Dark Magic Theme'd Healer? [Blood / Mind Flayer / Eldritch / Necromancer / Etc]

[Shougun]

WoL is always the exception to the lore. It's why we can be a manqo'te DRK or Buduga SCH. I'd like to see something new and absolutely heretical, but self taught. Lock it behind MSQ progression for emphasis like the HW jobs. We are the WoL, and with our absolutely out of this world talent and blessings, I think we could have a self taught job, as it were. Find a book on it to unlock it, perhaps add multi step dungeon prerequisites (Gubal+Hard related perhaps) and with that, teach ourselves.

No teacher needed, no one to balk because- hoo boy, I don't think even Ser Aymeric would have appreciated us infiltrating the Vault swinging around our giant DRK sword and being absolute heretics as much as he loves us.

I had vague thoughts on how to differentiate Op from Dark Knight/a morpher-like job (monster soul user), just in case a "what if both were introduced.. how could we make sure they're all different" deal (we want each job to be unique, not have 3 jobs that feel like different shades of "edgy boi" lol). And I thought vaguely that one of them should be self taught, so I loved that you mentioned that.

Since you said it I wanted to talk about that a little, I think that could be a really fun way to nod towards the whole lovecraft concept. Or baring that if decided not to go that route (lovecraft inspiration), it could still be a fun change in pace. I also think it would be quite unique/fun if it had elements of horror, which is something we don't get so often. Like the whole Edna vibe but it's for this job non-stop lol.

The Edna job :P (loved that she appeared in different locations as we did the quest..).

Thought it would be fun to emphasize that communing/working around* an unknown inhuman force. *True relationship always vague, it's not even clear if this being/force notices you or if you're just an ant on a small dirt mound of a planet. Being in it's presence gave you some realizations and awakened something, but it does not guide you (or does it . . . ?). A feeling that should terrify and put one in awe. Like if you were the one to "talk" to the Old One in Demon Souls:



(not saying it has to look like the above, could even look like Edna but keeping that feeling of mystery and on the brink/edge of something.. of something..... of what's "really going on?")

Obviously a lot of self discovery when the thing doesn't give you explicit instructions or talk lol. I think some of the potential evil/harm from the job should be gently explained away just so you're not like "purposefully doing something bad", but in a greater sense still keep a lot of mystery (no exposition that explains it all, though the lore team should know the truth just so they can properly "hint" at it occasionally). Maybe some of that can be helped by the imp who might be harmed by the crystal if they lie (making them begrudgingly honest, and perhaps a source of some humor).

With an imp in mind- I don't really mind how the story is but thought it may take off this way:

In the vague web I thought it might be cute if a little kid comes running up to you to explore a haunted house, he's really scared.. So you go in and for while you just run around examining things and it's not too weird, but due to the layout of the house you end up looping around somehow (illogically).. it's not really clear right away unless you're paying attention. Like PT, that Hideo Kojima horror game (teaser). Things start to really break down as you go along and of course without messing with the rating of the game it should toy with the player. After sometime and solving some puzzles and perhaps a run sequence (like an extending tunnel with obstacles, twisting like that Zelda hallway) you find the center. Here you find a room with an exit and a chair, leaving the house will complete that quest and you're left with the kid bored and asking if you screamed. (Although a new quest will be left at the entrance of the house, to continue where you left if you want).

Or you may sit down in the chair and be stretched/absorbed into the floor and opening abyss.

Leaving the screen black for a little while and fade into character, you wander around a bit in nothingness (but not purely black, giving it very faint shades of black to make it sort of ungulate), slowly a few other objects will appear which you may interact.. unchaining something (like a Witcher 3 chained heart to the tree). Maybe to really peak that mind flayer vibe have the chains/dark energy from being broken flow into your eyes (like mind flayers are made in DND, the parasite through the eyes- but also a symbol of the world being peeled back and unveiling something.. extra..). The room slowly becoming a huge field of stars with a shadowy maw coming through like a blackhole. After some vague non-dialog (..., nod, other body movement options) with the great gaping shadowy maw, you're then released through dark portal- out of the house behind the kid who's waiting.

They freak out when they see you and begin to run but your eye glows red- you swing your weapon out (bladed whip w/ bell, from OP?) with a scene cut between in red (your eye) to show it's actually an imp that you caught. Fade back to normal eye color and you can talk with the afraid for their life weak imp (who was just playing jokes on passerby people, getting them stuck in an eternal void.. that you escaped.. somehow..).

Begging forgiveness the imp, a relatively weak void-creature (compared to others, even other imps), pledges service cowardly to avoid death with all intents on betraying you; however, the soul gem reaches out and marks them- binding them to their word to serve. But technically it's to the soul gem, and not to yourself (probably, maybe, where did the soul gem come from..? questions. . .).

Now you have an NPC that can give quests or help direct to locations, but I do like the idea that it's you figuring this stuff out yourself and there is very little actually being taught to you but what you do yourself. SE would obviously have to think of what you'd do each quest, like perhaps one of the things you find is that you can sense/see spiritual wounds (wounds in the life stream sort of deal) and so you go to terrible sites like those struck by Black Rose (gas weapon that kills). Besides learning about these dark events, some of them war related, some of them personal (leaving SE a lot of room to tell deeply personal stories or those on grand scales). Here you go to fight off void creatures and heal the wounds (fighting void creatures and healing spiritual wounds in the world helping set that even though it seems questionable how you got the powers and what they may mean... you're still doing good things).

Your little void minion helping find them (like a little void spy lol).

That said it could be whatever for lore, doesn't need to be the above. Just keep that dark theme going somehow lol.

I like the idea don't get me wrong, but what I want more than that is a Disciple of War healer (hence why I was crazy for DNC being a healer, it would have been a DoW healer). (as well as a Disciple of Magic tank). Right now if you're a healer you're DoM, if you're a tank you're DoW. DPS flutters between the 2, why not get healers and tanks to do the same?

When you say physical do you mean non-magical? So like a Chemist? I imagine they could make a gadget healer, with perhaps a mixing gimmick system. Obviously loads of magic in the OP (not as physical based as chemist or dancer) but I did suggest that the OP weapon is a scythe tip attached to a chain whip ended with a bell, so in that some of the moves would be a bit of a marriage of physical and magical.

Or did you mean either a job that uses physical means (almost like a Khazhrim from HoTs/Diablo 3, who both heals and attacks in their physical presence), or just like uses the armor from another group (like a tank that used mage gear)?

I had imagined a Golbez / Ex-Death job that was geomancer-y inspired (radius, areas, nodes, etc) and used tank gear. Originally I was just thinking they'd be a mage tank (their weapons being their magic- or more specifically I thought two pylons that you imbued with an elemental form like stone for two giant walls floating by you, rather than swords and such). But have thought it could just be a damage dealer since getting another tank is unlikely for a long long time lol.

[Videra]

Black magic is frowned upon, but not technically illegal.

Being pedantic but it actually is. You get gulag'd for that shit. That or, being as Black Magic and White Magic have more or less the same methodology, the forest eats you.

[CazzT]

One of the most interesting healers I've ever seen in MMOs was the Disciple of Khaine in Warhammer Online. The majority of his heals was supposed to be based on his damage output. Sadly, he ended up being changed into a "spam this heal" healer like all other healers throughout the genre. I would love to see something like that here, but I doubt that will happen.

[Havenchild]

White magic is practiced only by those the elementals deem worthy, usually just the padjal, and then the WoL. Black magic is frowned upon, but not technically illegal. Dark knight just kind of does its own thing, akin to the inquisitors, but not controlled by the Holy See.

IIRC correctly anyway.

Aren't thieves also illegal but they get a pass for "upholding the don't pillage from the pillagers" code?

THM is given the pass for the study of dark arts but almost every BLM you've run across in Lore is either arrested or fleeing the law and the study of BLM at least tmk was heavily outlawed as a whole due to it's destructive power.

Idk if this idea will manifest as a healer but as many individuals have tried to deal with the void with varying levels of success to control or not control, there has to exist some individuals who can use it similar to ascians as a power source.

It would also seem this would fit well with ShB too considering the "Light" is the evil now. Why wouldn't unique jobs exist on the First? Could even lock it behind a Lvl50 WHM and BLM gate if you want a lore justification.

[frostmagemari]

Can't say i really like the overview the OP did, but i would like a darker themed healer to fill a healer role they haven't tried yet; Healing the party through damage dealt to the enemy, something akin to what Disc priests used to be in WoW. Don't know if SQE would touch that kind of class, but i think it's the only healer that wouldn't be a copy+paste of the others mechanically.

[Yllania]

Would be down for a necromancer so bad

[Yurenai]

I vote yes, because it's a neat idea opposite of my healing hybrid class. I'm not too fond of blood or necromancy (how would such a person heal party members?) but I love the shadow/eldritch version, like Sera from Paladins. Or whatever her name is. Some kind of darkness or void magic that heals people, even if it does small amounts of damage to the caster. Not to balance my health vs. theirs since that gets tedious and annoying, but just something minor to watch out for. Or maybe you build a corruption meter and if it gets full you summon a hostile demon, or something. No?

Okay, but the Limit Break is a giant, tentacled horror that hangs above the arena and heals everyone by phasing them out of reality. Come on people, these are good ideas!