If AST/WHM is a thing, it's not because WHM is stronger than SCH

[Katryn]

No matter what SE does, the fact that the community always wants to select two healers at the exclusion of a third, rather than figuring out how to make each viable and selecting composition based on available players, will remain a problem. There is always going to be someone who is 'last' unless SE redesigns the healing jobs to have identical toolkits with only cosmetic differences separating them. I don't think we want that, but much like how SE wants the game played a certain way and the meta goes another, that is a curveball we may be risking.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

No matter what SE does, the fact that the community always wants to select two healers at the exclusion of a third, rather than figuring out how to make each viable and selecting composition based on available players, will remain a problem. There is always going to be someone who is 'last' unless SE redesigns the healing jobs to have identical toolkits with only cosmetic differences separating them. I don't think we want that, but much like how SE wants the game played a certain way and the meta goes another, that is a curveball we may be risking.

This is only partially true. Some people are beholden to whatever is "meta," but the vast majority are flexible. Black Mage and Summoner frequently stepped into even hardcore groups during Creator despite Bard and Machinist being better. Why? They were both strong. The issue isn't one job being inevitably left behind, but whether it's too weak relative to its counterparts. Take Machinist currently. It's utterly worthless; inferior support and DPS alike, people are switching because it offers nothing. On the other hand, you won't see groups during away Dragoon.

All the devs need do is make each job strong enough it doesn't feel like a hindrance without one. Unfortunately, the healer meta is "Astro and the other one."