Seeing a lot of discussion on the upcoming healing changes, and the issue with healers in M+ right now. Just wanted to give my 2 cents as a “average” healer who isn’t doing any kind of very high content. For reference, I typically just get to KSH (around +20 keys) and I always PUG.
1. First weeks of every season feels like a beta
I tend to follow the M+ testing threads before a patch comes out. They are almost always filled with thoughtful insight and specific issues with each dungeon. They are also almost entirely ignored by the developers, and then weeks/months/never later the exact issues in those threads are addressed.
People like Equinoxmonk go on there and type novels of detailed problems, and I don’t know how they stay motivated when they are consistently ignored.
These issues always fall onto the healer, since they revolve around people taking too much damage. It just gets so predictable, that it destroys the hype and fun of a new patch.
2. Affixes (new and old)
The accusation that affixes become healer problems is true, in my experience. I was very vocal about both Afflicted and Incorporeal being completely backwards with the modern way of healing in dungeons (click casting). The fact that these mobs are totems, and therefore require healers to bind and press spells that they don’t normally have bound to keypresses was and continues to be a mistake.
As for the other affixes, their annoyance has lessened for other roles, and either stayed the same or increased for healers. Even affixes like spiteful are incredibly annoying in PUGs, since there is a very large chance of people getting smacked or even just sitting there unaware that they are fixated.
My experience is that a week will roll around that is so un-enjoyable that I just skip it, and I realize during that break that I don’t really even like playing the game. I think this is pretty typical, and Blizzard should be concerned.
I also see people like Ellesmere make the case for no-affixes. I haven’t thought incredibly deeply about it, but I know that I’d have less miserable experiences if that were the case (for a 1 season experiment).
3. Tierset acquisition luck (being fixed)
This is not specific to healer. Going 4-5 weeks without having the tierset is demoralizing. Obviously they are actively seeking to improve this, and I’m excited to get the tier faster next season.
4. Issues with offspec viability and weapon/trinket acquisition
I like to multi-spec a lot. I think that the rarity of trinkets and (to a lesser extent) weapons needs to be addressed. It’s not very fun to want to try out Brewmaster, but need to farm higher ilvl Agi trinkets.
This is more of a multi-spec thing than a healer-specific thing, but I think it could be addressed. Changing lootspec for 3 weeks of keys, and not getting offspec trinkets is a little ridiculous. This contributed to me unsubbing, personally.
So that’s just my 2 cents. I do really think people are hitting the nail on the head when they complain that M+ pugging is abusive to healers. I don’t mean flaming, I mean that mistakes trickle down - and Blizzard designs things that will obviously contribute negatively to healer QoL.
Anyway, let me know if you feel the same way about any of these. Or even if you think I’m an idiot and all of these reasons are dumb.