Could a melee Healer work?

[Tsiron]

Just musing out loud.

I don't have one theorycrafted or anything, but suffice it to say by melee I of course don't mean the actual healing part of its skillset (or... do I?), I'm imagining it just being its damage-dealing abilities. I think it could make for a novel addition to the game's roster even then.

What brought this about was my pondering the kind of Job they might give Gaia in the future since although she's a MRD/WAR in terms of (roughly) weapon type and stance, nothing else about it matches her particular skillset. Making her a Tank still doesn't feel right (even if a time skip were involved), and then it struck me! A melee Healer that uses time magic to halt or rewind damage! After all, there's a strong connection between maces/hammers and clerics and the like (admittedly mostly in western media e.g. Warhammer Fantasy), and aligning it with Darkness would make for a fun twist, I think.

Damn it, I really want this now...

[gllt]

I mean I've always wanted a ranged healer that throws potions so why not

[Dakimakura]

I always had it in my mind that a hammer combat job would have to be a tank, but hey I'd take a healer.
I just want a job that uses a big warhammer as a main weapon.

[Jeeqbit]

Like warrior and pld?

[LuciferMournstar]

In Final Fantasy 11, Dancer had Healing Waltz and used knives. Most sub jobed Ninja for dual wield and they were weaker than actual healers, but were pretty adept at healing a party. The framework is concept is there in FFXI, so I think it's possible. They'll have to think of a new name though and such as we already have Dancer., but it COULD work.

[Azurarok]

They often design content with healers meant to coordinate like ranged units, so probably not. It'd be more of a dedicated off Tank or a support oriented Melee. I'd imagine they'd need to change the trinity by quite a bit to make it work, though I wouldn't be against that.

[Aword3213]

Just musing out loud.

I don't have one theorycrafted or anything, but suffice it to say by melee I of course don't mean the actual healing part of its skillset (or... do I?), I'm imagining it just being its damage-dealing abilities. I think it could make for a novel addition to the game's roster even then.

What brought this about was my pondering the kind of Job they might give Gaia in the future since although she's a MRD/WAR in terms of (roughly) weapon type and stance, nothing else about it matches her particular skillset. Making her a Tank still doesn't feel right (even if a time skip were involved), and then it struck me! A melee Healer that uses time magic to halt or rewind damage! After all, there's a strong connection between maces/hammers and clerics and the like (admittedly mostly in western media e.g. Warhammer Fantasy), and aligning it with Darkness would make for a fun twist, I think.

Damn it, I really want this now...

I would love to have a melee healer, but I can't think of any ways for it to work without harming content design. Although we can have 3 ranged DPS with 1 melee DPS to make room for melee healers, melee healers would still have trouble healing parties that are spread across the map.

If the only thing that makes a healer a melee healer is its damage dealing abilities, it makes little to no difference to what we have now. People, especially veterans, always hug the boss regardless of their roles. It's always optimal, especially for healers, to stay at melee range near the boss becuase it makes dodging mechanics easier. The further away from the boss, the bigger the cone aoe, which in turn makes it harder to dodge. You'll also have hard time switching position with other teammates if boss mechanic requires you to do so. For healers, staying at melee range near the boss also ensures that everyone in the party get healed.

For me, the only thing that makes the concept of melee healer interesting must be about healing the team with its melee damaging kits. If not, melee healers are just current healers with extra clunck and downtime. Hardly interesting. One can also say WAR already fits the difinitition pf melee healer perfectly

[CaptainLagbeard]

I don't see a reason why it wouldn't.

I mean we have PLD, who has a cast heal spell and is melee.

[Arrius]

So like the concept of 'Fistweaving' from WoW's Mistweaver Monk, where a fraction of melee damage is converted to group heal when the enemy is debuffed?

[Tsiron]

I always had it in my mind that a hammer combat job would have to be a tank, but hey I'd take a healer.
I just want a job that uses a big warhammer as a main weapon.

They often design content with healers meant to coordinate like ranged units, so probably not. It'd be more of a dedicated off Tank or a support oriented Melee. I'd imagine they'd need to change the trinity by quite a bit to make it work, though I wouldn't be against that.

Tank or DPS seems like the likeliest Role for a hammer-wielder, yeah, but it might be nice to go against expectations once in a while (it would probably be a nightmare to balance, like you said)!

So like the concept of 'Fistweaving' from WoW's Mistweaver Monk, where a fraction of melee damage is converted to group heal when the enemy is debuffed?

I'm not familiar with what you're referencing, but that sounds like it could be a fun gimmick, sure!