Why healing is broken and terrible, and how to fix it...

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Or we could just nerf the potency on their dmg skills. so that if they do want to dps, they better actually think about using them.

Or do what i always wanted SE to do but i know they wont ( incoming heat...), disable all dmg spells in dungeons, raids, trials, guildhests, fates. Only enable them during solo content such as msq scenarios or outside 1v1 combat with mobs. If you participate in fates they get enabled until another person joins in the fate.

The day they disable damage spells on healers is the day I retire my Cane, Globe and Spell book. Pure healing in this game is laughably easy, to the point of boredom. You do this and I guarantee queue times for dungeons would be abysmal. Worse, you'd see a vast increase of PFs allowing only one healer. Come to think of it, such a change would make Red Mage all but mandatory. White Mage + Red Mage is far better than two dedicated healers if they're locked out of DPSing since the Red Mage can DPS.

Likewise, nerfing potencies accomplishes nothing. Healers will still be expected to DPS, and will. They'll just put up less numbers.

[Naunet]

Or we could just nerf the potency on their dmg skills. so that if they do want to dps, they better actually think about using them.

We need to be able to do some damage, or we wouldn't be able to level on our own or complete MSQ instances. Nerfing potency also wouldn't make us "think" about our spells, because there would still just be two (maybe three) buttons to spam.

No, the fix comes from a combination of nerfing HEALING potency alongside changes in how damage goes out in dungeon/raid/trial encounters so that we spend more time actually healing.

[Jatoi]

This seems more like a PUG problem than healing problem. I understand where you're coming from and your intentions are good! I've played a WHM for years and have seen many, many. . . many things.

The events in the game are scripted, you can use Focus Target to know what will happen next on a boss and act accordingly ( this is why I lose my mind when I am asked to do a new instance blind ). Healing is predictive but with some "OH SHIT!" buttons juuust in case.

What you can't predict is who you're playing with if you're going to be set up with randoms. Those randoms will be the defining choice on whether or not you will be able to DPS at all. Will the tank use his CDs properly? Will the DPS avoid damage and put out enough damage to not make the fights last forever?

If the rest of your party is actually good and pays attention, a healer will have the time to DPS. If no one is taking damage and you know what the boss does, go for it! A healer shouldn't strain themselves to DPS if the group is terrible though. A healer's job first and foremost is to heal.

[oph]

Healing is not broken as long you have any idea of what kind of group you're inserted into, it's harder to gauge that in a PUG environment than a pre-formed group, that is certain, however you can have a slight idea of what kind of healer you have to be just by seeing how a group performs. Are tanks not using CD's appropriately to mitigate busters? DPS slacking on mechanics and require more of your attention? Then focus on healing only and maybe DPS when deemed safe so you don't end up risking a wipe or running OOM from too much healing. It's all about adaptability and healers have it worse in that regard since they need to have an idea of what's going to know how to act.

Fortunately in a pre-formed oriented group aka static, it's easier to adapt since you kinda know what to expect and not rely on the holy RNG of DF/PF where you won't know if you're either paired with a bunch of noobs or world class players.

[eschaton]

Here's an idea, play with this for a while:


When you PUG up or do not know the fight, do not use all of your MP to DPS. Say you keep your limit at a very generous above 50% for DPSing... and below that you stop it and wait until you can re-gen MP with the available skills. Then start DPSing again.

When you start to feel comfy with said fight, you can drop this to say 33%, even while PUGing. Or even lower, when you switch to a known group.

tl;dr nobody forces you to use all your MP to DPS, you are the healer, it is your call.

[Ksenia]

I understand what you are saying OP but it's a non issue for me. I don't DPS. Oddly enough a wipe usually comes from one shot mechanics and it's usually me on the floor first so saving MP shouldn't be an issue for me but I still refuse to DPS unless I am trying to stat effect like Heavy or Stun.

[Ametrine]

The factors that play into why I only like to heal come down to the separation of DPS and healing skillset. I do not enjoy the long, complex rotations of DPS classes, and I do not enjoy the responsibility and trust associated with tanking.

But healing gives me a selection of skills that require me to react as needed for individuals instances. Having a situation where I can contribute nothing extra from a good party is as frustrating a concept to me as it is to others that FFXIV healers are permitted and encouraged to take time to weave in damage.

I also have no quams about leaving bad situations, and don't let bad experiences ruin my play.

If FFXIV goes the direction of pure-healing on the healers, I will either swap to bard, as it's the only real support/utility job, or leave the game. Having just one singular task to do over and over (like a rotation) with little variation is very boring.

[Taika]

Having the utility of being able to keep people alive while putting out respectable damage is awesome.

This is what's appealing to me in FFXIV healers as well. I love being able to support my party with heals, buffs AND dps. If they were only about pure healing, I wouldn't play them. I think this design attracts many players to the role.

[loreleidiangelo]

This is what's appealing to me in FFXIV healers as well. I love being able to support my party with heals, buffs AND dps. If they were only about pure healing, I wouldn't play them. I think this design attracts many players to the role.

I think if the design were better implemented it wouldn't bug me as much either, but healing really is just exceptionally dull here, even with the added "responsibility" of spamming two DPS buttons between healing windows. Like, I actually enjoy Discipline Priest in World of Warcraft, which is a pure healer/deeps hybrid, but because of the way its implemented there it doesn't feel like I'm DPSing because I don't have anything else to DO, it feels like I'm DPSing as a smooth and integral part of my toolkit.

The old Cleric Stance really hammered home this disparity, IMO. A button that literally turns off your healing because there is no healing to do at the time and you might as well soup up your DPS instead.

In the interests of fairness, even the people I've spoken to who are pro healer DPS admit that healing in this game could stand to be adjusted a bit to make the split between healing/DPSing time more even. So I think the "two camps" as it were aren't actually that far apart in ideology when it comes to the future and direction of healing in XIV.

(Yes, I'm a Savage healer, before anyone comes and tells me to do hard content and still say that healing is too easy. I'm doing it, and even contrivances like Exdeath's White Hole don't do much to add challenge to the role outside of an arbitrary push away from AOE regens for the duration.)

[Aramina]

MFW people compare clear times for 4 bosses in Omega to a full tier of WoW. Compare apples to apples: How long does it take to clear the first few Mythic bosses in a new tier? Answer: A few hours.