The Case for the WHM Party Buff

[Shurrikhan]

That said, I do think WHM should get some utility, but it doesn't necessarily need to be directly dps oriented.
A speed and MP regen buff would work well, like Arrow+Ewer, now that theyre gone. It would play into their strengths, and suit the water and wind elemental symbolism.

It still wouldnt have more than a marginal effect on dps though. For that they either need instant/shorter cast times, or just a flat potency buff.

I could see the Ewer, but +%Attack Speed is essentially just +%Damage but with direct damage being more greatly affected (10% attack speed = 11.1% bonus direct damage over time) while periodic damage and abilities benefit naught.

It was actually kind of a wonder to me that Thin Air didn't... you know... affect the area (air?) around you? That might actually over-solidify WHM as the progression healer of choice, and wholly deservedly this time, but even a more minor spread effect would be significant.

Meanwhile, honestly, I'd just love to see some manner of oGCD full-cleanse on charges (maybe via... Fluid Aura) and a target, point-AoE, or affected-area movement speed buff.

That said, I do think WHM should get some utility, but it doesn't necessarily need to be directly dps oriented.
A speed and MP regen buff would work well, like Arrow+Ewer, now that theyre gone. It would play into their strengths, and suit the water and wind elemental symbolism.

It still wouldnt have more than a marginal effect on dps though. For that they either need instant/shorter cast times, or just a flat potency buff.

I could see the Ewer, but +%Attack Speed is essentially just +%Damage but with direct damage being more greatly affected (10% attack speed = 11.1% bonus direct damage over time) while periodic damage and abilities benefit naught.

It was actually kind of a wonder to me that Thin Air didn't... you know... affect the area (air?) around you? That might actually over-solidify WHM as the progression healer of choice, and wholly deservedly this time, but even a more minor spread effect would be significant.

Meanwhile, honestly, I'd just love to see some manner of oGCD full-cleanse on charges (maybe via... Fluid Aura) and a target, point-AoE, or affected-area movement speed buff.

Aside from that, though, I just want some more responsive heals (which it seems we're getting, though I'm not a huge fan of what just amounts to a fancy shared-charge system), and to either be compensated for casts per fight lost to poor weaving or to have easier weaving. Heck, even just a Thundercloud-esque Aero II/III proc would probably do wonders.

Separately...

Let's also not forget that %Healing_GCDs has a feedback loop of sorts. The more your combination of healers loses by your filling the shared duty of a given GCD heal, the more likely you will (and should) make the other healer perform that heal. For this reason, one of the easiest ways to screw over "WHM dps" (although an irrelevant metric, as only the healer-pair's total actually matters) is to simply give WHM better GCD healing.

[ForteNightshade]

It was actually kind of a wonder to me that Thin Air didn't... you know... affect the area (air?) around you? That might actually over-solidify WHM as the progression healer of choice, and wholly deservedly this time, but even a more minor spread effect would be significant.

This would allow BLMs to spam Fire IV, pausing only to refresh their Astral Fire. Combined that with AST cards and DNC and you just created a meta where BLM is absolutely dominate. Thin Air is far too strong an ability to ever be made AoE.