Nobody Really Wants To Heal

[Bahati]

I would rather have zero DPS skills and play content that actually hurts. I don't care if it's as simple as more unavoidable damage, more poxes upon the party I have to esuna or more bleeding mechanics I have to HOT through.

I just want to heal, is that so much to ask? It's very annoying to be expected to play a healer as if I'm a sad excuse of a DPS class with healing as an afterthought depending on who can't move in time.

[Penthea]

I would rather have zero DPS skills and play content that actually hurts. I don't care if it's as simple as more unavoidable damage, more poxes upon the party I have to esuna or more bleeding mechanics I have to HOT through.

I just want to heal, is that so much to ask? It's very annoying to be expected to play a healer as if I'm a sad excuse of a DPS class with healing as an afterthought depending on who can't move in time.

My biggest problem with the whole "healers should always dps!" mentality is that healers are expected to be hybrids so they must use both their offensive and support spells, while dps are rarely expected to use their defensive and supportive abilities aside from ressing. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen a dps being told off for not using support abilities which would actually permit healers more to do dps, yet I see snarky remarks about dps being directed to healers pretty often. And this isn't because dps usually use their full kit. In my experience they rarely do.

The cherry on top is when I look up some of the players in these forums on fflogs who complain about healers being unable to balance both dps and healing, while often their own logs show some pitiful dps numbers and usually an utter lack of using support abilities.

The hypocrisy drives me mad.

[Liam_Harper]

I would rather have zero DPS skills and play content that actually hurts.

Why not have content that actually hurts and often requires constant healing and have your dps skills? In which case it wouldn't be expected of you, but more a bonus and a higher skill ceiling.

Those who argue for dpsing as a healer do want healing to still be the primary focus. Higher damage intake would be great. But the appeal of the role for a lot of players is being able to contribute more to the party than a simple dps. Being able to keep your entire party alive flawlessly and adding a few thousand extra raid dps makes you very valuable to a group, especially when high end fights are on timers. It rewards playing exceptionally well. That appeals to some players.