Will Healers Still be Forced to DPS in 4.0 Due to Lax Content?

[Belhi]

The OP's point was that healing mechanics in this game are underwhelming and healers have way too much downtime, both of which are true. Healer Jobs are designed to heal. Their dps component is very shallow mechanically. SCH has the most and they originate from a dps class. If your going to spend most of your time dpsing it makes more sense frankly to just play a Job designed for it rather than the half assed dps design healers have.

Of course that quickly got derailed into an rather pointless argument over if healers should dps or not which wasn't what the thread was about. Seriously this discussion is getting old. Its not like either side is changing the others mind and its not like either side can force the other side to change their play style. People who don't want to dps will still not dps no matter how much people hate at them. People who kick healers not dpsing will still do it regardless. Both sides will fume and be salty about the other and in the end all this arguing will achieve nothing.

With all that said, I think the OP's point is something worth discussing. What should be the direction of healing gameplay in this game. Should SE be designing healers to be more like support dps rather than trying to fit them into a design the gameplay doesn't support? Or should they move back towards a healing model more similar to other games?

As a person who has mained healer on different MMOs for the past 12 years, I can say that FF14's healing mechanics are by far the most underwhelming. I have never had that much downtime healing in any other game I have played. I have never seen this argument in any other MMO I have played. Healing is way too powerful in this game and too automated. This is something that really needs to get sorted or it will continue causing problems. I don't want healer balance to be an excuse for healers to get sidelined again for new Jobs.

[HappyHubris]

As a person who has mained healer on different MMOs for the past 12 years, I can say that FF14's healing mechanics are by far the most underwhelming. I have never had that much downtime healing in any other game I have played. I have never seen this argument in any other MMO I have played. Healing is way too powerful in this game and too automated. This is something that really needs to get sorted or it will continue causing problems. I don't want healer balance to be an excuse for healers to get sidelined again for new Jobs.

Well written. We are in complete agreement. I enjoy healing immensely, but the limited mechanics/UI and dearth of healing needed make it a questionable role in FFXIV.

[TaleraRistain]

As a person who has mained healer on different MMOs for the past 12 years, I can say that FF14's healing mechanics are by far the most underwhelming. I have never had that much downtime healing in any other game I have played. I have never seen this argument in any other MMO I have played. Healing is way too powerful in this game and too automated. This is something that really needs to get sorted or it will continue causing problems.

Definitely agree there's way too much downtime with healing in this game. However, I wouldn't want to be a healbot. That was clerics back in EverQuest. I played a druid and they had a wider toolkit. But my cleric friend got bored being a healbot. Clerics had this spell called Yaulp that was a battle buff and the normal use was on others. But he would cast that on himself and dive right into the fray with his hammer. They need to balance things so we're not forced to turn to just dps to stay busy.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

As a person who has mained healer on different MMOs for the past 12 years, I can say that FF14's healing mechanics are by far the most underwhelming. I have never had that much downtime healing in any other game I have played. I have never seen this argument in any other MMO I have played. Healing is way too powerful in this game and too automated. This is something that really needs to get sorted or it will continue causing problems. I don't want healer balance to be an excuse for healers to get sidelined again for new Jobs.

I feel the same. For all the talk of healer DPS and the devs dislike of our expectations for it, this meta declines rapidly if content were tuned with volatile damage in mind. While I enjoy DPSing on my healers, I hate the sheer amount of downtime I'm given since it takes away part of the reward. Say I were only able to reasonably weave in 20-30% Cleric. That feeling rewarding, especially if I couldn't do it for the first couple weeks. Granted, tanking has a similar problem where you only ever feel like one if you pull the whole room. You certainly won't need CDs otherwise. Hopefully, Stormblood pushes the boundaries a little.

[Acidblood]

... Of course that quickly got derailed into an rather pointless argument over if healers should dps or not which wasn't what the thread was about. Seriously this discussion is getting old. Its not like either side is changing the others mind and its not like either side can force the other side to change their play style. People who don't want to dps will still not dps no matter how much people hate at them. People who kick healers not dpsing will still do it regardless. Both sides will fume and be salty about the other and in the end all this arguing will achieve nothing.

With all that said, I think the OP's point is something worth discussing. What should be the direction of healing gameplay in this game. Should SE be designing healers to be more like support dps rather than trying to fit them into a design the gameplay doesn't support? Or should they move back towards a healing model more similar to other games?

From the standpoint of being able to solo, healers need to be able to do a decent amount of DPS (lest they become a serious chore to level), but personally I feel their primary role should always remain healing with a certain amount of support (including shields, mitigation, HP boosts, etc. as purely reactive healing gets rather boring). Whether they should have any ability to boost party damage is up for debate...

That said, I've been thinking it could be a good idea to give healers some well-designed mechanics that actually encourages them to Always Be Casting.
For example, each healer could have some sort of resource that builds based on healing done (over heals don't count), damage done, and / or support given. This resource could then be spent to increase their own, and / or the party’s effectiveness, thus making an active play-style unquestionably 'the way' healers should be played... or are people still going to ignore this?

As for the content thing, I would love to see more challenging 4-man content, especially a true 'Expert' mode for dungeons... but that's another discussion. Failing that, would it work to revert Cleric Stance to an actual stance, having it as a flat boost to damage (and / or support) (e.g. +20%) at the cost of healing potency (e.g. -30%)? The idea being that in less demanding content you could actually heal it in Cleric Stance, adding a small challenge back to healing with the bonus of a boost to damage and / or support.

Edit: PS. This is how I think WHM should have been designed for 4.0