Healers, then and now:

[ty_taurus]

On the topic of the water spell and its rarity in the series....

Water is a spell on the same level as Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder in FFX and FFX-2, FFXI, FFXIII, and technically Watera and Waterga exist in FFXII, they just aren't available to the player (along with Aerora for some reason despite both Aero and Aeroga being available to the player). This isn't digging into the mobile Final Fantasy games where there aren't concrete spell lines, but each element is generally treated with equal value (Record Keeper, Brave Exvius, and Opera Omnia as far as my experience with mobile Final Fantasy has reached). Generally, prior to FFX, Earth, Wind, and Water are limited to the Blue Mage or are in specific, potent spells for the Black Mage. I really can't speak as to why Earth, Wind, and Water were regularly restricted that way. I can't see any logic to adding elements that are inherently difficult for the player to utilize other than Holy, and I only say that because Holy is generally the element most enemies are weak to and no enemy resists, or at least very few resist.

The most logic that I can come up with is based on lore. Fire, Ice, and Lightning are elements that can be generated, whereas Earth and Water specifically are meant to come from a source that isn't always available in certain environments. Like it's weird casting Earthquake while fighting on an Airship where there's no ground to shake. But that logic doesn't make sense for Wind, and Earth and Water still end up being usable in some capacity anyway.

As for why CNJ and WHM never had access to Water even back during ARR, I really can't say. It makes no sense given the lore they were trying to communicate with this game's lore and the job's focus. The Japanese name of the action did indeed translate to "Aqua Aura" so I have no idea why Water was neglected, and it's kind of a pet peeve of mine.

[Calysto]

On the topic of the water spell and its rarity in the series....

They have to remove earth/wind/water so they can add them as "bold new flavors" in some time (lul GEO)

The most logic that I can come up with is based on lore. Fire, Ice, and Lightning are elements that can be generated, whereas Earth and Water specifically are meant to come from a source that isn't always available in certain environments. Like it's weird casting Earthquake while fighting on an Airship where there's no ground to shake. But that logic doesn't make sense for Wind, and Earth and Water still end up being usable in some capacity anyway.

I kinda disagree on Ice, you can't do that without Water.
(not exactly related, but in XI I had a rule regarding elements/alignments : "can you hold it ? no -> light ; yes -> dark" ; too bad it doesn't works in XIV)

[Renathras]

(not exactly related, but in XI I had a rule regarding elements/alignments : "can you hold it ? no -> light ; yes -> dark" ; too bad it doesn't works in XIV)

To be fair, FFXIV doesn't have it exactly right, either:

Is it active? Astral.
Is it passive (or generally PLACID)? Umbra.

The thing is, Earth, Water, and Ice are considered passive; Fire, Thunder, and Wind are considered active.

That is, Earth and Ice are generally motionless, and Water (a still pool, gentle waves) is generally placid unless being acted on by other elements (specifically, Fire/molten for Earthquakes or Wind for Waves/Floods).

And, indeed, Earth, Water, and Ice ARE considered Umbral. Even on BLM, "Umbral Ice". This kind of makes Wind/Aero out of place on WHM and Ice/Blizzard out of place on BLM, but it's just...kinda the way it is.

So instead, we got "nature" (which is vague as "the natural world" includes all six) of Earth, Water, and Wind, and......"not-nature-y?" for BLM's Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder (which ARE the normal elements for traditional Final Fantasy Black Mages.)