The Future of healers

[Bastionus]

I realize for many this is a faus pas within the community but years ago I played WOW. Now WOW healers had very interesting healing kits, such as bouncing heals that triggered off other heals such as waves of healing so it would trigger often targeting the next player at lowest hp, seed hots when hit with another heal would bloom into an aoe heal, a heal that triggers another heal into another sort of like a healing rotation with sometimes branches, shields that when target player with said shield gets healed it buffs the shield to a cap or adds a regen.

Now I realize atm this is probably too much as it seems to me at least that FF14 is trying to make healing jobs perhaps more simpler or pure healers? I like the direction of this idea, I do not like the identity of classes and what people are used to in others being taken away (I am an Astro main so for me its identity and the taken away remark is for Scholars).

I think what would be beneficial is if we could have the long term plans of what is in store for the healers happen now or be available soon, but sadly I feel like we have to wait for another expansion in order to see these changes fleshed out. Until then it appears to just be a case of being scared of change and with good reason for some or many.

All I can do though is play old content to have good memories of what is soon going to be 'what once was' and try my best to give my opinion on what I think was right and wrong with the changes and hope for engaging healer jobs skills and actions in the future that will not just make our healing capabilities more interesting but perhaps with some side flair like Afflatus Misery perhaps? Where our healing will be rewarded with dps?

P.S. I would love a starfall-esque ability for Astro <3

[Atlantasia]

Mmm, it's not change people are concerned with so much as they can look at what's been previewed and have a fairly accurate idea of what that will play like based on past changes and how things currently play. We know it is unlikely level 1 to 70 content will be altered to reflect the new changes in healers. So even if the level 71 to 80 content is more intensive in the heals and engaging because of it, it still leaves prior content as less engaging.

I didn't have to wait until SB to know Lilies were meh at best back then though. Most people are upset because they look at these changes and they see classes they enjoy as now less unique, less engaging, and less fun. That's not a good place to be going into an expansion where the hype should be real.

I am fine personally with mostly healing, but it must be engaging to do so. I don't think the developers can make it so given the code they have to work with and the servers themselves. I'd be glad to be proven wrong though. But I also want prior content to remain engaging... as someone who loves leveling alts.

[Truen]

Most people are upset because they look at these changes and they see classes they enjoy as now less unique, less engaging, and less fun. That's not a good place to be going into an expansion where the hype should be real.

Sad and true. 5.0 will ruin my favorite healer. I've all but stopped logging in the last few weeks as a result. I couldn't be more unhappy.

[TraeSnow]

Mmm, it's not change people are concerned with so much as they can look at what's been previewed and have a fairly accurate idea of what that will play like based on past changes and how things currently play. We know it is unlikely level 1 to 70 content will be altered to reflect the new changes in healers. So even if the level 71 to 80 content is more intensive in the heals and engaging because of it, it still leaves prior content as less engaging.

I didn't have to wait until SB to know Lilies were meh at best back then though. Most people are upset because they look at these changes and they see classes they enjoy as now less unique, less engaging, and less fun. That's not a good place to be going into an expansion where the hype should be real.

I am fine personally with mostly healing, but it must be engaging to do so. I don't think the developers can make it so given the code they have to work with and the servers themselves. I'd be glad to be proven wrong though. But I also want prior content to remain engaging... as someone who loves leveling alts.

Balance has always been adjusted for end game, which would be lvl 80 content in ShB. So the concern of the play style pre ShB is kind of a irrelevant (With the exception of two trials but I'm sure SE will balance around them).

Tbh I'm rather disappointed in most healers recently. I've been seeing a lot of healers with the same generic answer of "can't even play healer anymore they ruined the job so I'm forced to play tank or dps" when in reality, if these healers that claim to "I love healing SOOO MUCH, it's by far my favorite job!" yet jumping ship. My viewpoint could be skewed, but SMN in 2.0 was trash, low tier damage, no mp sustain, etc. It had a lot of issues, but I still mained SMN because I loved the job at it's core. I dealt with the terrible SMN for 2 years before it got it's major change. So when I see other people who claim to "love their main so much" yet jump ship ASAP just disappoints me.

[Ilenya]

...if these healers that claim to "I love healing SOOO MUCH, it's by far my favorite job!" yet jumping ship.

Some people liked healing in this because it was constantly engaging, from the Stance Dancing Cleric's fun until SB to the fact we could still work with DPSing and healing constantly, still do our jobs while helping out the group in other ways. SE has, for this expansion, basically said "That way of playing is wrong." and left a lot of us in doubt as to whether or not healing will be engaging or fun. It could be, and some of my most fun on a Scholar were the moments where I had to keep everyone alive moments from deaths and/or wipes, but there's been nothing to show that this will actually be the case.

Remember, you can like healing, but if the jobs aren't still fun and engaging, you may not like the jobs. Seeing as there isn't even a new healer to get that brand new healer playtime in, it doesn't surprise me that a lot of healers are getting burned out. This is the second expansion in a row we didn't get a healer, the second they said they were going to balance healers, and the second all the information we have so far looks boring at best. I don't blame people for jumping, and while I will still be going through the story on my Scholar (I don't usually use SMN for solo instances), there is a very real chance that the fun I have currently is just...Gone.

[Atlantasia]

Balance has always been adjusted for end game, which would be lvl 80 content in ShB. So the concern of the play style pre ShB is kind of a irrelevant (With the exception of two trials but I'm sure SE will balance around them).

Tbh I'm rather disappointed in most healers recently. I've been seeing a lot of healers with the same generic answer of "can't even play healer anymore they ruined the job so I'm forced to play tank or dps" when in reality, if these healers that claim to "I love healing SOOO MUCH, it's by far my favorite job!" yet jumping ship. My viewpoint could be skewed, but SMN in 2.0 was trash, low tier damage, no mp sustain, etc. It had a lot of issues, but I still mained SMN because I loved the job at it's core. I dealt with the terrible SMN for 2 years before it got it's major change. So when I see other people who claim to "love their main so much" yet jump ship ASAP just disappoints me.

I've been maining WHM since the launch of ARR. I've held out for years now for WHM to be made more engaging, fun and unique while also becoming competitive on some level with the other two healers. How many more years and expansions do I have to go through to obtain this? Time and time again they take our skills and make them role actions or they feed them back to us as a higher level skill with a longer cool down. When is it too much? When is the time to move on? It depends on the person, but my patience and hope is wearing ever thinner. For some people that hope has died with what we've seen. The previews will only change potenties of the skills, but not the skills themselves and I'm not impressed. Simple as that. WHM didn't get gutted like SCH or slapped like AST, but it was behind the other two to begin with. Nothing's changed based on what I'm seeing. It's not like I won't level all my classes to 80, as a completionist, this was already in the cards, but unless I find them engaging still, I'm not going to keep playing them past that, not if my current level of fun with the classes is diminished even further.

[Urthdigger]

I would not mind playing a pure healer IF I felt like I was actually useful for the entire fight regardless of difficulty.

[DiznypKC]

Honestly, my hype for the expac has been slowly drained out of me as every detailed announcement came to light. I was super excited at the Vegas Fan Fest when it was announced. But that excitement was crushed during Tokyo. It rekindled a little bit after reading an interview regarding healer balance.

But, man, after these details were released last month, I’m almost dreading this expac now. I’ve been healing since I picked up the 2.0 beta, and now I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to continue.

Probably just end up going Dancer. At least they look interesting?

[Seoulstar]

Honestly, my hype for the expac has been slowly drained out of me as every detailed announcement came to light. I was super excited at the Vegas Fan Fest when it was announced. But that excitement was crushed during Tokyo. It rekindled a little bit after reading an interview regarding healer balance.

But, man, after these details were released last month, I’m almost dreading this expac now. I’ve been healing since I picked up the 2.0 beta, and now I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to continue.

Probably just end up going Dancer. At least they look interesting?

Sums it up well...this will be the first time that I don't plan to continue healing in something and that thought itself scares me.