Quote from Crimmy;131059:
My point is that those aren't healers. Obviously different names have different meanings and different games have different skills. If you're going to call yourself a healer then be a healer. If you're going to complain about healers not having offensive skills, which they're not supposed to in the first place, try something else. I just don't really see the point you're trying to make. It's like a tank complaining about how tanking doesn't have any adv magic skills, it doesn't make any sense to me.
Of course, you can always just rank up your magic and healing skills and use easily-made mana preservation stones to switch between wands and call yourself a support mage or something.
The name you give to the type of player who wields a Healing Wand as his/her primary weapon is trivial.
I understand what you're trying to say, however I don't fully agree with you.
Tanks indeed do what they're called; they tank damage. You can be a mage and a tank (Mana Shield) or a warrior and a tank (Wind Guard, Defense).
The difference between Tanks and Healers is that Tanks wield useful weapons while they do their business. Healers, not so much. The Healing Wand just heals. Really, if you're going to offer it as an ego weapon, give it some sort of offensive, at least. That is where I draw my comparisons to the Combat Wand and Blaze.
Tanking is so intertwined with offense that it doesn't need a special "offensive tanking skill." Wind Guard, Defense, Mana Shield, all of those suffice. And there's Charge, which you can use with a Shield. Just defend and continue on with your attack.
Again, I bring up G13 Bards and their melee instruments. With those music scrolls you can buy in the Rath Castle, you can easily buff yourself up and deal amazing damage. Lure of Ballad controls your mobs, also. They're pretty self-sufficient; they can heal their own HP and MP with music.
Healers are far from self-sufficient. The skill Party Healing is great, but it doesn't call for much party play, besides standing in the corner and healing your own party. That's far from entertaining.
Call them White Mages or Clerics or whatnot, truth is, Healers need a boost. The game gives you no incentive to stick with a Healing Wand throughout a dungeon. You can finish a run with a Combat Wand, with a Battle Mandolin (in G13), with a Mace+Shield, with a Crossbow, with a Cylinder... I could keep on going... but using a Healing Wand? No way.
Why do I want to use a Healing Wand offensively, you ask? Well, I ask you, why not? Why so hesitant on adding new skills to that sub-class branch? It would bring much diversity to Mabinogi.
Just like the Combat Wand was useless before G10, the Healing Wand is still pretty useless now. Again, Party Healing is great, but the game doesn't give you much of an incentive to use the wand as a true weapon. (Why even have it as an ego??)
On that note, Healing and Party Healing are both magic skills. Clerics' primary skill in MapleStory is Heal and they use it for most (if not all) of the 2nd job. Cleric, Healer... the name doesn't matter. It's the same sub-class of Mage.