WHM 5.0 First Impressions

[Maeka]

So after having done the following:

Doman Castle (Lv68)
That Lv60 Dungeon where you fight Hraesvalgr
Final Steps of Faith

I can say I am liking 5.0 WHM.

Here are the changes I've noticed thusfar:

1). Cure seems way more powerful than it was. I was running my MP into the ground spamming Cure2 and I just randomly threw a Cure to save some MP and wound up dumping 40% of a tank's max HP with a Cure crit and I was like "woah!" so now I started using Cure a lot more, it feels more comfortable.

2). Assize seems more powerful now too.

3). Two WHMs keeping Medica II up is still just as awesome as it ever was.

4). Being able to see the barrier on Benison and other bubbles is awesome.

5). Removing Aero III, while some people might bemoan it, I actually like the fact we got rid of it, just felt like useless clutter. My Holy and Stone spells seem like they hurt more, so I don't really feel like I'm losing DPS to be honest. I am, however, happy to be getting rid of another spell with a cast timer I was pressured to cast all the time.

6). Lucid Dreaming is more needed, and on shorter cooldown now. I was popping it constantly, but I don't mind that!

Once I got the hang of it after about the time I did the first boss of Doma Castle, it started feeling nice and comfortable. Still the same WHM I know and love with a few nice tweaks.

[althenawhm]

I dont think I can agree with much of any of this, the potencies for assize and cure 1 are the same.
Having more DoTs is just plain more damage, I dont care how you feel about it.
I should move Lucid to a better bind though, since I need to push it more often though.

[Kuurei]

Yeah. To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect WHM to feel any weaker from the changes. Good to know you're getting more mileage out of Cure now, compared to SB.

Looking forward to it when I start MSQ content...Gunbreaker is going to end up distracting me for a few hours.

For anyone doubting the ability of Cure to feel stronger than it was previously, CD for Cure/Physick/Benefic were reduced to 1.5. The fact that you can cast is significantly faster, with a shorter GCD and far less mana is where the additional power on Cure could be coming from.

[althenawhm]

The fact that you can cast is significantly faster, with a shorter GCD and far less mana is where the additional power on Cure could be coming from.

Its a faster cast time as you said, not a shorter GCD, so you are not actually getting more healing per second that way.
Cure 1 was always slightly more potent than the other two healers first heals.

[Maeka]

Having more DoTs is just plain more damage, I dont care how you feel about it.

Scenario one:

Cast 1 DoT that does 500 damage over 10 seconds, and cast 3 Stones that do 500 damage each = 2000 damage over 10 seconds.

Scenario two:

Cast 0 DoTs, and cast 3 Stones that do 667 damage each = 2001 damage over 10 seconds.

Imaginary Numbers obviously used for theory purposes, but surely you see what I mean? Getting rid of the DoTs and buffing your direct damage results in about the same damage output while getting rid of buttons that feel meaningless.

A lot of times, Aero III felt so useless because mobs were oftentimes dying before even half of the debuff cycled which means that it only did half of its potential damage and it was a spell with a cast time, to boot.

EDIT: As for the potencies of Cure and Assize, maybe it's because of how damage is taken or something, it just felt more powerful. That, or we had gotten used to doing nothing but Cure2 spam that I'd forgotten how good Cure 1 actually was? Either way, tossing out more Cures seems better now. That, or there's a passive bonus to incoming healing for tanks or something, maybe? Not sure. I don't remember Cure crits doing almost half of a tank's health at Lv68 before.

[althenawhm]

And why not condense all DPS skills into a single button then? Because its boring.

[Knoahl]

Scenario one:

Cast 1 DoT that does 500 damage over 10 seconds, and cast 3 Stones that do 500 damage each = 2000 damage over 10 seconds.

Scenario two:

Cast 0 DoTs, and cast 3 Stones that do 667 damage each = 2001 damage over 10 seconds.

Imaginary Numbers obviously used for theory purposes, but surely you see what I mean? Getting rid of the DoTs and buffing your direct damage results in about the same damage output while getting rid of buttons that feel meaningless.

A lot of times, Aero III felt so useless because mobs were oftentimes dying before even half of the debuff cycled which means that it only did half of its potential damage and it was a spell with a cast time, to boot.

EDIT: As for the potencies of Cure and Assize, maybe it's because of how damage is taken or something, it just felt more powerful. That, or we had gotten used to doing nothing but Cure2 spam that I'd forgotten how good Cure 1 actually was? Either way, tossing out more Cures seems better now. That, or there's a passive bonus to incoming healing for tanks or something, maybe? Not sure. I don't remember Cure crits doing almost half of a tank's health at Lv68 before.

Emphasis on the felt, that's the point it was more enjoyable it flowed well, and Aero 3 was very potent in dungeon pulls. Fluid Aura being just a bind now is tragic as well just make it what it was in ARR.

[Orbus]

New holy is a beast.
Tetra+afflatus solace for a benediction lite.
Plenary indulgence persists for the whole ten seconds and not just one aoe heal.

I'm good.

[althenawhm]

Over all Im fairly happy with WHM.
It sorta depends on how our personal DPS stacks up against the other two healers' raid buffs in extreme content.
Still want Aero 3 back.
Still want Fluid Aura gone.
Maybe give us divine seal back and just have it morph into Temperance at 80.

[Zeromon]

People complained about Solace not being off GCD but honestly I'm not minding it that much. Using Solace to weave another oGCD feels good. Solace+Tetra is essentially a 60 sec Bene. Solace+Benison is a pseudo Aldo (not that good a comparison I know, but I can't think of another parallel), and Rapture+PL seems like a 60sec Indom. The healing aspect of White Mage hasn't changed that much at worse and became a bit better personally speaking. Infinite Holy feels good as well.

I don't think White Mage's power level changed drastically from SB. It's old problems persist and strengths have stayed.