Concerns About Healing Balance in the Dawntrail Expansion

[Lailani_Fey]

Having looked through the skills introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, I notice no indication that the issue of excessive healing abilities in the game is being addressed. Instead, the problem seems to be exacerbated by new abilities like SMN’s Lux Solaris and Picto’s Tempera Grassa. It feels like DPS and Tanks are prioritized in design, and healers are left to cope with the consequences.

In case CBU3 is not aware:

• Giving a 30-second cooldown, 250 potency oGCD group shield to a DPS does not assist healers; it makes them feel even more redundant. If healing were to become a group responsibility, then shielding and mitigating should be primarily within the healer's domain.

It seems there are two possible intentions here:

1. That having heals, mitigations, and shields on everyone is meant to diversify the healer's experience in otherwise very rigid encounter designs.
2. That healers are intended to be somewhat 'carried,' with SMN and PCT saving them GCDs for dps.

However, neither of these points seems to work favorably. It mostly leads to overhealing in many situations. While preventing overhealing could arguably be a form of skill expression, ultimately not playing your role at all is not enjoyable.

• Increasing tank sustain makes the game more monotonous for healers. Tank Busters + Invulnerability windows were already dead times where healers had nothing to do. Tanks needing even less attention will only worsen this issue. I wonder if the developers see having nothing to do as a positive experience for healers, but let me assure you: It is not. In DSR, healers already had nothing to do for the first minute of the fight (P2) because there was only a single TB that was invulned.
  

• Adding more healing to Barrier Healers and more mitigations and shields to Pure Healers blurs the PH/BH distinction, which is ironic and nonsensical. This separation seemed like the only real development for healers with EW, and now it’s being partially reverted. Why?

• Providing single-target actions to healers in 2024, when everyone and their chocobo has an inflated support kit, seems outdated. Aquaveil was already regarded as a placebo skill that could be used but ultimately wouldn’t make a difference. Now AST is getting weaker versions of skills like Aquaveil and a third ED charge. Giving skills multiple charges was interesting because the cooldown could be kept rolling, but a third charge without a reduced cooldown? This is beyond pointless.

Things I'd have liked seeing:

• Multiple charges on Swiftcast
• Means to save someone from a deadly hit that isn't Rescue
• Less contention in healing, more precise and distinct role definition and the ability to assess incoming damage without the need for external tools

[GrimGale]

Judging by the very first dungeon bosses there has been no increase in the amount of unavoidable damage. I counted 6 unavoidable party wide effects on the last boss in a 3 minute fight.

[Sylvain]

Judging by the very first dungeon bosses there has been no increase in the amount of unavoidable damage. I counted 6 unavoidable party wide effects on the last boss in a 3 minute fight.

Isn't 6 actually much more? There's usually only 2-3 unavoidable. Or maybe I don't recall properly

But anyway, one every 30s... considering the tools we have, a bit more wouldn't hurt. I really don't see how any healer could struggle healing a dungeon provided the players don't eat up every single avoidable AoE.
They litterally could be healed with the kit of a lv 30 healer with no real effort.

[KageTokage]

Yeah...the dungeon enemies/bosses still hit like wet noodles so I'd like to think this isn't going to apply to the trials and raids as well.

One group of testers already did a no healers run of the dungeon for kicks and just personal CDs were enough to keep everyone up through all the damage with a one tank/three DPS party.

[awhitet]

Let's be real here, they're not going to make the first dungeon of an expansion, which it's mandatory through MSQ, hard. We have to wait and see lv 100 content. I've had a look at the dungeon and it looked more interesting that we've got nowadays.

[Flay_wind]

Let's be real here, they're not going to make the first dungeon of an expansion, which it's mandatory through MSQ, hard. We have to wait and see lv 100 content. I've had a look at the dungeon and it looked more interesting that we've got nowadays.

Zot would like a word. It's unironically one of the hardest dungeons in EW.

[KanataNanaya]

Let's be real here, they're not going to make the first dungeon of an expansion, which it's mandatory through MSQ, hard. We have to wait and see lv 100 content. I've had a look at the dungeon and it looked more interesting that we've got nowadays.

Tower of Zot and Holminster Switch begs to differ.

Zot damage at the start of expansion and the final boss's mess was cool to heal with strangers because it absolutely caught some people off guard. the 2nd pack and the final pack of Zot was also a bit tougher than your average 2 packs pull.

Holminister switch 2nd 3x pack was the same, + the first few mobs after the first boss definitely got a few kills for themselves.

[Ramiee]

Let's be real here, they're not going to make the first dungeon of an expansion, which it's mandatory through MSQ, hard. We have to wait and see lv 100 content. I've had a look at the dungeon and it looked more interesting that we've got nowadays.

Uhm did you play SHB and EW?
Both of the arguably hardest levelling dungeons in the expansion were Holminster and Zot.

[LynxDubh]

Let's be real here, they're not going to make the first dungeon of an expansion, which it's mandatory through MSQ, hard. We have to wait and see lv 100 content. I've had a look at the dungeon and it looked more interesting that we've got nowadays.

Not only were the EW and ShB first dungeons nasty, the first dungeon in HW, though optional, was not any nicer. Up to the first boss, Dusk Vigil is a warmup. But after you get past the mammoth you get to some gnarly bosses and mob packs that can be dangerous. The freeze dot from standing in the wrong place can quickly kill you and the flood of zombie mobs could gank you if you were not prepared with cooldowns, heals, and quick aggro management. I saw quite a few naive WHMs and ASTs get devoured by zombies when they cast a Medica 2 or a Diurnal Aspected Helios before they spawned. The second boss had nasty raidwides and potent adds back in the day, and the last boss could debilitate inattentive players.

[vetch]

Not only were the EW and ShB first dungeons nasty, the first dungeon in HW, though optional, was not any nicer. Up to the first boss, Dusk Vigil is a warmup. But after you get past the mammoth you get to some gnarly bosses and mob packs that can be dangerous. The freeze dot from standing in the wrong place can quickly kill you and the flood of zombie mobs could gank you if you were not prepared with cooldowns, heals, and quick aggro management. I saw quite a few naive WHMs and ASTs get devoured by zombies when they cast a Medica 2 or a Diurnal Aspected Helios before they spawned. The second boss had nasty raidwides and potent adds back in the day, and the last boss could debilitate inattentive players.

Even Sastasha used to cause wipes when 2.0 launched if the greybeards are to be believed, lmao.