Next new job better be heals

[GrimGale]

Interestingly, WOL always shows up solo in his fights (Mostly.) Healers are a team based role. They are support. They need somebody to support. WOL is the protagonist of a game, the face. He doesn't support. He GETS support (Or not at all, so he can slay monsters solo. Which is a wierd choice for an MMO. Your face for the game is a dude that beats everything on his own.)

So no. No way we are going to see WoL as a healer, ever.

[Sloprano]

Interestingly, WOL always shows up solo in his fights (Mostly.) Healers are a team based role. They are support. They need somebody to support. WOL is the protagonist of a game, the face. He doesn't support. He GETS support (Or not at all, so he can slay monsters solo. Which is a wierd choice for an MMO. Your face for the game is a dude that beats everything on his own.)

So no. No way we are going to see WoL as a healer, ever.

Had this been EQ or early WoW, I would've concurred; where leaving town on a Protection or Holy spec would see neither your defence or healing last you long enough alone against two mobs, one was streching it. But I'm encumbered by the wisdom of yore and not only remember a time Scholar kicked all kinds of ass on their own, and looked damned fine when doing it. Comes back to the image problem: Healers only have the most embryonic spells, the kind you get at level 4 in any RPG: Seeing Steel Cyclone in the ARR trailer was ace, made better by the fact that the exact same move could be made in-game. So I'm all for seeing a White Mage Holy-ing and Misery-ing, Astrologians bringing down planets and seeing the future then changing it, and Scholar just spreading sickness and miasma all around in gloricous technicolor spectiacle. And then you start the game and see you get to use this on a regular basis aswell.

Right now SE forced us into putting all points into getting a ton of oGCD heals, despite knowing full well we are able to take these jobs to the MSQ, and any other Q, where a lot of fighting will happen. Seemingly also unaware we can be any job on any character, making the streamlining quaint. If not also extremely sad for everyone involved.

Hope is faint, but then again, we did get ARR, we got WAR rework, we got male bunny suits, we got Miasma 2 back (for a short while), we got viera and 5.0 Healer changes happend. If all that is possible then I like to believe anything is.

[Recon1o6]

Next job should be a healer one, and it should be a unique healer to go along with the other 3. Ideally all will have their own niches and abilities. 2 fixed and 2 flexible healers
All healers have a healing component and a downtime component

Astrologian- Regen/Shield, large hits and buffing
Scholar- Shields, dots and debuffing
White mage- Regens and damage
New healer- Regen/Shield and battlefield support (silence, stun, CC, manouvering themselves and other players)

I personally think we should have a chemist. Get a science based healer in, one that isn't focused around magic for once. Give it the Seal system but expanded to be used at 1 or 2 seals, or ingredients to make different effects so Astro can go back to having a proper buff and time manipulation system
It should have armour of various kinds to get shut of all the robes and coats we've had to suffer. Make it so its not overly feminine like the others.


I'm not holding my breath

[Seraphor]

I think proper healer balance will only come about with a fourth healer, and distancing away from this dichotomy of regens and shields.
We forget that SCH already covers all bases. It's primarily focused on shields, but it also has regens, automatic heals from the fairy, and the Tactics skills turn shields into pure heals.
WHM now has one shield, and of course AST hits either/or and both at once with Neutral sect. So they're already on the way there.

Like Tanks, all healers need to be capable of both regens and shields. They should gain their identity via how these shields and regens are applied.
SCH has their Tactics as I mentioned, AST has their sects. Just give WHM extra shielding capability even if it's not as prominent as the other due it it's higher pure heal potencies. Then the fourth healer needs to similarly be able to bestow both regens and shields.

If they do this, then all they need to focus on is unique and interesting DPS skills.

[YusiKha]

...2 fixed and 2 flexible healers...

Why can't all 4 healers be flexible, but instead of an arbitrary sect choice (regen sects will always be preferable since regens are better than shields) but have both regens and shields inherently their kits?
That way the jobs would be propped up on their inherent kit advantages (say SCH is better at reducing incoming damage but worse at sustained AoE healing, or WHM is generally good but has poor movement options) and a player's preference on healing style (Straight heals, Delayed Heals, Modifying Buffs, Aura Effects, Buddy-System, Stronger-on-low-HP heals).
But no. We just have 'well we gotta have a shield and regen healer because we gotta' even when shields aren't necessary for clearing the fights.

[Side-Eye]

The next heal job will very likely be a reactive trade-off healer which converts damage to healing. It will be insanely popular for the first month of 6.0.. and healer mains will lose their fkn minds over the old heal jobs' stagnant dps rotations. Betcha.

[NobleWinter]

I definitely see WHM getting StoneSkin II back for raidwide shielding without the silly restriction for being outside of combat. Let all the healers have some shielding and regens and interesting reactions between their healing skills to differentiate how they play. We were on the right track in Heavenward and fell so far away from unique gameplay with each successive expansion.

[BasicBlake]

I definitely see WHM getting StoneSkin II back for raidwide shielding without the silly restriction for being outside of combat. Let all the healers have some shielding and regens and interesting reactions between their healing skills to differentiate how they play. We were on the right track in Heavenward and fell so far away from unique gameplay with each successive expansion.

So they lost access to the Stone spell but will be able to harness it in another way via Stoneskin?

[MirronTulaxia]

Kind of hope they drop Fluid Aura if we continue the pruning of skills. It’s kind of pointless as is. The knock back at least made it useful for soloing at times.

And I wouldn’t be surprised, presuming they brought back a Stoneskin like effect, if it was similarly holy themed. Most of their kit already is after all, and Divine Benison is their current HP Bubble which has a holy theme. I do miss Stoneskin though, was nice to have.

[NobleWinter]

Yes, I feel like WHM evolution should be such that they realize Holy Magic can be incredibly devastating from their interactions with Sin Eaters on the first and thus aptly becomes their main tool for attack while they rely on their Conjurer roots to heal and protect allies with Stone Skin for defense, water Spells for Healing, and Wind Spells for mobility. Hopefully in the next expansion WHM gets a Wind Based mobility tool along with a party wide StoneSkin to add the elemental flavor back into their tool kit.