Thread: 7.0 Healer Wishlist

So, I've been a healer main for a while now. Ultimates, savage, criterion, everything easier than that. I don't really like WHM or SGE, and my change requests for it amount to 'please rework it', but for the other two:
AST
Astrologian is my main, as I said, and so I have a LOT of opinions on it. For starters, I think its current system for engaging people outside of healing and burst phases is alright, though if I had to suggest some changes to the card system, it wouldn't rock the boat too much. For one, cards need to stay oGCDs! The high APM, constant reactivity of the job is part of why I love it so much and gravitated to it (heh). No other job gives me that experience, and it's the biggest fear I have to the rework. The high APM and fast thinking is what makes the job stand out among the other healers, and if it goes, I think I'll probably consider quitting the role if it doesn't get something really cool to compensate. I think a good compromise (bc yeah, while I do think that being unable to do the burst is kind of a skill issue, it is a bit much at times) would be to spread the card actions out of burst. If you have to maintain a constant, higher apm over both filler and burst vs having a low apm out of 2min windows, that would fix a lot of problems with the job. Minor arcana needs to be reworked, or it needs to go. RNG healing is really bad design in a game where fights are designed to be highly scripted and deterministic. The DPS rotation could get away with being pretty simple if cards were expanded to be more interesting. And no, I don't mean stormblood cards.

SCH
Energy drain is fine. Really, it is. People don't realize what that button's purpose is for. Do you know how much damage energy drain actually contributed in a 20 minute clear of TOP? 6% Six percent! And unless you are literally going for high SCH parses, it is barely a dent on your damage. (And if you're parsing, there's typically an unspoken agreement that one healer does most of the healing while the other greeds damage, and you swap, so you are expected to use as close to all of your EDs as possible bc of it) Once you stop thinking of energy drain as a DPS button you need to optimize all the healing out of to maximize, you really start to appreciate scholar for what it is. It's... sage, but with like, actual friction and limitations on its abilities. I like scholar a lot. I prefer astrologian, and I think scholar really needs a bit of a push to truly become one of the best designed healers in the game. Because I'm gonna tell you this. Jank is good. Delaying your abilities by moving your fairy was skill expression, not a pain point. I think a lot more people would benefit from instead of thinking 'scholar is a bit janky, it should lose that', they should think 'scholar is a bit janky, and if I don't like that, sage is right there'.

Basically, give it miasma. Also make ED give mana again.

AST
Bring back the 1st card iteration, with unique buffs for each of the cards.
Bring back time dilation and nocturnal/diurnal system

SCH
Completely separate the job from SMN once and for all.
Turn the job into a dark healer, remove the fairy flavor entirely, or at least add fairy glamours.

Don't care much about SGE or WHM.

I'll start by saing I have only raided in early Endwalker before I burned out around P4S so I won't be up to date with the healer situation for the whole expansion other than what I have read from the forums here and there.

I'm a bit worried about AST as SMN rework has been a terrible design choice in my opinion. Can't speak about MNK, MCH and DRK because I don't play these jobs (although I noticed they were made easier). In essence, I don't think AST needs much changed, it's just a bit bloated with a lot of tactical oGCDs. But to me, that's what makes it fun to play so I hope we keep most of these. The card system can't be worse than what it was in 5.X and 6.X was an improvement in that respect, but still a shadow of what it used to be. I think I remerber writing somewhere here that Draw / Play could be shord GCDs like Eukrasia to help with the oGCD bloating and that would be fine for me.

I've enjoyed Sage, although I newer really cared for SCH so perhaps my enjoyment is nothing new for SCH players! I don't think it needs much more in 7.X, although I would enjoy some focus on Kardia. I'd like Kardia to be rather a fraction of the actual DPS rather than a fix potency, and this could do with a self buff like WHM/AST have. And I'd be happy with a partywide Kardia oGCD (which could work with Soteria) for some "active" healing over time and planning some DPS GCDs accordingly. Yet I'm not a game designer, maybe it's not a good idea.
I'd be happy with a bit more options with Addersting stacks on the DPS side, and other ways to generate it (Phlegma giving a charge, for instance). Perhaps a passive buff when DPSing that woudl enhance the next healing action (encouraging healing planning and DPS)
The idea would be to have a bit more interaction betweend DPS and healing, as currently it feels like it's just "heal with Addergall to get MP so you can keep DPS".

I'll likely give up on the healing role in 7.0, but my design goal would be to avoid healer single nuke spam at all costs due to its contribution to burnout.

This could come from nerfing the healing toolbox and trimming oGCDs while increasing incoming damage in extremes and savages, so healers spend more time actively healing and less time nuking.

Or it could come by massively trimming the number of healing spells in favor of adding a DPS system to each role. This could synergize with healing by say creating healing resources when you damage (like lillies). Any DPS items added should be dynamic with procs or prioriry, not just replacing 1 1 1 1 with 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3.

I'll likely give up on the healing role in 7.0, but my design goal would be to avoid healer single nuke spam at all costs due to its contribution to burnout.

This could come from nerfing the healing toolbox and trimming oGCDs while increasing incoming damage in extremes and savages, so healers spend more time actively healing and less time nuking.

Or it could come by massively trimming the number of healing spells in favor of adding a DPS system to each role. This could synergize with healing by say creating healing resources when you damage (like lillies). Any DPS items added should be dynamic with procs or prioriry, not just replacing 1 1 1 1 with 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3.

Also, resource management should absolutely return, to incentive efficient heals, mitigation, and delayed heals. This is a large part of healer strategy in MMOs.