Cleric Stance is dead!

[loreleidiangelo]

Healer DPS in TERA was always mandatory, as they debuff enemy defenses with specific glyphed spells and have to dispell certain shields on bosses, else they gain a massive defense or damage buff.
As for other healers, older games were more destinct in their holy trinity - As you can see here, being more in a stat buff/healing role with mild crowd control and maybe a dot or two.

I'd argue that in TERA it's less that "DPS is mandatory" and more that "debuffing the mob is mandatory, as is buffing your group with Energy Stars". Those moves HAPPEN to do damage, but I wouldn't say that's why healers are required to "DPS" in that game. Attach valuable support components to SCH's Broil or WHM's Aero III and you'd see the same result here.

[Ilenya]

I'd argue that in TERA it's less that "DPS is mandatory" and more that "debuffing the mob is mandatory, as is buffing your group with Energy Stars". Those moves HAPPEN to do damage, but I wouldn't say that's why healers are required to "DPS" in that game. Attach valuable support components to SCH's Broil or WHM's Aero III and you'd see the same result here.

Actually, that'd be a fairly interesting idea, if it could be balanced properly.

[Arrius]

I'd argue that in TERA it's less that "DPS is mandatory" and more that "debuffing the mob is mandatory, as is buffing your group with Energy Stars". Those moves HAPPEN to do damage, but I wouldn't say that's why healers are required to "DPS" in that game. Attach valuable support components to SCH's Broil or WHM's Aero III and you'd see the same result here.

It depends on the healer here. Priests got it easy and are hard carries with their heals, while Mystics are force multipliers and got a bunch of thralls to do damage (If they don't get one-shot by a boss swipe. Welp.).

But yeah, giving certain spells a meaningful debuff on the enemy might help incentivize the healers to at least try to use them.

[loreleidiangelo]

Actually, that'd be a fairly interesting idea, if it could be balanced properly.

To me, I dislike healer DPS in FFXIV because it's damage just for the sake of damage, for the most part. It's damage because there's a bajillion times where your team doesn't require anything else BUT more damage, and I despise that immensely. I play a healer to support my team (in b4 I get the trite "killing stuff faster IS supporting your team"; take your semantics elsewhere), and I wouldn't really be bothered if any sort of debuff or support component dealt damage on its own. Character identity is a big deal to me and I don't identify with the spell-slinging battle cleric, I've always identified more with the pure white robes and sparkles gentle pacifist. It's why I originally hoped that AST wouldn't just have copy-pasted DPS abilities from other healers (and wew lads, it totally did), and that instead buffing your group and possibly debuffing the enemies would be how it contributed to the party damage role. A pain to balance, maybe, but I think the devs could have shut down the stupid "should healers DPS" argument once and for all had they simply tried to make playstyles that suited both philosophies.

I get that there's a whole mixed bag of why group buffs don't always equate numerically to individual healer DPS, and lazy players who don't want to do ANYTHING but push the occasional Cure and pick their butts would still exist, but right now these differing playstyles are probably the most divisive issue in the game ATM and so far just leaving it to the players to sort it all out isn't getting SE anywhere. It'd be nice if these issues are eventually looked at and a compromise reached.

It depends on the healer here. Priests got it easy and are hard carries with their heals, while Mystics are force multipliers and got a bunch of thralls to do damage (If they don't get one-shot by a boss swipe. Welp.).

Apropos of nothing, but Bluehole's shit treatment of Mystics was one of the biggest reasons why I quit that game. Awesome class, high skill floor, amazing potential, but they completely ruined it with a ton of hard nerfs and overreaching buffs to Priests.

[Rombus]

Ding Dong the witch is dead!!! I AM BEYOND THRILLED for the change! I was already a dpsing healer and this is the best QoL change for me!! I don't have to be nervous about cleric stancing in a shitty group anymore!!!

[Archvile78]

Extremely happy with the change to it (and the removal of accuracy) i think there's still a nice element of risk with CS, if you use it you'd be silly to waste it on healing (provided it only buff offensive magic potency) so you'll still need to be careful but at least you won't make a mistakes of staying in it and vice versa.

[Mnemosis]

Character identity is a big deal to me and I don't identify with the spell-slinging battle cleric, I've always identified more with the pure white robes and sparkles gentle pacifist.

I wouldn't associate "gentle pacifist" with the WoL. Because of all the MSQ leading up into Stormblood, they are forced to kill a lot of living beings in order to defend themselves. And not even just in self-defense, but also to sustain themselves. At the beginning of the game, in order to prove their worth as an adventurer to their starting city-state, they are tasked with ye olde MMO tradition quest of "kill 10 of these 3 weak creatures". All healer questlines emphasize the need to defend yourself. Remember Sylphie from the CNJ story? "I'm good at healing! You can't make me do those other things!"

tl;dr - The WoL cannot be considered a gentle pacifist by the events of Stormblood. I see this as a weak excuse to avoid damage dealing as a healer.

[MistyMew]

No excuse to not DPS as a healer expect a kick now if you want to stand around and do nothing

horrible attitude typical loltank

[Sebazy]

Expecting players to actively contribute is a bad attitude?

So your okay with a dragoon only using their basic combo for an entire run?

You should be blacklisted with an attitude like that

Context and compromise is everything here.

I'm all for healer DPS myself, but I wouldn't force my full gas roulette play style on someone who might lack the experience or dexterity to pull it off comfortably and consistently. It stops being worthwhile if you start causing more issues than you solve with it =(

[JMadFour]

welp...no more excuses for us not to DPS, I suppose.