So, what's your opinion on current healer jobs

[einschwartz]

Short response,

WHM: Much improved from SB. The most fluid to play among three healers. I miss Aero 3.
AST: Still unhappy. Still boycotting the job. I can (grudgingly) accept the card changes but stun and time dilation removed? Unacceptable.
SCH: Feels like the lesser WHM. Their kit lacks of something though idk. Need something else to spend from the Fairy gauge.

****
Longer response or more like, what my thoughts are after having all 3 healers leveled now. Before I start, allow me to talk a bit on the variety of DPS jobs.

DPS roles have wide choices from 3 casters (RDM, BLM, SMN), 3 ranged (BRD, MCH, DNC) and 4 melee (MNK, SAM, NIN, DRG). Although I only have 1/3 of them leveled, I can say for a fact that each job plays differently from each other. Some have straightforward playstyle, some have tight rotations, some dabble with resource management, and some involves busy button presses. A DPS main can find the job that suits their preferred difficulty or enjoyment.

The current healers however lacks the diversity and this is VERY apparent between WHM and SCH. AST will still be a bit different due to cards. WHM is a power healer. SCH is a shielder. In a way, they both are played differently from each other. But after having SCH maxed recently, I'm disappointed that it ends up being no different from one another.

AOE: Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Assize, Misery... Art of War, Art of War, Art of W....(Hah, don't even have additional AOE moves like WHM)
Single target: Dia, Glare, Glare, Glare.... Bio, Broil, Broil, Broil...

So brain dead. They play the same. What am I leveling another healer for?
Why am I talking about DPS skills here not healing? Well, it can't be helped since ironically, we healers spend most time casting attack spells. But that isn't my point for this post.

...SE imo should start looking into adding complexity, not dumbing down roles.

Yes. This. Very much.

In my opinion, healing jobs that have different difficulty / distinct playstyle is just as important as having a varied style of DPS jobs. SE intention for healer homogenization is supposedly to make the job accessible to more players (and easier balance adjustment I guess). While I welcome this, but not by stripping the complexity of healers which are already so limited. The dots and fairy management SCH had made them different to WHM. The simplicity of WHM made healing approachable to other players.

In last expansion, I like having to explain what options a player have when choosing a healer. For example, WHM for a beginner. AST for busy mode WHM. SCH for the most micro managing. Back then, I think WHM > AST > SCH in terms of difficulty. As a leveling healer that I was, I think it was a good estimate on how skillful a healer could be. Or how one could challenge themselves to become a better healer. Not only that, the distinct difference between 3 healer jobs in SB enables healer mains to pick one that suits their enjoyment.

Now, I would suggest people play AST if they want a less boring healer. Else, go WHM. I can't come up a good reason why one should choose SCH. The job has lost things that made the job interesting to play. It is just a WHM copy with clunky fairy on the side.

Tl;dr
Simplified healer jobs are so similar to each other upsets me the most. Need complexity to differentiate them.