Pipe Dreams: Green Mage

[Duelle]

I would normally dump this on the Other Roles forum, but I'm thinking I might get better feedback here in the healer forums. Anyway, I tend to complain about how we have no HoT-focused healers, so I took an old idea I had and made a full write-up. This is an alpha version and will adjust it according to feedback.

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Green Mage (version 2, as of 09/24/16)

Among the wilderness of The New World are what some call Greenwalkers; men and women who commune with the land and preserve the untamed forests and groves in their original state. Despite their reclusive tendencies and devotion to their calling, those known as Green Mages at times travel in search of lands in need of healing. Such is their power over growth and regeneration that the story of Fiona Greendream is still passed down from generation to generation, as the woman who restored an entire forest with only a sapling and a handful of seeds.

Concept: A nature-theme healer with a focus on healing-over-time effects.
Weapon: Wands (those that look like branches)
Cross classes: ACN (Eye for an Eye, Virus, Ruin) THM (Blizzard II, Surecast, Swiftcast)

Abilities

01 Nature's Wrath - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 140. Cast time: 2.5s.
02 Mend - Grants a heal over time effect with cure potency of 80 for 18s.
04 Hell's Ivy - Deals damage over time with a potency of 30 for 21s.
06 Green Warden - Swaps INT and MND attribute ratings, while increasing potency of attack spells by 10% and reducing potency of healing spells by 20%. Effect ends upon reuse. Cooldown: 5s.
08 Shell - Increases defense and magic defense of self and all party members. Does not stack with Protect. 2.5s cast time.
10 Life Bloom - Restores HP to self and nearby party members. Cure potency: 200. Additional effect: Heal over time effect for 12s. Cure potency: 80~50. Cast time: 3s.
12 Purification - Removes a single detrimental effect from target.
15 Quicken - Restores target's HP. Cure potency: 200.
18 Renascence - Resurrects target to a weakened state.
22 Nature's Fury - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 70 to target and nearby enemies. Additional effect: Unaspected damage over time with a potency of 50 for 12s. Cast time: 3s.
26 Aetheric Synthesis - Removes the MP cost of all healing spells for 15s. Use of healing spells restores partial MP. Cooldown: 90s.
30 Nurture - Increases the potency of the next Rejuvenation by 50% or Wild Growth by 25%. Buff duration: 10s. Cooldown: 90s.
34 Thorn Cocoon - Erects a barrier of thorns around a single party member or pet for 20s. Barrier Effect: When barrier is struck, the striker will receive damage with a potency of 30. Cooldown: 30s.
38 Inner Spark - Restores own MP. Additional effect: Causes the next direct healing spell to place a healing over time effect with a cure potency of 40 for 15s. Buff duration: 10s. Cooldown: 120s.
42 Corrode - Reduce target's damage resistance by 10% for 10s. Cooldown: 90s.
46 Weald's Blessing - Reduces your damage taken by 10% and prevents spell interruption for 10s. Cooldown: 120s.
50 Force of Nature - The next spell cast will result in a critical hit. Buff duration: 10s. Cooldown: 60s.

Traits

08 Enhanced Mind
14 Enhanced Mind II
16 Enhanced Mend - Extends Mend's duration to 24s.
20 Maim and Mend
24 Unbridled Wrath - Nature's Wrath deals damage with a potency of 160 on targets under the effect of Nature's Fury.
28 Enhanced Mind III
32 Leeching Ivy - When a target takes damage from Hell's Ivy, allies affected by your healing over time effects will receive a heal with a potency of 30.
36 Life's Momentum - Quicken now also increases target's healing received from your spells and actions by 10% for 10s. Can only be active on one target.
40 Maim and Mend II
44 Enhanced Aetheric Synthesis - Reduces the cooldown of Aetheric Synthesis to 60s.
48 Enhanced Nurture - Nurture now increases the potency of the next Mend by 100% or Life Bloom by 50%.

Job Abilities

30 Rejuvenate - Restores target's HP. Gains 5% additional potency per healing over time effect on target. Base cure potency: 400. Cast time: 2.5s.
35 Profusion - Channel energy into the land, healing all allies within 25y for 9s. Cure potency: 200. Cooldown: 60s. Auto-attack ends upon execution. Effect ends upon using another action or moving.
40 Constricting Vines - Envelops target in vines, preventing movement and all action for 20s. Effect ends upon taking damage. Cooldown: 45s.
45 Whipping Vine - Calls forth a whipping vine that deals damage with a potency of 100 to enemies near it for 20s. Cooldown: 30s.
50 Restoration - Restores HP of self and all allies. Cure potency: 600. Additional effect: Removes all detrimental effects. Cooldown: 180s.
52 Germination - Plants a seed inside target that sprouts after 6s, restoring target's HP. If target takes damage equal to or greater than 20% of their max HP from a direct attack, the seed sprouts and restores target's HP. Cure potency: 300. Cooldown: 15s.
54 Wild Growth - Enhances Thorn Cocoon or Whipping Vine. Cooldown: 60s.
-----Thorn Cocoon: Reduces Thorn Cocoon's damage to 10 potency, and instead reduces target's damage taken by 10%.
-----Whipping Wine: Extends the duration of Whipping Vine by 10s and causes the vine to grow thorns, increasing its damage by 10%.
56 Fertile Soil - Creates a designated area at your feet that increases the healing received by all who enter by 15%. Cooldown: 90s.
58 Greenwrath - Channel the fury of nature into target, dealing damage with a potency of 100 every 3 seconds for 9 seconds. Deals 25% more damage on targets under the effect of Nature's Fury. Cooldown: 30s.
60 Flourish - Infuse energy into target party member, spreading your healing over time effects on them to all party members within 20y with the remaining buff duration. Cooldown: 90s.

The Lore (WARNING: Fanfiction advisory is in effect)

Ancient Gridania had two covens that looked after the populace. The white mages would commune with the elementals and impart their will to the people, while the greenwalkers ensured that the forest was maintained in accordance to the will of the elementals. Eventually an argument broke out over expanding the Twelveswood beyond its natural borders, with one Fiona Greendream leading the side wanting to expand the woods. The decree eventually was made that such a move was against the will of the elementals and balance of the ecosystem of the Black Shroud. No longer seen as worthy in the eyes of the elementals, the greenwalkers were forced to leave and seek a new home, with many taking residence in The New World. It is here where they developed their discipline with manipulation of living energy, allowing them to create and maintain groves in the New World. Their art and role in Gridania was eventually forgotten.

The 30-50 GRM questline starts off with a man named Abner, who has recently arrived in Eorzea in hopes of getting to the Twelveswood. His goal is to make contact with the conjurers out of Gridania to understand a matter that made no sense to him. Since chloromancy is not known/remembered in Gridania, Abner is tasked with proving the worth of his discipline by taking one student; you (the Conjurer's guild practically volunteers you). As you begin training, you are exposed to the uses chloromancy has in the forest, learning the role in restoration and upkeep of the forest that was the duty of a greenwalker. You and Abner eventually get dragged into a crisis that requires the regeneration powers of a green mage along with the purification powers of a white mage/conjurer.

The 52-60 GRM questline should focus on additional good a GRM can do for the realm while also looking into the forgotten/lost past of the greenwalkers, since a lot of it was lost once they left Gridania all that time ago. Bonus would be the greenwalkers as a whole earning the forgiveness of the elementals.

30 A verdant dream (intro/unlock quest)
30 To make like a tree
35 Ear to the grass
40 Twelve steps
45 An arboreal calamity
50 Mending fences
50 Back to the green (HW GRM arc)
52 The three labors
54 Kicked up a notch
56 From Tailfeather with love
58 A millennial wait
60 Given time

Achievements
The color of envy I-IV - Achieve green mage level 30/40/50/60.
Dream Green I - Complete the green mage job quest "Mending fences".
Dream Green II - Complete the green mage job quest "Given time".

Notes

- As always, effects, potencies and such are up for discussion.
- V2 of GRM is a little more focused on the lore I made up for them, as such they no longer cross-class stuff from CNJ. This of course calls for them having their own version of Protect and Cleric Stance.
- To get the WoW analogues out of the way: Nature's Wrath = Solar Wrath, Nature's Fury = Sunfire, Weald's Blessing = Barkskin, Profusion = Tranquility.
- Quicken is designed to start out as an instant heal that restores half the HP that a normal Cure would. This would work out in low level content (since Cure at lower levels heals for a near-ridiculous amount), but a GRM would still need a reason to use it once damage taken begins to ramp up, hence the trait.
- I was considering something like a crit mechanic (V1's Germination), but for now have opted to not write that in.
- Though I haven't listed MP values, Rejuvenate is supposed to be relatively expensive, to balance out the fact that it's a Cure analogue along with the potency gains based on the number of HoTs on the target.
- Germination is meant to provide a sort of delayed heal while also serving as a way to provide reactionary healing for tank busters (or skills like the Fallen One-type attack seen in Weeping City).
- I decided to forego adding tiers of spells, opting to have one skill gain power from another, hence Nature's Wrath gaining extra potency on targets under the effect of Nature's Fury, and then further compounded by Greenwrath.
- Wild Growth should be something to build on once the the level cap is raised to 70 and beyond, since you could add other skills and effects that could interact with it. Wild Growth itself is designed to present a sort of choice to the player.
- Profusion and Greenwrath are channeled skills, much like Collective Unconscious.
- Nurture's trait is on the chopping block, but I feel it was either that or a trait that allowed two Mends to be applied on the same target (limit of one target). Any suggestions would be appreciated.
- Just to make this clear, Life's Momentum increases healing received only from your healing effects. Fertile Soil, on the other hand, increases healing received from all sources. Yes, I realize this makes SCH + GRM pretty damn good, though I figure it would also make GRM + WHM good. AST + GRM should also be good.
- Constricting Vines has no cast time, which is why it has a 45s cooldown.
- Whipping Vine might need to be nerfed.
- Inner Spark might need to have its additional effect changed.
- HoTs: Mend, Hell's Ivy, Life Bloom, Inner Spark, Profusion, Flourish (sort of)
- Direct heals: Quicken, Rejuvenate, Restoration, Germination (sort of)
- Enhancements to healing: Nurture, Life's Momentum, Fertile Soil
- Fiona Greendream is a reference to Chrono Trigger.
- I was thinking of implementing a seed mechanic where certain plant-related skills consume a seed, but it ended up looking a bit too much like death knight runes and/or FFXI SCH Strategems.
- Something else I didn't go for was a system that turned one party member into a sort of healing beacon. You'd mark a party member, and all heals received by them restored HP of nearby party members for about 30% of the amount healed. It would also lead to things like certain heals empowering the beacon effect. I don't think a healer should have an actual rotation, which I think would happen with such a system so I dropped it for now.

[Nekotee]

As i begun reading it
I found so much to change and to argue

But toward the end it make sens in a way

I was surprised to see so much instant spell and HoT without real direct healing
But it goes with how the healing work

It did remind me a lot like some wow healer with longer cast XD

...

As à healer i see the GRM as a off heal being a advanced HoT tool for any kind of fight
But with no shield it require either a lots of hp to qoak in damage with hit tick and heal or... Well aware team capable of avoiding damage or self mitigate them

I love how this healer would work
It does break some rule and could be real fun but also might require a good idea of healing
Because it's not active healing

Slacking healer keep walking this is not your type XD

[koroko220]

Needs more dps for solo story content and to make the most of those HoTs X3

[Aillith]

Hrm. I don't really see it. It doesn't seem to bring anything new that isn't already covered with the healers we have already, and the backstory is very similar to white mage.

In fact whm has plenty of HoT already with regen, medica 2, and asylum - all which can be stacked if required. Add to this that a lot of whms already do a lot of their healing using these HoT so that they can stance dance - I just don't see anything new here that would warrant the dev time.

[Ceasaria]

If I want to heal a tank who take many attacks in a row, I have to do this :

- Nature's Veil - Increases the potency of all spells by 10% for 15s. Cooldown: 90s.
- Mend - Grants healing over time effect with cure potency of 100 to target for 30s.
- Thorn Cocoon - Erects a barrier of thorns around a single party member or pet for 20s. Barrier Effect: When barrier is struck, the striker will receive damage with a potency of 20. Cooldown: 30s.
- Frond Cocoon - Consumes Thorn Cocoon, replacing it with a barrier that heals the affected by member or pet when the barrier is struck. Cure potency: 120. Cooldown: 45s. I consider this like a HoT because auto-attack is every 3 sec.
- Bloom - Grants healing over time effect with cure potency of 100 to self and nearby allies for 15s. 2.5s cast time. Just because it's easy to cast and it cast time is low.
- Nurture - Increases the potency of your healing over time effects on target by 50% for 12s. Cooldown: 45s.

In the end you have (120 +100 +100) x 110% = 132 + (220) x 150% = 452 potency Hot = ~3500-4000 HP hot for 12 sec every 45 sec, and the last HoT disappear after 30 sec.
Or
Mend + Frond Cocoon (20 sec min) = 220 potency > 150 potency Regen (21 sec).

And yet there are many spells for heal again.
Force of Nature, Surge (There is a cooldown or what ? and If yes, I will include this spell in addition with other), Profusion, Life Font, Restoration, Nature's Boon, Weald's Canopy, Flourish.

I like the idea behind all the HoT, but honestly, it's too powerful. With this, you could solo heal easily each content, even without burst AOE heal (like Medica, Cure III).
I think you should replace some of them and do other things.


Edit : Ah...I didn't even read trait...and I see buff everywhere.

With traits : +50 potency HoT with Leeching Ivy, Bloom boosted, Germination (I will left that aside)...Nature's Veil 20%...
That's mean, 554 potency for 12 sec = ~5500-6000 HP (with a peak at 594 because of Bloom trait) +18 sec with HoT potency decreasing over time, ouch.

[Parawill]

I finally stepped into WoW and rolled a Resto. Druid and am happy to see some ideas taken from there; however, the proposed potencies and cast times are completely overshadowed by the three other healers. If we put the lesser of the three healers in contrast with the proposed ideas and potencies, Astrologians are far beyond Green Mages, especially since they have access to front-loaded healing on a regular GCD and more frequent usage of their instant heals.

Also HoT healing is very unreliable in this game due to the chance of missing one tick of all HoTs (thanks MP-Please for pointing this out \o/) depending on application time. The HoT/DoT tick is on a separate interval from the resource (HP/MP/TP) tick, so it is very difficult to gauge timing of application of said HoTs, thus making all HoTs potentially weaker than they are stated.

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Questions:

06 Quicken - Restores target's HP. Cure potency: 300. Cooldown: 5s.

Is this an off-GCD or GCD heal? I know it's under spells, but it seems strange that the only single-target direct healing that GRM has without expending lengthy cooldowns shoves a huge burden on the main healer's gameplay.

40 Profusion - Infuse energy into the land, healing all allies within 20y for 9s. Cure potency: 200. Cooldown: 60s. Auto-attack ends upon execution. Effect ends upon using another action or moving.

Does Profusion act like a placed Collective Unconscious, which ends if the caster moves or uses another action? Or does it apply a HoT buff which disappears if no action takes place.

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Feedback

I like the direction this is going, but I cannot see it ever being used in end-game progression especially with how damage has been dealt in this tier's raid content. There are a lot of cooldowns that help with HPS, but to fit an off-healer's role, there are a variety of mechanics that need a shield to prevent the secondary mechanic from happening. In addition, it is evident in this tier that Scholar is far more superior than Astrologians in the aspect of its high mitigation against burst damage in contrast to Astro's stronger sustained mitigation, which would mean GRM would be far from welcomed if established this tier. This would also make VIT Melds a requirement because more HPS does nothing against damage that is over your MAX HP.

Also keep in mind that in Heavensward tier raid, Stoneskin seems to be more of a luxury than a necessity (unless sac'ing or a death occurred) since there is almost no time to Stoneskin 8 players.

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Side Note

Some of these ideas seem really appealing to Astrologian. It fixes the lack of non-GCD healing (Flourish) and also works around with its concept of time and divination (Weald's Canopy).

Off-Topic

I wish we had more forms of cleansing debuffs. At this very moment, GRM would be a pretty sick PvP healer in this game.

[Mimilu]

I haven't read all of it yet but it looks very interested. :-D

I do have a few notes though:
- I feel that Gust needs an upgrade of some kind, just so once your DoTs are up, you can though out some burst.
- I think Verdant Resolve is a bit of a waste on a healer. On a DPS or Tank, a self-heal is great but healers have so many heals.
- I don't like the idea of Verdant Blessing taking control of one of my Cooldowns, even if it is a self-heal.
- I think you need a more stable way to regenerate MP.
- I also think having one AoE burst Heal (either an spell or oGCD) could be nice

[Duelle]

To start, thanks for the feedback.

Needs more dps for solo story content and to make the most of those HoTs X3

I figured that you'd be applying Hell's Ivy and Corrode as needed while spamming Gust, with Toxic Vines as an on-call execute type skills since it does frontloaded damage. I could replace Corrode with Gust II and just give it a higher potency. Or maybe throw in Gust II somewhere and get rid of one of the other abilities/cooldowns.

Good stuff

This is a lot of good info. In summary, nerf some of the potencies and remove others. I'll keep your comments in mind as I work on the adjustments.

In fact whm has plenty of HoT already with regen, medica 2, and asylum - all which can be stacked if required. Add to this that a lot of whms already do a lot of their healing using these HoT so that they can stance dance - I just don't see anything new here that would warrant the dev time.

WHM design is still centered on direct heals. The fact it has stuff like Assize, Tetra, Medica I plus 3 tiers of Cure make this evident. It having Regen and Medica II doesn't exactly make WHM a HoT healer; it just makes it a healer with HoTs that supplement their direct heals.

I was more aiming for a healer that can stack several HoTs on a target to do their thing. Specially in light of the complaints about how the new jobs with the expansion are basically copies of things we already have.

- I feel that Gust needs an upgrade of some kind, just so once your DoTs are up, you can though out some burst.

One thing I'm considering is making Corrode increase the damage a target takes from Gust (increasing potency to something like 180).

- I think Verdant Resolve is a bit of a waste on a healer. On a DPS or Tank, a self-heal is great but healers have so many heals.
- I don't like the idea of Verdant Blessing taking control of one of my Cooldowns, even if it is a self-heal.

Personally, I've found myself in situations where I could use something going off on its own without me having to push it so that I can focus on healing or something else, but you've convinced me to remove it and the trait.

- I think you need a more stable way to regenerate MP.

An idea I had for this was to change Aetheric Synthesis to restore MP whenever your currently active HoTs tick.

- I also think having one AoE burst Heal (either an spell or oGCD) could be nice

You mean beyond Profusion? Profusion is basically my version of Tranquility, and is a channeled 600 total potency heal (twice the potency of Assize) spread over 9 seconds.

Non-sequitur

the backstory is very similar to white mage.

Sort of. In in-world terms, White Mages borrow power from the elements and are the ones that commune with the elementals. Green Mages are more like the groundskeepers and instead use the inner aether of the plants/animals/people to speed up the healing process. So instead of using their own life force (the way whatshername did at the beginning of the CNJ quesline) or borrow power form the elementals (how white mages work), GRMs instead tap into the aether of the creature they're tending do and just manipulate it to speed up natural healing.

In simple terms, a WHM will wave their staff, sparkly lights come out and your wound closes instantly. A GRM taps into your life essence and convinces your body to heal itself, making your wound close on its own over several seconds.

[Keramory]

I do like the idea of a different color mage for fun. However as some have suggested... this is WHM man. Nature, wind spells, ect...thats conjurer.

If you want to think of a different kind of healer, really there are only a few very unique routes left (Necromancer for example). Forest and nature is more or less already taken.

[Duelle]

If you want to think of a different kind of healer, really there are only a few very unique routes left (Necromancer for example).

Been there, done that. >.>

Forest and nature is more or less already taken.

I guess CNJ is not as...rustic as I would think for nature and the forest.

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Questions: Quicken

Is this an off-GCD or GCD heal? I know it's under spells, but it seems strange that the only single-target direct healing that GRM has without expending lengthy cooldowns shoves a huge burden on the main healer's gameplay.

This is a GCD heal. The idea behind this is that you're going to use it in reaction to heavy damage (tank taking a big hit, for example). The 5s cooldown is there to prevent spamming, since GRM is supposed to be focused on HoTs for most of its healing. If the ability will feel better with more constant use, I could give it a 2.5s cast time to put it in like with Cure, Physic, and Benefic. The alternative would be making it more powerful but also giving it a longer cooldown (15-30s).

Does Profusion act like a placed Collective Unconscious, which ends if the caster moves or uses another action? Or does it apply a HoT buff which disappears if no action takes place.

It actually behaves like Resto Druid's Tranquility, so the healing effect occurs while the caster is standing still and channeling the ability.

I like the direction this is going, but I cannot see it ever being used in end-game progression especially with how damage has been dealt in this tier's raid content. There are a lot of cooldowns that help with HPS, but to fit an off-healer's role, there are a variety of mechanics that need a shield to prevent the secondary mechanic from happening. In addition, it is evident in this tier that Scholar is far more superior than Astrologians in the aspect of its high mitigation against burst damage in contrast to Astro's stronger sustained mitigation, which would mean GRM would be far from welcomed if established this tier. This would also make VIT Melds a requirement because more HPS does nothing against damage that is over your MAX HP.

Actually, the thing with shields is why I wanted to try reactive heals between Nature's Boon and Weald's Canopy (which are on-demand versions of Living Seed from WoW), since in theory they'd effectively mitigate damage by restoring HP once damage is taken (one less heal you have to cast). I'd forego shields simply because it would underscore the problem AST has made quite evident: that SCH is currently too damn powerful.

If the damage taken is higher than player max HP, that could lead to problems, though an alternative would be having Nature's Boon and Weald's Canopy temporarily increase the max HP of the raid. I have reservations against that because that's just a shield in a different form.