Ultimate Representation: Good, Bad, or Indifferent?

[ForsakenRoe]

Oh right, I forgot you'd have Lightspeed up during the 2min window to weave properly, that's another buff towards the buff cap then

[Renathras]

I'm actually really curious how the buff limit even works. I mean, people talk about it a lot, but the limit is supposed to be somewhat high. Something like 16 or 32 or some such. But, how Job functions factor into that is still iffy to me. For example, Aetherflow as originally a buff. It was moved to the Job Gauge (when that was implemented) and removed as a buff, but then restored as a buff display by player demand (apparently). So...does it count as a buff or doesn't it?

Huton is on NIN's Job Gauge, so does it count as a buff? Because WAR Storm's Eye and DRG Power Surge are not and do. Greased Lightning and Enochian are now Traits, but they weren't before.

Honestly, at this point, I have no idea how the game's code distinguishes between the two, or if there's even any backend distinction.

[Rilifane]

Everything is displayed as a buff with an icon in one of your buff bars counts towards the buff limit. This includes FC buffs, food, potion, personal buffs etc.
AF/ UI doesn't count for BLM as it's purely on the job gauge and displayed nowhere else, same for Huton. But having Ley Lines up and standing is one buff slot each, same for Storm's Eye. "Bole drawn" counts, so does each buff of Astrodyne etc.

We recently managed to make our DNC dodge their own Tech by using a few heals on them during burst
And I remember dodging my own AF once. That was painful.

[IceBlueNinja]

amazing despite how whm and sge is belittled seem they are the best comp beating even ast/sch combo. I was hoping to see more ast/sge comps. kerachole and ixo or physis is all sage need to cover damage lol. kera is op they may nerf it i fear and i hope they dont. Ast really is less used that i rarely or never see them even in casual content or alliances... thats sad.

[Renathras]

AST is the busiest and most complex Healer, has probably the most unique aesthetic of the Healers (WHM is a combination Priest/Druid, which are a common fantasy healer trope, while SCH/SGE are both academics, which is somewhat common but also overlap between them, and they play similar ENOUGH that they are likely splitting that portion of the player base between them). It's the hardest to optimize, the most complex overall, the most challenging to do the best, and has the highest skill ceiling.

This makes it arguably the most powerful Healer Job in the game (alongside SCH, which has similar things going with it), but without SCH's advantages of starting at level 1 if people want it and/or leveling alongside SMN. AST requires going backwards to level (not a thing for people who have leveled many Jobs, but it is a deterrent for new players) and it's the busiest and hardest to play well. AST and SCH do have party buffs, making them amplify the damage of a good party in content they're familiar with, which makes both great for speed runs. But their complexity works against them in prog and high difficulty content clears.

(That is, it's what the forums say all Healers should be more like in a general sense... Yes yes, "low damage", but that's not why people don't play it in casual GROUP content.)

WHM is just so accessible that people lean on it a lot, and this includes high end groups doing very challenging content who often want Jobs they can reliably perform on (we also see this in SMN vs BLM). And when healing counts, WHM has it. Likewise, SGE is easier to play optimally and has a lot of more responsive tools than SCH does. Instant cast on the move shields, oGCDs that roughly match SCH's but don't depend on Faerie AI or ghosting, and big CDs that don't fight with each other (unlike Dissipation, Aetherpact, Seraph, and Fey Blessing; which, in various ways, do not play nice together). And for a Job not starting at level 1, SGE starts closest to the level cap, making it a favorite of people picking up a new Healing Job.

All of that adds up to make AST/SCH extremely powerful in speed runs, but WHM/SGE extremely powerful for high end players running high end content, as well as casual players playing stuff like 24 mans.

.

The nice thing is that they all ARE represented, that they're all showing up well. So not only are these varying complexity playstyles in the game, but they're all functional in even the hardest content. But it shouldn't really be that big of a surprise that WHM/SGE is so common, both here and in more casual content, I don't think. The important thing, though, is that AST is there for players like you who enjoy it. : )

Fun twist, though: SCH is more used in JP than SGE. SGE is more used everywhere else. Though the difference between the two isn't THAT huge in either region (that is, SGE is a close 3rd in JP and SCH a close 3rd in everywhere else). AST is on the bottom in all of them, though, WHM the top.

[IceBlueNinja]

I just hope ast cards will be more tactical again in other words bring stormblood ast again, i love the sb ast complex play, between the combust 1 and 2 management and deciding on a card and if its double potency double duration or aoe it(royal road time dilation) astwas perfect then. The healing kit is great np with it. The cards atm to me is a chore for lil award doing the same thing. DPS like bard/dragoon/dancer makes ast cards buffs abit of a joke imo.

[Semirhage]

amazing despite how whm and sge is belittled seem they are the best comp beating even ast/sch combo. I was hoping to see more ast/sge comps. kerachole and ixo or physis is all sage need to cover damage lol. kera is op they may nerf it i fear and i hope they dont. Ast really is less used that i rarely or never see them even in casual content or alliances... thats sad.

Because WHM (and nearly SGE's) skill floor and ceiling are effectively identical. You don't have to manage buffs or activate your brain cells in any way to play them at full effectiveness. Of course people use them for progression. Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare. Such a fun and engaging job, people must play it for the riveting choices and clever optimization.

[Renathras]

Because WHM (and nearly SGE's) skill floor and ceiling are effectively identical. You don't have to manage buffs or activate your brain cells in any way to play them at full effectiveness. Of course people use them for progression. Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare Glare. Such a fun and engaging job, people must play it for the riveting choices and clever optimization.

Glare, Assize, Glare, Glare, Dia, Asylum, Glare, Temperance, Glare, Glare, Rapture, Glare, Solace, Glare, Glare, Divine Benison,...

Pretty fun and engaging to most people, it seems, since it's the most played Healer.

[WaxSw]

Glare, Assize, Glare, Glare, Dia, Asylum, Glare, Temperance, Glare, Glare, Rapture, Glare, Solace, Glare, Glare, Divine Benison,...

Pretty fun and engaging to most people, it seems, since it's the most played Healer.

Or maybe, just mayyybe, because being the only healer that can be played from lv1, being an iconic FF job or having as competence Ast (Which has a bloated mess of a kit, can only be played from HW onwards and you have to lv up from 30), Sch (Which requires 30 levels as dps just to be unlocked) and Sage (Which requires first a lv70 job and the EW expac) plays more in its favor than its gameplay

Considering healers are the least played role, the most complained about and how below lv50 when Whm and Sch are the only ones available the role disparity is even higher I woudn't say its what people find engaging the most, especially when Whm population is known to be bloated by people that only use it for fast queue with friends and not to really learn it and play it

[Silver-Strider]

Glare, Assize, Glare, Glare, Dia, Asylum, Glare, Temperance, Glare, Glare, Rapture, Glare, Solace, Glare, Glare, Divine Benison,...

Pretty fun and engaging to most people, it seems, since it's the most played Healer.

Popular =/= Fun or Engaging
It has less to distract yourself from so you can focus on fight mechanics and that's pretty much it. If you're going to prog anything, it's better to learn the fight first than it is to worry about Card mechanics, minimizing Aetherflow usage, etc. and WHM allows that.