White-mage is doomed - and why

[Semirhage]

I have yet to see a single post that says AST and SCH "Deserve" mandatory meta slots. I've love for you to prove me wrong if you have the proof, but otherwise, that argument is nothing more than a Strawman.

Literally all of the bitching on these forums that Glare "deserved" nerfs when 5.0 dropped because dirty White Mage DARED to outdamage precious Astro and Scholar.

They never come out and say WHM deserves to be inferior. It's always "give them something to do, sure!" "WHAT!? WHM IS MORE POWEFUL THAN ME!? NERF IT NERF IT! I'M MORE COMPLEX AND DESERVE MORE OUTPUT!"

Scholar mains pitch a fit anytime it even looks like they might for ten seconds be off-meta.

[Deceptus]

Literally all of the bitching on these forums that Glare "deserved" nerfs when 5.0 dropped because dirty White Mage DARED to outdamage precious Astro and Scholar.

They never come out and say WHM deserves to be inferior. It's always "give them something to do, sure!" "WHAT!? WHM IS MORE POWEFUL THAN ME!? NERF IT NERF IT! I'M MORE COMPLEX AND DESERVE MORE OUTPUT!"

Scholar mains pitch a fit anytime it even looks like they might for ten seconds be off-meta.

You are delusional and need to turn off your monitor and go outside for a bit. Get some sunshine. Touch some grass.

[Semirhage]

You are delusional and need to turn off your monitor and go outside for a bit. Get some sunshine. Touch some grass.

And yet those threads whining about Glare being "overpowered" still existed, huh. It's almost like I've been on these forums long enough to see patterns. Like Scholar mains heartily agreeing that WHM "needs to be brought up", then screaming to high heaven anytime WHM has any advantage over the other two beyond Cure 3 spamming.

It happens. Every. Single. Time. It's almost like...Scholar mains have this unspoken assumption that a meta slot is theirs by divine right or something.

Wait what? White Mage wasn't actually overpowered by any stretch at the end of Stormblood though? O12S had way too much emphasis on movement for WHM to do well there. The rest of the tier wasn't that much better either TBH. It wasn't awful, WHM was competitive and 'fine'. But I certainly don't remember seeing people complaining about WHM needing nerfs at that point, and if they did I'm sure I'd have been right at the front of the queue to chop them down on it.

As for SCH mains, they had every right to scream and shout over what patches 4.0 and 5.0 did to them. 4.0 was completely inexcusable and will forever stand as a shining demonstration that SE quite literally have no clue what they are doing with healers.

Not end of Stormblood. Beginning of Shadowbringers. WHM outdamaged AST and SCH with Glare for a patch and by god you'd think someone peed in their cornflakes.

My hope of the healers being fun to play is fairly low, and my hope that WHM will ever have a competitive advantage is nonexistent. The devs don't want to give it one, and AST and SCH mains tooooootally want WHM to have an advantage...until it actually has one for five seconds, then they start the shrieking. Watch the Healer forums every single time WHM ends up in the speedkill meta for any length of time, it's like clockwork.

[Burmecia]

Literally all of the bitching on these forums that Glare "deserved" nerfs when 5.0 dropped because dirty White Mage DARED to outdamage precious Astro and Scholar.

They never come out and say WHM deserves to be inferior. It's always "give them something to do, sure!" "WHAT!? WHM IS MORE POWEFUL THAN ME!? NERF IT NERF IT! I'M MORE COMPLEX AND DESERVE MORE OUTPUT!"

Scholar mains pitch a fit anytime it even looks like they might for ten seconds be off-meta.

I've nothing to say about the state of WHM/healers in general, but this gave me sensible chuckle.

[Sebazy]

Literally all of the bitching on these forums that Glare "deserved" nerfs when 5.0 dropped because dirty White Mage DARED to outdamage precious Astro and Scholar.

Wait what? White Mage wasn't actually overpowered by any stretch at the end of Stormblood though? O12S had way too much emphasis on movement for WHM to do well there. The rest of the tier wasn't that much better either TBH. It wasn't awful, WHM was competitive and 'fine'. But I certainly don't remember seeing people complaining about WHM needing nerfs at that point, and if they did I'm sure I'd have been right at the front of the queue to chop them down on it.

As for SCH mains, they had every right to scream and shout over what patches 4.0 and 5.0 did to them. 4.0 was completely inexcusable and will forever stand as a shining demonstration that SE quite literally have no clue what they are doing with healers.

[IllyaPrisma]

Wait what? White Mage wasn't actually overpowered by any stretch at the end of Stormblood though?

I believe what this poster was referring to, was White Mage's increase in viability near the start of the 5.0 Shadowbringers. Raid buffs, especially Crit Buffs, have far less impact near the start of the expansion due to how gear progression works. WHM also had monstrous personal DPS, and Broil was 280 Potency. This meant that for a small period of time, WHM was a more viable choice than SCH. Natural Gear Progression and the valuing of Crit Buffs, along with the Broil Potency Increase to 290 pushed SCH ahead in the later half of the expansion. Near the beginning of ShB, there were several threads and requests to nerf WHM, even though it wasn't over-tuned. (that is the complaining the poster is referring to)

[Shurrikhan]

I believe what this poster was referring to, was White Mage's increase in viability near the start of the 5.0 Shadowbringers. Raid buffs, especially Crit Buffs, have far less impact near the start of the expansion due to how gear progression works.

This is true, but it makes me wonder if even just some small factor or buff (e.g., PoM) with slightly better than linear scaling could make up the difference...

If WHM's rDPS could just increase at the same rate as that of the healers who have indirect rDPS contribution through raid buffs (and so that part of their contribution therefore increases at the rate average for the whole party, rather than just themselves), then we'd be fine, I would think? So long as we are balanced at the start, we'd likewise be balanced at the end.

[Irenia]

I've been throwing around an idea for a WHM ability that amplified buffs on allies and debuffs on enemies for their spells only. So they could get bigger bonuses from raid buffs than other healers by lining that up with said raid buffs.

It keeps the "big number" and selfish dps identity of WHM that people like me enjoy, too.

[Shurrikhan]

I've been throwing around an idea for a WHM ability that amplified buffs on allies and debuffs on enemies for their spells only. So they could get bigger bonuses from raid buffs than other healers by lining that up with said raid buffs.

It keeps the "big number" and selfish dps identity of WHM that people like me enjoy, too.

It'd be a bit weird having their total party contribution sapped by having "selfish" DPS, though, wouldn't it? BLM and SAM put out enough damage that they still lead even after having assigned all the BLM/SAM's value in essentially buffing the damage milked from Trick Attack, Litany, etc., to the respective NIN, DRG, et cetera. As such, being discouraged from taking "selfish" DPS even if they're your best rDPS contributors or most improve party performance just for what little gap there is to be had from optimizing a WHM would be a bit off-putting, to say the least.