Petition to keep Cleric Stance unchanged

[javid]

New Cleric stance should be on a 10 to 15 second cool down for its 15 second duration, so that you're popping it whenever you can dps, not just once every 90 seconds for 5% damage. 20% every 90? Sure! But 5? No thanks. I'd rather have the old, interesting mechanic than something i press for less dps boost than a drac pot.

New cleric (if it is a 90sec recast for 15 sec of 5% dmg up) is STRONGER than pots. Also they clearly wanted to design these utilities as optional/situational. What would be optional about a 20% buff for 15 sec on a 90 sec cd??? (thats almost a B4B on DRG..... you're a healer....yes your dps matters but stay in your lane).

And ppl are arguing to go back without even having experienced the mechanics first hand (or even seen them second hand)....lulz


What was so desirable about being locked for 10 sec (roughly 4 gcds) in a dps stance unable to react to an emergency (emergency implying something UNEXPECTED went wrong....but you can't fix it.... you're stuck in dps stance for the next 10 sec)........

[HPDelron]

What was so desirable about being locked for 10 sec (roughly 4 gcds) in a dps stance unable to react to an emergency (emergency implying something UNEXPECTED went wrong....but you can't fix it.... you're stuck in dps stance for the next 10 sec)........

Simply put, it was harder. For some people that is a plus. Correctly using a stance that locks you out of healing for period in order to DPS means that doing proper DPS requires more skill. You need to know timings and when you can or can't afford to nerf your healing. To some extent it also requires your teammates to be aware of the limitations CS imposes and make sure they're not creating situations you can't handle.

With the new cleric stance the skill floor of the role is raised and the skill ceiling of the role drastically lowered. Now make no mistake narrowing the skill gap is a stated design goal of Stormblood and something they're doing consistently across all classes. I also think for the overall health of the game this is a good change. That said there valid reasons for liking the old/current system better. With the new cleric stance there will be less space to be good at the healer role and that is a real loss for a non-trivial portion of the player base.

[javid]

snip

Ahhh, I will agree with you on some ppl like the idea of a RISK REWARD of being trapped. HOwever its not personal skill; its party skill that is being displayed. YOu can pick when you want to activate the skill; but you can't pick when the party will or will not mess up during any particular activation. Moving forward skill healers will STILL be picking which gcds will be designated for healing and which will not; no changes there. ("can I skip this next cure? will the regen last long enough?" all these are still the same question we have now and will have moving forward)

[HPDelron]

Ahhh, I will agree with you on some ppl like the idea of a RISK REWARD of being trapped. HOwever its not personal skill; its party skill that is being displayed. YOu can pick when you want to activate the skill; but you can't pick when the party will or will not mess up during any particular activation. Moving forward skill healers will STILL be picking which gcds will be designated for healing and which will not; no changes there. ("can I skip this next cure? will the regen last long enough?" all these are still the same question we have now and will have moving forward)

There are absolutely places where personal skill applies. The has a fair share of unavoidable burst damage often packed in closely to periods of relative low healing, knowing these timings is skill. Similarly there are times damage is happening but at relatively constant rate not enough to demand-heal spam, aiming for the minimal amount of heal-time to deal with these is personal skill.Even what you call "party skill" is something it can take personal skill to judge and react to. "How often are these people taking avoidable damage", "How much can this person deal with using personal tools" these are questions a good healer knows how to ask themselves and answer with accuracy. You know only have to resolve them in 1 GCD, which is very generous in contrast to the current system.

I don't see the space for an argument that the current/old cleric stance simply boils down to how much avoidable damage your party takes. That's simply one piece of a larger and more complex puzzle. The simple fact is the new clerics space gives fewer places to make mistakes, and the reduces severity of those mistakes when you make them.

[javid]

snip

You're making an argument for the use of current cleric in general which I've made no objections to its optimization.... you need to make an argument specifically (if not exclusively) defending the penalty of 4 gcd dps trap! Everything you mentioned above will STILL be what skill healer will be thinking moving forward.


This is the best way to describe what some players prefer with the current system over that of the next. a 4 gcd trap as oppose to a 0-1 gcd trap is like a skilled poker player thinking they have more skill than a chess master. Both are great thinkers but one takes HUGE RISKSSSSS but potentially get HUGE RETURNS. While the other takes calculated precise steps to a long awaiting outcome.

[HPDelron]

You're making an argument for the use of current cleric in general which I've made no objections to its optimization.... you need to make an argument specifically (if not exclusively) defending the penalty of 4 gcd dps trap! Everything you mentioned above will STILL be what skill healer will be thinking moving forward.

Simply put making those decisions 1-gcd in advance with zero lock time is easier and simpler than all other possibilities save being able to heal & DPS with the same GCDs. The further in advance you must make those judgments and the longer you're locked into those choices the greater room for error and therefore the greater the skill ceiling. The simple fact is that the new setup is about the highest skill-floor, lowest skill ceiling situation you could make without drastically changing the core mechanics of play.

Any conceivable implementation of heal/dps exclusivity will by definition have a higher skill cap than the new one.

[javid]

The further in advance you must make those judgments and the longer you're locked into those choices the greater room for error and therefore the greater the skill ceiling.

Any conceivable implementation of heal/dps exclusivity will by definition have a higher skill cap than the new one.

... the greater the GAMBLE ceiling (a gamble if you GUESS correctly in a given situation you look like a god!! But it's still guessing!)

The poker analogy is the best I can think of to compare to the type of GAME healers play with that 10 sec ( 4 gcd).

Here's another example: In fighting games there is a guessing mechanic often referred to as "50/50" or "Tech"; basically it's something that can go 1 of 2 ways and your job is to GUESS which way it will go, and if you do so correctly you benefit! (aside for knowing opponents proclivities) It doesn't matter how often you GUESS CORRECTLY... its still a GUESS!!!

But... I will say to your point, part of your job as a skilled healer IS to ANTICIPATE how certain members might behave and know how they have behaved (static members or ppl you've played with before); and to that I say YES it takes SKILL to know when its worth taking that GAMBLE on such and such player(s).

[Rawrz]

What was so desirable about being locked for 10 sec (roughly 4 gcds) in a dps stance unable to react to an emergency (emergency implying something UNEXPECTED went wrong....but you can't fix it.... you're stuck in dps stance for the next 10 sec)........

its 5 seconds... two gcds...