Healer Suggestions Megathread

[Post]

I've always hated Lucid Dreaming because it homogenized healer (and caster) MP management, and it did so in the most boring way by copying WHM's boring Shroud of Saints.

I dunno that there was anyone who asked for that going from HW to StB, but maybe they were just trying to give healer the suddenly ubiquitous aggro management role action (it also cut Enmity in half back then).

That and getting rid of the little unique flavor animations and names for Esuna. Like, was that really that important to do? Were there people confused by being asked to Dispel and not knowing what action that meant, maybe? I swear most players don't even call it Esuna anyways. And, the battles themselves hardly ever call for dispels anyways.

If they can't even fight the easy battles of homogenisation, I don't know how I can trust them to fight the harder ones.

[Renathras]

That and getting rid of the little unique flavor animations and names for Esuna. Like, was that really that important to do? Were there people confused by being asked to Dispel and not knowing what action that meant, maybe? I swear most players don't even call it Esuna anyways. And, the battles themselves hardly ever call for dispels anyways.

If they can't even fight the easy battles of homogenisation, I don't know how I can trust them to fight the harder ones.

The worst part is, BRD/MCH/DNC all have an identical button (Trubadour/Tactician/Shield Samba?), that do the exact same thing, yet have different names. Despite it making more sense for THAT to be a role action than something like "head graze" which implies shooting (something DNC doesn't exactly do), or Tank Stances each getting a different name and icon despite being identical.

[Aravell]

I dunno that there was anyone who asked for that going from HW to StB, but maybe they were just trying to give healer the suddenly ubiquitous aggro management role action (it also cut Enmity in half back then).

I highly doubt this was the case, only WHM had enmity-related issues at all back then, so the reduction of enmity would only be beneficial to WHM. AST's stances halved the enmity generated by their actions and I believe their version of Lucid Dreaming (Luminiferous Aether) also halved enmity, so AST was never in any danger of pulling off the tank at any point. SCH had enmity shared between the player and the fairy, which means they would never pull off the tank unless they did something stupid like pre-pull Rouse-buffed Whispering Dawn, which would mean Eos was tanking now.

[ForsakenRoe]

I highly doubt this was the case, only WHM had enmity-related issues at all back then, so the reduction of enmity would only be beneficial to WHM. AST's stances halved the enmity generated by their actions and I believe their version of Lucid Dreaming (Luminiferous Aether) also halved enmity, so AST was never in any danger of pulling off the tank at any point. SCH had enmity shared between the player and the fairy, which means they would never pull off the tank unless they did something stupid like pre-pull Rouse-buffed Whispering Dawn, which would mean Eos was tanking now.

AST was probably a case of 'well sod it, WHM already had it, AST has a version of it, let's just remove AST's unique animation and give them all the same shared one, that way SCH has it too'. Remember though, they removed ED at the start of SB (and hastily gave it back). Them moving Shroud off of WHM and into the communal action pool likely got them thinking 'okay now SCH has Aetherflow, ED AND Lucid as MP sources, it's got ridiculous amounts of MP. Aetherflow is a guaranteed injection once a minute, though, and ED requires the SCH to burn resources that would otherwise be spent on healing. Let's remove ED, and just have Aetherflow/Lucid as the sources of MP for SCH, its nice and simple for newer players'. Then they had to readd ED because people complained a lot, and then also reduced the MP cost on some GCDs just to make sure. I don't think the Emnity had much of anything to do with it either.

On the flip side, 4.0 gave us Neo Exdeath with a big gimmick that basically revolved around Shroud timing to deal with enmity resets.

Ah yes, the fight where you could purposely let the WHM get marked for a TB and Cover them because back then Cover was actually a cool and versatile ability (with a bonus 20% mit trait on top). I miss the creativity old Cover allowed for, I understand why they had to remove the 20% but did they really need to give it a gauge cost?

[Sebazy]

I'd guess it was more of a design streamlining choice rather than a balance or feedback response.

AST did originally have wild enmity generation at it's release but that was largely not an issue by 3.2 as you say.

On the flip side, 4.0 gave us Neo Exdeath with a big gimmick that basically revolved around Shroud timing to deal with enmity resets. Given how conveniently it all lined up, I'd confidently wager that either this was the reason all 3 healers got the same shroud clone button or it that this decision had already been taken and set in stone by the time Neo Exdeath was getting developed.

There is always the odd potential that 4.0's core system changes and direction were being locked in much earlier in HW's life cycle, potentially explaining some of the decisions that would seem strange later on.

[Aravell]

On the flip side, 4.0 gave us Neo Exdeath with a big gimmick that basically revolved around Shroud timing to deal with enmity resets. Given how conveniently it all lined up, I'd confidently wager that either this was the reason all 3 healers got the same shroud clone button or it that this decision had already been taken and set in stone by the time Neo Exdeath was getting developed.

There is always the odd potential that 4.0's core system changes and direction were being locked in much earlier in HW's life cycle, potentially explaining some of the decisions that would seem strange later on.

I'm not so certain that Neo Exdeath is the reason that every healer got an enmity dump, I farmed that fight a ton and the only times I've been flattened by an Earthshaker or Aero III is when I was on WHM. I'm pretty sure AST still had the halved enmity generation on their stances in SB and Eos was still a separate entity back then that had her own enmity table.

I think the second case is far more likely, changes already made and direction already picked. The Neo Exdeath situation was likely nothing more than a coincidence.

(Also, I believe WHM was MP-negative back in 4.0, so they'd never actually hold Lucid to halve enmity where it mattered and just get rolled by the Earthshaker anyway.)

[Sebazy]

(Also, I believe WHM was MP-negative back in 4.0, so they'd never actually hold Lucid to halve enmity where it mattered and just get rolled by the Earthshaker anyway.)

It was primarily a case of timing your first Shroud usage to a specific point and time in the fight earlier than was ideal to ensure that your subsequent shrouds aligned with when you wanted to dump Enmity later on. After that first early cast you’d still be using it on cooldown. So it’s less a case of holding it and more a case of remembering to press it earlier than you typically would at the start of the fight.

The way in which the Tankbusters so neatly aligned with shrouds timing after that initial early cast defo makes me think one was designed with the other in mind.

[Aravell]

It was primarily a case of timing your first Shroud usage to a specific point and time in the fight earlier than was ideal to ensure that your subsequent shrouds aligned with when you wanted to dump Enmity later on. After that first early cast you’d still be using it on cooldown. So it’s less a case of holding it and more a case of remembering to press it earlier than you typically would at the start of the fight.

The way in which the Tankbusters so neatly aligned with shrouds timing after that initial early cast defo makes me think one was designed with the other in mind.

I actually never knew that it lined up neatly, I wasn't very good at WHM back then so I usually end up popping Lucid when my MP is low, which (funnily enough) is right after I get flattened by an Earthshaker. That's interesting to know though.

[Post]

Shroud (and WHM) very intentionally had aggro reduction while SCH did not have access to it at all until StB.

This is because much of SCH's healing Enmity was filed away in its shields and its Faerie, who dealt a considerably larger portion of healing and had it's own aggro table (I'd say I miss being able to direct adds to the tank using the Faerie, but I miss adds in boss fights at all at this point).

I want to say the first boss where aggro was 100% an issue for the WHM was t9 because it demanded a lot of AoE healing and Nael would go on vacation for so long during the Golems and Speed Stardusts, so WHM would routinely have the aggro by her return if they used Shroud in a dumb way. SCH didn't have this issue. But, as Sebazy pointed out, AST absolutely did, if you tried it out in this fight, and that's why it got the baked in aggro reduction to its Sects later. Turns out just putting the aggro reduction on its MP generator didn't quite work as well as the setup on Shroud for this, because one would only affect a few heals proactively instead of all actions retroactively.

That difference was probably as intentionally arbitrary as the way all 4 tanks get different parts of their kits at different levels --just so they seem more different on paper.

Nowadays, aggro management for everyone is as simple as one tank remembering to put their stance on at the pull, and for the others to remember to put theirs on at some point so when MT dies the boss doesn't go over and kill your poor BLM, or for tanks to remember provoke when they get raised so they're the second tankbuster target. Because of this, sometimes bosses just always attack the tank roles in the fight, something BLU players will discover to their delight in a few years!

Also, nowadays, no matter what I queue as, I always end up soaking the tankbuster in 24 mans while frantically spamming please provoke in chat. What a long way we've come!

[TheDustyOne]

So I had slight idea of "what if WHM healed in the same way that BLM does damage?" where you swap between Healer Stance and Cleric Stance. Using a healing spell puts you in Healer Stance and nourishes the Blood Lily or gives procs, while using Banish III puts you back in Cleric Stance to let you regain MP and spend those lilies and procs.

The stances have no timers involved, this should make it less stressful to play compared to BLM, but gives a similar gameplay style that focuses more on a healing/damaging dichotomy.

Stances:

Cleric Stance: This stance lets you build Justification stacks and use Glare and Misery. Also increases MP regen by 300%. You enter this stance by casting Banish under no stance, or Banish III while in Healer Stance
Healer Stance: This stance lets you nourish the Blood Lily and the Epiousian proc as you heal, and reduces the cast time of damage spells by 75%. You can enter this stance by using any healing spell.

Damage Spells:

Banish
Spell -- 0 MP -- 2s Cast time
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 200
Grants Cleric Stance or removes Healer Stance
Grants 3 stacks of Justification while under the effect of Cleric Stance
40% chance next Banish III will have no cast time while under the effect of Cleric Stance

The Fire counterpart, complete with not-Firestarter

Dia
Spell -- 0 MP -- 0s Cast time -- 30s Recast time -- 2 charges
Deals unaspected damage to target and all enemies nearby it with a potency of 400 for the first enemy, and 30% less for all remaining enemies.
*Changes to Dia III while under the effect of Epiousian*
*Shares a recast timer with Dia III*

The Xenoglossy/Foul counterpart

Dia III
Spell -- Epiousian -- 0s Cast time -- 30s Recast time -- 2 charges
Deals unaspected damage to target and all enemies nearby it with a potency of 600 for the first enemy and 30% less for all remaining enemies.
Grants 3 stacks of Justification while under the effect of Cleric Stance
40% chance next Banish III will have no cast time while under the effect of Cleric Stance
*Cannot be placed on the hotbar*
*Shares a recast timer with Dia*

Xenoglossy but with a refund attached.

Glare
Spell -- 1 Justification -- 3s Cast time
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 300
Can only be used under the effect of Cleric Stance

I can't believe it's not Fire IV

Banish III
Spell -- 0 MP -- 3.5s Cast time
Deals unaspected damage to target and all enemies nearby it with a potency of 260 for the first enemy, and 30% less for all remaining enemies.
Grants 3 stacks of Justification while under the effect of Cleric Stance (does not grant stacks when swapping from Healer to Cleric)
Grants Cleric Stance and removes Healer Stance

I can't believe it's not Fire III, cast time is reduced by 75% while in Healer Stance as well.

Afflatus Misery
Spell -- 1 Blood Lily -- 0s Cast time -- 60s Recast time
Deals unaspected damage to target and all enemies nearby it with a potency of 540 for the first enemy and 50% less for all remaining enemies.
Potency increases up to 1140 as Blood Lily exceeds minimum cost
Grants 3 stacks of Justification
40% chance next Banish III will have no cast time
Can only be used under the effect of Cleric Stance

Still a refund, but also acts as something like a Paradox equivalent.

Healing Spells:

Cure II
Spell -- 2000 MP -- 3s Cast time
Restores target's HP with a potency of 900
Grants the effect of Healer Stance, increasing MP cost of spells and nourishing the Blood Lily
Nourishes the Blood Lily while under the effect of Healer Stance

Cure III
Spell -- 2500 MP -- 3s Cast time
Restores own HP and HP of all nearby party members with a potency of 650
Grants the effect of Healer Stance
Nourishes the Blood Lily while under the effect of Healer Stance

Regen
Spell -- 1000 MP -- 0s Cast time
Restores target's HP with a potency of 300
Grants the effect of Healer Stance
Grants healing over time to target with a potency of 300, 15s
Grants the effect of Epiousian while under the effect of Healer Stance, allowing the use of Dia III, 30s

Regen III
Spell -- 2000 MP -- 2s Cast time
Restores own HP and HP of all nearby party members with a potency of 100
Grants the effect of Healer Stance
Grants healing over time to self and nearby party members with a potency of 200, 12s
Grants the effect of Epiousian while under the effect of Healer Stance, allowing the use of Dia III, 30s

Esuna
Spell -- 1000 MP -- 0s Cast time
Removes a single detrimental effect from self or target party member
Grants the effect of Healer Stance
Grants the effect of Epiousian while under the effect of Healer Stance, allowing the use of Dia III, 30s

Esuna III
Spell -- 2000 MP -- 2s Cast time
Removes a single detrimental effect from self and all nearby party members
Grants the effect of Healer Stance
Grants the effect of Epiousian while under the effect of Healer Stance, allowing the use of Dia III, 30s

Raise
Spell -- 4000 MP -- 8s Cast time
Resurrects target in a weakened state
Grants the effect of Healer Stance
Nourishes the Blood Lily while under the effect of Healer Stance

I don't plan to expand on this idea, I just thought it was a fun experiment.