What exactly IS a White Mage?

[Ghishlain]

@Ghishlain I can see the pros to WHM, but while it can still function, it doesn't outweigh its cons.

Still, it's great that we can actually have a discussion like this on the forums. In regards to WHM however...the way you worded it makes me wonder if people will look at WHM's capabilities and simply turn to Di-AST instead since it has faster casts than WHM in all prospects. As for the OP I have above, generally it's not that I rage, but moreover I have more worry as to whether the devs will actually see their fallacy or not when it comes to healer balance.

Di-AST lost it's haste buff in Diurnal sect with 4.0 so WHM and AST GCDs function at the same speed, assuming Spell Speed is the same. AST also doesn't have the ability to make its GCDs faster - Pressence of Mind is a haste buff for WHM so it gets faster. This is in contrast to AST that can only front load their spells with Lightspeed, the recast for AST remains the same.

Di-AST also only has two oGCDs heals in the game - Essential Dignity and Earthly Star. One could argue Lady of the Crowns but that's RNG locked and the less of that card you see, the better you're augmenting your party DPS (mostly). Earthly Star also required planned usage, and in a PuG scenario, that's difficult to work around as not everyone knows to stand in the shiny circle.

This is compared to WHMs Tetra, Divine Benison, and Benediction with a side dish of Assize, Asylum, and Plenary Indulgence. WHMs have a lot more 0MP and instant options compared to Di-AST.

Therefore, Di-AST will be going to use their GCD heals sooner than WHM will in a low skilled group. Also, WHM GCD heals augment their recast via Lilies, making their CDs used more frequently. Say what you will about Lilies, it does get this aspect done... right. *Coughs softly*

Even with the fact WHM is non-meta, WHM still sees a lot of play in the Alphascape. Just look at number of WHM logs there are recorded and compare that to other jobs that are non-meta such as DRK, MCH, and SAM. WHM still has more logs listed than AST where as DRK, MCH, and SAM participation falls well behind PLD, WAR, BRD, DRG, NIN. Take into account this is a site that basically screams "run Meta to compete" and WHM still has more total logs listed than AST.

What does this mean about WHM in general? I'm honestly not sure. On one hand, I'd love some oil for the squeaky WHM machine because we honestly need to be at the top of the personal DPS chain for healers. With that being said, WHM brings a lot of strengths to the table that just aren't suited to a high skilled raid environment but the only way S-E will quell the WHM rage is to essential make WHM as powerful as Di-AST was in 3.4. On the other hand, S-E developers may be happy with WHM as is because it's an entry level healer that still sees a lot of play in the current juncture so they may just ignore WHM's protests outside of (hopefully) fixing Lilies and DPS in 5.0.