Fixing Every Healer Job

[Rilifane]

I'm unsure if I'm stockholmed myself into liking Energy Drain because SCH has nothing else to do or optimize, but I think Aetherflow/Energy Drain is one of the best and most interesting things about Scholar's kit and is pretty much the only interesting thing any healer has DPS wise. Scholar is the only healer with anything like Energy Drain and the existence of Energy Drain forces a healing prioritization where you want to use Protraction, Recitation, and all of your faerie heals before you start dipping into your Aetherflow. Energy Drain can also be a DPS loss if it forces you to end up using a GCD heal later (though I know with the huge amount of oGCD healing bloat and the existence of a WHM/SGE/AST cohealer not losing DPS to use their heals this scenario is very unlikely anymore) so to me personally it offers something interesting to each encounter that the other healers do not offer anymore. I've played a lot of Sage and it just doesn't have that level of "feel good dopamine" that making sure Aetherflow doesn't drift and healing as much as possible without sacrificing Energy Drains does.

I know a lot of people don't like Energy Drain and consider it a problem, but there are 3 other healers that don't have this. I'm really not sure how people can say that we have too much oGCD healing bloat for the amount of healing we have, and then also say that Energy Drain needs to be removed so Scholar can use more of its oGCDs. I think we can leave Scholar alone and let it keep this optimization skill, while also returning fun things to its kit DPS wise.

I think the biggest issue many people have with ED is that SCH is the only healer that deals with dps loss if dipping into their class gimmick.

Lilies were a dps loss and that was problematic not because of the existence of healing tied to a smaller dps loss than GCD heals but bigger than oGCDs but because WHM had nothing else.
If WHM had a stronger baseline kit then Lilies would've been a secondary healing resource with enough other tools to fall back on but they had almost nothing to fall back on during ShB and only got Lilybell in EW which has a high cooldown. Asylum and Assize for aoe, that was it. And Assize is still highly unflexible, making it basically unavailable for anything that requires very specific heal timing like certain heal checks.
So you didn't ever had the same room to optimize as SCH had; SCH had an actual chance at avoiding AF heals without chadding their co heal or waiting until everyone was overgeared. WHM didn't. Making Lilies dps neutral was necessary but now it's even more obvious for SCH just how much their own job gimmick stands out. It's now literally the only gimmick you are discouraged from using to fulfill your role.

But I certainly don't want to see it gone especially since I don't trust SE to give us anything remotely meaningful in return. They'll just remove it like in the past and that's it. However it's not a particularly interesting skill either with the flat potency. I'd prefer if they added some nuance to it by giving it an additional effect.
If it also increased healing through all sources (including your fairy) for a certain amount of time, it could now also make a difference for how you time and map your other oGCDs and when exactly you use ED. Timing it well may make the difference between having to use an AF heal or not and thus easily mitigating the dps loss from using it ouside raid buffs/ pots and adds another layer to using it instead of "dump as much as possible during raid buffs" or "wait until AF is about to come off cooldown, then dump it all".
It would also make it useful during short-ish heal checks where you use SS & Indom but are left with 1 (or even 2 if Recit is used on Indom) leftover stacks and nothing meaningful to use them on because they don't last long enough for another SS/ Indom.
It would also be great to use before downtime as you can now snapshot the added healing for a stronger Spreadlo and the stronger Spreadlo may again make the difference between having to use an AF heal or not after the downtime, especially when paired with other heal increases like a nom nom'd fairy or Protraction.

Fairly small things all in all but another layer instead of a "dump for flat potency" skill.
I'll also admit that I've definitely stockholmed myself a little bit into liking it

RE: White mage - do you think having a full GCD cast time on its attacks would help it feel more distinct again? prior to 6.0 I thought the hardcasting made it feel much more a counterpart to black mage in a way that's since been slightly eroded.

I'm generally all in favour for doubling down on the low APM with strong, powerful, impactful GCDs identity for many reasons. It doesn't have to have a 3 page essay in every tooltip. Give it a couple of straightforward but strong nukes that are not too rhythmical (as in everything on a 30s timer) so you have a constantly changing rotation from different timers but overall slower but powerful gameplay... like it's darker counterpart.

But SE would need to give it some tools to offset the heavy loss of mobility and weaving windows from losing 1,5s casts.
One of the biggest issues with ShB WHM was the severe lack of mobility and weaving windows, way behind even BLM. If it should be more of a counterpart to BLM it should get similar tools to deal with movement and having to weave at very specific times.
BLM had fast casts, Swiftcast as a pure dps/ movement tool unlike healers that may need to keep it for Raise, Triple, Xeno, Thundercloud/ Firestarter procs and Sharpcast to force them in addition to the natural proc chance. That's a buttload of mobility for a supposed turret. And in EW they also added Amplifier, a 2nd Triple charge and Icedox.

WHM would need an instant that is not in any way tied directly to healing to make things like weaving PI or Temperance in advance possible. Diacloud comes to mind but it also needs something more reliable, preferably on demand. A dps Lily skill would lead to a similar problem we had in ShB so that's out of question. A secondary resource that is available at the start of a duty and accumulated through offensive gameplay could work.
Glare casts could accumulate stacks while you get a stack spender that has a potency gain over Glare to discourage you from constantly overcapping and you can spend 4-5 stacks on an instant - Seraph Strike already exists and fits this theme extremely well. In niche cases it may be actually better to overcap so you start with max stacks into heavy movement if Lilies have to be used on healing and can't cover the gaps. But overall it's available often enough to avoid being a "dump all during raid buffs" skill although it also offers some potential for optimization during them; it encourages offensive gameplay without building so slowly it's virtually unavailable during heal checks; it also fits the WHM theme of the powerhouse well as it would feel like the WHM slowly "overcharging" with gathered power and unleashing it with a particularly strong instant; and it already breaks the 11111 monotony nicely while also more than offsetting the slight dps loss from having to pay caster tax again with full GCD casts.

[Semirhage]

Honestly, I'm actually inclined to agree with him on this one and since 6.1 I've thought it myself as well.

WHM doesn't have much, but one thing it does have over the other jobs is a little more broad synergy within it's kit coupled with a slower but consistent rhythm, it's historically usually felt more impactful and direct than it's alternatives as well (Even if the numbers generally don't reflect that). The Lily System is easily the best healer gauge mechanic of the 4 now, it has impactful self buffs and Assize is literally a second charge away from being perfection, it's this sort of thing that SE need to build upon.

The issues I have with keeping WHM the "Shadowbringers style nosepicker job" are A) 11111111111 is effing boring; everyone admits it, everyone complains about it, and yet the second WHM comes up specifically it's all "oh but it's so great on WHM, 9/10, only tweak it a little with an extra dot and 1111111 is suddenly good! At least one healer needs to stay stupidified and WHM is it, baby."
B) Fixing all the other healers while leaving WHM alone will land us right back in Stormblood. You've got three utility-stuffed turkeys bringing damage, heals, buffs, mitigation, debuffs, a whole cavalcade of delights to the table, and Chopped Liver, who brings "so much healing" and "so much personal damage", and yet soooooomehow ends up not particularly standing out at either, so you've got the Garbage Can Job with an explicit focus on limiting the skill ceiling and the three that Actual Contributor jobs that have a focus on being good at things, having niches, and actually excelling in areas that aren't "being easy".

BLM is the "simple" job in its role. It's not laden with utility. In theory the goals of its rotation are simple. It's got a high skill ceiling and is tough to master. The sales pitch for the simple DPS mage isn't "Do you hate thinking? Does the first boss of Sastasha confuse you? Come on down to BLM's Play Doh Kingdom, where the only goal of our job design is to make sure you're still breathing!"

No other job in the game has people constantly, constantly advocating for making it the empty-headed baby job on purpose.

[QooEr]

I will never not be confused by these healer forum AST/SCH/SGE main screeds that spend paragraphs going on and on and on about how dreadfully boring mashing one button over and over again for an entire encounter is, what a wretched awful gameplay experience it is, how it's the worst design in the MMO genre.

And then conclude with "so that's why the 1 button rotation is perfect for WHM."

going on a bit of a tangent but i feel like 1 button spam could work if the dps kit revolved around it via procs (like arr blm and brd), cooldown reductions and modal buttons

it would still need an extra button or two but it Could be fine if 1-spam actually had interesting effects, which i think is possible.

[SirShady]

Honestly, I really like this idea. A proc based rotation for a healer would be very interesting!

[Semirhage]

going on a bit of a tangent but i feel like 1 button spam could work if the dps kit revolved around it via procs (like arr blm and brd), cooldown reductions and modal buttons

it would still need an extra button or two but it Could be fine if 1-spam actually had interesting effects, which i think is possible.

Astro had 111111111 back in Stormblood. They also had a real active secondary system to manage on top of it, and I remember Astros still said they wouldn't wish their 1 button spam on anyone.

Why WHM is the prime candidate for spamming 1 button over and over again, when they've never had an active system to manage a distraction from said 1 button spam, is beyond me.

Shadowbringers and Endwalker just transferred the worst aspects of Stormblood AST onto WHM, tricked the community into thinking it "belongs" on WHM, and slapped on an overheal-encouraging passive job gauge for good measure. I'm in the minority here- I don't think WHM is "just a few tweaks away" from good design. I think its DPS kit is horrendously designed. I think its healing kit is barely interactive on an incredibly superficial level. The job gauge is both passive and doesn't encourage playing intelligently. Just blindly barreling forward and getting rewarded whether your resource usage was smart or not.

In short, I hate this whole milieu of "WHM is supposed to be stupid and horribly designed, that's *~variety~*! Getting dumber and less interactive downtime was a good direction for WHM! Finally, it sees the beginnings of good design!" when what actually happened was WHM had fewer brain cells to scramble with the great lobotomization of Shadowbringers.

It blows my mind how the healer forums wail endlessly about the jobs being A) boring and horribly designed, and B) homogenized (which implies that they're ALL boring and horribly designed), and then turn around and go "oh but this thing I just finished lambasting is just wonderful on WHM! Make them play like this pig slop I was bitching about two sentences ago. Being SImPuL is GoOD (for WHM!)"

[Silver-Strider]

Astro had 111111111 back in Stormblood. They also had a real active secondary system to manage on top of it, and I remember Astros still said they wouldn't wish their 1 button spam on anyone.

Why WHM is the prime candidate for spamming 1 button over and over again, when they've never had an active system to manage a distraction from said 1 button spam, is beyond me.

Shadowbringers and Endwalker just transferred the worst aspects of Stormblood AST onto WHM, tricked the community into thinking it "belongs" on WHM, and slapped on an overheal-encouraging passive job gauge for good measure. I'm in the minority here- I don't think WHM is "just a few tweaks away" from good design. I think its DPS kit is horrendously designed. I think its healing kit is barely interactive on an incredibly superficial level. The job gauge is both passive and doesn't encourage playing intelligently. Just blindly barreling forward and getting rewarded whether your resource usage was smart or not.

In short, I hate this whole milieu of "WHM is supposed to be stupid and horribly designed, that's *~variety~*! Getting dumber and less interactive downtime was a good direction for WHM! Finally, it sees the beginnings of good design!" when what actually happened was WHM had fewer brain cells to scramble with the great lobotomization of Shadowbringers.

It blows my mind how the healer forums wail endlessly about the jobs being A) boring and horribly designed, and B) homogenized (which implies that they're ALL boring and horribly designed), and then turn around and go "oh but this thing I just finished lambasting is just wonderful on WHM! Make them play like this pig slop I was bitching about two sentences ago. Being SImPuL is GoOD (for WHM!)"

I wholeheartedly agree with you. There definitely needs to be more to WHM than 1-1-1 spam because it doesn't have anything else to micromanage.
1-1-1 worked for AST because they had to micromanage their Card System but WHM doesn't have such a distraction to keep them engaged with. Keeping it that way just for the sake of keeping it simple just leaves WHM as a job with a Skill Floor and Ceiling practically touching and no job should have that. You can't say a system is bad and then keep that system anyways; it defeats your whole argument if you advocate to keep it.

I can compromise on keeping WHM simple but not 1-1-1 levels of simple.

[QooEr]

Astro had 111111111 back in Stormblood. They also had a real active secondary system to manage on top of it, and I remember Astros still said they wouldn't wish their 1 button spam on anyone."

yeah, im not wishing whm gets that sleep inducing gameplay. if i had it my way whm would have a lot more going to it.
im just saying that a spammy rotation, on any job, can work, taking bard and old blm as an example. if someone wants to design a spammy whm, i think they could make it work as long as theres enough variation/interactions/buildup to the spam

[Garten]

I really love to read about job theoricrafting.. i know ofc we dont have the "full picture" of things, but It seems that often ppls have more immagination then devs :/

[SirShady]

I really love to read about job theoricrafting.. i know ofc we dont have the "full picture" of things, but It seems that often ppls have more immagination then devs :/

Thank you for reading! As a prospective game dev myself, it's one of my favorite things to do. Yeah the current gameplay devs desperately need more creativity. I appreciate wanting to make every job work for your flashy scripted encounters, but that's no excuse for an entire role be this boring and same-y.

[Marxam]

its only a matter of time before they do with the healers what they did with the tanks. Homogenize the their role's tool kit (i.e. tank cds) and focus on a dps rotation. Though the tanks fared better than healers since their rotation was already varied from the start. Healers have always been a one button gcd and every 30 sec put up a dot job. Not to mention some healers will fare better than others.

SCH can go back to maisama/bio shenanigans and maybe faire manipulation? Constant uptime dot management. Maybe introduce faries that pulse aoe for strategic placement?

AST can go back to drawing cards and setting up hands for big bursts and buff duration manipulation. Drawing, shuffling and mulligan cards to set up hand loops. Maybe introduce setting cards on the field, face up or down, for aoe buffs/debuffs and cds that increase or decrease potency based on length of duration, similar to Earthly Star?

SGE can possibly reduce the healing tools it has in favor of emphasizing healing via Kardia, in addition to more attack gcds. Maybe introduce a healer combo rotation and a powerful cd that spread Kardia to all party members for a short period of time so your dmg can heal everyone while dpsing?

WHM is admittedly the hardest to come up with something but honestly there's no reason for at least one job in each role to be simple and exemplify what the role is, i.e. healing. WHM in EW is plain as jane but the healing it does is excellent and when it does dmg it does it big. So WHM probably doesn't need to change outside of QoL's. Maybe reintroduce cleric stance?

One thing I would like to see is all healing gcds in lower levels be changed to charges instead of using MP and being instant cast. Using WHM for example; if you had Cure 1 at six charges, Cure 2, at six charges and Cure 3 at three charges you will be more inclined to use Cure 1 for the freecure proc after you have used up all your Cure 2 charges and more strategic with your Cure 3. Maybe even have the aoe heals like Medica and Medica 2 at three charges to encourage Cure 3 use in very heavy healing scenarios. Ultimately, healing in this game has shifted from constant to bursts so all healing only needs to happen during those bursts and most of the time you are just doing dmg.

WHM already has this via the lilies. You have a gcd single heal and aoe, instant cast, limited resource and it works well. So why no apply it to the rest to increase their mobility?