Healers need an overhaul

[Raskbuck]

Sure. Let's add some unicorns too while we're at it.

But you can already get one with the Lv. 30 Conjurer quest line...

[EmpyreanHelios]

But you can already get one with the Lv. 30 Conjurer quest line...

The unicorn shows up in the LB and kicks everyone back into shape.

[rewd]

It accomplishes this by being exactly the same as the other healers, but with 1 additional button on a 45 second cooldown. SGE takes the glass of water levels of spicy that the other healers offer and raises that up to an astounding whole wheat bread level of spice.

It's actually even worse than that because you make it sound like Phlegma is something that SGE has over the other healers, even though all of them have an equivalent.

[Amenara]

Isn't Phlegma just a worse version of Assize that looks better because it has 2 45s charges while Assize just has a 45s CD?

[Hazama999]

The DPS role's main function is, of course, dishing out damage, and the gimmick of each and every one of them lies in how they go about accomplishing this. I think it's interesting when you compare this to healers, because healing, as it stands in this game, relies on either people screwing up or scripted sets of incoming damage. One could argue that the how in healing is functionally the same as the how in the DPS role. That is to say, each healer has their own gimmick with regards to how they get that HP back up. Thing is, as mentioned before, healing is actually dependent on factors external to the player, and I think this is where it gets tricky because we're now no longer talking about just the individual gimmicks of each healer... but rather the core system of the game.

All of this is to say that in order for them to make healing engaging to me, they'd have to revamp how damage is dealt to us... Something I don't see happening anytime soon because it entails upending something so... so engrained into the game that it would present one hell of a challenge from a design perspective.

So. This being the case, there are very few other things that could make healing more interesting to me. Perhaps healing could be more intensive, thus making me think more carefully about my resources. Another option is, as many have already mentioned, more DPS options. Then again, the latter isn't really making "healing" more interesting to me... It's simply giving me more to do so that I don't have to sit twiddling my thumbs between healing scripted damage waves.

Anyways, healers are... pretty screwed, far as I'm concerned. I will still play them from time to time, but the role as a whole doesn't really grab me, and I don't see this changing in the future.

[Ralt21]

snip

One of the few thing i thought and still think is a core of playing a healer isnt just to heal but how to balance between dps and healing. I felt this the most with ff14 with how it handles its damage.
Having that interesting dps rotation that you manage while healing, would also make MSQ-ing alot more fun aswell.
You are alone in MSQ afteral. The only time you might need healing is if there are too many enemies.

The one time i had an intanse moment as WHM was getting attacked by a group. Realising spaming holy and heal was going to take too long, so i used repose of all thing to controle the fight.

[Videra]

If 6+ years of raw feedback doesn't make healer design change, nothing will.

[Soge01]

If 6+ years of raw feedback doesn't make healer design change, nothing will.

Make the entire dev team play nothing but Healer (and Dark Knight/Machinist) and they will change their tune in a heartbeat. xD

[whitemoonflower]

That terms like "Glare Bot" and "Glare Mage" exist says plenty.

[rewd]

Isn't Phlegma just a worse version of Assize that looks better because it has 2 45s charges while Assize just has a 45s CD?

Whether it is better or worse is debatable, I suppose, but Phlegma is the generic third attack spell every healer has (Assize, Earthly Star, Energy Drain).

Funnily enough, WHM is the healer with the bigger DPS "rotation" as it gets to use 4 different spells per minute (Glare, Dia, Assize, Afflatus Misery), while Sage only has three (Dosis, E. Dosis, Phlegma). There is Toxicon, but it is DPS neutral and also conditional and we'd have to consider AST's Lord too (which would put AST on the same level as SGE). SCH has only Energy Drain but you get to use it up to three times per minute.

All things considered, I find SGE to be the blandest healer DPS-wise, which is funny considering what Yoshida said about it. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone though, he has been completely oblivious for years.