Shield/Pure Healer Split Feedback

[Renathras]

Ironically I think it's actually you who doesn't understand what optimal and suboptimal means.

While I agree partly with some of your points in some ways, I fully DO understand what optimal and suboptimal mean. If you using a GCD heal means TWO (or more) GCDs are freed between you and your cohealer for damage, then that's a net gain. You note that any party member taking avoidable damage is subobtimal, but as a healer, you can't control THAT. All you can control is the recovery from it. And people were giving actual examples from Ultimate where it is, in fact, optimal.

It won't always be optimal, but there are times it will be, so it's hardly "worthless". And in the times it's NOT optimal, it won't matter, since no fight will be decided by one 295 potency cast being missed.

Out of your whole post I take issue with this.

Note the quote from me you posted there:

WHM has no Succor equivalent to soften the blow.

Medica 2 can heal more than Succor (which is arguably more akin to Medica 1), but it can't reduce the amount of a party member's health bar that goes down. Succor can, albeit slightly. WHM's only way to reduce incoming damage taken is Temperance, which is on a 2 min CD.

Keep in mind in the post I was kind of speaking to playing WHM vs the other healers when a 4 man (or any) boss does a raidwide (it's just more noticeable in 4 mans because you don't have that second healer to lean on so you see what your Job's limitations are more clearly), WHM doesn't EVEN HAVE something like Succor. It's Temperance and then nothing for 2 mins until it comes off CD. Yes yes, you don't NEED mitigation (generally) in 4 mans, but the point is I'm used to rolling through them on the other healers (muscle memory can be a good thing), and it's glaringly obvious WHM is missing out there. Louisouix and Y'Shtola (end of ARR) both had a bubble and were CNJ/WHMs.

You're conflating optimal group play with optimal individual play. Optimal group play is never needing to GCD heal in any content after ARR because everyone's on top of their game. Optimal individual play, on the part of a healer, can mean GCD healing to rectify the mistakes of another individual not playing optimally, to prevent the greater DPS loss that would come of letting them die.

This.