onto your pieces" from the Dev team, I'd be happy because at least then I know what direction the Dev team is going with this trend.