Protect and what it means to you.

[AlphaSonic]

Useless skill, and pathetic reasoning for keeping it. Yoshi wanted to keep it because it's an 'iconic' FF skill....yet he killed Shell with no problem.

Yet there's no Reflect or Haste

[Hivernica]

Yet there's no Reflect or Haste

There is, just not for us unfortunately :/

As for protect, I wish they'd just get rid of it. A bunch of the role actions for healers actually feel mandatory and protect is just a once per 30mins thing unless someone dies. I'd rather take something else to be honest.

[Shikiseki]

I definitely agree that Protect needs a rework - the PvP version seems to come close to the original versions of Protect which is a quite basic White Magic spell throughout the series, alongside Shell.

I wouldn't mind them being White Mage only spells like Protect --> Protectga (via trait), Shell --> Shellga (via trait), Reflect (something like radiant shield) / Summoners can get Carbuncle Ruby Light which grands reflect on all, Haste --> Hastega (Arrow).

A job skill something like pray (free very little aoe heal on gcd) would be interesting to use, Dispel (another iconic white magic spell, situational but could be useful) and Blink (would have to have a higher cd).

[Pomelo]

They said they were getting rid of skills that are pointless or don't add to gameplay, and they got rid of stoneskin cos they kept hammering on about it only being used and then forgotten about....but they let Protect in because it gives a FF feeling?

I swear to god sometimes the dev's don't even know what they say. Like how contradictory can they get? REMOVE protect.

[Fortune_Cookie]

Where do you find these people? Granted I've not been playing for that long, but I've never even seen an argument in DF let alone participated in one. Nobody ever does or says anything crazy when I'm healing. I feel left out.

[IhzaMhaskova]

Healer Role "choices" themselves are silly.

Protect: Must-Have
Esuna: Must-Have
Swiftcast: Must-Have
Largesse: Must-have
Lucid Dreaming: Must-Have for WHM (dunno about AST).

So..... ya. I don't even know why they bothered with the other stuff because virtually no healer has room for half of it.

If you noticed 4/5 of your list of must haves used to be native to WHM.

Fun when you spend all your points getting back what you used to have.

[IhzaMhaskova]

They said they were getting rid of skills that are pointless or don't add to gameplay, and they got rid of stoneskin cos they kept hammering on about it only being used and then forgotten about....but they let Protect in because it gives a FF feeling?

I swear to god sometimes the dev's don't even know what they say. Like how contradictory can they get? REMOVE protect.

They didn't remove Stoneskin at all.

They renamed it Divine Benison, gave it a slight buff, and locked it behind having Lilies.

[Rawrz]

If you noticed 4/5 of your list of must haves used to be native to WHM.

Fun when you spend all your points getting back what you used to have.

Man I sure wish my Scholar could role back Aero (yes it's still a massive dps gain) , Blizzard II and virus. Guess I'll take this WHM junk I never wanted because my skills were taken away and killed, not just attached to a price tag.

[IhzaMhaskova]

Man I sure wish my Scholar could role back Aero (yes it's still a massive dps gain) , Blizzard II and virus. Guess I'll take this WHM junk I never wanted because my skills were taken away and killed, not just attached to a price tag.

I loved seeing SCH cast Aero.

Healers as a whole got the short end of the stick with the role abilities.

We all lost abilities (all healers had an Esuna action) and we lost a lot of dps options as well.

[Kabzy]

I kind of get the iconic thing, but I also think it should go to the iconic healer. Rework Protect into a buff, and then bring back other iconic White Magic spells like Reflect, Haste (maybe), Shell etc and give them to WHM. They could be weak buffs but it would give WHMs the utility they've been asking for, and it would make up for their lack of buttons right now.

Protect as it is basically contradicts their whole plan for 4.0. It's an ability that could be outright removed, saving skill bloat as well as a slot on the healer cross role abilities.