Quote Originally Posted by Rydia_Misuto View Post
Healers have gained more tools in our kit over time, this is true, but having played all three jobs now on various alts, I can confirm what I suspected at launch is true: Healers are far too same-y now. Even moreso than tanks. Every single healer has a simple-to-manage mechanic and the same simplistic core healing spells. The only differences are animations, and minor specifics.
I play all three healers too, and it would seem that some are missing the point entirely with what is wrong with them. Gripes like this one are not only miniscule, but debatable. Healers have always healed the same way. All of them have a modest set of both gcd and ogcd heals to get the job done. The true difference with the methods used with healing is HoT, shields, and direct healing through gcds.

The latter of those three is currently frowned upon mainly because gcds used on anything other than damage is considered a loss. GCDs are used on HoTs and shields as well, but they bring the added benefit of increasing DPS windows for the healer. OGCDs can also be considered a method of healing, and quite honestly is the current method used by optimizing healers. However, ogcd heals by themselves is a big part of what's wrong with healing. You can basically strike out the three previous methods. They are ALL sub-optimal. As is Noct AST. Another problem.

To say that the three healers play the same way is erroneous. Their DPS kits have been homogenized, but each has a core mechanic the other healer does not. Whether or not you enjoy these individual mechanics is not really relevant. What matters is that WHM and SCH isn't spreading dmg buffs and working towards Divination. AST and SCH are not watching Lilies to hit mobs with Misery. WHM and AST are not primary shielders, and do not manage a fairy. While a lot of that management has gone away. Proper placement and utilization of Lilies abilities are important to optimizing the SCH kit - as it always has been.

Healer DPSing is the most egregious failure at this time. Having played Dancer, I had the realization that Dancer could very easily have just been a healer class. Keep the core mechanics, adjust potencies and cooldowns for OGCDs, add in fundamental required spells, add some synergy and it's suddenly a SUPER fun healer with actual engaging mechanics.

Pressing Dia and Glare is incredibly boring and unfulfilling. Every melee DPS had their AOE expanded beyond one button, as did every tank. Please give healers more to do. I'm already keeping my party healed well enough and no matter how much damage I do it still feels boring to hit the same one button every time through DPSing. I desperately want more interactivity. White Mage at 80 has less going on DPS-wise than any DPS /class/ has. Not jobs - /class/. The fact Scholar has DPS tools taken away from them that Arcanist had feels incredibly irritating.
Again, to focus on the DPS kits of our healers is to miss the mark with what's wrong with healing entirely. No matter how we do it, DPSing during combat is filler during downtime. I hate to say it, but if you want a more complex DPS rotation then play a DPS job. The glairing issue is the downtime. If healers are DPSing the majority of an encounter due to their design, predictability, lack of threat etc. this is a HUGE problem; especially if SE wants to go the direction of healers being more like healers.

If the game is truly experiencing a shortage of healers in endgame, it only makes my own predictions true. I said with this expansion we would learn who our true healers are, and who are the DPS minded dressed in healer gowns. This doesn't mean that healers still queueing up don't have issues with healing. They do, but they also acknowledge the lack of healing requirements and SEs reluctance to increase them. Take away your ogcds, and healing immediately becomes more interesting - assuming you actually like to heal and not just toss them out like free candy between gcds used on DPSing.

Healing should either be more challenging, or DPSing should be more engaging. Or, preferably, both. The only reason to keep healing simple is to draw new players into it, but the queue times and the people jumping ship make it clear this is backfiring. Nobody wants to stick with healing when it's so acutely boring all the way up the chain.
I will definitely agree with you here. However, going back to HW and SB, the only time I ever felt engaged as a healer is when I actually had to heal. This is why I spent the majority of my time doing EX trials and 24-man via the duty finder. While the mechanics were predictable, who would and who would not get hit by them never was. OGCD heals were never enough to get through those things, and I loved every minute of it.