White Mage Band-Aid Suggestions

[Gaethan_Tessula]

So Arcane Ward's sort of the WHM counterpart to BLM's Ley Lines and covers Presence of Mind/Asylum/Plenary Indulgence, right? Even with the two charges, wouldn't we end up trying to use it solely for dps, and make having to heal with it feel even more of a dps loss? I get that it charging the blood lily twice somewhat makes up for that, but I'd prefer to just use it for spamming Glare, especially if the blood lily was at 2/3 bloom

1. (1.5*(310 * 6))+310 = 3100 = Six Glare III's under Ward, one thereafter.
2. (1.5*(310 * 4))+900 = 2760 = Four Glare III's under Ward, two Afflatus heals, Misery thereafter.
3. (1.5*(310 * 5))+900-310 = 2915 = Five Glare III's under Ward, one Afflatus heal, Misery thereafter, with one blood lily already stocked (the -310 is for the lost glare needed to get that lily).

So yes, if the DoT and the nuke work with Arcane Ward, it would be a DPS loss to heal under it. What's stopping using afflatus heals under Arcane Ward from being a DPS gain is Misery's normal DPS loss combined with Misery being exempt from Ward's doubling effect. Every doubled afflatus charges 600 potency, to a doubled Glare's 465, but the apparent 135 potency gain per afflatus is eaten up by the undoubled-Glare lost from actually having to cast Misery.

If Misery were DPS neutral innately (1240 potency), #2 is DPS neutral and #3 is a 155 potency gain per 90s.

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If Misery were doubled by ward, it could be a slight DPS gain in specific circumstances even at 900 potency.
1. 1.5*(310 * 6) = 2790 = Six Glare III's under Ward
2. (1.5*((310 * 4)+900))-310 = 2900 = Four Glare III's, one Afflatus heal, and Misery under Ward, with one blood lily already stocked (the -310 is for the lost glare needed to get that lily).

Not sure if Misery's instant-cast allowing it to be snuck into the Ward's window before it falls off changes the math here. Overcapping a lily makes using afflatus skills a loss again. Bringing in a readied Misery is still a loss, below three undoubled Glare III's and one doubled.

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If Misery is made innately DPS neutral and also doubles, it becomes a pretty big DPS boost. This is probably not desirable given that it would harshly punish WHM's who don't save afflatus heals for Ward. I would personally favor making Misery DPS neutral, and it still not doubling under Ward. There's a way to get a slight DPS gain that way, while still leaving room for afflatus heals to be used outside the Ward window.

PS: Ostensibly one would want to renew their DoT in this window for a DPS gain, but it shouldn't affect things being a gain or a loss, since every situation has a spare Glare III to convert to Dia. I also obviously haven't accounted for variations due to spell speed.

[Liam_Harper]

The idea was to make GCD healing less punishing while giving WHM its own spin on damage. I thought it was an amazing skill idea.

It's actually a rather flawed idea, he even changed it later to be a single buff to one healing spell that deals 300. This still means you only ever use it on Lilies and doesn't change the fact you should use at least lilies 2 during boss intermissions, then Sacrosanct the third. The video has some great ideas, but it wasn't perfect.

With my idea, Lilies are purely for dps-neutral healing and reward you with an additional big heal.

[ty_taurus]

1. (1.5*(310 * 6))+310 = 3100 = Six Glare III's under Ward, one thereafter.
2. (1.5*(310 * 4))+900 = 2760 = Four Glare III's under Ward, two Afflatus heals, Misery thereafter.
3. (1.5*(310 * 5))+900-310 = 2915 = Five Glare III's under Ward, one Afflatus heal, Misery thereafter, with one blood lily already stocked (the -310 is for the lost glare needed to get that lily).

So yes, if the DoT and the nuke work with Arcane Ward, it would be a DPS loss to heal under it. What's stopping using afflatus heals under Arcane Ward from being a DPS gain is Misery's normal DPS loss combined with Misery being exempt from Ward's doubling effect. Every doubled afflatus charges 600 potency, to a doubled Glare's 465, but the apparent 135 potency gain per afflatus is eaten up by the undoubled-Glare lost from actually having to cast Misery.

If Misery were DPS neutral innately (1240 potency), #2 is DPS neutral and #3 is a 155 potency gain per 90s.

---

If Misery were doubled by ward, it could be a slight DPS gain in specific circumstances even at 900 potency.
1. 1.5*(310 * 6) = 2790 = Six Glare III's under Ward
2. (1.5*((310 * 4)+900))-310 = 2900 = Four Glare III's, one Afflatus heal, and Misery under Ward, with one blood lily already stocked (the -310 is for the lost glare needed to get that lily).

Not sure if Misery's instant-cast allowing it to be snuck into the Ward's window before it falls off changes the math here. Overcapping a lily makes using afflatus skills a loss again. Bringing in a readied Misery is still a loss, below three undoubled Glare III's and one doubled.

---

If Misery is made innately DPS neutral and also doubles, it becomes a pretty big DPS boost. This is probably not desirable given that it would harshly punish WHM's who don't save afflatus heals for Ward. I would personally favor making Misery DPS neutral, and it still not doubling under Ward. There's a way to get a slight DPS gain that way, while still leaving room for afflatus heals to be used outside the Ward window.

PS: Ostensibly one would want to renew their DoT in this window for a DPS gain, but it shouldn't affect things being a gain or a loss, since every situation has a spare Glare III to convert to Dia. I also obviously haven't accounted for variations due to spell speed.

So there are more changes in the doc that would work with the idea of healing under arcane ward.

When you learn Misery, I added that you also learn Spirit Drain (another Aerith thing). It puts 3 stacks onto your target that deal damage when you cast a healing spell, and ultimately makes Misery DPS neutral. Additionally, I also added in the concept of "Diacloud" with Cloud Nine where your regens proc a Thundercloud equivalent for WHM, so casting them can result in a DPS gain.

[AnotherPerson]

At this point, I sort of want WHM to have a big rework with the idea of having GCD spells on a cooldown and support abilities to enhance those spells. It would be nice to have more 0 MP GCD spells to make WHM feel like they're able to use aether from their environment to fuel their spells. Rather than have many ways to restore MP like the other healers, I rather their skills double down on the concept of Thin Air being baked into the toolkit. The band-aid fixes to fixing MP revert these changes so I rather have the devs double down on this concept.

Let WHM get a stackable buff called "Elemental Cycle," which doubles the potency of the next cast of Stone / Glare / Holy.

They can also get a second buff called "Elemental Boon", which reduces the MP cost of the next Regen / Cure I / Cure II / Cure III / Medica I / Medica II / Stone / Glare / Aero / Dia / Holy by 50%.
The "Elemental Boon" buff is replaced by "Heavenly Boon", which reduces the MP cost of the next Regen / Cure I / Cure II / Cure III / Medica I / Medica II / Stone / Glare / Aero / Dia / Holy by 100%.

Let WHM get back [Protect] as a low level spell that applies a shield to everyone with a potency of 100. This spell cost 0 MP and has a 1.5 second cast time, a 2.5 second recast time, and a 60 second cooldown. This skill also grants a stack of "Elemental Cycle". Now, [Protect] becomes a roundabout way to be an oGCD and saves MP without affecting DPS. At a higher level, Protect can be upgraded to become [Stoneskin], which is a spell that applies a 200 potency shield and a 5% mitigation to the entire party while granting 1 stack of "Elemental Cycle".

Bring back [Fluid Aura] at lv 15 as an ability on a 45 second cooldown, but the skill turns into an AoE attack and heal at 200 potency. At lv 56, [Fluid Aura] upgrades into [Assize], which becomes 400 potency and restores 500 MP with each use. At an even higher level (Lv 88), it can just get 2 charges.


Bring back [Divine Seal] at Lv 40 as an ability on a 120 second cooldown, and the skill increases healing spell potency by 20%. At lv 80, it gets upgraded to [Temperance], which applies a 10% mitigation in addition to increasing healing spell potency by 20%.

Give WHM a second ability called [Elemental Grace] - which gives 3 stacks of a buff that increases single target healing potency of spells by 200 at a 60 second cooldown. This ability gets upgraded to [Light's Grace] at a higher level, which increases the single target healing potency from 200 to 300. Now you have Plenary Indulgence for enhanced AoE healing, and this skill for enhanced single target healing.

Afflatus spells will still be part of the job gauge, but afflatus spells will now be DPS Neutral (so [Afflatus Misery] taking 4 GCDs to use should reward damage equal to 4 GCDs worth of Glare/Glare III). Now, there are more support abilities for the job gauge and Afflatus spells are incentivized for healing.

Give WHM a spell called [Elemental Boon] around the early levels. This instant cast spell will cost 0 MP, have a 1.5 second recast, and has no cooldown. Instead, it requires 3 'boons' to use this spell, and 6 'boons' can be stored at a time. Each time the White mage uses a spell, they will get a 'boon'. Elemental Boon will be an instant cast AoE spell with a 1.5 second recast timer that heals for 150 potency, grants an "Elemental Cycle" and a buff called "Elemental Boon". At a higher level, this can upgrade to [Heavenly Boon], which would be an instant cast AoE spell that heals for 300 potency with a 1.5 second recast timer, grants an "Elemental Cycle" and a buff called "Heavenly Boon". If it's too complicated to track the number of boons with a buff, it can be placed on the job gauge. White mage doesn't even get a job gauge until level 50+... so it would be a perfect time to add one right there.

Turn [Divine Bension] into a spell that shields for 500 potency with 0 MP cost and at a 30 second cooldown, but also grants 1 stack of "Elemental Cycle". At level 86, [Divine Bension] upgrades into [Aquaveil], giving an additional 15% mitigation with the shield.

Adjust [Liturgy of the Bell] to lower the cooldown to 120 seconds and place a healing blossom to grant 3 stacks of "Liturgy of the Bell". In addition to triggering when you get hit, this ability can be manually activated again to consume a stack and heal surrounding allies without any healing penalty. Having the white mage itself take damage to activate the healing makes the skill very counter intuitive and limited, so it would be better if the white mage can place the skill and manually reactivate the skill to heal if the WHM isn't intending on taking non-raidwide damage.

Asylum, Benediction, Tetragrammaton, the current Thin Air, and Presence of Mind is okay as is for some extra healing between GCD. Now, nearly all skills can synergize well because they are all 'spells'. The concept of healing spells costing DPS no longer matters with a full refund on your next cast with new GCD spells, and it doesn't feel completely weak and incomparable to the other healers at low levels. Healing spells like Medica II and Cure II will be relegated to emergency use like all healers' GCD. At worst, you can just spam healing spells and refund the MP cost with Heavenly Boon. At best, you won't need to touch Cure II / Medica II spells like the other healers if you use your GCD MP-free skills and abilities effectively. Now WHM can play different from other oGCD healers by being GCD focused while keeping both high skill ceiling and low skill floor.

[Sarim]

Looking at SCH Recitation, maybe a similar effect could be added for Thin Air: Instead of only making the next spell cost no mana, it could also make the next spell cost no RESOURCES. So that you could use a lily heal without actually having a lily.

[Silver-Strider]

Looking at SCH Recitation, maybe a similar effect could be added for Thin Air: Instead of only making the next spell cost no mana, it could also make the next spell cost no RESOURCES. So that you could use a lily heal without actually having a lily.

I'd rather Tetra just gave WHM a free lily to use. It has a longer CD than equivalent skills on other healers but heals for less than theirs too. Giving it an extra function would at least excuse that.

[FoxCh40s]

1. (1.5*(310 * 6))+310 = 3100 = Six Glare III's under Ward, one thereafter.
2. (1.5*(310 * 4))+900 = 2760 = Four Glare III's under Ward, two Afflatus heals, Misery thereafter.
3. (1.5*(310 * 5))+900-310 = 2915 = Five Glare III's under Ward, one Afflatus heal, Misery thereafter, with one blood lily already stocked (the -310 is for the lost glare needed to get that lily).

So yes, if the DoT and the nuke work with Arcane Ward, it would be a DPS loss to heal under it. What's stopping using afflatus heals under Arcane Ward from being a DPS gain is Misery's normal DPS loss combined with Misery being exempt from Ward's doubling effect. Every doubled afflatus charges 600 potency, to a doubled Glare's 465, but the apparent 135 potency gain per afflatus is eaten up by the undoubled-Glare lost from actually having to cast Misery.

If Misery were DPS neutral innately (1240 potency), #2 is DPS neutral and #3 is a 155 potency gain per 90s.

---

If Misery were doubled by ward, it could be a slight DPS gain in specific circumstances even at 900 potency.
1. 1.5*(310 * 6) = 2790 = Six Glare III's under Ward
2. (1.5*((310 * 4)+900))-310 = 2900 = Four Glare III's, one Afflatus heal, and Misery under Ward, with one blood lily already stocked (the -310 is for the lost glare needed to get that lily).

Not sure if Misery's instant-cast allowing it to be snuck into the Ward's window before it falls off changes the math here. Overcapping a lily makes using afflatus skills a loss again. Bringing in a readied Misery is still a loss, below three undoubled Glare III's and one doubled.

---

If Misery is made innately DPS neutral and also doubles, it becomes a pretty big DPS boost. This is probably not desirable given that it would harshly punish WHM's who don't save afflatus heals for Ward. I would personally favor making Misery DPS neutral, and it still not doubling under Ward. There's a way to get a slight DPS gain that way, while still leaving room for afflatus heals to be used outside the Ward window.

PS: Ostensibly one would want to renew their DoT in this window for a DPS gain, but it shouldn't affect things being a gain or a loss, since every situation has a spare Glare III to convert to Dia. I also obviously haven't accounted for variations due to spell speed.

You guys know that theory crafting will get you banned right? They hate it, hate it, HATE IT.

[Rika007]

You guys know that theory crafting will get you banned right? They hate it, hate it, HATE IT.

The only person doing ban worthy comments is you honey. We get it. You have literally no belief at all in the dev team. They've failed you. Which in all honesty, good, more people need to have this attitude and just hold to it and abandon the job entirely (or the game). People that hold the devs accountable for changes they don't like (or the lack there of) are needed.

But you know what is also still needed? Actual feedback. We have no clue if the devs ever will listen about this. Doesn't stop us from giving it. Stop trolling others who want to have a legitimate discussion when the only people you really want to rant to is Yoshi-p's receptionist.

Nice copium there. They really aren't going to rework healers, plain and simple; they aren't going to adjust White Mage with ideas that make sense and are intuitive. The sooner you get over that, the better you will feel, trust me.

It's funny, I've been told that almost exactly word for word three times before by other people in other situations. Once when I was giving feedback on reverting the addition of cast times to Bard, once when I posted feedback on genderlocking Viera, and once when I was giving feedback on Bard losing it's support identity.

And all of that happened... Funny.

[ty_taurus]

The only person doing ban worthy comments is you honey. We get it. You have literally no belief at all in the dev team. They've failed you. Which in all honesty, good, more people need to have this attitude and just hold to it and abandon the job entirely (or the game). People that hold the devs accountable for changes they don't like (or the lack there of) are needed.

But you know what is also still needed? Actual feedback. We have no clue if the devs ever will listen about this. Doesn't stop us from giving it. Stop trolling others who want to have a legitimate discussion when the only people you really want to rant to is Yoshi-p's receptionist.



It's funny, I've been told that almost exactly word for word three times before by other people in other situations. Once when I was giving feedback on reverting the addition of cast times to Bard, once when I posted feedback on genderlocking Viera, and once when I was giving feedback on Bard losing it's support identity.

And all of that happened... Funny.

There is certainly going to be some kind of healer rework at some point. What that entails, and how it alters the role is not something we can predict, however. The reason I say this is because they're hitting a wall on what they can realistically contribute to healer toolkits with each expansion, and I think we see that most prominently with AST and SCH where there's not not a lot of room to add. I imagine we might see something in the vein of Summoner where what we get up to level 100, or 110, or whenever this may happen, will be largely consolidated and reorganized to not only fit more comfortably on hotbars, but simplify and create breathing room to expand for the future. With healing specifically, this might have to result in a role-wide adjustment to keep the healers in balance with one another, though there's no way to know how this changes the playstyle of healing if at all realistically.

[Silver-Strider]

.
It's funny, I've been told that almost exactly word for word three times before by other people in other situations. Once when I was giving feedback on reverting the addition of cast times to Bard, once when I posted feedback on genderlocking Viera, and once when I was giving feedback on Bard losing it's support identity.

And all of that happened... Funny.

I think the primary difference is that the majority of those examples were universally panned while WHM is currently divided.

Despite how weak WHM currently is, people are still actively defending the job as it currently stands whereas you couldn't find anyone actively defending Bowmage or the Lily system in SB. The fact they doubled down on the ShB healer design with EW just leaves the likelihood of an overhaul of any sort as rather slim.