Healer mains in Final Fantasy 14 have several grievances regarding the changes in their role. They believe that the game has simplified and devalued the healer job, making it less engaging and less necessary in various types of content. This dissatisfaction has led to a call for a healer strike, where players would abstain from taking on healer jobs in group content.
Specifically, healers are unhappy with the continued direction the game has taken concerning healer gameplay, feeling that there is a negligence towards the role and its players. They argue that each expansion's job changes have continuously diminished the usefulness of healers in anything but high-end content, in addition to simplifying the actual rotation of play. For example, the average rotation of a White Mage in an encounter is to spam the single target offensive spell Glare, while also keeping the damage over time spell Dia constantly applied to an enemy. Healing is done very rarely, which makes the gameplay less engaging compared to DPS and Tank roles with their more complex and interesting rotations.
Additionally, the upcoming changes in the Dawntrail expansion seem to further simplify the Astrologian healer job, which was considered one of the last semi-complex healer jobs in the game. Furthermore, there is a growing concern about the bolstering of self-healing abilities in tank classes, which makes the healer role even less essential.
In summary, healer mains in Final Fantasy 14 are unhappy with the simplification and devaluation of their role, feeling that their gameplay has been neglected and that healers are becoming increasingly unnecessary in various types of content. They hope that Square Enix will address these long-standing issues and bring back the depth and importance of the healer role in the game.
The tipping point that led to the organization of the healer strike in Final Fantasy 14 was the Dawntrail previews, specifically the preview video by content creator Xenosys Vex. In the video, a four-person party was shown beating the new expansion's first dungeon, Ihuykatumu, without a healer. This resulted in a sour taste for many healers in the community and contributed to the growing dissatisfaction with the changes and simplification of the healer role in the game.
The content preview by Xenosys Vex significantly contributed to the growing dissatisfaction and perception of the healer role in the upcoming Dawntrail expansion of Final Fantasy XIV. In the preview, Xenosys showcased a four-person party successfully completing the new expansion's first dungeon, Ihuykatumu, without the need for a dedicated healer. This was achieved by using a Warrior tank, known for its self-healing abilities, and a Red Mage to provide additional healing and revival support.
This preview highlighted the concern among the healer community that their role was being devalued and simplified with each expansion, making them less relevant outside of high-end content. The fact that a dungeon could be completed without a healer in the party further exacerbated these concerns and was a tipping point that led to the #FFXIVHEALERSTRIKE movement.
The strike, which asks players to abstain from taking on healer jobs in group content, aims to send a message to the developers about the dissatisfaction with the current state of the healer role and the perceived negligence towards it. The growing support for the strike, with the thread reaching over 300 pages of comments, demonstrates the impact that Xenosys Vex's content preview had on the healer community and their concerns for the future of their role in the game.