Dawntrail Healers need a rework

[Katish]

I’m with Roe in that I think the pure/barrier split can work if done correctly, but it requires SE to understand the difference between then, make content designed to pressure both pure and barrier healing mechanics (even 4 man content) and design each side to heavily favor their side’s advantages.

What I mean by this is, if a barrier healers advantages are barriers and mitigation, then their bread and butter mechanics should be barriers and mitigation, not regens and mitigation. And in order to keep the barrier healers capable of responding to burst/regen needs, they can still have burst and regen healing, but their burst/regen heals should have steep opportunity costs—loss of DPS, high Mp cost. And this would be true in reverse for the pure healers.

This would create an environment where you want one of each because then you have a healer that can very easily respond to two types of needs in a more effective manner. The scholar could stop attacking to spend 1600 MP to burst heal the party, but the White Mage can do that for no MP cost and no loss of DPS. Something like that.

I'm not sure even that can work, given barriers would still always be preferred as the safer option. Then there's the question of why? Why even have barriers or pure healing, if nothing checks them...or you can just rely on one instead of the other, this being a system issue (why do they exist [outside aesthetics]). I would prefer the healers be able to answer anything at very similar levels in terms of healing/shielding ( doesn't matter on how they do it or what additional effect comes with [this is where the diversity can happen] ) because then healing floors and mitigation floors could potentially be brought up to justify the existence of either or (healing or shielding) as any pair of healers would work given they would have the tools to answer the same problem. You can force something to work, but it doesn't make it any less glaring that you're just doing the same thing in a different way (which is my main issue with healer button bloat)

Though "barrier" healers are still healers at the end of the day and not a new role.. meaning they are comparable to pure healers and compete for the same slot. Since both are the same role, both should share the same tools (at least where "healing" or mitigation is concerned) or else it beckons the question as to why shield when you can heal...or why heal when you can shield.