Differentiating healer identities

[ty_taurus]

Giving Assize and Tetra 2 charges each isn't really a great solution. it certainly improves their function to some level, but Tetra is still just a worse Essential Dignity, and Assize will still be optimized for damage and stocked for raid buffs as much as possible.

For Assize, I brought this up in my WHM concept, but rather than giving it a second charge, the healing should be taken off the initial use of Assize, and make Assize just a DPS OGCD at first, but can then be reactivated once while it's on cooldown to perform the healing. This leaves it as a button used on cooldown, but with a flexible AoE OGCD heal that you get once per cooldown, which also makes this healing unrestricted from its own cooldown, which is fairly unique.

A simple solution to Tetra that may or may not work depending on how the lily system evolves (if it evolves) is allowing Tetra to also generate 1 lily. This gives it a solid differentiation from Essential Dignity.

[ForsakenRoe]

given that WHM is currently behind on damage compared to AST (again), a second charge of Assize to throw into raidbuffs is probably fine. It was moreso for the versatility factor, as in UCOB I had to purposely hold Assize so I had some mobility-healing during Blackfire Trio. Having a second charge of Assize would allow for one to be held for healing, or used in raidbuffs for more damage once the WHM gets to that point of optimized. Having options is a good thing. Alternatively, moving Rapture down to 58 or so would also be a way to solve the same problem (that being, how do we move and heal in 70 content). Also 2 Tetra's is just for parity with AST, who now has 2 EDs, 2 Intersections and Exaltation, it's getting out of control. I think having extra sources of lilies is not actually something SE will want to do, as we now generate 3 lilies per minute, meaning the Misery charge time is automatically aligned to the raidbuff cycle. Having one extra lily per minute might throw that off for some players, it'd cause overcap issues even moreso than Rhizomata already does (because unlike addersgall, these spenders are GCD), it'd just cause more issues than it'd solve I fear.

the way you describe separating the heal and damage of Assize sounds like how Salt and Darkness functions. And tbh, I really don't like Salt and Darkness, I'd rather have seen Salted Earth just axed and a more interesting skill in it's place, since it's been steadily weakened over and over throughout the years. Also, having a skill replace into another skill (dps Assize into healing Assize, for example) is jank, we saw with High Jump turning into Mirage Dive that there's a delay involved with the switching, and that delay would cause issues as a healer I think. Most of the time you would be able to just weave the healing portion on the next OGCD window, but for those few times where you'd want to doubleweave both the DPS and healing halves of the skill, that delay would cause you to be unable to (or make it ping-dependent, even worse), leading to people saying 'this is clunky'. Can't imagine people would enjoy having to press Rapture during a raidbuff window because they can't use Assize's healing portion in time due to this delay. As such, I'd argue that keeping Assize's functionality as it is, and just having a second charge that can be held for healing if needed, but optimized into damage if not, would be a smoother (and easier to program) solution.

[ty_taurus]

Having options is a good thing, but Assize as it is now will never be treated as a proper healing resource, and relying on it as such at the wrong moments will cut into your burst window damage. Sure, not everyone will think this way, but I'd argue it's better to design it out of that ultimatum where a good WHM should ignore the healing and hope it just happens to align with Assize's cooldown. It's not like Assize is the only tool where we can improve WHM's damage or healing potential, so the argument that it's behind AST doesn't really matter when discussing the design of Assize because that extra healing or damage doesn't need to come specifically from Assize.

Regardless of whether or not you may like or not like skills that change into other skills, the current Assize doesn't function properly, and adding a charge maybe fix one aspect of that issue, but it creates another. It isn't the right solution for Assize to actually have all of its components feel harmonious. Having the second cast heal effect isn't the only way to fix this, but a charge is a bandage on a gaping wound.

[ForsakenRoe]

We've never had both the damage and healing aspects of Assize work together. It's always been used for damage first, and if it lined up so that the healing comes in useful, happy coincidence, in HW Cleric Stance forced the choice between damage or healing, you only got one of the two. We also use Earthly Star in the same way, on CD for the damage, and if it lines up to heal, that's just a bonus. Having a second charge is the absolute simplest solution to the problem. If you want/need to hold a charge for healing purposes (cough UCOB), you can hold a charge. If you know you won't need a charge for healing, either due to optimization or just knowing the way the fight plays out, you can dump one whenever you cap, and spend both in the 2min window for more damage, as we do now with Phlegma. In fact, adding this small thing is at least 'some' extra complexity the class still lacks, so it'd benefit from that too.

Also, having 2 charges would actually improve versatility of 'when to use it as a healing tool'. Say you're doing, idk, P8S. The damage of Fourfold Fires (the vent proximity aoes) hits during the raidbuff window. Let's imagine Assize is up at the first oGCD possible during the buff window, for the simplicity of the example. Holding Assize to heal that damage would take like 7 seconds, wouldn't drop out of raidbuffs but it'd potentially cost a use off the end of the fight. However, going into the same example with 2 charges (or one, with ~5sec left for the next to come back), you could throw one out to get the CD going again as you would in raidbuffs, and then hold the second charge towards the end of the buff window, to heal the Fourfold damage, without losing a use because the first charge's use set the CD ticking again.

You're right that there's multiple ways to fix this, but having the 'damage half' turn into 'the healing half' is a recipe for disaster I think. If it was such a horrible idea for DRGs and their High Jump/Mirage Dive losing an eye to the Thordan transition in DSR, that SE reverted the change in the very next patch, then 'oops sorry I thought I'd be able to get the healing half of Assize in time' would be the bane of PF circus-show runs and optimized logging runs alike.

[Naoki34]

Healer identity ?

SGE:


WHM:

[Deceptus]

Healer identity ?

SGE:


WHM:

SCH

[KarmaYraeon]

SCH

AST

[ForsakenRoe]

AST

[ASkellington]

Also Corporate:

[Rithy255]

I'm not really big on healers as they're my least played jobs in general despite me generally liking the more "support" and utility based Jobs in games generally, when I do play Healer it's mainly Astro or Scholar, I generally think ff14 healing currently isn't for me, I just don't think it's what I'm looking for in job design I want something more involved, I do have every battle job at 90, so I do have some context and thoughts on what I'd like to see for healers, I know I'd play healer more if I felt more involved

Astrologian
Generally, most people will disagree with this take, but Astro is the most enjoyable healer for me, I like having RNG aspects a card system of buffs, I think one thing people miss is generally how astros buffs are now just flat damage increases which I can understand, I feel like actually Astro has a decent identity of being a buff job with other healers you feel more like just a healer who spams one damage button, when I hear they want to rework this job in 7.0 I do worry a bit, like I ALREADY got to worry about PLD here, The only thing I would want changed is more diverse buffs (likely will never happen) and barrier sect back.

White Mage
This healer is something? I don't really know... I can't say I've enjoyed playing white mage it just feels very static not a lot to do, no real weaving in ocgd's unlike other healers, I remember back in SHB I think white mage/scholar had longer cast times, I think it makes more sense why white mage had longer cast times it gave it a "semi-blm" feel where you're going to find it harder to move, I think that and a couple of procs or just some extra dps buttons on white mage might help a bit, I'd also like White mage to go back to a elemental Job not "glare sparkles" I don't know I feel like this Job just needs some changes to be more enjoyable.

Scholar & Sage
My problems with both are generally the same, as I feel like Sage copies scholar in a lot of ways and doesn't really offer anything new? if anything at least scholar can bring a speed boost to raids... I don't know I thought sage was going to be a "battle" healer when I first saw it (oh boy I was wrong who would have guessed) but I just don't know, it feels like it takes a lot from scholar and doesn't do a lot new with it, just like I said with white mage a few more Dps spells would be nice (I'm not too fussed about DPS on healers but having a bit more to do would be nice), my main issue is how similar these two jobs are, Sage also basically replaces "barrier astro" which felt generally more unique then sage... Don't get me wrong both are fine and fun but I want sage to be reworked, give sch a lil more but in general I like scholar quite a bit.