Healers need an overhaul

[Aword3213]

snip

just do what I do. Leave them be and let them keep on agreeing with each other in circle

[Sebazy]

Second, WoW is definitely not an anomaly. If anything, it is the NORM in that regard. Start War Old Republic use it. Tera is meme for it over-exposure armor but generally considered having the best combat system in MMO use it. The healing in Tera is a battle in itself, and that's not because they have to DPS. While I won't say FF14 is the exception when it comes to green DPS, its model is definitely on the minority side among all the relevant MMO.

Agreed that WoW has been the template for modern MMO design ever since it landed. It pretty much annihilated it's peers at release (EQ2 and to a lesser extent, FFXI) and moved the genre forwards into a play style that was more sustainable for players but ironically made things vastly more expensive and difficult for developers.

Whilst I commend Yoshida for consistently trying to find the next big thing in side content, I'm really starting to think that the lack of investment in the fundamentals of the core gameplay loop is starting to haunt them now. We're barely midway through the expansion and in my FC and social circle at least, things feel as dead as the tail end of Stormblood. It really does feel like the Pre Expansion blues at the moment.

IMHO it's either going to be because the Criterion dungeon hasn't been that popular (Which is a shame as I've really enjoyed tackling it blindly), or it's because things have gotten stale to the point where it's just not enjoyable for a lot of long termers. My best guess is that it's a combination of the two.

It's depressing that my 'SE needs a healer designer' post has only ever gotten more relevant as time has gone on. That's a significant failure on Yoshida's part IMO.

[Kacho_Nacho]

I wish content would be designed where spamming heal is a necessity.

I feel the same. I miss how I used to heal as a holy priest in WoW.

Knowing how to triage was the most important skill you had because you couldn't just spam spells all the time. You'd run out of mana.

The whole healing game centered around the player using the best heal/damage/support spell for the situation and knowing when and when not to cast it.

Sometimes, you had to heal like crazy. Other times, you had to hold back because you knew the next part would need big heals. Mana was a precious resource.

Not casting a spell was as meaningful a choice as casting one. Because, if you didn't cast for five seconds, your mana would start regenerating.

In short, you had to make choices. This kept you engaged and that's what is missing from healing in FFXIV.

[Reinha]

I remember healing as a resto Druid and planning with my cohealer when I was going to use Tranquility and when he was going to use his big cool down ability. It was required because regular heals were not enough and would drain far too much mana. I was spot healing people the whole time because AoEs were expensive, had a cool down and didn't heal the whole party.

In FFXIV tanks, melee, casters and ranged coordinate with each other when to use the damage reduction abilities that allow the party to survive. Those abilities were taken into account in raid design. Was anything designed with healers in mind? Healers can coordinate heals but it's not needed for survival or MP. It just allows them do more damage with a boring rotation.

[Zebraoracle]

I think what people are forgetting to mention regarding WoW is that WoW actually offered multiple styles of healing - there was something for everyone.

You want to be a pure healer? Holy priest and holy paladin (and even then these two are focused on AoE/raid heals and tank heals respectively)
You want to put a ton of HoTs on everyone and giggle as damage can't keep up? Resto druid
You want to be a jack of all trades and still very effective? Resto shaman
You want to heal by DPSing and damage prevention? Disc priest and kind of (not as much anymore from what I've heard) monk
You want to heal by... doing whatever the heck mistweaver monk does? I still don't know how to categorize this one and I've played it and it's fun and it still baffles me.
Who knows what the evoker healing style is going to be like.

Meanwhile you have sage as a supposed "heal by dps" job, which is kind of very misleading, and a worse scholar but with less jank.
You have white mage and astro with very similar play styles, only thing really separating them is astro cards.

That's it. The healers feel so incredibly homogenized compared to other games that offer actual variety.

[Raven2014]

I feel the same. I miss how I used to heal as a holy priest in WoW.

Knowing how to triage was the most important skill you had because you couldn't just spam spells all the time. You'd run out of mana.

The whole healing game centered around the player using the best heal/damage/support spell for the situation and knowing when and when not to cast it.

Sometimes, you had to heal like crazy. Other times, you had to hold back because you knew the next part would need big heals. Mana was a precious resource.

Not casting a spell was as meaningful a choice as casting one. Because, if you didn't cast for five seconds, your mana would start regenerating.

In short, you had to make choices. This kept you engaged and that's what is missing from healing in FFXIV.

You don't even need to use WoW as example ('cause it gonna trigger some people here), like I said FF14 itself at one point have some of that. Like, whenever I hear someone mock "yada yada Medica 2 yada yada" I already know they're no interested in a discussion in good faith. Because Medica 2 spam have never been a thing in raid, at least not up until the last 2 expansions.

- First: it's expensive, Medica 2 Spamming = run out of MP by mid fight even if you bring a mana battery.

- Second: more important, it's a massive aggro generator. I remember in Neo-Exdeath there were a set of mech that requires intensive healing that you need a regen going and raw AOE on top of that. But that sequence of mech also have a double tank buster mechs that careless healing will see the WHM rip hate off the tank and eat one of the buster instead, but heal conservatively and someone gonna die on the next hit. I remember during prog that part requires a coordinate plan: tanks have to do their stance dance correctly, the healers have to time their heal and lucid at the right time, and the ninja needs to do his job. It may be even easier to do that set of mech that let the WHM go nut with heal and take the buster with a PLD cover.

In fact, aggro management used to be a big part of healing that some considered the built-in aggro reduction on the AST's sect was a cheat code, so talk about mindlessly spamming heal is just non-sense. Ironically, healing spam is something that would only be viable NOW if someone care to do it, because MP management has been neft to a point some question "why do we still have MP at all?", and aggro management has all but disappeared.

Again, were all of that well thought out and perfect? No, not really. That system could still have used a lot of improvement and refinement, but I feel just trashed the whole thing was NOT the right decision.

[ForteNightshade]

I already did though? Either you missed my point or you actually didn't read them.

In that specific post of yours I responded to you did no such thing. You even went on to mock White Mages for criticising Lilies being a DPS loss while rattling off how people only care about DPS. If you meant to imply this was only a preference you disliked but didn't actively participate it, then you failed to convey that. Hence why pretty much everyone has replied to you in the manner they have. You've come across as someone who only heals and dislikes being forced to DPS.

With all that said, Semirhage sums it up: FFXIV simply isn't designed to be the game you're asking it to. Spamming boring healing abilities is no different than spamming Glare. Could they add in buffs, debuffs, mitigation and etc? Absolutely. Will they? No. Yoshida has made it painstakingly clear they want healers (and every job, really) to be accessible above all else, difficulty be damned. They aren't going to add in mechanics or systems which make it difficult for little Sally playing her first healer to actually clear content as a healer. Unfortunately, even Savage suffers from this design philosophy. The whole reason people want DPS abilities is because we've all given up on getting anything else. So I'd rather not go a third expansion spamming Glare but sparkier!

[Rolder50]

With all that said, Semirhage sums it up: FFXIV simply isn't designed to be the game you're asking it to. Spamming boring healing abilities is no different than spamming Glare. Could they add in buffs, debuffs, mitigation and etc? Absolutely. Will they? No. Yoshida has made it painstakingly clear they want healers (and every job, really) to be accessible above all else, difficulty be damned. They aren't going to add in mechanics or systems which make it difficult for little Sally playing her first healer to actually clear content as a healer. Unfortunately, even Savage suffers from this design philosophy. The whole reason people want DPS abilities is because we've all given up on getting anything else. So I'd rather not go a third expansion spamming Glare but sparkier!

Not to mention that changing the healing system to something where you have to heal more or it's more based on attrition or whatever would either 1) Invalidate old sync content designed on the original philosophy or 2) Require an immense amount of work to re-do said content. It's simply not a realistic goal. But adding some additional DPS buttons is, and has been done in the past.

[Maltothoris]

It's also the fact there are no limits on dps gains while there are limits to healing and mitigation gain since buffs are multiplicative in this game. Putting defensives on top of each other only reduces the returns that you get for them and it was also the reason why before it was an ability, Whispering Dawn was THE best ogcd hot in the game over collective and asylum.

[RyuDragnier]

Adding 1-2 more DPS moves per healer except Sage (Sorry, they have more attacks than the rest of us) also wouldn't break the bank.

Imagine them adding a 2nd DoT to SCH, and making it so Deployment Tactics had 2 charges and could also spread DoTs if targeted on an enemy like old Bane (and how Deployment Tactics currently works in PvP). That's barely anything, but really adds more engagement in dungeons and in raids since your deployment isn't just for 1 mechanic now, it's for 2.

Imagine giving WHM an extra spell that combos with Glare III called Blinding Light. Yes, it's only 1 extra spell, but you're also hitting a different button instead of the same one all the time.

Imagine giving AST an AoE damage field like the old Shadow Flare that they can set down in addition to playing with their cards. Practically nothing, but more engagement.

Healers need barely anything DPS wise to make them more fun, and it wouldn't cause any real issues.