I hate to, but I think I put down healing for now. Please make it engaging again, SE.

[EwokAssassini]

I didn't intend to at first, but I guess it just ended up happening. I've been reluctant to do any sort of content on healer of late, especially roulettes where you get put into a raid/trial/dungeon to spam one button over and over again.

Getting geared up must have only made it worse. My healers reached iLvl 470 (near) BiS after 12+ weeks of Eden savage (most of the pieces bought with books, thanks to the great new loot system in pugs), but what did I get? The luxury to heal less and broil more?

Great.

I think healers have really gone downhill in Shadowbringers, and it hurts to say as someone who's naturally drawn to the role. It's bland, very monotonous, and feels like a chore to do.

If there was anything I could tell Square Enix directly, it would be to hire some bleedin' healer designers for god's sake. I don't know if it's true, but last I heard their design team is made up by the same 4 people since the release of A Realm Reborn. That's unacceptable for a game that's expanded this much over the years (not to mention all the expansion jobs).

The story of Shadowbringers has been amazing, and it's definitely next to Heavensward in my book, but the current state of the healers is really unfortunate and doesn't bring justice to what the rest of the game has to offer its players.

[Risvertasashi]

my 2 gil -

I think the healing kits, in themselves, are fine. There's different resources and cooldowns to manage, and you have to think about how they interplay, what you might want to set up for later, so on.

Except with one major caveat. Only when there is significant healing pressure.

The only time I'd say I really have to think about all that stuff is Titan final phase. Dungeons? Snooze. Trials, even extreme? Ehm, maybe I think about one or two placements, mostly I snooze through it. Every savage floor before Titan? Doesn't matter, I could probably not use my CDs go through them just fine, I just get more DPS for using them.

Titan final phase is the only time where I go "Ok I want to save this CD for this group of mechanics, but I need to have this other CD ready for the next one, I need to pop lucid right there and save my stacks/lillies for that one point..."

It's actually kind of nice to have to think like that instead of just "I'll stand here so I don't have to move much so I can spam my nuke". Doesn't happen often even in high end content, however.

SE seems to have tried to "fix" this with ShB by reducing the power of potencies so that our heals restore a lower % of the party's HP, but doesn't seem to understand that doesn't work when the system's still fundamentally based on infrequent damage spikes.

[Lastelli]

my 2 gil -

I think the healing kits, in themselves, are fine. There's different resources and cooldowns to manage, and you have to think about how they interplay, what you might want to set up for later, so on.

Personally, I think the healing kits are the biggest problem. All healers are now reactive healers. Healing has become easier and easier in the last two expansions as it doesn't require to manage resources and plan as much as before: mp management is close to non-existent, no heals precast to cover incoming damage because of the overabundance of instant heals, and after the very low healing requirements are easily met with the aforementioned instant heals, all that's left to do is spam that one glare/broil/malefic with the occasional dot.

I believe SE should embrace the healer dps aspect of the job, give them more interesting dps rotations and provide some synergy between their healing and dps kit (something akin to the current lily system, but more expanded upon).

Also for god's sake remove some of the instant heals and don't add any more, they're destroying the role.

[Billythepancake]

I certainly think they're better off just embracing the green DPS. Nothing square does, outside of massive rework to both classes and encounter design, will change how healers play now. Doing that on top of everything else they need to do in an expansion is honestly too much. Just give healers something interesting to do in downtime and stop fighting against how they're played.

[CrimsonGunner]

i said it once ,i will say it again. they designed all the healers to fit a bot player rather then a human.
also there is a thread called "has anyone quit healing?" u can post there as well it might help push the urgency of addressing the healers.(if SE does read the forums)

[Adeacia]

I've been a healer main since 3.2. None of the changes have made me heal any less than before.

I always dps as much as I can get away with while healing and I enjoy doing it. Losing a couple of dps skills doesn't matter in the least bit to me. The players I always have to heal give me plenty to do as much as they mess up.

[CupidCrux]

Id have given it up if DNC wasn't implemented. I've wanted DNC since the start (a main in XI) so now I reluctantly use my healer for insta-queue to get tomes to gear up my DNC. Roulettes are a braindead activity so much that I kind of don't mind the non perceptive DPS standing in the bad because it gives me something to do, and the occasional OHSH** moment of having to use instant heals. Which in itself says something about the state of things.

It also says that normal HQ gear with some melds is enough to live this lifestyle while I use tomes to build a stronger other job than healer. But once tomes are capped it's back to crafting and gathering.

As AST main the changes they made with card system took out my mental mini game which I loved playing, and then having to go back and rebuff and debuff the job, I agree it's like there's nobody at the wheel in development.

[CrimsonGunner]

The players I always have to heal give me plenty to do as much as they mess up.

that is the problem,healing is fine but u wont use it much unless all/most party members eat every mechanic and aoe in a run or even worse.
they nailed perfectly the healing aspect of healers but healing downtime is the main issue.
dps,apply buffs and debuffs are lacking severely,it became basically 1 button to press during an entire downtime which is seriously bad when its every job under the same role and healing downtime can last even most of a fight/run.
it only further proves that they designed the healers to be a healing spamming bots then being a healer and support for the party.

[MitsukiKimura]

Even though I "Hate" this card system Astrologian's have. I cannot quit being an Astrologian. It's been a class that I've always had the most excitement playing when we had the different card buffs and utility back in Stormblood. I honestly don't think they'll take any consideration for the healers until months after ultimate alexander has been cleared or what not.

[ForteNightshade]

Healers started heading in this direction in stormblood. Now the role is pretty much completely ruined thanks to SE's balance team and their cluelessness. I think it's partially our fault for not letting SE know that the changes in stormblood were bad, but it's too late now. I gave up healing a while ago. If I have the urge to heal again, I'd sooner return to WoW and play healer in that game than heal on this game.

People were not shy in the slightest with their opinions in regards to how low the healing requirements were becoming in Stormblood. Unfortunately, SE caters far too heavily towards the lowest common denominator. They're not thinking "will the average healer who at least knows their kit decently enough enjoy the healer role." They're thinking, "How can we make it so even someone who has no idea what they're doing can still feel comfortable healing." And therein lies their problem. You can't balance around borderline incompetence and still expect the role to be engaging for everyone else. It'd be one thing if the higher end Savage raiders weren't as engaged because hey, you don't want EX Primals or 24 mans catered towards E4S. That isn't the case though. Everything outside Savage is a complete joke. When I go Nier with my BFF and we both run WHM. I legit am a green DPS because I simply overheal most of what she does otherwise. Honestly, she may as well be too given how little healing either of us have to do. It has to be a total mess for me to actively help.

Sadly, with how much Shadowbringers has shifted towards a more casual mindset. I doubt things will change. They'd rather someone who can't be bothered to read their tooltips, still thinks Benediction and Tetra are emergency buttons only and stands around waiting for damage half the time feel comfortable than make the role enjoyable for people who put effort into learning it even if they aren't Savage raiders.