WHM getting progressively more unnecessary in content?

[Yeol]

Except this is exactly what AST is. It can heal as good as a WHM, mitigate better (even in diurnal), can reliably DPS more and offers great utility.
This is everything a healer is capable of. And it can do it all.

Also I know a popular argument is that WHM si a simpler healer, but this is really not true. Just like Monk not doing that much more DPS than a DRG, WHM doesn't heal so well that it achieves something an AST cannot.
If WHM heals were so strong it completely simplified mechanics and raid damage that would be different, but 90% of the time they heal about as much as an AST does, with the difference in healing power only being shown on paper, not in use.

I've already said AST is the WAR of healers now.
WAR can hold aggro, DPs and self heal efficiently (He can do it all).

Doesn't mean WAR and AST should be changed. Not many people play them to their full potentials, but they can make wonders when played well. Nor does it mean other jobs should be brought to their level.

WHM is only missing MP recovery. That is the only thing that will really fix them.
AST and SCH have no MP issue compared to WHM. Give WHM a better way to get MP back and they will be healing+dpsing, then no one would mind having them.

[VanilleFang]

WHM is only missing MP recovery.

No, WHM is also missing utility. Look at everything unique the healers can do outside healing or dealing damage. AST has Disable and Cards. SCH has enhanced E4E and Virus, and Sacred Soil. WHM has... Nothing. This isn't even including fairy buffs or shields. Give me am example of something a WHM brings to a party that the others don't and I may change my opinion.

[bswpayton]

No, WHM is also missing utility. Look at everything unique the healers can do outside healing or dealing damage. AST has Disable and Cards. SCH has enhanced E4E and Virus, and Sacred Soil. WHM has... Nothing. This isn't even including fairy buffs or shields. Give me am example of something a WHM brings to a party that the others don't and I may change my opinion.

But why does it need it the job of a healer is to make sure nobody dies and the party doesnt whip and do some dps and whms can do that with ease

[VanilleFang]

But why does it need it

Because the other two healers can heal and DPS just fine as well. Why would anyone take a WHM if an AST of equal skill is available?

[bswpayton]

Because the other two healers can heal and DPS just

What this thread should say is in Alexander content, because that,s what its referring to which as I pointed out earlier not even half the game participates in. Because nobody is doing a df or anything else and getting upset that a whm is in their party. And if we are talking about skilled players then a skilled player can manage whm mp and do well with the class also. If we arent talkin bout skilled players and ur more average players I,m willing to bet its far more average whmages than their are scholars because everyone cant play scholar and ive seen it many many times. I just recently got my astro to level 50 yesterday and I will share maining it now along with my whm but what whm offers is burst damage. But Im pretty sure the devs have heard loud and clear whm needs more damage mitigation so Im sure it will be coming but the job itself is still an amazing job.

[Yeol]

No, WHM is also missing utility. Look at everything unique the healers can do outside healing or dealing damage. AST has Disable and Cards. SCH has enhanced E4E and Virus, and Sacred Soil. WHM has... Nothing. This isn't even including fairy buffs or shields. Give me am example of something a WHM brings to a party that the others don't and I may change my opinion.

Not every job in this game must have utility.

[Cynfael]

Not every job in this game must have utility.

True, but since utility is in demand, the trade-off needs to be excellence in another area.

WHM's potential issue is that not only do we not really need more of what the job is really good at (straight-up HPS), it doesn't come with many bells and whistles compared to its peers aside from impressive AoE burst damage, which is more of a nice bonus for dungeon trash than anything else.

Just being a good healer isn't really enough to distinguish WHM anymore. I think it will continue to be perfectly functional for all content, but it would be disappointing to see it fall into its own vanilla healer ghetto now that the other two healing jobs encroach on what used to be its unique strengths. The dynamic between SCH and WHM in 2.x was more clearly defined IMO, with WHM being desirable for the ease of burst raid healing that the SCH could not provide, but with the addition of a third healing job, SE is now going with the approach that all three should be viable for all healing needs. I think that was a good idea in general, but WHM being great at healing doesn't seem to be as strong a selling point as it used to be.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Exactly this. The only thing WHM actually has going for it right now in raids is being easy to handle. Which is in no way an identity to distinguish itself from the other healers, let alone stand up against them.

Basically, WHM can't just stick to only heals. It needs something else that's unique to them to even stand a chance against the other two. Either that or SE bumps WHM healing up to a borderline broken level to the point where not even a 10% 40 second damage up buff would sound appealing. And that would be just stupid.

Frankly, I think they need to bring down the potency of Scholar and Astro. There really isn't much they could give White Mage without changing the whole job from what it's always been: a healer specialist.

Just being a good healer isn't really enough to distinguish WHM anymore. I think it will continue to be perfectly functional for all content, but it would be disappointing to see it fall into its own vanilla healer ghetto now that the other two healing jobs encroach on what used to be its unique strengths. The dynamic between SCH and WHM in 2.x was more clearly defined IMO, with WHM being desirable for the ease of burst raid healing that the SCH could not provide, but with the addition of a third healing job, SE is now going with the approach that all three should be viable for all healing needs. I think that was a good idea in general, but WHM being great at healing doesn't seem to be as strong a selling point as it used to be.

See, this is where I wonder if that philosophy has caused more bad than good. A common complaint is how similar jobs are to one another. I think they need to redefine the unique aspects of each job, not just the role itself. At the moment, it seems the devs really want to have a few "simple" jobs. Unfortunately, they seem to stay that way even at max level. That's partly why Paladin has suffered throughout Heavensward.