Has anyone quit healing?

[Tint]

Well I quit healing back in Heavensward when WHM got all these off-GCD heals. The dps uptime skyrocketet because of them and that was not the direction of gameplay I was interested in.

[Jirah]

On the contrary I’m using SCH and AST a lot more

I will not spit on the face of old mains and say they are perfect because I like them, I do miss the old card system and Fairies identity is getting redundant and SCH has hands down the worst AoE in the game. I mean AST gets gravity & earthly star, WHM gets Holy and assize SCH gets the purple fart known as Art of War and that’s it, being a healer being so close to the trash is a terrible design choice. WHM holy stuns so makes some sense. You know what would solve this? Giving SCH bloody shadow flare and giving Art of War a Mass Dot like
Miasma II did. Which begs the question why was it removed to begin with

I’m rambling I don’t hate healers, they’re fun. But boy they need work

[ItMe]

and SCH has hands down the worst AoE in the game.

I dunno, AST has so many mana problems I never even get to use it's AoE.
Plus, SCH def has the coolest one. You slap the ground and it explodes. That's pretty metal.

[Saefinn]

I dunno, AST has so many mana problems I never even get to use it's AoE.
Plus, SCH def has the coolest one. You slap the ground and it explodes. That's pretty metal.

It feels really lackluster compared to the others IMO, but am glad there's somebody out there who doesn't, but it's not even really an explosion just a quick flash of light that doesn't disappears almost instantly, if it was an explosion, then I might find it cool. Holy and Gravity feel like that have more of an impact from using them.

That said, I feel SCH should have just kept Miasma II, sure it didn't feel like it had an impact either, but it had a DoT tied to it and worked great as part of SCH's DoT mage aspect (Bane + Shadowflare + Miasma II, great AoE DoTing), so it didn't need anything more. Now that they've replaced Miasma with a Holy/Gravity equivalent, it just feels half-arsed IMO.

I wouldn't say AST's MP problems are so bad you cannot get Gravity off, I'm not a great AST as I am still in a learning curve with it, but I find I've tended to run into mana issues more in Nocturnal Sect and if overhealing too much. In a dungeon run, for example, I get loads of Gravities out.

[Suishouhime]

I still heal on occasion as a WHM, but my main has switched to SAM. My old main, AST, is the only class I haven't levelled to 80, because I find it so mind-numbingly dull; the new card "system" (being generous in calling it that) is all the worse knowing how much more engaging it used to be.

[Veis_Alveare]

I still heal on occasion as a WHM, but my main has switched to SAM. My old main, AST, is the only class I haven't levelled to 80, because I find it so mind-numbingly dull; the new card "system" (being generous in calling it that) is all the worse knowing how much more engaging it used to be.

Not that I'm the biggest fan of the card system as it's current iteration but what was super engaging about balance fishing? Like yeah, I enjoyed the old cards a bit more for sure, but it's not as if the new one is an overwhelming downgrade especially when you consider the other new tools we gained on AST like neutral and CI.

[Suishouhime]

Not that I'm the biggest fan of the card system as it's current iteration but what was super engaging about balance fishing? Like yeah, I enjoyed the old cards a bit more for sure, but it's not as if the new one is an overwhelming downgrade especially when you consider the other new tools we gained on AST like neutral and CI.

Because only bad ASTs reduced the class to Balance fishing, and, even so, Balance fishing was limited to parse-obsessed Savage raiders. Shockingly, some people used AST outside of weekly prog.

For example, I got plenty of use out of the other cards and their unique effects: Spear was fantastic when you had a party with a MNK or BRD, because the increased crit had a tangible impact on their rotation, and it felt good to know I was making their gameplay more enjoyable by proccing their skills more often; Arrow was fun to give to a NIN or MNK with a fast connection, so you could wind them up and watch them go ham; Bole was clutch in some of my tenser min-IL runs; Ewer saved some Alliance raids from wipes, giving me the MP I needed to solo-heal in the face of my co-healer deciding to tank mechanics or play green DPS in lieu of ressing the 3 dead in the party; even Spire was useful for a tank doing big dungeon pulls, or when DPS neglected their TP regeneration abilities.

I liked the versatility of the secondary card skills, as well. Lord and Lady of Crowns were excellent supplementary cards that saw active use for either extra DPS in the face of a suboptimal card or as a saving, healing grace to my dwindling MP. I enjoyed knowing which Royal Road buff was best for what situation, too: buffed potency Bole for a big dungeon pull on an undergeared tank, increased Spear duration for a MNK that's doing exceptionally well with their rotation, and so on.
The most that needed changing was Spire, to accommodate the removal of TP, and maybe a nerf to Balance.

Now, all of my gameplay is dedicated towards fishing for Seals, and I have literally nothing else to do and no variety of playstyle for different types of content. Is this the Seal I need for Divination? Yes? Cool. I'll play it, and give someone a buff to damage dealt. Is this not the seal I need for Divination? Cool. I'll flip it, and give the flipped card to someone to give them a buff to damage dealt. Just gotta collect the different colours like a child mashing coloured blocks into plastic holes, only to press yet another button that does the exact same thing as the other 2 buttons: a buff to damage dealt. The cards even tell you who to give it to in the tooltip, ranged or melee. No need to think about what classes would suit each card best, because they all do the same damn thing. Just a buff to damage dealt.

While I'm at it, I miss the buff extension skills, as well, and my stun, and the old Collective Unconscious. I miss the whole class, because what I have in 5.0 doesn't resemble AST at all.

[ty_taurus]

Rather than perpetuate this state where healer DPS is still expected with large DPS windows, but gimp each healer's DPS to the same bland rotation (if you can even call it that), I think the answer is to accept the healer's contribution to rDPS. The trick is rather than just making all the healers flat out have DPS rotations, each healer should approach in different ways that appeal to different types of healers, including the healers that don't want to DPS at all.

The Scholar should be the "green DPS." The faerie should be reworked to be your oGCD heal supplier, being the one who gives you all this GCD-free healing so long as you properly manage the faerie gauge (which should become a more prominent resource rather than a forgettable one). This would enable you to maximum your DPS uptime where you have a more complex DPS rotation, and I don't just mean 2 DoTs, Bane, and Shadowflare. I think they should actually have a more DPS-like set of offensive tools with their rotation focusing on damage vs faerie gauge management so they can keep DPS while they heal.

The Astrologian should be redesigned as the healer designed for players who don't want to DPS. Take offensive support off the oGCD cards and perhaps rework aspected heals and/or add new GCD tools that enhance the damage of you or your allies by a flat potency instead of percentages. Outside of Combust, your GCD spells should be entirely buffs and heals, and outside of Combust, your only other direct damage should come from actions that also heal, like Earthy Star. Maybe throw damage on top of Celestial Opposition as well, similar to Assize. I'd also be happy with returning to the old Lord and Lady, though rather then they be randomly pulled, they should just not consume your other cards, be on their own CD with 2 charges, and always alternate (Lord > Lady > Lord > Lady etc. every time).

The White Mage should be the happy medium using some direct DPS, but gating a lot of their DPS behind GCD healing. We already have this in some form with the lily system and Afflatus Misery. Make the lilies the core of your healing from much eariler. I'd actually say Regen and Medica II should get replaced with Afflatus Solace and Rapture, where those spells will work like Regen and Medica II but on the lily system instead. This way your most prominent GCD heals are the ones that reward this system. Additionally, I'd say Afflatus Misery should be stronger than Glare spam to encourage the player to prioritize GCD healing over GCD DPS when they have lilies as well as give them the ability to generate lilies more proactively. I imagine we could also see an Afflatus "Xenoglossy" to Misery's Foul that's single target which could help that system fight the Glare spamming. The trick is really to just make all the lily tools available much earlier so that they feel like the core of White Mage's playstyle in the majority of content and not just the new content.

[Side-Eye]

Because only bad ASTs reduced the class to Balance fishing, and, even so, Balance fishing was limited to parse-obsessed Savage raiders. Shockingly, some people used AST outside of weekly prog.

For example, I got plenty of use out of the other cards and their unique effects: Spear was fantastic when you had a party with a MNK or BRD, because the increased crit had a tangible impact on their rotation, and it felt good to know I was making their gameplay more enjoyable by proccing their skills more often; Arrow was fun to give to a NIN or MNK with a fast connection, so you could wind them up and watch them go ham; Bole was clutch in some of my tenser min-IL runs; Ewer saved some Alliance raids from wipes, giving me the MP I needed to solo-heal in the face of my co-healer deciding to tank mechanics or play green DPS in lieu of ressing the 3 dead in the party; even Spire was useful for a tank doing big dungeon pulls, or when DPS neglected their TP regeneration abilities.

I liked the versatility of the secondary card skills, as well. Lord and Lady of Crowns were excellent supplementary cards that saw active use for either extra DPS in the face of a suboptimal card or as a saving, healing grace to my dwindling MP. I enjoyed knowing which Royal Road buff was best for what situation, too: buffed potency Bole for a big dungeon pull on an undergeared tank, increased Spear duration for a MNK that's doing exceptionally well with their rotation, and so on.
The most that needed changing was Spire, to accommodate the removal of TP, and maybe a nerf to Balance.

Now, all of my gameplay is dedicated towards fishing for Seals, and I have literally nothing else to do and no variety of playstyle for different types of content. Is this the Seal I need for Divination? Yes? Cool. I'll play it, and give someone a buff to damage dealt. Is this not the seal I need for Divination? Cool. I'll flip it, and give the flipped card to someone to give them a buff to damage dealt. Just gotta collect the different colours like a child mashing coloured blocks into plastic holes, only to press yet another button that does the exact same thing as the other 2 buttons: a buff to damage dealt. The cards even tell you who to give it to in the tooltip, ranged or melee. No need to think about what classes would suit each card best, because they all do the same damn thing. Just a buff to damage dealt.

While I'm at it, I miss the buff extension skills, as well, and my stun, and the old Collective Unconscious. I miss the whole class, because what I have in 5.0 doesn't resemble AST at all.

Just gonna quote this whole post, since it states all that is true with AST past and present. I mean honestly, I do more "fishing" now for Seals than I ever did for Balance before 5.0.

[Saefinn]

Just gonna quote this whole post, since it states all that is true with AST past and present. I mean honestly, I do more "fishing" now for Seals than I ever did for Balance before 5.0.

I concur with that. I end up doing quite a bit of fishing at times trying to get a perfect divination and give up and go for a weaker one sometimes.

Yet the solution for card fishing was remarkably simple IMO.

Keep the old card system exactly as it was.
Change Minor Arcana to examctly what it is now.
Got a card you can't use? Turn it into a weaker version of the balance. Balance used to be 10% if I recall, Lord/Lady of crowns is 8% on the right match.
We'd still have Royal Road instead of Divination, so we'd not need to fish seals for a stronger AoE buff.

Also, talking of non-Balance cards, when I'd queue AST pre-ShB, I used to give Enhanced Arrows to a MNK friend whose motto as MNK is "gotta go fast". And that made a tangible difference to his play. Cards like the Bole and The Ewer, which always felt situational were still useful Royal Road cards.