Quote Originally Posted by Aravell View Post
I think there is actually a way to fix OGCDs being so predominant while also not removing them.

Make the basic GCD heals like Medica or Succor completely MP free, so the only cost would be your GCD. Then add MP costs to every currently free tool, from Afflatus Rapture to Pneuma, with the strongest tools costing the most MP.

With that kind of design, while not forced to use GCD heals, you'd want to opt into using them to conserve MP for when you actually need your strong OGCD tools. It also wouldn't harm the less experienced players because they mostly GCD heal anyway.
That's changing how the healer design works.

What you are "supposed to do" in this game, is use only GCD's (for WHM that is Cure 1, Cure 2, Medica, Medica 2, Cure 3) until you actually need the oGCD (eg burst damage, tank busters) because you literately do not have the time to GCD cast, and can't GCD cast while moving. If a player is using only their oGCD's, they are likely not playing efficiently, especially when to access one oGCD you need to use Afflatus Solace (the oGCD version of Cure 2, which has no MP cost and has no cast time) before you can access Afflatus Rapture (the no MP cost OGD version of Medica.)

But this comes back to the entire way this game is centered on DPS. If this game was instead centered on Healing (maintaining party at full or near full health) or Tanking (Enmity generation and Damage mitigation) then DPS kits would actually be designed around the assumption that players would always try to minmax a glass cannon, meaning DPS would be squishy and easily one-shot killed if they are not wearing the BiS gear for the content. Not the case, clearly. Likewise if it was actually centered on healing (health), then the healer would have to figure out what debuffs each party member gets hit with and respond with the correct antidote action. Not a second redundant set of healing kits.

Two sets of healing kits pretty much sends the message to the player that fights can have up to three different consecutive burst damage situations.

No, I think a button de-bloat is in order. Stick Afflatus Solace on the Cure II button, and Afflatus on the Medica button, and when when the oGCD isn't available, stick the GCD in that slot so players don't have to check if the oGCD is available or not.

You can play the vast majority of the MSQ content using only the GCD's and Assize for MP, which tells you the intended way they want you to play. Because you can not rely on all oGCD's being available. You can also do the same with the expert dungeons and normal raids, which tells you just how much healing kit there is that we don't get to use because tanks and dps can just heal themselves. In Raid content, you're basically "not healing the tank" but rather trying to land heal bombs right after tank busters.