The idea that we need to DPS must go.

[Liam_Harper]

The Thin Air nerf was because they don't have healer designers. They genuinely thought WHM was the best healer in ShB and likely thought Thin Air + Plenary + Cure III = Healing God, and had to be toned down. I'm certain there's no deep thought behind it. They're simply inexperienced when it comes to how healers function.

[MiaShino]

The Thin Air nerf was because they don't have healer designers. They genuinely thought WHM was the best healer in ShB and likely thought Thin Air + Plenary + Cure III = Healing God, and had to be toned down. I'm certain there's no deep thought behind it. They're simply inexperienced when it comes to how healers function.

They did this yet invented one fricken skill that deletes healer checks. It does not make them easier to heal it can outright invalidate them then plopped that skill into the kit of one of strongest healers. Yeah.. I think they require some assistance.

[Liam_Harper]

Dev thought seems to be stubbornly stuck at: "AST is the least popular = needs more incentive" ....and so they continue to add incentive in the form of buffs and more and more ridiculously good heal toolkit, while scratching their heads as to why it isn't working. Meanwhile since AST, despite being turned into the literal god of healing, is still tedious to play and bloated with buttons that are just there for the sake of things to press, players stick to their comfy WHM instead. Not because it's good or strong, but because AST isn't fun for them and at least WHM is straightforward. The devs don't get that.

It's frustrating because they will continue to ignore and neglect WHM and pump buffs into AST, because WHM is more popular, without realizing that this popularity is down to gameplay, not strengths and is an issue they created due to lack of experience with the role.

It's been years and they still haven't once stopped and thought "Hey, maybe the reason a million buffs isn't working is because our design for this class isn't fun? If we focused on making all healers fun then all of them would be popular. Let's get someone in who knows the role well and have them design some fun classes!".

Nope. Instead we got. "AST not popular? We make Star big! Give Excog on stick! WHM get overheal plant, lots of potency, WHM gud! Better nerf Cure III combo. SCH ideas so gud we turn into new class! Healers will be happy now!". I don't mean to be offensive to the developers, but it's frustrating waiting through 2 years of ShB ...for this.

[Anxin]

I'm hoping now that the overall story is finished, SE will use this as a chance for a clean break in design mechanics. Then we can maybe get encounters that will require use of our healer kits. I don't expect this to happen: instead we will get more scripted aoe dancing. But I can hope!

I like how AST feels despite the button bloat. I wish the class would do away with all direct damage skills in favor of indirect damage. In Guild Wars 1, for example, I played indirect damage Ritualist builds, where I attacked through party members: increasing their attack speeds, aoe using them as the focal point, changing weapon attributes, and the like. Using the stars to influence and read the fate of others is the lore of the AST, after all. So indirect damage and other fate-changing skills fit well. Of course, I'm not naive enough to expect SE would do anything like this. But it shows how we could have a lot of healer diversity (without added complication) if SE would try. It's a matter of just following the lore they already have and designing to match it.

[KDSilver]

Dev thought seems to be stubbornly stuck at: "AST is the least popular = needs more incentive" ....and so they continue to add incentive in the form of buffs and more and more ridiculously good heal toolkit, while scratching their heads as to why it isn't working. Meanwhile since AST, despite being turned into the literal god of healing, is still tedious to play and bloated with buttons that are just there for the sake of things to press, players stick to their comfy WHM instead. Not because it's good or strong, but because AST isn't fun for them and at least WHM is straightforward. The devs don't get that.

It's frustrating because they will continue to ignore and neglect WHM and pump buffs into AST, because WHM is more popular, without realizing that this popularity is down to gameplay, not strengths and is an issue they created due to lack of experience with the role.

It's been years and they still haven't once stopped and thought "Hey, maybe the reason a million buffs isn't working is because our design for this class isn't fun? If we focused on making all healers fun then all of them would be popular. Let's get someone in who knows the role well and have them design some fun classes!".

Nope. Instead we got. "AST not popular? We make Star big! Give Excog on stick! WHM get overheal plant, lots of potency, WHM gud! Better nerf Cure III combo. SCH ideas so gud we turn into new class! Healers will be happy now!". I don't mean to be offensive to the developers, but it's frustrating waiting through 2 years of ShB ...for this.

I can't believe they don't know after X years and X feedbacks.

[ASkellington]

I can't believe they don't know after X years and X feedbacks.

I can! How?

Look at the state we're in.

[TankHunter678]

Dev thought seems to be stubbornly stuck at: "AST is the least popular = needs more incentive" ....and so they continue to add incentive in the form of buffs and more and more ridiculously good heal toolkit, while scratching their heads as to why it isn't working. Meanwhile since AST, despite being turned into the literal god of healing, is still tedious to play and bloated with buttons that are just there for the sake of things to press, players stick to their comfy WHM instead. Not because it's good or strong, but because AST isn't fun for them and at least WHM is straightforward. The devs don't get that.

It's frustrating because they will continue to ignore and neglect WHM and pump buffs into AST, because WHM is more popular, without realizing that this popularity is down to gameplay, not strengths and is an issue they created due to lack of experience with the role.

It's been years and they still haven't once stopped and thought "Hey, maybe the reason a million buffs isn't working is because our design for this class isn't fun? If we focused on making all healers fun then all of them would be popular. Let's get someone in who knows the role well and have them design some fun classes!".

Nope. Instead we got. "AST not popular? We make Star big! Give Excog on stick! WHM get overheal plant, lots of potency, WHM gud! Better nerf Cure III combo. SCH ideas so gud we turn into new class! Healers will be happy now!". I don't mean to be offensive to the developers, but it's frustrating waiting through 2 years of ShB ...for this.

Well all they did was rip the heart and soul out of AST by reducing the card effects to just one, thereby eliminating what made the job interesting to play and stand out from other healers. Also basically nuked the job from orbit lore wise. Not a coincidence that when they did that AST basically died in playerbase and the obvious thing happened: the only way to bring that desiccated corpse back was to make it mathematically superior to all other options.

Oh well, Sage is fun so I am playing sage instead of the job that got me into healing because I found WHM boring and I did not mesh well with SCH.

[Deveryn]

DH healers are really messing things up out there. I just ran into yet another example that couldn't keep all group members over 50% in a simple dungeon, so when we got double room wides on a boss, only the tank was left. If people really want to DPS that bad, play a proper DPS class. Healers are there to heal, not try to milk a stat that's already so low and do next to nothing helpful for the group.

[Nizzi]

Bad players existing is great justification for having nothing to do but spam 1-1-1-1 and there being nothing to heal.

[MiaShino]

DH healers are really messing things up out there. I just ran into yet another example that couldn't keep all group members over 50% in a simple dungeon, so when we got double room wides on a boss, only the tank was left. If people really want to DPS that bad, play a proper DPS class. Healers are there to heal, not try to milk a stat that's already so low and do next to nothing helpful for the group.

Ruin 2 > recitation + indom > broil > whispering dawn annnnd the hp bars are good. After that I do what exactly? Can you guess? Please please go ahead, I bet you cannot guess.

Sounds like a pebkac issue on someone here not a stat issue.. Either healer misjudged incoming damage or your group was in race to become vulnstackulius. You will sit there at 50 percent hp and you will like it if nothing else would kill you in that moment. Will keep your bar nice and topped off if you are identified as high risk individual who has habit of standing in the orange light.

Everyone else can press second wind or blood bath if they are class who has these utilities. Wonder how many groups decided did not disserve any comms because I let Medica 2 fall off and relied on Asylum instead.. hmm.. Or sit there silently seething because I plan out invulns with my partner and thus am allowing the tank to fall low on purpose? I doth wonder, yes yes I do.