WHM getting progressively more unnecessary in content?

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Not sure if others are feeling the same way, but i haven't ever seen it mentioned so i'll bring it up.
Do you feel like WHM is, as people obtain more gear, losing it's usefulness?

Obviously WHM focuses on healing, and can heal more than an AST as a healer main. But for the past month now, even on the hardest content, the extra healing simply proves unnecessary. You don't need a Cure III to survive Mega Holy. You don't need an asylum to keep everyone up between heals. You don't need almost any of WHMs extra healing strength to clear content. It makes me feel that there's no point in bringing a WHM in if an AST can come in and heal it just as well, while offering support to it's party.

It's to the point where bringing a WHM to a party feels more like a handicap than a helpful addition. I'm sure this couldn't have been SE' intentions; making WHM only relevant in progression raiding, if even that. Do other WHM mains feel the same way? I don't think WHM is BAD, not at all. But I feel AST currently offers too much as a healer for WHM to continue competing with it. It simply remains viable enough to heal with, but I no longer feel comfortable playing a WHM knowing how much more an AST can offer.

[StrategistShiroe]

Snip OP Post

As a WHM Main I feel you're not too far off the mark. People are craving and wanting more forms of mitigation/prevention than flat out 'here's your numbers'.
I browse FFLogs and I notice that AST are doing heavier healing than WHM; pulling our numbers but also offers card buffs, shields, light regens, etc. I am not the biggest fan of the whole MH/OH platform/stance people take when both should be equally doing the job to allow for both DPS & Heals from both sides. All that takes is communication between them. Otherwise why have a 2nd healer slot at all instead of another DPS slot?

I've seen a fair amount of 'WHM is losing it's job identity' arguments as of late. I am on the side of Yes we are. If another healing job not only heals at our raw output but offers buffs why take the just raw healer? Yes AST offers regens so does WHM but AST gets a much better pump up for their heals as a whole over WHM constantly due to their stance. Sure it's 10% vs 30% but that's 10% at as long as the stance is on vs 30% at 15 seconds(Not counting the full Medica 2/Regen ticks that carry it past). ASt also offers Lightspeed which is basically a multiple swiftcast or super PoM at it's worst.

I really hope that some of ASTs stronger skills get into that 4.0 skill pool because WHM needs some kinda love more than just SoS scaling off max MP.

[Cleftobismal]

Or just ask SE to continue to let WHM be the masters of crowd control. Something that WHM has over the other two healers even if it isn't used as much. Who knows if this is the direction WHM will be pushed in.

[Kaitoo]

is essentialy a game design flaw rather then the class


Its obvious that whm secondary field besides healing is CC, you dont need CC in 99 % of the content because its easy as hell

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Or just ask SE to continue to let WHM be the masters of crowd control. Something that WHM has over the other two healers even if it isn't used as much. Who knows if this is the direction WHM will be pushed in.

Personally I would hate if WHM turned into a dungeon only job. I would hate that to death.

WHM just needs another side to them. AST and SCH can both heal whole offering other advantages for the party snd themselves. WHM shouldn't be excluded from that treatment. A pure healer just won't work in a game like this where the extra healing is never actually needed, nor will it ever be needed because that would cause and imbalance to other healers.

[Cleftobismal]

Let me guess, you'd want a mechanic that allows you to keep healing after dying for a while.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Let me guess, you'd want a mechanic that allows you to keep healing after dying for a while.

Umm, no?
Just an identity for WHM is all. Just heals is really not cutting it anymore.

[Zojha]

Just heals is really not cutting it anymore.

There's no "anymore", it just can't cut it as identity. That's like making "mitigation" an identity, doesn't work either.

Healers and Tanks are artificial roles with no purpose other than to deal with unavoidable damage. That damage is set. It's coming at you no matter what. As a consequence, you only need to be able to deal with a set amount of damage - not more, not less. And unless you want to crowd out classes, you need to give every tank and healer the tools to deal with that damage - remember, the damage comes no matter what, so if you can't deal with it by design, you're not viable in your role. You do not need to mitigate or heal more than necessary either however, because all other damage is avoidable, so you just need to git gut there and at best, the purpose can be to feather bad groups. Hence, both of those do not work as "identity".

WHM and PLD will need a new identity in the long run - or, fall into obscurity.

[Rivxkobe]

AST is currently over tuned and completely overpowered. It needs some of its recent buffs reverted because they gave to much to quickly.

[Jonnycbad]

Isn't this like saying MNK is getting progressively unnecessary? You could argue that even though it's the highest individual DPS, that extra DPS is unnecessary because MNK has no raid utility. So a DRG could do 90% the DPS of a MNK, but also increase everyone else's DPS with Battle Litany+Disembowel, which pushes the added damage past what the 10% deficit is compared to MNK.

In that regard, WHM has potent heals and HoTs that could allow WHM additional time to throw out Stone III's/Aero's/Asylums. Doesn't WHM have the best single target DPS amongst healers? Couldn't that be their 'raid utility' in a sense?