Why is the healer class basically a one spell dps class?

[Halfgeeek]

I have a gut feel that if devs added new content that forces healers to be more busy healing, using both GCD and OGCDs to heal, the playerbase is going to complain about not being able to dps as a healer.

It seems like they went down this rabbit hole and added way too many OGCD healing options for healers due to player demand, and it reached a point where healers are dps 80% of the time, without an interesting dps rotation because they have too many healing & support buttons already.

I come from FFXI during its early era, where healers just healed (occasional Dia & Haste), and struggled to keep up the tank due to how much dmg was incoming vs low healing potency. Then in WoW for the first few xpacs, again, healers primarily healed (sometimes CC) almost non-stop due to high incoming dmg. Started FF14 not long ago, on SCH, I didn't even cast any healing skill until level 41+ dungeons because Fairy auto-heal was enough. Nowadays it's mostly OGCD healing, so I'm spamming Broil unless someone messes up. It doesn't feel like a healer at all, more as a weak dps that heals sometimes.

Is it a problem? Not so much, I still enjoy doing the grp content. But I could see how its a turn off if you had to do this endgame all the time, you sign on to be a healer but end up being a meh dps.

IMO, it should actually be the reverse, healing via GCD and OGCD for team support & dps, with cooldown & charges on abilities to gate-balance how much dps healers should be able to throw out to support the pt.

[Truen]

Just gives back our 4.0 dps kits and I'd be happy. The SCH was awesome, the changes they forced on that job were just confusing. What's wrong with weaving dots to support the party? What was wrong with having 2 different pets with separate roles? What was wrong with shadow flare and bane? Sheesh, Yoshi's pure healing is boring. It was fun balancing heals with dps...I can't stand chain casting Broil

[ZedxKayn]

I have a gut feel that if devs added new content that forces healers to be more busy healing, using both GCD and OGCDs to heal, the playerbase is going to complain about not being able to dps as a healer.

I'm not so sure, healer DPS is put on a pedestal the way that it is right now because even in savage, the frequency at which damage come out is laughable, and doing beeg deeps is the most "stimulating" part of healer gameplay atm.
In ultimate, where GCD heals are much more necessary, spending GCDs on healing rather than DPS and using more of the kit doesn't feel so bad.

But it's ultimate and while frankly I think the damage going out is not hard at all to manage (the "hard" part being as usual, the mechanics), no way the devs would raise the bar for healing requirements above ground.

[Semirhage]

IMO, it should actually be the reverse, healing via GCD and OGCD for team support & dps, with cooldown & charges on abilities to gate-balance how much dps healers should be able to throw out to support the pt.

...why? Healing has a limit to its usefulness. Damage does not. As currently designed, damage is the thing healers contribute toward their skill ceiling after the healing is settled. If you hardcap that with cooldowns, all you're doing is killing skill expression. What do you do when the healing is over? /dance?

[Rilifane]

IMO, it should actually be the reverse, healing via GCD and OGCD for team support & dps, with cooldown & charges on abilities to gate-balance how much dps healers should be able to throw out to support the pt.

This only works in games that have
a) significantly more frequent and/ or higher incoming damage
b) the option to chose your party comp without hard or soft restrictions

FFXIV has neither. Damage is infrequent and fairly low even in savage with the exception of the occasional heal check on the last boss and party comps are usually set to 2 tanks/ 2 healers/ 4 dps because of mechanics targeting both healers and tankbusters that need a tank swap.
So having unlimited healing but limited dps is exactly what we should not have. Even in fairly messy runs I spend less than 10% of my GCDs on healing/ ressing, if you flip GCD and oGCDs, I'd spend most of my time picking my nose unless they nerf heal GCDs so hard I need multiple casts for every scratch - which would just replace one 1 button spam with another because of the way how skills are designed.

[Halfgeeek]

...why? Healing has a limit to its usefulness. Damage does not. As currently designed, damage is the thing healers contribute toward their skill ceiling after the healing is settled. If you hardcap that with cooldowns, all you're doing is killing skill expression. What do you do when the healing is over? /dance?

This only works in games that have
a) significantly more frequent and/ or higher incoming damage
b) the option to chose your party comp without hard or soft restrictions

FFXIV has neither. Damage is infrequent and fairly low even in savage with the exception of the occasional heal check on the last boss and party comps are usually set to 2 tanks/ 2 healers/ 4 dps because of mechanics targeting both healers and tankbusters that need a tank swap.
So having unlimited healing but limited dps is exactly what we should not have. Even in fairly messy runs I spend less than 10% of my GCDs on healing/ ressing, if you flip GCD and oGCDs, I'd spend most of my time picking my nose unless they nerf heal GCDs so hard I need multiple casts for every scratch - which would just replace one 1 button spam with another because of the way how skills are designed.

This i agree with, as I said, the devs have gone down this rabbit hole of OGCD healing and their encounter design not requiring constant healing has turned healers into DPS with some heals on the side.

I'm used to MMO healers focus on healing, since the group content in games I have years with, the damage incoming is very high and constant.

Folks here want a more complex dps rotation for healers, because they are forced to be dps most of the time. There's a clear disconnect in the healer design and content that is going to require a total revamp of EVERYTHING if:

1) Making healers have a complex DPS rotation and still able to heal hard content

or

2) Making healers heal the majority of their grp gameplay instead of dpsing

[glamazon]

Where are the other options? There’s more to fights than dps and healing there’s crowd control and enchamcement and enfeeblement so many options that fc doesn’t take advantage of.

[Absurdity]

Where are the other options? There’s more to fights than dps and healing there’s crowd control and enchamcement and enfeeblement so many options that fc doesn’t take advantage of.

Simple, the other options have a 0.1% chance of happening because not only would debuffs and crowd control probably break their boss designs, if not also their ai, and because they've been steadily moving away from impactful party buffs, just look at Astro's spread balance and buff extension or bard's party support.


So just by looking at the direction they've been going it is safe to assume that the best we can get is either more to heal or more dps options.

[Crushnight]

I have a gut feel that if devs added new content that forces healers to be more busy healing, using both GCD and OGCDs to heal, the playerbase is going to complain about not being able to dps as a healer.

Nah if they actually did that, the complaints would be.

"Content is too hard I can't handle the output on damage to the party"

Basically the people who struggle with 1 DoT and 1 nuke now would be the ones who be adversely affected except it's their primary duty not their secondary duty that is giving them trouble so they can't hide behind being a Selphie thinking they are doing a good enough job.

[Ayche]

Glare spam is economical.

Anyone can do the experiment of going to Bozja, chugging the Savior juice and slotting in some Lost healing spells. Then you go from CE to CE, acting as true DPS healer. And while an interesting experience, it can also be one of frustration because sticking to a strict rotation and being available on demand to heal the whole party with 1-2 GCDs of heals do not mix together. That is the key to it, Glare spam can be interrupted with no penalty at any cost, to save whoever just ate some raid mechanic to the face. So an "actual" DPS rotation does not fit into the healing lifestyle.