It’s also all but a given that the expansion will include at least two new jobs.

[ADVSS]

-.-

...it's a two sentence example

I thought it would be redundant and unnecessary to say, "Oh and it also has a Cure/Physic/Benefic type spell like every other healer before it"...

and even if it didn't would a healer really not have any other healer to cross class from?

and even if that weren't the case is there absolutely no way to design it to work?

I believe it could work

[Risvertasashi]

Hasnt the community been asking for a support/debuffer/buffer role for like forever?

Well.. With AST, we got one. Didn't work out so well at release. Turns out jobs still need to be able to perform their designated role as well as anyone else.

I think AST and BRD are the closest we're likely to get.

Edit: I see nothing wrong with war and sch being good

In the full translation it's even clearer: They're not planning to "snipe" WAR and SCH (Translator's wording), but basically rebalance every job. So yes, no need for any panic along the lines of "oh no war and sch on the chopping block!", they aren't.

[Muahbec]

I would absolutelly love another healer...(maybe like the necromancer from the necromancer healer thread, that would be awesome, with some tweaks here and there of course)
BUT, knowing how SE dealt with the new jobs i'm pretty scared of it...
i would love another NEW and FRESH healer and not a WHM/SCH Wannabe.
SE does have the creativity to do so but, the balancing team?.....
ugh....

[Atoli]

No idea where all the AST hate is coming from..AST is the better WHM actually
So no, not a "discount WHM" at all.

But yeah, just for balance purposes, I also think if there only would be 2 new classes it would be tank and DPS.
Because DPS is a given at this point, and to balance it out a tank, especially since we still have a crazy lack of tanks but not so much a lack of healers.

Which is sad to me, because I'd prefer leveling another healer :/

[MPNZ]

Lets see Red mage (class), and Blue mage (job) are a possible combination for a healer and debuffer that would use auto-life instead of a resurrection spell, and be more DPS focused. well, they could just rename it Purple mage. And, the chemist Job from FFT is totally the candidate for a TP healer. Samurai is a job that could easily branch into both tank and DPS classes with slower but more powerful skills as a tank and a rally mechanic. I would really like a dancer class as either a healer or a DPS class, but mostly as a DPS. Oh, and Beast master and Puppet master should probably be tank classes. ...actually, Beast master is a no and pretty much PETA outrage bait. We seriously need more varieties of tanks and healers, because DPS are just way to expendable and it's totally the polar opposite with tanks and healers, which can make them a little egotistical sometimes.

BTW, wasn't it stated that 4.0 would be separate from the main story quest. They did say that they are working on a swimming mechanic.

[Claire_Pendragon]

While DRK has brought people into tanking, we're still short on them. In areas of the game, desperately short. So I think a new tank is certain.
(Healers) although still in demand for leveling, there's an excess of healers at the top end. Hmm. Well, let's hope they go with three...

I've always been a tank at heart. But DRK was easily the most fun, and it alone has made me resub many times, jut to taste its playstyle again.

But the bottom line is. It is NEVER worth joining a leveling party as a tank. (in comparisons to other methods of exp gain per hour, much less the treatment)
The "role in need" reward is nothing in comparison to the 98% of groups, who are complete and utter A****** to tanks.
I'll do Lv60 content, that's above entry level, as ppl are actually competent, and not jerks most of the time.

So I instead, choose to play the next "defensive" role I can pick, and that is healer. (Along with so many other people I know who give up tanking.)

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have another tank, but I still would NEVER join leveling groups as the new tank.
The problem isnt the lack of tank jobs, but people's treatment of them, and lack of consideration towards others, as they mindlessly watch netflix, and blame their mistakes on others.


-{ HoT Healer }-

They could make a HoT healer but that is incredibly difficult to balance as spike damage is a huge thing in this game and unless the regens have a burst initial heal, it's downright impossible for them to compete but that would just make them into discount WHMs again.

To handle "burst phases/tank busters" you have a Cure2 equivalent, that heals more if they have the HotS up, takes 3.5 to cast, and takes a butt load of MP.
You need to start casting BEFORE the damage goes through, since it takes so long to cast. If you're timing is off, you need to move/cancel the casting, so as not to waste the huge MP cost.
You can also stack more than 1 HoT, but the other HoTs eat MP, so u need to balance how often you place the additional HoTs up. (similar to spamming medica2 or not)

Balancing these things is always easy. Lets worry more on what ideas are unique, rather than "it cant be balanced"

-{ damage/absorb Healer }-

So you mean a healer that wouldn't be able to do anything unless people are fighting stuff? And diurnal AST ended up pretty fine compared to WHM.

Are you suggesting there is no way to make it possible to work? Because I can think fo plenty of ways to make it work, and Ive never actually given the idea the time of day till just now.
Unique way to heal. Summon a Test Dummy that doesnt attack back for a short period of time, u can drop it when bosses go immune, and DPS will love you, as they can keep their rotations up in the mean time. (But they lose TP, and need to switch off the dummy, to beat the DPS checks)

And it doesnt even have to be THAT unique of a fix, we could use more simplistic ideas.

-{ HP resource healer }-

Blood Mage healers also would be a nightmare to balance as having the healer sacrifice their own health to heal others, especially in situations where they'll be taking damage as well, is just asking for trouble.

DEV team said they already dont like the idea of sacrificing HP for DRK, THM, or which ever DPS did so in the past. (1.0)
But its easily addable, as it doesnt need to be your only source of healing. Simply put, use MP for weaker heals during AoE phases, and or HP when MP is low, which ever playstyle you go with. (THM healer in 1.0 had no issues healing with their HP either.)

[mp-please]

No idea where all the AST hate is coming from..AST is the better WHM actually

You answered your own question.

[Risvertasashi]

No idea where all the AST hate is coming from..AST is the better WHM actually
So no, not a "discount WHM" at all.

At its core, AST is a (very pretty) WHM reskin. One that started out considerably weaker and ended up a bit stronger than its progenitor. WHMs won't get excluded from raids for as long as that initial perception lingers, and as long as they're 'close enough'... but I hope the problem with SE's design philosophy when it came to AST is rather self evident.

It's also why people fear that a new healer would lead to a SCH + (WHM/AST/new job) meta. Hopefully their rebalancing plans will put an end to that, but only time will tell.

[DreamWeaver]

What I think the new healer class(if there's one) in 4.0 will be:
A new mitigation healer to compete with SCH.
Instead of barriers, provides damage reduction buffs to players.

SCH changes I hope will happen:
DT + Crit adlo combo needs to be removed, place a hard cap on DT-ed shield HP.
Why on Earth does a Scholar GAINS MP when he spends more time DPSing?! (by virtue of Energy Drains).
Please provide a new DPS skill that uses Aetherflow stacks AND does not provide MP refresh.

New AST mechanic I would love to see:
Cleric Stance for Cards:
i) Able to use cards on enemies now.
ii) Example:
a) Bole on enemy= increase damage taken.
b) Balance on enemy= reduces enemy damage.
c) MP/TP card on enemy = silence/pacify enemy.

WHM :
For the love of god can WHMs get Super Virus already?
10 Min CD skill, allows ONE usage of Stoneskin II mid combat.

[ADVSS]

well AST has pretty much been hotfixed every major patch and some minor ones, which helped greatly, but steered it more into the whm area, At release i feel like AST came out the closest to how it was imagined, and by god, it needed some help, I originally thought that the lower potencies were there as a self balancing tool to be able to switch freely in combat to be able to shield and regen, Which I thought was what was going to make it work even if it literally was using both strengths, but weaker verions to balance both mitigation and HoT. But this was not the case even down the line so, give em whm potencies, keep the shields from stacking,have em get overwrit by adlo etc. I mean I could be wrong, but that was the impression i had when they announced it...not what we ended up with(i figured the cards would be weird or random anyway so I excluded them)