The Problem with Healer Feedback, and requested changes

[Shurrikhan]

I guess the answer to that I'd give is 'when you're playing good, your healing occurs naturally as you're doing your damage, you don't need to think about it because it's happening semi-automatically'.

But is that really an advantage, to let the job essentially "play itself" when things are going good?

That kind of seems like a worst of both worlds, especially given that a healer that cannot choose to purely heal or purely damage, but instead will always have their burst healing held back by the strength of their combined overall damage+healing output, will be far harder pressed whenever things don't go perfectly right?

Output, at least, I could see as being a feature, but being semi-automatic? Moreover, to even be that way, it'd need to have very little control over the timing of its damage, either, which would make it even worse off (and more akin to a DPS with the likes of a permanent Vampiric Embrace than akin to a Healer).

Why does Resto Druid layer loads of HOTs, when the sheer burst healing power of a GCD from a Holy Priest or a MW Monk do similar output, but without the 'wait for the ticks' thing?

They don't quite, though, at least for so long as I've been playing them (~8 years).

A Resto druid preemptively layering HoTs before its burst will certainly exceed the HPS of a Holy Priest or Mistweaver, especially in repeated cycles (since the Holy Priest will depend in large part on CDs), else there'd be no reason to take the HoTs (themselves a weakness, as the healing is less responsive). After all, the concern over in that game isn't just the total healing a HoT will do, but also how much HPS it can add. Because HoTs can be laid out before their HPS is actually needed and Resto Druids can layer their more direct healing and/or HoT-consumption atop that, they can leverage the compensation for that weakness into very high near-burst HPS.

And that, the high potential HPS that can't be easily exhausted through CD depletion, is the advantage they actually bring to the party, not the fact that they use HoTs.

A phrase like 'heal by doing damage' can help be a vehicle for class identity.

It can, absolutely. And I think it's essential that the means differ. Heavily. The jobs feel far too similar at present.

But again, if we're looking to keep each job competitive, which then has to do with the advantage each brings to a party, then that's a matter of the result, not just the means or vehicle it comes by.

I would like, therefore, to see also what intended advantages come from/with each job under these alignments/categorizations.



For instance, something like (though overly wordy and including undermechanics not in the game)...

• WHM - highest depth and breadth of indirect, non-rDPS utility (leading Cleanse efficiency and good Purge capacity via Water; Levitation, Downforce, and Swift via Wind; point-mitigation and knockbacks via Earth) and leading near-burst capacity (more sustained than a mere few seconds of healing, but far from constant HPS/DPS); best armor-buster; comparatively high survivability if not pinned down.
  
  
• SCH - greatest ability to turn combat in a directed way atop mitigating and/or predicting specific threats (forewarning on random targeting, more quickly exposed weaknesses, etc); can fire Leeched debuffs into enemies via Energy Spike; high accuracy, pinpoint attacks excel against breachable armor and fliers.
  
  
• AST - greatest point-support power and versatility, especially useful for supporting parties of unequal performance levels, atop considerable planned ally and enemy movement assistance through gravity manipulation (generally highly useful against especially heavy or light enemies; useful for Launching enemies otherwise two heavy or Grounding fliers).
  
  
• SGE - greatest combined healing and damage when things are going well, and especially well-suited for substituting the position of a physical combatant in terms of damage suppression or baiting mechanics; hypermobile, with excellent mild multi-tasking useful for mitigating the uptime costs of using certain forms of minor utility.