For NA/EU region at least, I think it is currently WHM>SCH>AST, but I think this also holds true for JP although WHM may be just a tiny bit less effective there. Mind you, you must be able to play scholar very effectively for it to become better than AST. The healer role in itself is indeed not lacking when it comes to carry potential in solo q, but it's only good if the healers are as close to each other when it comes to balancing as possible, and if one is to be better than the other, it should be the one with the highest skill cap, as it should be with every role in my opinion. To me, it is absolutely miserable to play any other healer than WHM currently.

I mentioned 2 things that could buff SMN. The most respectable SMNs that have the most success tend to go muse, so one could only assume there is an MP issue. I'm sure SMN would love to have the best of both worlds and have their MP buffed in some way and be able to run recup/safeguard just like everyone else these days. I do not think SMN dots are overpowered. 1500 mana for each dot is pretty costly, and just look at the potencies of them. Compare miasma to higanbana . I think the animation of akh morn should be as quick as deathflare, but do you know what I think the main issue with SMN is? It has no utility anymore. Tribind was extremely underpowered and laughable. It has no team support, CC, or versatility at all. You can't even set up your own caster LB reliably without assistance from your team unless you position it well. SMN is a very risky job because it has no utility and a survivability issue, relying mostly on perfect positioning, and then you have wither that just puts you right in the pit.

Yet the issue I just mentioned with SMN is an issue with the state of the game, period. There are only so many things anyone can do now with the little amount of buttons we have, and the difference between good and bad players is still getting less and less with each patch that comes out. Why was slidecasting + jumping after a casted LB gutted? That's so petty. Why do melee no longer have to make the decision to put up combo debuff and use their brain if they want their LB dmg increased if it's worth it? Why can a DRK only press his TBN every 15s now instead of 10? Why in a game of 10 buttons are CDs getting increased, why are things so linear, and why are we removing options from good players? If you want to see a beautifully designed spell, look at foul! Now look at leg graze from MCH, ouch. Why is increasing damage the only solution to balancing the game? This is how you increase skill: let disable reduce healing potency too, let leg graze be able to bind if a certain condition is met, let MNK be able to wind tackle to a party member too. Now I am not suggesting the aforementioned changes per se, but I am only trying to get at a point here.