New Idea for a Fourth Healer! *Music Plays*

[AstralHorizon]

Healer that rings bells! WAIT DON'T LEAVE YET! XD

So i'm sitting here sipping on some chamomile tea bored out of my mind, staring at the job list for some reason only to think "hey there's a forth tank now, why not a fourth healer?"

That question itself is quite difficult to answer when you are trying to make a healer that stands out from not just the other healers in terms of weapon and style but also all the other jobs in the game, including the games that came before.

That being said, seeming as i had a day off of work and WAY to much time on my hands i decided to brainstorm a bit. It wasn't until a friend started ranting in my ear about how much Dark Souls 2 sucked that it hit me. What if the next healer uses bells or chimes as a means of healing others? Much like how chimes were used as a catalyst to heal in that game, FFXIV could have a chime/bell wielding healer that uses magic in addition to the sound waves and melody generated from the bells to soothe and mend wounds.

Much like how Bards use their musical instruments such as the harp while Dancers use their rhythm to support allies, so to can the chimes be used to support those in need. From the gentle chime of a healing spell to the loud bangs of a damaging one, bells can be used in a variety of different ways depending on the sound.

Whats funny is after i did some research into bells and their properties i found a entire study dedicated to bells/chimes called Campanology, Which would be great lore wise for the job! When you look at Campanology, it shows how different tones and pitches will play based on how the bell is struck and how different tunes will play based on the size and shape of the bell, leaving a lot of creativity to what kind of bells and tunes would be used for different effects.

As for the weapon, the chimes from Dark Souls 2 and 3 are the inspiration i used but of course i'd imagine the FFXIV team could come up with some awesome looking hand bells as they are a real instrument lol.

This is just one idea out of the many out there for a fourth healer, but i do think this idea would fit well alongside the other healers while still standing out. This overall is just what happens when i follow a random thought to somewhat of a conclusion lol.

Comment what you guy's think! :3

[Hatstand]

I think it would be hard to make it seem like it wasn't a lesser bard, thematically. Also, I think the big challenge in making a fourth healer will be making them feel distinct to play. Right now the healers are all fairly homogenous, which is a problem, and in order to to make a new healer SE needs to come up with four systems that feel unique to play (or restore AST and SCH to their former glory and come up with two others, one of which builds off WHM. If they manage that, there will be plenty of aesthetics to choose from. I'd like chemist, personally. We have a science-ey dps in MCH, and and science-ey tank in GNB. I'd like a science/tech oriented healer to contrast against other our current 100% magic fare.

[Archwizard]

Bells are pretty standard as a Geomancer weapon, which carries into 14 as you can see in Swallow's Compass or the AST questline.

However, Geomancers are historically a damage job, and have little to offer in the healing department that can't be argued by White Mages, except for more Ground-Targeted effects. I for one would much rather see Geomancers as an opportunity to use the damaging Earth, Water and Wind skills not employed by White Mages (like Quake, Flood, Tornado, and Spiritual Ray).

[Cidel]

However, Geomancers are historically a damage job, and have little to offer in the healing department that can't be argued by White Mages, except for more Ground-Targeted effects.

Very true, but XIV Bards (arguably more archer than support buffer) and Summoners (DoT mage with an extremely limited summon repertoire) share very little gameplay identity with most if not all of their franchise counterparts. And I don't recall much of an instance where Dark Knight was considered a "tanky" job over a damaging one, but I think it's more of the fact that they're a heavy armor archetype. White mage seems to have gone back to being Holy-centric in the new expansion which opens up the aesthetics of the other elements if the devs so choose to; and to be fair, right now all healers largely share a homogenized kit with similar or identical effects that are just renamed and have different aesthetics. The only thing setting them apart are a handful of abilities, spells, potencies and their job gauge gimmicks.

Also, the Astrologian quest line seems to establish them as healers (though that can be easily expanded or retconned, as the devs are more than capable), and the Astrologian level 80 quest makes it clear that they're still a presence that might even be growing as a result.

I for one would much rather see Geomancers as an opportunity to use the damaging Earth, Water and Wind skills not employed by White Mages (like Quake, Flood, Tornado, and Spiritual Ray).

They absolutely still could use them in such a way of their healer damage spells (lol all two of them though at this rate).

[Wawachume]

Bells seem like a cool motif for a class. My interest is more thematic than mechanical, so I don't much care if it's a healer or a DPS geomancer or whatever.

I'm particularly interested in the weapons—you could have bell-shaped cathedral bells from Ishgard, flattened-cylinder bronze bells from Othard...at Starlight Celebration time there could be a quest that rewards a spherical jingle bell with a red bow. Maybe some animations could just shake the bell one-handed, while others would use a little mallet to strike the bell—the mallet could be an incorporated off-hand like AST cards or MCH lunchboxes.

So i'm sitting here sipping on some chamomile tea bored out of my mind

Can I just say how much I hate chamomile tea?

Ceylon OPA for me, with occasional forays into red bush and hibiscus.

[manamoppet]

I like the idea, after all, sound does play part in the game, not just with Bard, but also the siren in Pharos Sirius, the toad in Antitower, and one of the Fuath bosses (and probably others I don' remember).

Your description made me think of the japanese bell staffs called suzu (found out their name after some googling), that call the kami, bring positive energy, and ward off evil.

[Impurrrsive]

I like the idea, after all, sound does play part in the game, not just with Bard, but also the siren in Pharos Sirius, the toad in Antitower, and one of the Fuath bosses (and probably others I don' remember).

Your description made me think of the japanese bell staffs called suzu (found out their name after some googling), that call the kami, bring positive energy, and ward off evil.

Somehow it rings to miko or shrine maiden, maybe another shield healer from Doma - kekkai, ward off evil by kagura dance xD

[TankHunter678]

Somehow it rings to miko or shrine maiden, maybe another shield healer from Doma - kekkai, ward off evil by kagura dance xD

A shrine maiden flinging out warding seals and placing "sanctified" zone protection AoEs sounds nice. Also with another shield Healer AST could be changed to be regen based with Diurnal and Nocturnal offering different support benefits.

[kidalutz]

Sounds cool visually I mean I'd play them.

Plus it's way better than my Green Mage/Healer idea which was based around buffs and debuffs with one of thier heals based on the order of the debuffs stacked on the opponent. it had the engagement idea since of the 24 buttons most classes get 4 of them were heals two were dps dps and the rest were various debuffs and buffs. but it didnt seem like it would have that visual factor there.

[AhriSazame]

I want the next healer to be the Chemist.