Ideas to Solve Healer Issue

[Falkyron]

This is going to sound odd, but hear me out.

We currently have an issue where healers are asking to be able to perform their primary role more, but it conflicts with the concept of tanks having agency over their own survival. I think I have a solution.

Alter the tanks.

1. Buff tank damage potencies significantly (not enough to overtake DPS, but bridge the gap a bit) and nerf tank cooldowns.
2. Make tank stance reduce potencies, generate much higher threat, give a defensive buff, make single-target and AoE combos provide a heal.
3. Provide a second stance that generates moderately higher threat and increases healing received.

With this in effect, tanks not only will have better quality-of-life when soloing content outside of dungeons, but they will be incentivized to want a healer with them so they can stay in the aggressive tanking stance. It will also add more interactive gameplay to situations where you have two tanks, and allow a tank to react to a weaker party and go into a more reserved defensive mode.

Silly draft ideas for potential changes to tanks:

The tank invulnerabilities such as Holmgang and Hallowed Ground could only be usable in tank stance, and be removed if the tank leaves said stance. This would encourage gameplay where a tank can still do crazy pulls and stay defensive for a bit with their invul, then swap to their aggressive stance.
There could be a shared DPS cooldown with their invulnerability.

(Continued next post)

[Falkyron]

Warriors in their lore function by evoking their Inner Beast. Their tank stances could increase their defense (tank) or damage (DPS) based on how low their hit points are, and while in Holmgang have both features to have that 'epic feeling'. They should NOT be able to heal others, as it makes no sense in the lore at all.
Their alternate cooldown could be to go berserk, losing control temporarily but making them auto-attack much faster at a much higher potency. During this time they cannot die, but if they would have died otherwise, they do once Berserk ends. This makes it not feel terrible if newbie warriors engage their berserk and end up standing in boss mechanics they didn't expect.

Paladins should have a niche where they can support heal well in any stance. Their tank stance could allow Clemency to heal them as it does (50% to themselves) when they heal others, but in DPS stance it should cost no/reduced mana when healing others, and deal half its healing in empathic damage to the paladin. This would allow a paladin to heal itself still at half potency in DPS stance at a mana cost, and allow a great interaction where a paladin can save an ally and the healer soothe the paladin's wounds.
Their alternate cooldown could be a raise, letting paladins raise dead on a long cooldown in clutch situations. This raise should make the target stand where they died and should bypass causing resurrection weakness. Most of the time, this would be used on their healer in a dungeon. Unique to paladins, this could be usable in either stance.

Gunbreaker's Healing and DoT abilities could share a cooldown, and change between the two depending on whether they are in the stance to be a bodyguard or a bounty hunter. Not only would this encourage Gunbreakers to be in their aggressive stance with the support of a healer, but it would reduce their terrible button bloat. Gunbreaker's identity is to be a bodyguard, so increase their healing/mitigation potency when used on others.
Their alternate cooldown could let them gain 3 more cartridges, but these cartridges can break the cap, allowing a Gunbreaker in DPS more to have a 'six shooter' stockpiled for when it has to go hard for a window of time. This would fit their feel of how their damage has an ebb and flow.

Dark Knight's niche could be that they suffer damage using abilities in their aggressive stance, but in return they do the most damage of the tanks when in that mode. Both the damage they suffer and the bonus damage they deal could scale down as their health is lower, starting with when they drop below 75%, incentivizing healers to keep them topped off. Their aggressive stance should have only a minor threat increase so they aren't problematic off-tanks.
Their alternate cooldown could boost their damage taken by their feedback while removing the weakening for reaching lower health, also giving a significant boost to damage dealt in return.


I'd love to hear others' thoughts.