That quote from 2021 should be taken with a humongous grain of salt. I would find it interesting to know how really "unique" Sage feels to an experienced healer ? I would say that while it has some nice animations, it's not really really so distinct from the other healers.

While I wouldn't disagree from his comment that someone who heals a party at high end/difficult content can field a sense of achievement, there are enough remarks in that interview that reinforce that it years past the time that he should be employing a dedicated healer designer - not to mention not getting ridding of their tester/QA when they get "too good" at healing.