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

[Freyt]

Everyone disagreeing with each other, both sides saying "no one disagrees with me!" Both sides saying "No one thinks like you do!"

The reality is left as if you don't know whether a group is going to do well or not, you cannot effectively plan around it. A DPS can simply DPS. A tank can simply tank. Both of these do their jobs simply by doing what they'd be doing regardless, but we can't exactly have healers just mass party healing simply by attacking.

To everyone bickering that your side of the argument is the correct side of the argument, you need to settle down and listen for a while. Understanding is the difference between listening and witnessing, and you all aren't doing it. (I mean some are, but don't just assume you are, take a step back and look at yourself you know)

Honestly I like the OP's ideas to fix this. Are they the right solutions? I'm not here to tell you that. What is being discussed here isn't about balance, or the healers role in a fight, but rather the endless debate between players about what a healer should be doing at any given time.

[Kazrah]

To everyone bickering that your side of the argument is the correct side of the argument, you need to settle down and listen for a while. Understanding is the difference between listening and witnessing, and you all aren't doing it. (I mean some are, but don't just assume you are, take a step back and look at yourself you know)

Way ahead of you, and really I think the OP just wants to play another game. It's a different system, which is why I keep saying to the OP that it's okay not to be good at healing in this game compared to healing in some other game. It's also a system that works with how combat works in the game, so trying to change how healing works would first mean changing how combat works overall in the game. From this perspective, the OP really wants a different game altogether.

Since WoW is being used as an example, I can do that too. In fact, after over a decade in WoW, their system is starting to become more and more like FFXIV, where not only are healers dps'ing more often, but some even healing in dps specs (this happened A LOT when I was tanking). The only difference as far as I can see with WoW's healing compared to FFXIV's healing is that healing in WoW no longer has the added challenge of resource management. To translate for those reading this who haven't played WoW, this would mean that healing in WoW is so mind-numbing that dungeon groups have healers switching to Red Mage just so they can do more damage as Vercure and tank self-healing provides more than enough to get the group through.

Could there be adjustments to the healing system? Perhaps, but not without completely overhauling how combat works entirely, and that's something that players like the OP need to face. Just because it's a disagreeable system does not by any means make it a broken system. Not to mention that this whole argument doesn't really address an actual issue of healing, being that of what healers should be expected to do.

[Snow_Princess]

Way ahead of you, and really I think the OP just wants to play another game. It's a different system, which is why I keep saying to the OP that it's okay not to be good at healing in this game compared to healing in some other game. It's also a system that works with how combat works in the game, so trying to change how healing workswould first mean changing how combat works overall in the game. From this perspective, the OP really wants a different game altogether.

Since WoW is being used as an example, I can do that too. In fact, after over a decade in WoW, their system is starting to become more and more like FFXIV, where not only are healers dps'ing more often, but some even healing in dps specs (this happened A LOT when I was tanking). The only difference as far as I can see with WoW's healing compared to FFXIV's healing is that healing in WoW no longer has the added challenge of resource management. To translate for those reading this who haven't played WoW, this would mean that healing in WoW is so mind-numbing that dungeon groups have healers switching to Red Mage just so they can do more damage as Vercure and tank self-healing provides more than enough to get the group through.

Could there be adjustments to the healing system? Perhaps, but not without completely overhauling how combat works entirely, and that's something that players like the OP need to face. Just because it's a disagreeable system does not by any means make it a broken system. Not to mention that this whole argument doesn't really address an actual issue of healing, being that of what healers should be expected to do.

Yes you can heal in dps specs if you know what you are doing and overgeared. There was a time my sissy got me to over gear at level 68? I think it was. I was tank and she was healer. She would queue as her healer spec, enter, change in DPS, and not only kept us alive, but did a huge amount more DPS then the rest of us, it was insane. Very fun in pvp too, broken af, but fun, doesn't last long because of the exp gains, but it is something different to experience being invincible for a bit. She healed as an elemental shaman for a bit (um.. I guess it would be like healing as a BLM with quicker cast times, for FFXIV)....

"elemental shamans pretty much had one heal, it would be more like RDM having cure II power, so it would be passable if the setup was allowed here with that kind of heal potency"

Agreed, and it's the "rhythm" of how healing works that ultimately makes for this "feast or famine" feeling, leaving us to spend most of our time doing something not in our job description.



I just want as many buttons to push as a DPS has, and with the same regularity.

What's strange is that the DPS classes (and to a lesser extent the tanks) are very cleverly designed, with a solid flow, rotation, and encounter balance that always gives them something to do at any given point.

Healers feel like they were an afterthought in comparison. Even the POTENCY of heals feels like it's amped through the roof just to get those annoying HP bars filled up so we can get back to DPSing. :\

"No thanks, I do not want healing rotations like DPS rotations. If that was the case, people will die just because of ogcd clipping issues like what you shown. The servers/game is too slow for such a thing and will leave frustrations without any leeway in timings

If you want super tight rotations give ninja a try. Also I already addressed ' leaving us to spend most of our time doing something not in our job description.' I need to ask something, why is the complaints always revolve around if healers should dps or not and not tanks? If a tank was a tank then it would just have agro holding rotations without doing DPS???? "

[RichardButte]

It's a different system, which is why I keep saying to the OP that it's okay not to be good at healing in this game compared to healing in some other game.

The problem is that I'm way, WAY better at healing in this game than I have any right to be: when I heal, no one dies. I throw a regen on the tank, and I DPS, because I literally have nothing else to do because the game GIVES me nothing else to do.

I'm sorry if you're afraid that the developers might actually make healing in XIV challenging, but I rather have a challenge than be bored out of my skull. /shrug

It's like you have forgotten unavoidable damage exists. There is plenty of it in the game. Avoiding telegraphs doesn't automatically trivialise healing.

What portion of healing isn't trivialized by dodging telegraphs is trivialized by the fact that you can bring an entire raid to full in 2-3 GCDs.

[Penthea]

The problem is that I'm way, WAY better at healing in this game than I have any right to be: when I heal, no one dies. I throw a regen on the tank, and I DPS, because I literally have nothing else to do because the game GIVES me nothing else to do.

...are you complaining that you're too good for the game? lol?

[RichardButte]

...are you complaining that you're too good for the game? lol?

No, I'm complaining that healing is boring and easy, but what's his face there has this idea in his head that me wanting healing to be more challenging and engaging means I must suck at it.

[Penthea]

No, I'm complaining that healing is boring and easy, but what's his face there has this idea in his head that me wanting healing to be more challenging and engaging means I must suck at it.

What content are you doing? I doubt you're doing top end content with your claims that no one dies when you heal. Or do you mean to say no one dies when the whole team plays well?

[hydralus]

Well, long as they just make the savage raids more challenging and requiring healers to heal 90% of the time I don't see anything wrong with just putting out more raidwide damage. Long as they don't touch the rest of the game with it.

[RichardButte]

The reality is left as if you don't know whether a group is going to do well or not, you cannot effectively plan around it. A DPS can simply DPS. A tank can simply tank. Both of these do their jobs simply by doing what they'd be doing regardless, but we can't exactly have healers just mass party healing simply by attacking.

Agreed, and it's the "rhythm" of how healing works that ultimately makes for this "feast or famine" feeling, leaving us to spend most of our time doing something not in our job description.

Honestly I like the OP's ideas to fix this. Are they the right solutions? I'm not here to tell you that. What is being discussed here isn't about balance, or the healers role in a fight, but rather the endless debate between players about what a healer should be doing at any given time.

I just want as many buttons to push as a DPS has, and with the same regularity.

What's strange is that the DPS classes (and to a lesser extent the tanks) are very cleverly designed, with a solid flow, rotation, and encounter balance that always gives them something to do at any given point.

Healers feel like they were an afterthought in comparison. Even the POTENCY of heals feels like it's amped through the roof just to get those annoying HP bars filled up so we can get back to DPSing. :\

[Penthea]

I just want as many buttons to push as a DPS has, and with the same regularity.

But you can if you dps during healing downtime. Most healers go by ABC: always be casting. It's rare when all they can do is stand around.