My problems with AST buffs.

[Jerichai]

There's a lot of needlessly angry people of both side of this discussion. How about we take a few breathes and work this out like adults?

It seems like there are a few lines of thought running through this discussion:

1. Concerns that AST buffs went too far and will maybe sideline other healing classes on the basis that AST has 'more to offer'.
2. Concerns that the three healing classes are becoming too homogenized relative to one another. That none of them have a unique presence and create interesting choices for party composition.
3. Some healers (specifically SCHs and WHMs) hoping that SE will take a second pass at their abilities that don't feel particularly good in the current meta now that AST has had some time to develop.
4. Frustration from the AST due to a perception that the SCH and WHM population want to increase their power and keep AST on the bench.

I think if we cool our heads a bit, most can see that no one particularly wants to nerf/exclude anyone else from content. And I do think their are some opinions voiced in this thread that are worthwhile talking points. Specifically, the concern over homogenization. I myself am concerned what the healing meta is going to look like down the line. For instance, if there ever comes a point where we get a 4th healing job, is it going to feel as similar to the existing three as much of AST does to the general play style of SCH and WHM? Sadly it feels like the developers didn't take a lot of risks with AST. I do wonder if that was a result of trying to release 3 new jobs at the same time.

[TatoRazzino]

Well, people are having problems with the word "unique". As far as I'm concerned, FF XIV and other MMOs have lots of jobs that are very similar, but each of them has a small set of skills/mechanics that define them and make them different from other jobs. Just compare Monk, Dragoon and Ninja, and you'll see that they have basic sets of skills that are very similar (a self damage increasing debuff, DoTs, detrimental effects, combos/forms), but also have unique characteristics: Monks have Greased Lightning, which needs to be mantained; Dragoons have jumps and access to a four tier combo; and Ninjas have jutsus and support skills. Would you call them carbon copy of one another?