Healer Suggestions Megathread

[ty_taurus]

Every new expansion has the opportunity to make some drastic changes to the combat system, which is what we saw every expansion prior to EW. Things like adding gauges, removing Accuracy as a stat or the elements, adding cooldown charges, etc. I notice that when talking about 7.0 in the past, a lot of discussion would be made with the mindset of 7.0 refusing to change anything based on how EW was released without really changing anything outside of establishing the 2 minute meta. But while I also feel like EW has just been an example of staying the course and ignoring feedback from ShB, there's no telling yet if that will persist to the next expansion as well.

It's entirely possible that Dawntrail will change things, though that doesn't necessarily mean changes will be things any one person wants or that it will even affect healers in any significant way. Regardless, while I don't want to raise my expectations high, I also don't really feel like it'll be ShB for the third time as well.

Currently, while I don't know exactly what to expect, I am thinking about a few things that I think may change in some way:
1. I think they will try and address the 2 minute meta in some way. It's gotten a lot of negative feedback from many different sources, including from big names in the content creator circle.
2. I don't fully expect this, but I am curious if they might do a rework to the limit break system.
3. My expectations for a healthy healer rework are very low, but at the same time, I feel like they've designed the healers into a corner. What more can they realistically add to their existing kits at this point? How are they going to approach that? Or will they just continue bloating out their healing cooldown list and power creep their existing heals even further?

[Aravell]

1. I think they will try and address the 2 minute meta in some way. It's gotten a lot of negative feedback from many different sources, including from big names in the content creator circle.

I wouldn't bet on it. The dev team has shown that they're not opposed to doubling down on something until they get so much negative attention that they have no choice but to reverse course. The 2 minute meta also makes job design very limited, thus easier for the small battle design team to handle, so I highly doubt that they'll move away from it, though I'd like to be pleasantly surprised.

[vetch]

The 2 minute meta also makes job design very limited, thus easier for the small battle design team to handle, so I highly doubt that they'll move away from it, though I'd like to be pleasantly surprised.

Because of course that's the goal rather than capturing the players who enjoy playstyles besides 'cram these 10 skills into a burst window'.

[ty_taurus]

I wouldn't bet on it. The dev team has shown that they're not opposed to doubling down on something until they get so much negative attention that they have no choice but to reverse course. The 2 minute meta also makes job design very limited, thus easier for the small battle design team to handle, so I highly doubt that they'll move away from it, though I'd like to be pleasantly surprised.

I mean, I'm not expecting mountains to be moved or anything, but prior to EW, I feel like most criticism was more subversive and not particularly talked about outside of forums, but these criticisms of buff windows, homogenization, and the lack of strong content are a lot more discussed outside of forums throughout EW. Even if they were planning to do a 180, I wouldn't expect that to show until after EW anyway, and given how much SE doesn't like information to be shared until it's finalized, I wouldn't expect to hear anything about any course changes until the job changes liveletter anyway.

But prior to EW, we did see more sweeping changes from one expansion to the next. And while the current stance has not been great, I also can't imagine that every expansions from here on will just be stagnant.

[Aravell]

I mean, I'm not expecting mountains to be moved or anything, but prior to EW, I feel like most criticism was more subversive and not particularly talked about outside of forums, but these criticisms of buff windows, homogenization, and the lack of strong content are a lot more discussed outside of forums throughout EW. Even if they were planning to do a 180, I wouldn't expect that to show until after EW anyway, and given how much SE doesn't like information to be shared until it's finalized, I wouldn't expect to hear anything about any course changes until the job changes liveletter anyway.

But prior to EW, we did see more sweeping changes from one expansion to the next. And while the current stance has not been great, I also can't imagine that every expansions from here on will just be stagnant.

As I said, I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, but there's no denying that they've been extremely tone-deaf towards healers this expansion.
-"We don't know what to do with SCH"
-"Go play ultimates and suffer"
-Literally everything about AST design

And my personal favourite from pre-ShB
-"WHM usually handles the bulk of the healing while SCH just casts damage spells"

I can't say my hopes are elevated by how they're ignoring their DPS golden child as well, all the SAMs and RDMs that are unhappy. I'd say the only chance you'd be getting any sort of positive change at this point is if you're a WAR.

[Supersnow845]

As I said, I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, but there's no denying that they've been extremely tone-deaf towards healers this expansion.
-"We don't know what to do with SCH"
-"Go play ultimates and suffer"
-Literally everything about AST design

And my personal favourite from pre-ShB
-"WHM usually handles the bulk of the healing while SCH just casts damage spells"

I can't say my hopes are elevated by how they're ignoring their DPS golden child as well, all the SAMs and RDMs that are unhappy. I'd say the only chance you'd be getting any sort of positive change at this point is if you're a WAR.

Is there anyone besides WAR who is actually getting positive changes this expansion

[Shurrikhan]

Is there anyone besides WAR who is actually getting positive changes this expansion

Living Dead, though I'd have preferred a different way to handle it. I'd also include the changes to Hypercharge... if the change didn't just excuse keeping the current issues of added uptime cost from latency and Skill Speed anti-synergies.

For larger changes? Parts of the Paladin changes were positive. Mostly.

Overall, though? Hard to say. Capacity is no substitute for gameplay, imo.

Heck, outside of the very few fights the conflicts were an inevitability, I miss WAR actually having a bit more anti-synergy/bottlenecks just because it made the job less sleep-inducing.

Currently, while I don't know exactly what to expect, I am thinking about a few things that I think may change in some way:
1. I think they will try and address the 2 minute meta in some way. It's gotten a lot of negative feedback from many different sources, including from big names in the content creator circle.
2. I don't fully expect this, but I am curious if they might do a rework to the limit break system.
3. My expectations for a healthy healer rework are very low, but at the same time, I feel like they've designed the healers into a corner. What more can they realistically add to their existing kits at this point? How are they going to approach that? Or will they just continue bloating out their healing cooldown list and power creep their existing heals even further?

I feel like the "2-minute meta" is more a conflated "WoWfugees!"-level of boogieman than (anywhere near the whole of) the problem in itself --which is at least as much the damage density of the exploiting direct-damage CDs/unlocked skills instead-- but I don't doubt that with the amount of acritical negative feedback it has received we'll get some manner of Monkey Paw "solution" that makes things somehow worse, like certain actions receiving reduced effect from external damage buffs or whatever bullshit could placate us lowly masses, as it were.

No idea on point [2]. On [3], I suspect they'll just finally increase Dawntrail fights' incoming damage to need at least Endwalker levels of free healing kit --maybe even some of Dawntrail's additions, if we're very lucky-- to deal with and nod their heads at 'a job well done'?

[Aravell]

Is there anyone besides WAR who is actually getting positive changes this expansion

The Living Dead change and the Hypercharge/Blood Weapon charges were good QoL changes. MCH got Dismantle back, which was a well-received change. Other than that, no, can't really think of anything else. The PLD change was extremely divisive, the only positive thing that came from it is that it's objectively tankier now.

[vetch]

The Living Dead change and the Hypercharge/Blood Weapon charges were good QoL changes. MCH got Dismantle back, which was a well-received change.

Personally I liked having buffs with tight timers that you had to plan your SkS around and make sure to drop them into 2nd weave slots to get maximum benefit. I don't like that they just dropped those facets of play from the game entirely rather than fix their atrocious ping problems (which had already been done by a third-party mod, so it's indeed possible). I don't consider it QOL in this case, I consider it lobotomization -- cutting softskills used by multiple jobs from the game by giving us idiot-proofed abilities instead.

Living Dead, Divine Veil, re-adding Dismantle & Bulwark, all were good, uncontroversial changes though, I feel.