Ive no faith in SE/Yoshi-P when comes to balancing healers

[ForteNightshade]

1) Superior MP economy is a big part of thoroughput. It's because of this that WHM can heal so effectively since it's larger heals are tied to the GCD and it's mp pool. It makes it the least efficient healer but also offers more potential HPS when that efficency sacrifice is made.

Not when the content doesn't require it. The whole reason WHM falls out of favor so regularly isn't just cards but the simple fact this game does not necessitate raw healing thoroughput. Furthermore, just because WHM has better MP management does not mean it has a decisive edge. AST and SCH can manage easily by putting their resources towards healing instead of damage. The difference is they sacrifice what they're already better at and achieve the same thing. An AST playing more defensively with Boles and using Ewers on themselves is still better because WHM has literally nothing to offer when it comes to raid utility.

2) I understand that no one wants to admit it (or nearly no one) but for some groups that efficiency loss by taking a WHM is justifiable and the optimal choice if they aren't cootdinated enough to make the most of AST. Once you start forcing GCD healing you get into a territory where WHM's superior mp economy and the raw potency of Cure III matter. At the very high end these are weighted less... but most of the game and even most of the raid community aren't at the very high end, they're just making comps that they see the best of the best use without wondering if it's the best decision for them.

When we're discussing the overall merits of each individual healer, you do so assuming their strengths not their weaknesses. In a less coordinated group a SAM may be superior to DRG if the former is played by someone who knows how to get the most out of their job. That doesn't make SAM better than DRG—not by a mile. Furthermore, you are severely overrated the benefits of Cure III. Alphascape highlighted the weakness of it hence why AST was the preferred healer even for prog.

3) WHM has lagged behind in clear rates for the entire tier, this is due to a multitude of things not the least of which being the fact that Final Omega is basically designed to exacerbate it's weaknesses and downplay it's strength. The gap between WHM and AST has never even approached the gap between AST and SCH though, highlighting the true issue with healer balance being that SCH is too good. Even now WHM and AST are separated by a little more than 500 clears and SCH is 3k ahead of AST. If you want to point fingers at the problem healer there it is.

Is it simply SCH is too good or is there more to it then that? A significant factor for that discrepancy is due to how poorly WHM and AST synergize with one another. Assize and Earthly Star will frequently cause the other to overheal since you rarely need both, and you never want to sit on either. AST is also put at a disadvantage when played as a shield healer. What about WHM/SCH? The issue here is WHM simply doesn't provide enough to out stage AST. It's played because it can raise more easily and the job is a FF stable. But when looking at the overall efficiency of each healer, which is what you do when debating balance, WHM lags behind significantly. Put another way, if you have someone with 80% on AST and 95% on WHM, they would still be better off playing AST because the utility is that much better. And no, I don't simply mean cards. Collective, ED and Earthly are all insanely powerful—better than every one of WHM's counterparts.

4) You responded to me in this post and you finish up with "no, WHM isn't perfectly fine"... please, go ahead and quote where I said it was? I've advocated for an rDPS buff for WHM for a very long time now, I'm aware that it isn't perfect; I'm here because I'm bothered by the delusion that WHM is somehow so dramatically inferior in every way. It isn't. That's stupid. I started responding here because someone tried to claim that WHM didn't have the strongest raw healing of the three, another nonsensical rambling.

How about instead, I point to where I specifically mentioned someone else, making it fairly obvious I was referring to them? If you bothered to read. Of course. I quoted you because of my initial argument.

I can tell you don't play all 3 healers in any kind of setting where balance matters.

Just EX and Savage.

You severely overrate WHM's is healing thoroughput. It has an edge in that regard, but only in sub-optimal situations. Cure III is not nearly as good as you're giving it credit for. Assize is good, yes... except Earthly Star is better. It has nearly double the heal potency. Not to mention, holding Assize for specific mechanics will inevitably lose you casts. This not only harms your DPS but your MP. In most cases, it winds up being an overheal because the short CD works against it. Plenary is decent but requires heavy AoE damage in fairly quick succession. Asylum is garbage when held up against Collective. And while Benediction is also good, it has a very lengthily CD. Essential can nearly heal to full, and is on a 45 second CD.

That all being said, the crux of my argument wasn't to say WHM isn't good at healing nor to dismiss Cure III entirely—even if I don't hold it in the same regard you seem to. It was to dispel the belief AST and SCH needed to be brought up to WHM's healing level. They don't. Both are already capable of handling everything without skipping a beat. They may require a bit more work from the player to maximize their potential but neither of their healing has ever been an issue. It's entirely the lack of utility and oGCD weaving that holds WHM back.