Quote Originally Posted by Rebeccubus View Post
They kept saying they were getting feedback that healing was too stressful. The devs took this to mean that the problem was juggling healing and damage dealing at the same time. Personally, I think they completely missed the mark.
I actually don't. Probably the most busy healers were with damage was in Stormblood. Although I could manage it just fine and it kept me busy, it was a lot to manage and keep track of, since SCH and WHM had a whole bunch of different DoTs to apply and track. And plenty of players are definitely not like me... and would not manage that.

Still, making them spam 1 button wasn't necessarily the answer. I do feel like Sage gets pretty good with its damage kit, especially if you rig it before a boss fight by doing a tank shield and a party shield to get a full sweep of Addersting at the start of a fight due to the standard raid AoE+buster. Gives you a good variety to press.

WHM feels pretty good to me overall, despite the main button being on a 2 minute CD, because many fights have a lot going on that I need to pay attention to players for between that.

AST is alright, has lots of damage and buff buttons, and the card game always gave it something, although its card system used to feel more fun with a Royal Road or Lord/Lady RNG system.

SCH is really what got shafted the most in terms of damage. It has a lot of damage buttons in the sense of... Energy Drain x6 or more. But it feels like the other healers just have more variety, and the crit button doesn't feel as good as what the other healers have to me. But this is how SCH has always been beside the DoTs it had, and it's my main healer, so am fine whatever they do with it really.
IMO, what is actually more stressful for a lower skill healer is when you die and the entire group wipes because of it
Well yes, and tanks fear the same actually, but the reality is many players can clear a dungeon regardless if that happens (did it earlier today, defeated two bosses as a MNK despite that the healer died, and it was a tight sync dungeon too so I had to use my self-heals). Moreover, when they die, players usually don't care and just pull again and beat it. Hopefully new players will learn these truths about FFXIV eventually.
The punishment for underperforming on a healer is WAY higher than any other role.
Now do you see why everything has become crazy easy, to the point you can finish a dungeon without a healer easily? Healers are optional in most dungeons/fights if everyone else plays well. It's the same reason they gave heal potions to everyone in PvP - to reduce reliance on the healer.
Let us use phoenix downs in combat.
I would like if we could use all forms of potions on others... like in traditional FF games. It disappointed me this was not possible, and yet there's not really a good reason why. Would it really hurt to be able to use a Hi-Potion on a party member?