So how is whm doing?

[ForteNightshade]

It's WHM. Nothing new.

1.5s Glare does actually feel great, but WHM still feels neglected. Why does AST have a massive Star but Asylum is the same and Cure III is still a ridiculously small radius. Why is Holy the only healer aoe you can't weave with? Why did WHM's GCD heals only get 0.5 sec less cast time but AST got 1 sec? Why did Benefic get 100 potency and Cure get 50? Why is Thin Air nerfed? Why does Assize not have charges? Why is Aquaveil so bad compared to Exaltation? Why are lilies an even bigger potency loss? Why does WHM still have so few oGCDs to weave even after the 1.5s Glare change?

...And so on. It functions, but it could have been so much better. It's a shame, I don't dislike WHM, it's a comfy, straightforward healer, but that doesn't mean it has to be clunky and inferior. All the comfy dps classes have far better depth and flow.

It's remarkable how in their pursuit of accessibility, White Mage feels the most... incomplete. I almost get the impression they're afraid to expand beyond the tried and simple GCD healing paradigm they seem determined to force it into. I just can't wrap my head around how they could look at WHM and AST then conclude both are properly balanced. AST is just... better in virtually every way.

[Ilyrian]

AST is just... better in virtually every way.

I think there will come a point in the not too distant future that WHM will have to have some sort of buff system, similar to AST.
There's just no feasible future for WHM - unless - the damage goes through the roof which again, is pretty useless with the potential of Sage.

[Anirab]

It's remarkable how in their pursuit of accessibility, White Mage feels the most... incomplete. I almost get the impression they're afraid to expand beyond the tried and simple GCD healing paradigm they seem determined to force it into. I just can't wrap my head around how they could look at WHM and AST then conclude both are properly balanced. AST is just... better in virtually every way.

In what way is AST better? (i have all jobs on 80 but didn't check AST since EW)
WHM just plays as WHM does, don't feel a big difference with EW. Decent DPS and great healing. Just did Duty and got Amaurot and all went fine, nobody died, almost 20% of group damage.

[Silver-Strider]

In what way is AST better? (i have all jobs on 80 but didn't check AST since EW)
WHM just plays as WHM does, don't feel a big difference with EW. Decent DPS and great healing. Just did Duty and got Amaurot and all went fine, nobody died, almost 20% of group damage.

AST equivalent skills of WHM's cost less and have a shorter cast time, even after the cost reduction WHM received. Coupled with Astrodyne and the nerf to Thin Air, AST now has the superior MP economy of the 2.
Exaltation's cure potency makes it more potent in the majority of cases in comparison to Aqua Veil.
Earthly Star's radius buff encapsulates the entirety of most arenas, meaning it will be incredibly rare that it misses healing allies and cleaving enemies.
AST's extensive oGCD kit allows it to continue to DPS while WHM would need to expend GCDs on heals to accomplish the same thing but when coupled with its raid contributions of cards and Divination, allow AST to surpass WHM in terms of rDPS.
Lilybell is still too restrictive in its usage vs Macrocosmos

[lilwitch]

I'm really enjoying new whm. The extra benison shield stack and the 60s cd targeted mini cd nice for smoothing out dungeon runs. Even the bell comfy despite long cooldown. So even if I get stuck with a tank that has subpar cd usage but pulls large regardless, there's enough tools in the kit to keep dpsing and keep them alive. I like bell because although it is 3m cd, with the structure of [2 large pulls -> boss] (and sometimes a mini pull on top of that) it gives me free license to stand in aoe and heal the tank at the same time, for 1 pull per midboss.

Rn I tend to regen tank, maybe apply regen again right as we reach the last pack, swiftcast holy, lily aoe, bubble, PoM, then into holy spam, saving benison to pair with regen so the ogcd isn't wasted. Tank will be fine on 1st pack if he uses cds at all after holy stun wears off in ~9s, so it usually 2nd pack where it is questionable, so I'd save wings for 2nd pack, but now have an extra benison and a 15% for 8s from aquaveil. regen + bubble usually sustains 3 mobs okay, so just having this little bit extra for 6-9 mobs feels so smooth. But most of all because it's ogcd and so I can use it while dodging or without interrupting dps. When bubble cd down, now can use bell + purposefully eat aoe.

Mixed feeling on the new cast time. I find it more awkward bc now when I press button based on the skill cast, it doesn't queue since its too far from the cd time. It will take a while to get used to it, but I didn't enjoy ast for the same reason. That said, it also gives you space to cast and dodge better, without clipping. Even slidecast will clip a bit, so whm feels much more mobile now.

Thin air change nice for ressing ppl but less nice for spamming skills.

I don't think all skill should get star treatment. Star seems absurd, might as well be raidwide aoe without a reticule if so large.
I like that c3 is dense heal with limited radius, so it rewards placement. But maybe the potency needs tweaking? idk. It feels okay to me.
I like playing reactive healer and whm rly nice for that. Sage seems so confusing like the buttons needlessly spread out and cleric stance but not cleric stance, but whm nice straightforward healer.

[RinaShinomiya]

I love WHM but is agree it's not the best it could be.
One thing that always bothered me about the 5.0 rework is how Cure II and Afflatus Solace and Medica and Afflatus Rapture are the exact same buttons but for some reason need to be separate buttons. Under no circumstances have i ever found myself wanting to cast Cure 2 over Afflatus Solace when i had a lily stack ready. So why not turn these buttons into 1 via trait and use the extra room we freed up for things missing from WHM toolkit?

[Salle]

I'ts WHM, played some wall to wall pulls with the new instances and nothing feels much different.
if you like playing reactive (none shield with strong heal throughput) then that's what you still get as a playstyle.

[Daleb]

I love WHM but is agree it's not the best it could be.
One thing that always bothered me about the 5.0 rework is how Cure II and Afflatus Solace and Medica and Afflatus Rapture are the exact same buttons but for some reason need to be separate buttons. Under no circumstances have i ever found myself wanting to cast Cure 2 over Afflatus Solace when i had a lily stack ready. So why not turn these buttons into 1 via trait and use the extra room we freed up for things missing from WHM toolkit?

I generally try to keep at least one available for "I need to heal and move" moments, so if I only have one I'll usually use cure II/medica rather than burn it. If I've got more than one though yeah, no sense not using it.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

• The new 1.5s nuke cast time feels better, but that's for healers in general; it looks visually weird for WHM, especially under the effect of PoM though. Our WoL must be -that- good with their stomach crunches.
• I get to weave in Benison & any other abilities freely. That's a positive. Lilies often sits at 3 stacks unused though...
• Speaking of lilies, I wish their potencies are set to be slightly stronger than regular Cure II. I wish for Misery's potency to be ramped up as well.
• Still haven't seen MP problem just yet outside super super super terrible runs, but we'll see for sure when raids are here.
• The Thin Air change has made me use it more strictly to get off a free raise rather than for Cure III or even Medica II. We are early into an expansion so I'm seeing a lot more deaths than usual, yet I expect this button will be more abandoned later on.
• My [1] hotkey will probably start to cry sometime soon... lol

[althenawhm]

Just got Lillybell, I mean, I just got Liturgy of the Bell and boy is that skill underwhelming.
The cooldown is obviously too long, and the potency is far too weak if you dont get hit enough.
Only really useful for Ahk Morns, but I dont think a skill should only have a use against an extremely small selection of opponents.