FFXIV Job Design Feedback

[Renathras]

SB added Earthly Star, I think that's the point where 'you can erase so many GCDs from your healing' got really out of control. Before that, your OGCD suite was very limited, WHM had Asylum and Assize (but Assize only did the damage half cos haha cleric), SCH had Soil (with no regen), Indom, Whispering Dawn (which could be roused). AST had what, bubble that you had to channel for the full duration? CU didn't heal it extended buffs, Star Horoscope etc didn't exist yet, if anything it was about reducing GCDs by 'using some, and extending their effects to prevent needing to cast another to reapply'

The best comparison would be 'HW, if damage skills scaled from mind as in SB', but that didn't exist

As I've told you before, don't play AST, don't like AST, never have. I'm talking WHM and SCH. WHM in SB still didn't have a ton of oGCDs (and the new ones sucked; Lilies weren't the only thing that sucked in SB, Plenary/Confession stacks were initially implemented horribly, and Benison only worked with Lilies which had to be generated by casting Cure 1/2s on people, and only had a chance of generating), and SCH didn't have a ton more than it had before. I'm trying to remember what they got in SB, I think it was Chain Strat (not a heal) and Dissipation (not a heal, and originally implemented so badly, people refused to use it)? Maybe Excog, but while useful, that's hardly completely upending the system.

WHM and SCH didn't have a significant increase in healing oGCD power and number in SB over HW. ShB and EW both added more and/or added charges to existing ones and/or added new effects (Soil's regen) to make them more powerful.

ShB WHM didn't really, either (they just made Lilies not suck).

So no, SB would be the best comparison point overall for Healers. Cleric Stance instantly makes HW different. Now, if we could have a HW kit set with the ShB Healer damage kits? I suppose that could be what you're going for. But that would be weird. I feel like SB was better for SCH and probably AST, while ShB/EW are both better for WHM. But that's more because of how bad SB WHM was.

A lot of crit variance issues could be more effectively resolved through making attacks multi-hit rather than just making them auto crit/direct hit. It's another thing that just makes me anxious to see if they'll return to more dramatic combat changes in the next expansion rather than just doing shadowbringers 3.0. I am sincerely worried that if they don't do something to shake up the gameplay, it will have damaging repercussions on the game's longevity.

Agreed.

It's like Omnislash vs some single ability that scales better and hits 9999 sooner, but only hits once.