Thought experiment for a minorish WHM playstyle change

[tdb]

You could even make an argument that Cure I becomes Solus and Cure 2 becomes Tetragramiton (when either become available) since tetra is just cure 2 but in an oGCD version. Granted that doesn't fix the problem of 'never using the cure 1' part of cure 1 problem.

One big problem here: both Afflatus Solace and Tetragrammaton have cooldowns. If you're out of charges and the tank is still melting, what will you do then? Even though spammable GCD heals aren't used when everything is going well, they need to exist for those messy situations. But having two spammable GCD heals is redundant unless there's some clear benefit to using both (the current occasional procs from cure 1 and benefic 1 are just too weak and too rare to matter).

[Sindal]

Perhaps I worded that wrong.

My suggestion turns cure I into Solus and Cure 2 into tetra 'when the cooldown hits.'

•Cure I is Cure I on your bar. When you gain a lily, it turns into Afflatus Solus. It turns back into cure I when you have no lilies.
•Cure 2 is Cure 2 on your bar. Every 60 seconds, it becomes tetra until used, and then reverts back to Cure 2 when used. You don't even need to change it's ability name, it could still just be cure 2 and Tetra becomes a passive that says 'every 60 seconds, Your next cast of Cure 2 is free and instant)
•Medica is Medica on your bar. When you gain a lily, it turns into Afflatus Rapture. It turns back into medica when you have no lilies.

Still have access to the 'base' versions of each skill, they just power up when resources and cooldowns are in place. The only reason I'm suggesting it (Though I know it likely would never happen because of other constraints beside their design space) is because of how similar Afflatus and Tetra are compared to the GCD versions. We've got Cure 2, and then two extra quicker cure 2s. Lustrate and Indom, despite serving a similar function as Solus and Rapture, have a differnt support function as Adlo and Succor so it wouldn't make sense to merge them into one button. But WHM's heals are just faster versions of each other.

It doesn't 'solve' the problem that we aren't using our GCDs as much but it would clean up our bars a touch. And it might have the placibo effect of still technically using your older skills.

[AnotherPerson]

Perhaps I worded that wrong.

My suggestion turns cure I into Solus and Cure 2 into tetra 'when the cooldown hits.'

•Cure I is Cure I on your bar. When you gain a lily, it turns into Afflatus Solus. It turns back into cure I when you have no lilies.
•Cure 2 is Cure 2 on your bar. Every 60 seconds, it becomes tetra until used, and then reverts back to Cure 2 when used. You don't even need to change it's ability name, it could still just be cure 2 and Tetra becomes a passive that says 'every 60 seconds, Your next cast of Cure 2 is free and instant)
•Medica is Medica on your bar. When you gain a lily, it turns into Afflatus Rapture. It turns back into medica when you have no lilies.

Still have access to the 'base' versions of each skill, they just power up when resources and cooldowns are in place. The only reason I'm suggesting it (Though I know it likely would never happen because of other constraints beside their design space) is because of how similar Afflatus and Tetra are compared to the GCD versions. We've got Cure 2, and then two extra quicker cure 2s. Lustrate and Indom, despite serving a similar function as Solus and Rapture, have a differnt support function as Adlo and Succor so it wouldn't make sense to merge them into one button. But WHM's heals are just faster versions of each other.

It doesn't 'solve' the problem that we aren't using our GCDs as much but it would clean up our bars a touch. And it might have the placibo effect of still technically using your older skills.

Don't mix GCD skills with oGCD skills. A lot of people generally keep oGCD skills and GCD skills separately on their hotbars because they have different situational uses.

If Afflatus Solace, Afflatus Rapture, and Tetragrammaton also replace the current MP GCD healing spells, you lose a lot of potential weave tools and mobility tools because they will always get consumed first. While it is true that a healer wants to use their free resources first before using their more MP expensive resources, but that's not always the case.

A reason why Instant cast GCD healing spells are kept separate from the GCD healing spells with a MP cost is because there are also times where healers would want to spend MP first to hardcast healing and save their instant cast spells later, even if the instant cast spell is free. Instant cast spells can be used to heal people while the healer is dodging mechanics and cannot afford stop moving and to cast a heal for 2 seconds. Instant cast GCD healing spells becomes a reliable resource to use on demand if the healer can make the decision whether they need it now or later for quick burst healing. This flexibility also increases if the healer can hold extra charges (ex: the current lily system). What you're suggesting removes a lot of flexibility in the healer toolkit.