What I've realized about healing in XIV...

[RichardButte]

I had played SCH all through HW and have played AST through all of SB thus far, but I've come to a saddening realization...

I hate the way players take damage in this game.

Damage happens in one of two ways, particularly from bosses in dungeons/raids:

1. Auto attacking, which barely tickles all but the poorest-geared tanks.

2. Abilities, which typically knock 50-75% of the HP off of either the tank or the entire party.

This means that, as a healer, I either have no healing to do or TONS of healing to do, and the end result is that, yes, healers get pestered about doing DPS, which I don't mind doing, except that healer DPS is boring AF.

There's a discussion on the general forums right now about healing in XIV vs. healing in WoW, and the key difference is that damage in WoW goes out at a more gradual, but steady pace, meaning that healers almost always spend all of their time healing.

I think the 2.5sec GCD is partially to blame, here, as the pacing of healing can't be THAT quick because healers can't cast often enough to maintain such a pace.

In the end, it makes healing feel more "whack-a-mole" like than fun because you need to watch like a hawk for when someone takes damage, as the next hit could very well kill them, but it's boring downtime between those "OH SHI-" moments.

Maybe if healer DPS was all around more interesting to do it wouldn't be as bad, but I'd rather the game just balance out damage so that it comes more gradually instead of massive spikes between periods of downtime.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

This means that, as a healer, I either have no healing to do or TONS of healing to do, and the end result is that, yes, healers get pestered about doing DPS, which I don't mind doing, except that healer DPS is boring AF.

Tanks: Use DPS stance, keep fairly consistent def CD usage, and strike a balance between generating enough aggro to keep hate and dealing big damage
Healers: Spends 80%+ of your time dpsing, only occasionally tossing out a non regen.

Welcome to why I absolutely loathe the way healers play in this game. At least tanks have a lot more to keep an eye out for.

[RichardButte]

Tanks: Use DPS stance, keep fairly consistent def CD usage, and strike a balance between generating enough aggro to keep hate and dealing big damage
Healers: Spends 80%+ of your time dpsing, only occasionally tossing out a non regen.

Welcome to why I absolutely loathe the way healers play in this game. At least tanks have a lot more to keep an eye out for.

...And I wouldn't mind it so much if healer DPS was actually engaging or interesting but they seem to have dumbed it down so much that it's literally 2 buttons. :\

[Dregenfox]

Healer/tank basically play like a super-gimped DPS with less buttons. Only difference being that healer has to press a heal button at set intervals, while tank has to press a mitigation button at set intervals.

Otherwise, the only interesting roles in ff14 are DPS roles. It's deceptively hard to play DPS at an optimal level.

[IanFrench]

I think the difference caused also comes from that FFXIV is cross-platform game(supports PS4/Xbox).

[Cynfael]

In the end, it makes healing feel more "whack-a-mole" like than fun because you need to watch like a hawk for when someone takes damage, as the next hit could very well kill them, but it's boring downtime between those "OH SHI-" moments.

Where I would push back is that there is nothing at all "whack-a-mole" about FFXIV's healing style; the only surprises come from human error. You know exactly what will or will not kill players if you know the encounter and are paying attention to whatever variables there may be (vuln stacks, mob being buffed, player being undergeared and/or accident-prone, etc.).

The goal of the healing game is first to anticipate the pace and timing of incoming damage and then to work in as many other useful actions (read: DPS) as possible while satisfying healing requirements and relieving stress on party members to enable them to continue business as usual.

There isn't anything more exciting or involved about tanking or any other role than there is about healer if you break it down by minimal expectations + what else you should be doing. Healer DPS mechanics are purposefully simple to enable the flexibility to do whatever you need to be doing in the moment.

Now, if you dislike playing healer in FFXIV, that's a perfectly valid opinion. I would just look at it a bit differently as I described above, because planning ahead and acting accordingly is where the fun lies in healer gameplay IMO.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

Snip. :\

That's actually my point. XD DPSing as a tank is actively engaging since you effectively have more to manage. As a healer? I have to watch YouTube and listen to Yahtzee just to not fall asleep while hitting Holy/Stone/Whatever dps spell my healer has. Healing doesn't even have anything fun like watching Vengeance counter ticks fill up the screen!

[RichardButte]

Now, if you dislike playing healer in FFXIV, that's a perfectly valid opinion. I would just look at it a bit differently as I described above, because planning ahead and acting accordingly is where the fun lies in healer gameplay IMO.

I don't feel as though there are enough opportunities to do this to make it interesting enough to warrant playing a healer, TBH.

Even the WAY we heal is generally bland, especially in comparison to WoW where they have healers that can heal through damaging, heal by HoTs that actively spread themselves every tick, heal by putting buffs on multiple raid members, then using an ability that heals all of them, etc.

Simple healing + simple DPS still feels simple overall. I've come to prefer DPS because I need a more complicated rotation to keep things interesting...

[Pence]

So your issue is with healer DPS? You're not suggesting anything here. Just complaining that healing requires attention and DPS is boring?

[loreleidiangelo]

So your issue is with healer DPS? You're not suggesting anything here. Just complaining that healing requires attention and DPS is boring?

I think their issue is more how healing in this game is a total feast-or-famine style re: HPS requirements and that if the developers would move encounters more towards different types of damage dispensation like persistent DoTs, constant stack mechanics instead of a "cluster and get chunked for 90% of your health but only once every minute or so", and boss autos hitting significantly harder that it would give room for new types of healers to excel in this game. I mean, part of the reason SCH was changed so drastically from 2.x to now I feel is because they were a single-target oriented/sustain healer trying to survive in a burst damage world. Rather than change how boss patterns and mechanics worked, instead the developers just gave SCH a bunch of burst reactive healing tools too. Kinda dull, if you ask me.