Please Nerf Shield Healer Pure Heals

[Ultimatecalibur]

They made this distinction back in ARR and the design reflected that and it worked but since ARR they've made the balance shift from shield healing to pure healing (and I think an unintentional shift), because SCH has enough efficiency in its oGCD "pure" heals to make shield healing redundant or not very efficient for a lot of content. Just like how for AST they mast Diurnal so efficient that Nocturnal became a niche use.

Sure SCH has a lot of mitigation potential, but if it's more efficient to pop an oGCD instead then their emphasis of "shield" and "pure" healers is moot for most content, like it is at the moment.

During most of ARR, Lustrate healed 20% of the targets maxhp rather than fixed potency. This caused Adloquium (600 potency 1260+ potency on a crit) to be the primary non-tank SCH heal for most content until Lustrate was buffed to be 600 potency after percentage based heals broke Ramuh EX's balance in 2.4.

It is interesting seeing the long term effects of such a change in hindsight.

[Semirhage]

During most of ARR, Lustrate healed 20% of the targets maxhp rather than fixed potency. This caused Adloquium (600 potency 1260+ potency on a crit) to be the primary non-tank SCH heal for most content until Lustrate was buffed to be 600 potency after percentage based heals broke Ramuh EX's balance in 2.4.

It is interesting seeing the long term effects of such a change in hindsight.

Yeah, I always thought 20% was more unique than a flat potency. Then again, this was the same team that nerfed Graniteskin and claimed an 18% shield from Stoneskin would "become too powerful as HP values increased". When I read that my brain went "....huh? How does that work? Don't ALL abilities become proportionally more powerful as gear increases, so being a percentage doesn't really matter as long as you aren't talking about niche cases like an NPC with a billion health?"

And now we have TBN, so it looks like they figured that out. Eventually. Not soon enough to revisit their prior stance on healer percentage-based abilities.

[Kabooa]

Yeah, I always thought 20% was more unique than a flat potency. Then again, this was the same team that nerfed Graniteskin and claimed an 18% shield from Stoneskin would "become too powerful as HP values increased". When I read that my brain went "....huh? How does that work? Don't ALL abilities become proportionally more powerful as gear increases.

Warrior.

And if you actually want more information, it's because 18% shields stepped on Scholar's toes and Adloqium, effectively requiring Critlo to be worth the use.

18% (or approximately 20%) was equal to about a cure 2 on tanks. Outside critlo, this is nearly twice as strong as the shield component of Scholar, no risk of wasted overhealing, for the same GCD cost.

Stoneskin stacked with other shields, and if I recall, this change didn't happen until Heavensward, so that was probably a factor to make sure Astro had a place.

[Semirhage]

Warrior.

And if you actually want more information, it's because 18% shields stepped on Scholar's toes and Adloqium, effectively requiring Critlo to be worth the use.

18% (or approximately 20%) was equal to about a cure 2 on tanks. Outside critlo, this is nearly twice as strong as the shield component of Scholar, no risk of wasted overhealing, for the same GCD cost.

Stoneskin stacked with other shields, and if I recall, this change didn't happen until Heavensward, so that was probably a factor to make sure Astro had a place.

Yeah that makes sense. They've been worried about (GCD) shield stacking for a while. And yet...Indomitability was a thing, and stepping on WHM's toes wasn't a concern there. I recall spending time on the forums pre-Heavensward squinting my eyes at several of Squeenix's decisions (like, better spread out Protect's magic defense, don't wanna make WHM mandatory or anything!) and noting that they didn't have anything like that concern for Scholar's already robust kit...and then we got an expansion where Scholar was top dog in a lot of areas.

Hindsight is a helluva drug though, I'm sure spotting design oddities back then was way more difficult than laughing at their stumbling from the future.

[Saefinn]

Warrior.

And if you actually want more information, it's because 18% shields stepped on Scholar's toes and Adloqium, effectively requiring Critlo to be worth the use.

18% (or approximately 20%) was equal to about a cure 2 on tanks. Outside critlo, this is nearly twice as strong as the shield component of Scholar, no risk of wasted overhealing, for the same GCD cost.

Stoneskin stacked with other shields, and if I recall, this change didn't happen until Heavensward, so that was probably a factor to make sure Astro had a place.

I don't think Graniteskin even really stepped on our toes too much, Stoneskin took an age to cast and was typically swiftcasted or cast at the start of the fight from what I recall. But it didn't tend to get used over other WHM heals except member in more niche situations whereas SCH's shields were its bread and butter and central to our healing kit. So I guess it could have been for when AST came out. Sure it meant WHM got a shield worth using, but hey, some circumstances need it, just like there are circumstances where SCH needs to be able to pure heal and had that tools for that...and then the devs had no qualms about SCH then stepping on WHM's toes in that respect by make it too good and pushing its shields into a secondary healing feature.

[ItMe]

after percentage based heals broke Ramuh EX's balance in 2.4.

What... what happened?
I wasn't around for 2.4. Can you tell me more about this?

[Semirhage]

What... what happened?
I wasn't around for 2.4. Can you tell me more about this?

Ramuh put a nasty (Infirmity? I think that's the one?) debuff on the tank as a way to punish and/or force a tank swap. This debuff basically wrecked incoming healing down to something like 5% of its incoming value, so you couldn't viably heal the tank until this debuff fell off. Except Lustrate, because it was coded as a flat "increase target's HP by 20% of their maximum" effect, which bypassed the debuff entirely.

[ItMe]

Ramuh put a nasty (Infirmity? I think [...]

Hahahah that's hilarious.
Did bringing a SCH or two let you run with only 1 tank?

[inhaledcorn]

Hahahah that's hilarious.
Did bringing a SCH or two let you run with only 1 tank?

It was two SCHs and a WHM. The SCHs planned Lustrate uses, the WHM was for Proshell and the emergency Benediction.