This might be a controversial take, but I don't think healer design can ever truly be fixed in FFXIV.
Not because the developers lack ideas.
Not because healers need more DPS buttons.
But because the current healer toolkit itself creates a design trap.
Modern healers have access to an enormous amount of healing, mitigation, shields, regens, emergency tools, movement tools, and oGCD healing.
The result?
Most encounters have to be designed around the assumption that healers can answer almost any situation instantly.
And when healers can answer everything, encounter designers lose the ability to create meaningful pressure.
If incoming damage is too high, casual groups collapse.
If incoming damage is too low, experienced healers spend 90% of the fight pressing a single damage button.
This creates an impossible balancing act.
But I think the bigger issue is something else:
Healers are too good at preventing failure.
A tank can survive mistakes.
A DPS can recover from mistakes.
A healer can often erase mistakes entirely.
Someone gets hit?
Heal it.
Party takes damage?
Heal it.
Tank forgets mitigation?
Heal it.
This forces encounter design to become increasingly scripted because unpredictable damage becomes difficult to balance.
As healer power increased over the years, encounter design became more predictable.
As encounter design became more predictable, healing became less reactive.
As healing became less reactive, healers became bored.
Then the solution becomes:
"Give healers more DPS buttons."
But that doesn't solve the healing problem.
It just turns healers into weaker DPS jobs whenever healing isn't needed.
This is why every healer discussion eventually loops back to the same place.
More DPS buttons don't solve it.
More healing buttons don't solve it.
More raid damage doesn't solve it.
As long as healers have the ability to instantly negate most forms of failure, encounter designers are forced into a narrow design space.
The role isn't struggling because it lacks complexity.
The role is struggling because its current toolkit fundamentally limits what encounter design can do.
And until that relationship changes, I don't think healer design can ever truly be solved.
What do you think is the real problem:
The healer jobs themselves?
Or the encounter design they force the developers to create?
Continue reading...
Not because the developers lack ideas.
Not because healers need more DPS buttons.
But because the current healer toolkit itself creates a design trap.
Modern healers have access to an enormous amount of healing, mitigation, shields, regens, emergency tools, movement tools, and oGCD healing.
The result?
Most encounters have to be designed around the assumption that healers can answer almost any situation instantly.
And when healers can answer everything, encounter designers lose the ability to create meaningful pressure.
If incoming damage is too high, casual groups collapse.
If incoming damage is too low, experienced healers spend 90% of the fight pressing a single damage button.
This creates an impossible balancing act.
But I think the bigger issue is something else:
Healers are too good at preventing failure.
A tank can survive mistakes.
A DPS can recover from mistakes.
A healer can often erase mistakes entirely.
Someone gets hit?
Heal it.
Party takes damage?
Heal it.
Tank forgets mitigation?
Heal it.
This forces encounter design to become increasingly scripted because unpredictable damage becomes difficult to balance.
As healer power increased over the years, encounter design became more predictable.
As encounter design became more predictable, healing became less reactive.
As healing became less reactive, healers became bored.
Then the solution becomes:
"Give healers more DPS buttons."
But that doesn't solve the healing problem.
It just turns healers into weaker DPS jobs whenever healing isn't needed.
This is why every healer discussion eventually loops back to the same place.
More DPS buttons don't solve it.
More healing buttons don't solve it.
More raid damage doesn't solve it.
As long as healers have the ability to instantly negate most forms of failure, encounter designers are forced into a narrow design space.
The role isn't struggling because it lacks complexity.
The role is struggling because its current toolkit fundamentally limits what encounter design can do.
And until that relationship changes, I don't think healer design can ever truly be solved.
What do you think is the real problem:
The healer jobs themselves?
Or the encounter design they force the developers to create?
Continue reading...