Should WHM get a personal damage buff?

[MoroMurasaki]

Something I worry about in the event WHM is buffed, either through a personal dps buff or the addition of an rDPS ability - how long before SCH and AST are crying about WHM's greater potential HPS?

The situation we see now lets WHM get away with having amazing raw healing potential because they lack an rDPS buff... so what would get taken away for this increase in utility?

[Shurrikhan]

Something I worry about in the event WHM is buffed, either through a personal dps buff or the addition of an rDPS ability - how long before SCH and AST are crying about WHM's greater potential HPS?

The situation we see now lets WHM get away with having amazing raw healing potential because they lack an rDPS buff... so what would get taken away for this increase in utility?

Presumably, yes.

At best there'd need to be a way that interlinks HPS and DPS -- such that the rDPS gap is decreased as the other benefits of WHM come to shine through, but the implications of that are off-putting as well, as on any fight that truly requires very little healing, they'd still fall behind.

Had classes been viable alternatives all the way up to level cap, for instance, one might imagine Stone casts contributing to empowered Stoneskin casts (quicker, stronger, etc.), Wind contributing to Attack Speed, and -- more importantly -- water (including all heals) adding bonus potency to be spent by any other element types. In this way, the HPS advantage can't get out of hand, but simultaneous output would be bridged towards that of AST or SCH.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Something I worry about in the event WHM is buffed, either through a personal dps buff or the addition of an rDPS ability - how long before SCH and AST are crying about WHM's greater potential HPS?

The situation we see now lets WHM get away with having amazing raw healing potential because they lack an rDPS buff... so what would get taken away for this increase in utility?

To be honest, would it be such a bad thing? There is rarely anything in this game that actually needs a WHMs full healing power, and every healer can handle any situation just as well. I wouldn't exactly mind losing exclusive rights to Cure III if it meant I could contribute more to my party.

That being said, it would definitely put a dent in their already shaky identity...

[Risvertasashi]

To be honest, would it be such a bad thing? There is rarely anything in this game that actually needs a WHMs full healing power, and every healer can handle any situation just as well. I wouldn't exactly mind losing exclusive rights to Cure III if it meant I could contribute more to my party.

That being said, it would definitely put a dent in their already shaky identity...

If we trusted SE, no it wouldn't be such a bad thing. But to be blunt, I don't really. Healer balance is on a knife's edge; it's ok, but even a gentle nudge could bring it all crashing down. So, personally, I don't really want to chance SE touching it.

In particular, for whatever reason... SE hasn't minded throwing quite a bit (nearly all of it) of WHM utility into cross class, and now role shared actions. Yet SE doesn't want to do this with things like Balance or Chain Strategem, even though such things in role shared actions would make balancing a lot easier. As you've noted, WHM's identity is shaky.

I don't know, is heavensward faded from memory already? We've seen this dance before.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

If we trusted SE, no it wouldn't be such a bad thing. But to be blunt, I don't really. .

Don't get me wrong, I personally think SE are clueless when it comes to healers, to the point where I actually dread another healer joining the fray because we have JUST enjoyed some semblance of balance among healers for the first time since HW launch, and I don't want to see it all screwed over again.

But really, despite my worry of SE creating another HW WHM, I really need to see a solid identity for them before we go forward. I mean, we consider WHM the king of healing, but what does that really mean? All healers can heal everything just as fine, so where's the uniqueness in WHM?
You can tell it's bad when the job mechanic for WHM, lilies, feels like a slapped on afterthought.
If WHM really had an identity and uniqueness, they could have thought of something better to give them other than CD reduction.


Despite my worries, I think they should at least really hone in on it's identity instead of leaving it be and we're in the same position, once again, in 5.0.

[Ghishlain]

WHM is a pure raw healer and raw DPS train that never runs out of gas - that is the WHM identity. It just so happens that that identity isn't optimal for meta speed clears, but it doesn't mean WHM lacks identity in my mind.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

WHM is a pure raw healer and raw DPS train that never runs out of gas - that is the WHM identity. It just so happens that that identity isn't optimal for meta speed clears, but it doesn't mean WHM lacks identity in my mind.

It's an identity, but a shaky one at best.
If, at any point, one of the healers does more damage or more healing, WHMs identity is instantly called into question. This won't happen to the other healers as they have very unique identities for themselves.

Obviously the solution would simply be to never make a healer stronger than WHM healing/DPS, but we all know SE isn't exactly perfect at balancing.

[basketofseals]

It's an identity, but a shaky one at best.
If, at any point, one of the healers does more damage or more healing, WHMs identity is instantly called into question. This won't happen to the other healers as they have very unique identities for themselves.

Obviously the solution would simply be to never make a healer stronger than WHM healing/DPS, but we all know SE isn't exactly perfect at balancing.

With cure 3 and thin air, I find it hard to believe it will ever be out done in healing potency.

Personally I think the one that lacks an identity is AST. Their buffs are on par or worse than SCH, and they have very little healing abilities to write home about besides Earthly Star.

[Samsta]

Something I worry about in the event WHM is buffed, either through a personal dps buff or the addition of an rDPS ability - how long before SCH and AST are crying about WHM's greater potential HPS?

The situation we see now lets WHM get away with having amazing raw healing potential because they lack an rDPS buff... so what would get taken away for this increase in utility?

I don't even understand how whm has THAT great of a healing power compared to the other two healers. Sure there are a couple more cd's but that's it. Astrologian with either sect actually has higher potency base heals than whm. with cure 3 For aoe healing sure, but you almost never need to continuosly aoe heal to the point where the other healers can't keep up. Raw single target healing is only a little stronger due to benediction, otherwise I don't see how whm is this incredible healing machine.

[Shurrikhan]

<Edited for clarity of context>

With cure 3 and thin air, I find it hard to believe it will ever be out done in healing potency.

If a pure HPS advantage is what WHM identity is to be based on -- which is the question here, at the moment: one of identity -- then consider:

In terms of potential burst, a crit Deployment more than gives WHM a run for its money, especially now that Sacred Seal is gone. On a Warrior with Convalescence, Minne, and either a Mantra or Fey Illumination, that's a 1344+ potency AoE shield. Earthly Star, Lightspeed Noct Helix x2, and Collective Unconscious can likewise put just as much healing/shielding burst as a Cure III spam + Asylum + Assize over the same amount of time.

Among optimization tasked to spend the fewest GCDs possible on heals, the sustained HPS of WHM means less and less. Much the same can be said of Thin Air (over)heal potential.

And speaking of sustained, Noct Aspected Helix cuts a middle ground right between Medica and Cure III, but has the added advantage of an eHP bonus over Med and a whole lot more range over C3...
(And then there's the far more reliable, and instant, 700-potency heal-shield to step soundly atop SCH's toes in the absence of the 'original shielder'.)

Edit: My apologies, I forgot Noct A.Helix uses a reduced potency. It's merely 431.