GIVE SCHOLAR BANE AND FIX ART OF WAR MP AND WE'LL BE FINE

[dezzmont]

It depends on how rotations are implemented, but in general the more in depth a rotation is, the more punished you are for healing. This is why a lot of healer damage is DOT and why SCH manages to bring in much higher DPS numbers than WHM (20% is a lot, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise when they say 'the gap isn't that big') because of its focus on oGCD healing with minor DPS sacrifices in terms of aetherflow rather than sacrificing a full cast.

If one were to make more complicated DPS rotations, you would need to make it so they didn't conflict with healing in some way. For WHM, throwing one heal out every 30 minutes maximizes the efficiency from lost DPS by refunding 2 of the 3 lost casts in effect, which is pretty good as even SCH doesn't get away with never DPSing, but is worse in scenarios where you need to triage heal, aka a heal check.

I think the best solution is either to give healers a seperate DPS resource to weave (So like Fairy trance instead of dreadwyrm trance maybe?) or just extremely short OCGDs that combo (like 10 second, so you are basically using 3 attacks oGCD every 4 casts) and reducing the basic attack spell damage down to compensate. That way missing the basic spell costs less of your overall DPS, without increasing final DPS.

Other options include baking healing into DPS skill or vice versa via the use of an assist targeting system (A lot of MMOs do this but FFXIV likely can't due to technical limitations, so an oGCD 0 cooldown 'dance partner' style skill would allow this), so that you heal and DPS at the same time, ala WoW cat heal druid (an accidental and unintended but fun build where cat spec druids, aka the DPS spec druids, had an overtuned talent that healed an ally target on some attacks for quite a lot, making a DPS spec viable as a primary or off healer, which was quite fun and fair but can't have fun or fair in WoW nowadays...), or making things like offensive lily stronger so your optimal rotation ALWAYS includes strong healing.

In terms of easy to implement solutions, fixing WHM could be as easy as moving healing Lilly abilities to oGCDs so that you never lose DPS weaving them, making SCH get a second damage ability on a 10 second oGCD, and moving its dot to an oGCD so it has its weaving back. Astros are currently muddling over their changes, but my two cents is that hunting for the match game may take more mental effort than they realize, compared to the old style of cards where you essentially didn't make decisions but it felt like you did.

This all assumes healer resource management wont get more intense. If it does, I doubt healers will be very bored, as healer resource management is a very VERY high focus activity that is far more dynamic than people seem to think. If you had a complex attack rotation with WoW healers your brain would just melt trying to do complicated mental math around your mana while doing the rotation. They may not LIKE it, it definitely isn't boring.

[Eloah]

snip.

My initial thoughts were something along the lines of this:

SCH getting their old DoTs back, as well as oGCD skills to work with their kit, like Energy Drain.

WHM would have some kind of combo system, that feeds into itself to make it nice and rewarding. Basically you cast a spell and it does its damage but applies a status, you cast the next spell and it does its damage plus something extra for the first status, and either adds to that status or replaces it with something else. Then you cast a third spell that repeats the same process the second spell did. You'd then recast the third spell to refresh the status and get an extra damage boost if that status is already on the target. They'd also have an oGCD skill that does damage based on what status is on the target. There could even be multiple oGCD moves for each status if they remain seperated.

As for AST, I can see them using their cards as both buffs and attacks. I can't give a clear cut example, but they could use this new seal system to regulate their attacks. I also picture them getting "reverse DoTs" I'll call them. Basically, a spell cast on the target that compounds the damage inflicted on them and then it bursts for compounded damage, similar to Wildfire. Basically, a variety of spells that deal with time, and ways to manipulate them as needed.

Obviously balances would need to be made, but those are my thoughts on possible DPS rotations each healer could have, that hopefully makes them all feel unique, rewards them for DPSing, but also doesn't punish them for healing, God forbid.