Quote Originally Posted by IDontPetLalas View Post
No, it isn't. Where is being a buffbot mentioned in the AST job description? AST is interesting (or used to be more interesting) because it allowed for healing, buffing and doing damage- not for being someone's pocket buffer. Even in another game , where that job's primary task was buffing - I was expected to heal and do damage, in varying degrees- or I was considered to be leeching. -
This really feels like a matter of splitting hairs, especially when referring to the post I was replying to that includes giving WHM an arsenal based on spreading Bravery and Faith. Which are basically "damage buff for DoW jobs" and "damage buff for DoM jobs", almost exactly like the existing AST cards (but with Phys Ranged flipped).

Part of the division of existing healers is that you have two who provide raid buffs weighed against their personal damage – cards, Divination, Chain Strategem – and two who instead (ostensibly) have higher personal damage output. White Mage falls into the latter category with AST as its counterpart in the former.

So on the one hand, within this existing division, not only would WHM have to be extensively reworked to become a buff mage but AST would probably need to be reworked as well to dip away from buffing (which to be fair, I wouldn't be against if it meant more offensive Time Magic like DoT manipulation), which is highly unlikely given that its cards are tied to its lore and the identity it has held since its inception as "the healer who buffs"; I know it's not literally in the job description, but that's its identity.
This would also have to account for the fact that healer damage contributions are exceedingly low while buffs are highly valued, to the point where buffing healers are already valued over damage dealers, so having one healer who exclusively buffs because it has no damage contribution of its own would be nigh impossible to balance against healers who deal damage, and likely be a requirement for most raids.

And on the other, you could have your cake and eat it too but only if you can justify overthrowing the existing paradigm to remove this division and reworking every healer to fit the new one, in a manner that satisfies why WHM would be more fitting as a choice for a buff mage than AST who already has (limited) systems in place akin to what you're asking for.
Which is also just begging for homogeny, since AST itself is a case study in how many different variations of damage buff will survive if given a choice between them in this game.