What would you replace Rescue with?

[Packetdancer]

Alright, so in the interests of a more productive thread than the Rescue-hate one—which has turned into a vengeful "how can a tank most effectively kill their healers" theorycrafting thread last I checked—I'm going to start this one. Because it's becoming clear that a lot of people loathe Rescue and consider even a well-meaning use of it grounds to make destroying the healer in question a personal goal.

And if an ability causes that much vitriol, even if it can prevent party wipes, it's probably not worth having in the game.

Even as it is, I know that I end up using Rescue only maybe once every two or three weeks; when I do, it's usually:

• ...to pull a sprout into shelter before a meteor mechanic (usually in Crystal Tower).
• ...to pull a sprout onto the floating discs when fighting Xande.
• ...to pull a sprout with the stack marker back to the group when they think 'have marker must take it safely awaaaaay' and run off with it (usually in the Shadow of Mhach stuff).
• ...to pull someone to the pad in the Phlegethon fight when we're short a person and it's clear their Sprint won't get them there in time.
• ...to cleanse a doom affliction that cannot be Esuna'd and where the individual is otherwise maybe 1.5 seconds from death. (Usually in World of Darkness, or with first-timers getting Mortal Flame in the Grand Cosmos—hence my joking name for this maneuver: 'the piano of gentle correction'.)
• ...to jump on a metaphorical grenade when someone is about to drop an AoE on the rest of the alliance; pulling them over can mean only two people need to be rezzed instead of six.
• ...to cheese DPS uptime in Susano when it pops in trial roulette. (This one, at least, can be discussed and agreed-upon ahead of time.)
• ...when someone has just rezzed into The Bad and popped Second Wind or anything else that will have cancelled their rez immunity without thinking (which lord knows, I've done myself before), and thus is about to become a double-rez casualty.

And by far, the last one is the most frequent use for me. (I wish rez immunity was not an invisible status; if people could see the buff and see it canceled when they took an action, I think the mechanics of the post-rez invulnerability would be much clearer to players.)

I know it was suggested in the other thread that a toggle be added which could just make it so Rescue won't work on your character if you hate being repositioned and would rather die. The truth of the matter is, if such a toggle existed, I know myself well enough to know I probably wouldn't bother trying to rescue folks any longer at all; if there's only like a 50% chance it works, then it's just wasted time I could use for something else. And I suspect I am not the only healer that would be true for.

So I'm going to pose a question here, for theorycrafting fun if nothing else. And maybe it'd be better posted in the healer role forums, but the Rescue-hate thread is here, so this one might as well be too.

If they did remove Rescue from the game, what would be a suitable thing to give healers as a role ability at level 48 instead?

[Packetdancer]

My own answer to the question, at least off-the-cuff, is that the best thing I can think of would be a way to restore rez immunity. If someone rezzes into the Orange Badness and pops Second Wind or Lucid Dreaming or any other 'I need to recover' skill, they are now doomed to die as things currently stand (unless Rescued). Being able to replace the rez immunity on someone in that situation would let a healer keep them alive even without having Rescue.

So the change I would make is basically having an 'Immunized' status be visible after rez, and having it change on action to 'Immunizable' (with the same remaining timer as Immunized had), and giving healers an oCGD cast which turns the 'Immunizable' status back to 'Immunized' (again, keeping the current remaining time the same).

That'd address a huge portion of my own Rescue use; in the other scenarios, there's now nothing a healer can really do any longer... but a death—or even a wipe—are not the end of the world.

[SamRF]

Maybe an ability thay takes away 1, multiple or all vulnerability stacks from a player, idk what would be the right amount and what kind of cooldown it should have.

(Don't want rescue to be removed though)

[ctcc42]

hmm, well if we are replacing an ability that moves another player to my side, is instant cast and has a 120 second recast I want something at least as good... I know, how about an ability that teleports a another player to my side, is instant cast and has a 60 second recast. Yeah that would be perfect. I won't accept anything else.

Seriously. there is nothing wrong with rescue. I have run around 2500 dungeons in the year and a half that i have been playing. Most of those I ether healed or tanked. I have never been trolled with rescue. I have been saved by it and I have saved others with it. Its fine as is.

[wereotter]

I use it when tanks pull mobs out of the floor AOEs that ninjas or summoners put down, pull the tank back into the floor puddle so the mobs follow.

But I do think this is a skill that would be better FOR tanks, but to use on enemies. Something that will let you pull caster types into the pack of all the other mobs.

As far as a new healer tool, maybe Float? Something that will pull a party member back onto a platform if they would fall off?

[Packetdancer]

As far as a new healer tool, maybe Float? Something that will pull a party member back onto a platform if they would fall off?

...huh. Actually, a party-wide equivalent to Surecast or Arm's Length could be interesting.

[wereotter]

...huh. Actually, a party-wide equivalent to Surecast or Arm's Length could be interesting.

That would work too... but I was thinking something that lets the party member float back up off the platform when they do fall off, that way it doesn't make surecast or arm's length irrelevant, instead acting like a failsafe. If you didn't use your own knockback tool you lose up time, but at least you don't die.

[Packetdancer]

That would work too... but I was thinking something that lets the party member float back up off the platform when they do fall off, that way it doesn't make surecast or arm's length irrelevant, instead acting like a failsafe. If you didn't use your own knockback tool you lose up time, but at least you don't die.

Aah, I see. So it'd work for situations like Titan where the arena itself shrinks, or the final boss of a certain level 80 dungeon (which I won't name in order to spare any sprouts who aren't into Shadowbringers yet the potential spoiler) with the crumbling platforms. Or E3[N|S]. Basically, places where it isn't (necessarily) a knockback over the edge that kills you, but even just the disappearance of what you're standing on.

I like that. It still probably requires you to see that someone's about to fall prey to that and put Float on them before they're yeeted into the Space Where We Were Not Meant To Go, but that's not really any different than those moments when you actually manage to yoink someone back up onto the arena when they fall off the edge by hitting Rescue just before they fall.

[wereotter]

Aah, I see. So it'd work for situations like Titan where the arena itself shrinks, or the final boss of a certain level 80 dungeon (which I won't name in order to spare any sprouts who aren't into Shadowbringers yet the potential spoiler) with the crumbling platforms. Or E3[N|S]. Basically, places where it isn't (necessarily) a knockback over the edge that kills you, but even just the disappearance of what you're standing on.

I like that. It still probably requires you to see that someone's about to fall prey to that and put Float on them before they're yeeted into the Space Where We Were Not Meant To Go, but that's not really any different than those moments when you actually manage to yoink someone back up onto the arena when they fall off the edge by hitting Rescue just before they fall.

Also it would work for Lakshmi for those party members who forget to use their vril for the knockback. There are probably other situations too. And maybe Float is party-wide so you don't have to see it, target the person, then react.