So there's been some back and forth regarding the skill floor and skill ceiling of the healer jobs and how it's possible to keep a job simple while also adding depth to it. I've been thinking a bit about how I might approach this with WHM, and my hope is to try and prove that you can keep the job easy, simple, and approachable, yet also expand on its skill ceiling without impeding on that simplicity. So here are some light examples of what came to mind:

DPS Actions
I'd like to start with new DPS tools since there are just a few that are relatively simple in execution before I move onto some changes to healing actions. For this segment, know that we'd be keeping Glare, Dia, Holy, and Afflatus Misery as is, and I'll be using a potency of 300 for Glare and 900 for Afflatus Misery for reference.

Water and Banish
Starting at level 15, we replace Fluid Aura with Water and eventually upgrades to Banish alongside Glare and Dia.
Action Type: GCD Spell
Potency: 350
MP Cost: 400
Cast Time: Instant
Recast Time: 15s (Maximum Charges: 3)

Banish gives us a bit of extra damage and mobility on a short recast timer, but also a relaxed 3 charges giving WHM a little something extra to work with in regards to regular DPS. The damage gain is small and the charge system gives players time to sit on charges comfortably for a time when they feel most appropriate.

Germinate
A GCD spell that fully nourishes the Blood Lily and has a 120 second recast time (it also can only be used when in combat). A way to ensure you have an Afflatus Misery to cast during party buff windows.

Eschaton
A DoT spell that targets an enemy, applies a regen to allies nearby your target, and generates 1 lily at a high MP cost.
Action Type: GCD spell
DoT Potency: 50 for 15 seconds
Regen Potency: 100 for 15 seconds
MP Cost: 2400
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds

Eschaton's lily generation will become key when I explain some healing changes in a moment. It's DPS neutral at face value, and the high MP cost means you'll have another option for Thin Air, but. you're not pressured to use it aggressively, not to mention the DoT and Regen aspects of the move prevent you from spamming it.

Healing Actions
So I would like to rebalance Afflatus Healing a tad by merging Solace with Regen and Rapture with Medica II. This would help consolidate some of WHM's GCD heals and make Afflatus healing feel more rewarding since both Regen and Medica II have a lot of power. Additionally, Freecure is replaced with a new trait that makes Cure's cast time instant in contrast to Cure II. It would give it the slightest of niches.

Afflatus Propagation
This new Afflatus spell consumes a lily and nourishes the blood lily just like the others and will be key at making the Blood Lily a far more desirable tool. Casting Afflatus Propagation on an ally places a bud on them that lasts up to 30 seconds. This causes your next healing spell cast on that target to heal for 20% more HP and deal damage to all nearby enemies to that ally with a potency of 300

What this means is that Propagation is only a 50% DPS loss in contrast to the current 100% DPS loss of Solace and Rapture; however, it neutralizes the 300 potency loss of Afflatus Misery currently when activated with Solace or Rapture. You can actually turn Misery into a 150 potency gain if you can maintain using Propagation with Solace or Rapture. Keep in mind that positioning is also key, however, none of this interferes with WHM's healing ease.

In practice, there would need to be number adjustments to ensure everything stays balanced, but I wanted to establish the idea using Glare's 300 potency as a baseline because it was easy and familiar.

Additionally, I'd like to see Solace and Rapture lowered to levels 30 and 50 respectively while also adding in Afflatus Misery at level 50 with less potency. Instead of starting at 900 potency, its damage would increase as Stone/Glare's potency does to keep up with your DPS. Introducing these tools much earlier though would help teach new WHM players about their important gauge much earlier, which I think is important for the future of the job.

These are just a few abilities and simple changes, but I'd like to hear what some WHM players think about the concept, and also discuss whether or not these kinds of changes do or don't work with the skill floor and skill ceiling as some of us would like.