WHM Gets Some Love

I'm sure all of you have heard the glorious news, but for those of you who haven't, Square-Enix's development team unveiled today the "WHM Job Ability" that people had been whispering about since Fanfest. Am I ever glad I didn't give up on this job.

• Afflatus Solace (status): Afflatus Solace functions similarly to Light Arts in that it is a self-buff that bestows on the WHM a kind of "status." Under this status, any spell or job ability that restores HP will count toward some sort of "maximum," under which the WHM will recieve bonuses to other spells, such as Magic Defense Bonus to Barspells. The effects of this status are cumulative, presumably until the WHM is KO'd, zones, or logs out.
  
  
• Afflatus Misery (status): Afflatus Misery is similar to Afflatus Solace in that it is also a two-hour duration status, but it is mutually exclusive from Afflatus Solace, so the effects of the two do not stack. While under this status, the most recent damage incurred to the WHM will bestow bonuses to certain spells. Unlike Afflatus Solace, damage incurred toward the calculation of the bonus is non-cumulative. Afflatus Misery presumably addresses contexts in which a WHM is at the front-line, whether by pulling hate or sustaining damage from area of effect.
  
  
• Sacrifice (White Magic): This new white magic spell will transfer one enfeebling effect from the target to the caster. While under the effect of Afflatus Solace, different, multiple effects can be transferred. It could be very interesting if Sacrifice can transfer Amnesia, Defense Down, Accuracy Down, etc... from close-range physical attackers to white mages.
  
  
  
• Cura (White Magic): Similar to Curaga, this spell will heal all party members within the area of effect, while Afflatus Misery will enhance its potency. Cura, in conjunction with Mystic Boon, gives WHM incentives to stay on their feet and "pay as you go" rather than investing in massive MP pools and taxing periods of resting.
  
  
  
  
• Esuna (White Magic): This wonderous new spell will remove one enfeebling effect from all party members within the area of effect. Afflatus Misery will affect which effects and how many may be removed. Once more, it could be very interesting if Esuna could remove multiple Eraseable (or non-Eraseable) effects, such as Accuracy Down or Amnesia. I do believe this will function merely as a multi-purpose -na spell to free up Divine Seal for Erase and Cure spells.
  
  
• Auspice (White Magic): Auspice will reduce the TP generated by striking enemies with physical melee attacks for all party members within the area of effect. Afflatus Misery will add an additional effect: Light Damage and accuracy bonus to this spell as well. This spell will effectively be the crux of whether WHM (and more likely RDM) will be permitted to melee attack in non-Endgame situations. Under the effect of this spell, lower damage physical melee attackers will be permitted to strike the enemy while gaining valuable bonuses. It is my sincerest hope that Auspice will apply to the effects of Physical Blue Magic, though I highly doubt it.
  

I'm excited for this update for 2 reasons. First of all, I'm glad to see Square-Enix's awareness of situational strategy. Only until perhaps a year ago, it appeared that the term "situational" applied to whole jobs, rather than tasks the those jobs could perform. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Square-Enix is becoming aware of the two-tiered system in FFXI - the endgame, stringent context and the more casual context. Certain jobs, such as Black Mage and White Mage excelled in the former, while other jobs such as Dancer and Beastmaster were primarily used for the latter.


It has been a while in the making, but we have seen Blue Mages excel in both roles. Even though a Samurai can easily outparse a Blue Mage, Samurai still lack the sheer versatility Blue Mage is afforded. In addition to the various capacities they have in "casual" contexts, they are capable of both high physical and magical damage output on the strongest of Notorious Monsters (assuming Area of Effect and/or Sneak Attack are not prohibited). While neither Cannonball nor Heat Breath damage may be the highest physical or magical damage possible, the capacity for both simultaneously on one job is extremely non-trivial.

The second reason this update has me excited is because we are seeing White Mage get a stronger edge against Scholar and Red Mage. If Esuna functions as an Area of Effect-na spell with worse statuses requiring the use of Afflatus Misery, Accession -na will no longer be as attractive. Scholar can still Accession Erase every minute, while White Mage must wait ten, but giving White Mage more tools to stay on their feet and remove debuffs faster is a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully, we will see (depending on their announced changes to Red Mage) a much lower prevalence of /WHM.