So, Geomancer and Chemist (or some variation like Salve-maker) are two of the most popular suggestions for a fourth Healing job.
Now, this thread isn’t going to harp on about how “the devs should focus on balancing the existing healers and on making healing more engaging before they add a fourth” or “why do we even need a fourth in the first place” – personally I think having the dev team take the time to design a fourth healer would provide an excellent opportunity to examine the existing ones for what works and what doesn’t, much as we saw with the tank rebalance when GNB was added.
No, this thread is about critically examining Geomancer and Chemist as suggestions, specifically. More accurately, why I think they would be terrible picks for a future healing job, and why I am tired of seeing them lazily recycled as half-baked suggestions.
So why is this thread in the DPS Subforum instead of Healing? Simple: I’d much rather see them as support-oriented DPS jobs. Don’t worry, I’ll go into that on the way.
Put your pitchforks away and let me explain...
Geomancer (GEO)
I suppose a large part of the reason players find Geomancer a likely “healer” addition is because of the lore established for it in the Astrologian questline. Throughout Stormblood we follow the exploits of Kyokuho, a Hingashi Geomancer who seeks to learn Sharlayan astromancy to improve his own understanding of geomancy in defense of Kugane; frequent allusions are made towards the two arts being two sides of the same coin, where Astrologians draw power from the stars above and Geomancers from the star below. I suppose it follows for many that with such parallels, they would have similar toolkits… right?
That’s about where the similarities stop, however. From what we see of Kyokuho in action, his Qi spells better resemble Eorzean conjury, at least insofar as being able to cast Earth and Wind magic that function like Stone and Aero. However, we never see him perform any actual acts of healing – perhaps in part because that would be redundant for an healer questline, or perhaps because the capabilities of Geomancer as a playable job haven’t yet been delved into by the dev team.
Not to state the obvious, but there’s a very simple reason I believe Geomancer would make a terrible healer addition: Given the visible similarities to Conjurer, as a healer it would most likely heal like a Conjurer, if not a White Mage. That on its own isn’t necessarily a bad thing – we know the Conjurer design works, sort of, so in theory it would just need an extra resource that isn’t Lilies – but the problem comes about in that it brings nothing unique to the table in that regard that couldn’t also/instead be argued as a skill for White Mage. The parallels between the two make the addition of Geomancer as a separate healer redundant and a complete waste of development time and resources (which a lot of people seem to treat as if it’s infinite, even consciously knowing it isn’t).
However, these parallels don’t mean that Geomancer would be a waste to create provided its tools were used in a unique manner, such as a separate role. Geomancer would be an excellent opportunity to delve into the uses of elemental magic that White Mage has distanced itself from, particularly with its emphasis on Holy spells with Shadowbringers.
Ever wonder why White Mage never uses Water attacks? Well, regardless of whatever lore explanation you have about the Sixth Umbral Calamity or your headcanons about the elemental typing of Cure spells, the truth is that an expansive damage toolkit is considered unnecessary for a healing job, which is why every healer has the same 3 basic attacks. If a healer preoccupied themselves with a rotation of any complexity, they might find themselves interrupted mid-rotation when they’re forced to do their job and react to large bursts of damage.
In the hands of a dedicated DPS job, however, the weaving of multiple elemental spells would not only be opportune, but flat-out expected. A Caster DPS Geomancer could not only use the Water attacks we’ve yet to see in the hands of players, but even practical advancements of the same elements like Flood, Quake and Tornado.
This is also backed by both the lore of the Geomancer and its history throughout the series. Geomancy is based on the real world Chinese art of Feng Shui, which uses bells to dispel negative energy and subdue evil spirits – exactly the same way Kyokuho utilizes his art to protect Kugane from angry spirits, and the way Geomancers of The Swallow’s Compass dungeon use theirs to command elemental constructs and repel invaders.
Throughout the Final Fantasy series, Geomancer has been primarily a damage-oriented job, with very rare and situational support elements. The only iteration of “Geomancer” that could be considered a healer would be Aerith from FF7, a title which doesn’t actually assign jobs to its characters; Aerith was considered a Geomancer during the development due to her drawing power from the planet, but almost all of her unique abilities (including Holy) have since been accepted as and become synonymous with White Magic – to the point White Mages literally summon her iconic segmented staff while casting their Level 3 Limit Break in FF14.
Otherwise, Geomancer’s abilities are entirely oriented towards drawing power from the weather or battlefield to inflict elemental damage, placing traps to harm enemies, and occasionally (as in FF11) placing totems to buff allies. Even without the situational benefit of the “Terrain” command, there’s plenty of functional inspiration to draw from, like creating fields of periodic damage or support effects.
If astromancy is used to alter fate to benefit the Astrologian’s allies, it follows that even a parallel art could be used for an inverse purpose – to direct the misfortune of enemies.
Chemist (CHM)
Ah yes, the true elephant in the room. Unlike Geomancer – which has a history as a damage job – Chemist’s history has primarily been as a support-oriented job, and was even one of the most powerful healers in the Tactics games. “Boy, Archwizard, you’re gonna have a hard time convincing me it’s not a healer.”
Ah, but I never said I had to convince you it’s not a healer, just that it would be a terrible healer in FF14. That, my friends, is a completely different beast.
Chemist is best known for two particular abilities: enhancing the effectiveness of consumable items they use, and Mix, the ability to combine consumables for unique or more potent effects.
We’ll continue forward under the general assumption that, much as Bards and Machinists have functionally infinite ammo, Chemist wouldn’t actually be limited to effects related to consumables – although I would consider that the first nail in its coffin, considering the most basic and iconic element of the job would be entirely ignored in its creation.
From what I’ve seen perusing the all-too-many threads suggesting Chemist, its main draws are thus:
Here’s the thing: “A potion-throwing healer” is an aesthetic. It dictates the particle effects on your abilities and little else. An aesthetic alone is not enough to design or balance a job, but next to none of the threads that use the “Chemist = healer” buzzwords actually give any in-depth consideration on its gameplay; they mostly just seem to suggest Chemist for lack of a better idea on a fourth healer.
A fully instant or non-MP healing job would be wildly imbalanced, most likely overpowered. A “non-magical” healing job would either have to facilitate the creation of a subcategory of Disciple of War with its own role actions and unique gearing from other healers or, more likely, just be coded as a magical healer anyway to use the same stats on gear, particularly with regards to fight mechanics that diminish healing effects or silence spellcasting.
Put those two in the coffin and you got… nothing.
Frankly the absolute lack of consideration towards implementation is their downfall, especially when players instantly assume it must be possible to balance such insanity, that it’s just not their job to balance their suggestions, and that such suggestions are just as valid as more practical ones that did put that thought it.
The real kicker is, the devs have tried! Yoshi-P and Koji-Fox have each gone on record in interviews and Live Letters that they intended to implement Chemist as a gun-toting, potion-throwing healer with Heavensward. However, it was scrapped due to balance difficulties (particularly including Mix), which led to it being split into Machinist (gun-toting tech-xpert) and Astrologian (card “mixing” healer).
Look it up.
So, with the premises that Chemist’s method of healing would be imbalanced and Mix is lacking in creative and unique suggestions, we come to my opening thesis: That Chemist would be better implemented as a support-oriented DPS job, if as a full job at all.
The idea of “a non-magical job that throws chemical concoctions in the thick of combat” could easily be used as a premise for a Ranged DPS job, tossing flasks of flammable oils or corrosive toxins. Classic consumable damage items (like Blue Fangs, Arctic Winds, Holy Water, etc) could be treated as basic attacks; Mix then could be treated as a resource system generated and regularly deployed through the course of one’s rotation, rather than as a cooldown like Divination – every third or fourth skill as a Mix effect, with interactions between various Mix effects to dictate the flow of the rotation at large.
Chemist isn’t lacking for potential damage skills in that regard either, just look at Rikku from FF10, whose Overdrives offer a ridiculous number of bombs, buffs and elemental damage effects through the Mix system.
And of course, much like DNC’s Curing Waltz or BRD’s Warden’s Paean, there would still be room for a Chemist to throw the occasional healing effect under the Ranged role.
I’m saying neither that this is the only or best way to do it, of course, but to my mind the only other way to make Mix “unique” would be to have Chemist implemented as a Limited job, or just accept that Alchemist is the closest we’ll get to the potion-tossing fantasy.
Continue reading...
Now, this thread isn’t going to harp on about how “the devs should focus on balancing the existing healers and on making healing more engaging before they add a fourth” or “why do we even need a fourth in the first place” – personally I think having the dev team take the time to design a fourth healer would provide an excellent opportunity to examine the existing ones for what works and what doesn’t, much as we saw with the tank rebalance when GNB was added.
No, this thread is about critically examining Geomancer and Chemist as suggestions, specifically. More accurately, why I think they would be terrible picks for a future healing job, and why I am tired of seeing them lazily recycled as half-baked suggestions.
So why is this thread in the DPS Subforum instead of Healing? Simple: I’d much rather see them as support-oriented DPS jobs. Don’t worry, I’ll go into that on the way.
Put your pitchforks away and let me explain...
Geomancer (GEO)
I suppose a large part of the reason players find Geomancer a likely “healer” addition is because of the lore established for it in the Astrologian questline. Throughout Stormblood we follow the exploits of Kyokuho, a Hingashi Geomancer who seeks to learn Sharlayan astromancy to improve his own understanding of geomancy in defense of Kugane; frequent allusions are made towards the two arts being two sides of the same coin, where Astrologians draw power from the stars above and Geomancers from the star below. I suppose it follows for many that with such parallels, they would have similar toolkits… right?
That’s about where the similarities stop, however. From what we see of Kyokuho in action, his Qi spells better resemble Eorzean conjury, at least insofar as being able to cast Earth and Wind magic that function like Stone and Aero. However, we never see him perform any actual acts of healing – perhaps in part because that would be redundant for an healer questline, or perhaps because the capabilities of Geomancer as a playable job haven’t yet been delved into by the dev team.
Not to state the obvious, but there’s a very simple reason I believe Geomancer would make a terrible healer addition: Given the visible similarities to Conjurer, as a healer it would most likely heal like a Conjurer, if not a White Mage. That on its own isn’t necessarily a bad thing – we know the Conjurer design works, sort of, so in theory it would just need an extra resource that isn’t Lilies – but the problem comes about in that it brings nothing unique to the table in that regard that couldn’t also/instead be argued as a skill for White Mage. The parallels between the two make the addition of Geomancer as a separate healer redundant and a complete waste of development time and resources (which a lot of people seem to treat as if it’s infinite, even consciously knowing it isn’t).
However, these parallels don’t mean that Geomancer would be a waste to create provided its tools were used in a unique manner, such as a separate role. Geomancer would be an excellent opportunity to delve into the uses of elemental magic that White Mage has distanced itself from, particularly with its emphasis on Holy spells with Shadowbringers.
Ever wonder why White Mage never uses Water attacks? Well, regardless of whatever lore explanation you have about the Sixth Umbral Calamity or your headcanons about the elemental typing of Cure spells, the truth is that an expansive damage toolkit is considered unnecessary for a healing job, which is why every healer has the same 3 basic attacks. If a healer preoccupied themselves with a rotation of any complexity, they might find themselves interrupted mid-rotation when they’re forced to do their job and react to large bursts of damage.
In the hands of a dedicated DPS job, however, the weaving of multiple elemental spells would not only be opportune, but flat-out expected. A Caster DPS Geomancer could not only use the Water attacks we’ve yet to see in the hands of players, but even practical advancements of the same elements like Flood, Quake and Tornado.
This is also backed by both the lore of the Geomancer and its history throughout the series. Geomancy is based on the real world Chinese art of Feng Shui, which uses bells to dispel negative energy and subdue evil spirits – exactly the same way Kyokuho utilizes his art to protect Kugane from angry spirits, and the way Geomancers of The Swallow’s Compass dungeon use theirs to command elemental constructs and repel invaders.
Throughout the Final Fantasy series, Geomancer has been primarily a damage-oriented job, with very rare and situational support elements. The only iteration of “Geomancer” that could be considered a healer would be Aerith from FF7, a title which doesn’t actually assign jobs to its characters; Aerith was considered a Geomancer during the development due to her drawing power from the planet, but almost all of her unique abilities (including Holy) have since been accepted as and become synonymous with White Magic – to the point White Mages literally summon her iconic segmented staff while casting their Level 3 Limit Break in FF14.
Otherwise, Geomancer’s abilities are entirely oriented towards drawing power from the weather or battlefield to inflict elemental damage, placing traps to harm enemies, and occasionally (as in FF11) placing totems to buff allies. Even without the situational benefit of the “Terrain” command, there’s plenty of functional inspiration to draw from, like creating fields of periodic damage or support effects.
If astromancy is used to alter fate to benefit the Astrologian’s allies, it follows that even a parallel art could be used for an inverse purpose – to direct the misfortune of enemies.
Chemist (CHM)
Ah yes, the true elephant in the room. Unlike Geomancer – which has a history as a damage job – Chemist’s history has primarily been as a support-oriented job, and was even one of the most powerful healers in the Tactics games. “Boy, Archwizard, you’re gonna have a hard time convincing me it’s not a healer.”
Ah, but I never said I had to convince you it’s not a healer, just that it would be a terrible healer in FF14. That, my friends, is a completely different beast.
Chemist is best known for two particular abilities: enhancing the effectiveness of consumable items they use, and Mix, the ability to combine consumables for unique or more potent effects.
We’ll continue forward under the general assumption that, much as Bards and Machinists have functionally infinite ammo, Chemist wouldn’t actually be limited to effects related to consumables – although I would consider that the first nail in its coffin, considering the most basic and iconic element of the job would be entirely ignored in its creation.
From what I’ve seen perusing the all-too-many threads suggesting Chemist, its main draws are thus:
- A non-magical healer that uses pharmaceutical science, and maybe even technology!
- A potion-throwing instant/non-MP healer!
- Use Mix to heal or buff allies!
Here’s the thing: “A potion-throwing healer” is an aesthetic. It dictates the particle effects on your abilities and little else. An aesthetic alone is not enough to design or balance a job, but next to none of the threads that use the “Chemist = healer” buzzwords actually give any in-depth consideration on its gameplay; they mostly just seem to suggest Chemist for lack of a better idea on a fourth healer.
A fully instant or non-MP healing job would be wildly imbalanced, most likely overpowered. A “non-magical” healing job would either have to facilitate the creation of a subcategory of Disciple of War with its own role actions and unique gearing from other healers or, more likely, just be coded as a magical healer anyway to use the same stats on gear, particularly with regards to fight mechanics that diminish healing effects or silence spellcasting.
Put those two in the coffin and you got… nothing.
Frankly the absolute lack of consideration towards implementation is their downfall, especially when players instantly assume it must be possible to balance such insanity, that it’s just not their job to balance their suggestions, and that such suggestions are just as valid as more practical ones that did put that thought it.
The real kicker is, the devs have tried! Yoshi-P and Koji-Fox have each gone on record in interviews and Live Letters that they intended to implement Chemist as a gun-toting, potion-throwing healer with Heavensward. However, it was scrapped due to balance difficulties (particularly including Mix), which led to it being split into Machinist (gun-toting tech-xpert) and Astrologian (card “mixing” healer).
Look it up.
So, with the premises that Chemist’s method of healing would be imbalanced and Mix is lacking in creative and unique suggestions, we come to my opening thesis: That Chemist would be better implemented as a support-oriented DPS job, if as a full job at all.
The idea of “a non-magical job that throws chemical concoctions in the thick of combat” could easily be used as a premise for a Ranged DPS job, tossing flasks of flammable oils or corrosive toxins. Classic consumable damage items (like Blue Fangs, Arctic Winds, Holy Water, etc) could be treated as basic attacks; Mix then could be treated as a resource system generated and regularly deployed through the course of one’s rotation, rather than as a cooldown like Divination – every third or fourth skill as a Mix effect, with interactions between various Mix effects to dictate the flow of the rotation at large.
Chemist isn’t lacking for potential damage skills in that regard either, just look at Rikku from FF10, whose Overdrives offer a ridiculous number of bombs, buffs and elemental damage effects through the Mix system.
And of course, much like DNC’s Curing Waltz or BRD’s Warden’s Paean, there would still be room for a Chemist to throw the occasional healing effect under the Ranged role.
I’m saying neither that this is the only or best way to do it, of course, but to my mind the only other way to make Mix “unique” would be to have Chemist implemented as a Limited job, or just accept that Alchemist is the closest we’ll get to the potion-tossing fantasy.
Continue reading...