As a healer, is it my job to DPS? A new perspective.

[Segraine]

Do you think randomized mechanics in fights or AI team mechanics (mobs that ignore tanks and attack healers or have smart healers of their own) improve or harm the play style of healers? This would impact both healing and healer dps strategies.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Do you think randomized mechanics in fights or AI team mechanics (mobs that ignore tanks and attack healers or have smart healers of their own) improve or harm the play style of healers? This would impact both healing and healer dps strategies.

I would love to see them go in that direction for overall difficulty. A better mixture of scripted and randomized mechanics would not only add an extra layer of complexity, but keep content fresh for a longer period of time. Granted, it wouldn't change much with healing potency being so overly tuned.

The reason why messing with healing potency and/or damage sustained by players without fundamentally changing game mechanics is an ineffective way to make healing more fun or engaging is that, in either case, you don't accomplish much beyond making healers hit the same buttons more frequently. I don't believe that consuming more GCDs for healing actions (rather than having the healing accomplished in fewer GCDs, which allows for more DPS actions) is a recipe for fun.

Frankly speaking, I know plenty of healers who actually want pressing their healing buttons more. Even those who DPS generally prefer to heal and only do so because the meta dedicates that is optimal. Now it couldn't be the only change, but I do think it's a step towards the right direction. Playing White Mage more myself, I cannot deny it gets a little stall in 8-man content when my co-healer decides they won't turn on Cleric Stance. I'm pretty much going to just spam three buttons and never worry about the party's health. Yes, if healing requirements were reduced or damage intake was higher, I'd only be spamming three different buttons, but it puts far more pressure on me to know what I'm doing than spamming Stone III whenever DoTs are ticking. Add some randomizing factors and things could be interesting.

At this point, I'd rather one healer and five DPS if things didn't change. They will never do it though.