So far, I think the changes have been taking the class in the right direction.
Yet, imo the Friar does need some tune-ups to not only make Friars more viable, but to add versatility to Alb group builds (and avoiding the pitfall of making Friars solo gods). The Friar as it was designed on live 1.65 suffers from two major problems: being both a class hybrid and a role hybrid.
To explain, being a class hybrid usually means your class resources are split between two traditional roles, Other than Friar, think Thane and VW. In the Friar's case this is melee and healing (with buffs as a minor consideration). Simply put, Friar healing does not stack up to 1.0x spec healing in a manner equal to the way new Thane and VW nukes stack up to 1.0x spec nuke lines. IMO, this applies to all hybrid healers, but the transition from front-line melee to healing is much more costly than it is from peels/cc for the Naturalists.
Second, to be a role hybrid, means you take on multiple roles in a group setup. A Friar is the essential example of what this is - Staff is intended to be a front-line brawler type weapon spec, whereas peelers and healers (the other role they're given) tend to work mid to back-line. There is an actual physical and mechanical gaps Friars need to cover, and it's not possible to do so without SoS or Charge. Wardens, on paper, seem like close mirrors of Friars, but their job is back-up healer and peeler. Not much of their class resources are invested in offensive assist or front-line abilities. They flow between their roles quite well with many decent group abilities to cover their bases when they really do have to switch things up.
In short, 1.5x spec healing lines could use some help (but not too much). And Friars need a way to better contribute as, or shift between, its two roles in a group.
--
So how do we address the issues? Some suggestions from history (Mythic made a lot of mistakes, but eventually made Friars wanted in groups), plus a few more:
Rejuv:
HoT: Was added to game with same delves on live. However, it was combat castable on the move and uninterruptible with a 3s cast time. 4s standard cast time is highly punishing to Friars, as it costs them 2-2.5 seconds in which they can't move or perform offensive melee roles. Setting the casting method to how it is on live would let Friars flow between their roles more easily.
Heal Proc: added around 1.82. Procs are still fundamentally unpredictable. This was compensated for by a 25% proc rate on live, whereas on Phoenix the proc itself has a greater range (great) but a lower proc rate. IMO, setting the proc rate to live would be a helpful but not overwhelming HPS boost (approx 28 HPS at max rejuv and cap speed assuming 100% hit rate). Keep in mind, this is at 1.5 spec points, so the Heal proc here is much more costly than it is on live.
Additional Utility: After the above two changes, Friar Rejuv would more or less be on par with other 1.5x heal lines. At that point, all 1.5x heal lines could use a slight buff. For the Friar I'd propose adding mid-high level instant group cure disease (was given to Paladins on live), with radius/RUT improving at each tier. Something like 750 range/20s at the top. While DZ/DoT cures are technically the same across the board, a Friar will often be out of position and in melee which means casting is much harder. A mid Rejuv Friar would give Alb some decent options against mass disease from Shaman, where it usually has the fewest cures per group (compared to 3-5 Nats in Hib).
Enhance
Fatigue Redux: Was made group cast in 1.82. This was a great way to get more group util for Friars, without creating problems solo. It also made up for an Alb weakness (Endo and other utility spread thin) while actually synergizing with Paladins, so not really stealing their job.
Haste: Timer was dropped to 2m and eventually 1m. Right now, it's very long. Taking it down to 60s would make it more usable between fights and in drawn-out group fights, but would be unlikely to impact 1v1 where most fights are decided long before the 60s mark.
Additional Buffs: Enh looks good on paper until you realize a lot of the buffs are just there to compensate for the Friar's low armor/absorb. The Friar's style line is built around off-tanking and going toe-to-toe with enemy DPS, but taunts don't work on players to draw them in.
Proposal 1, Taunt: lower CD to 20, and make it apply a debuff (type: Spirit); target deals 10/15/20/25% less damage to targets other than the Friar until they have hit the Friar once, or until 20 seconds have passed. Wouldn't affect solo game.
Proposal 2, Self-Speed Buff: Add a +4/8/12/16/20/24/28% in-combat movement buff to self-haste shout. This will help Friars get to and from the front-line to the back-line more easily, and overcome some vulnerability to CC. Would still be canceled out by snares and disease, so it would be ineffective against melee in 1v1/small man.
Staff
Heal Styles: Added in 1.82, but Mythic made some controversial choices here. They originally had a 50 point HoT on Holy Staff, and changed this two or three times because it was seen as too strong solo. I would add a very low value (50), mid-range (1000) spread heal, while raising End from 15->20. Solo it should heal the Friar for 62.5 but in full group it would heal for 60-130ish for injured targets. This would be a reliable but small heal to help in groups and supplement with Rejuv procs. Friars would use Friar's Friend for snares.
Figure Eight chain: Was changed to frontal. I think this was a good change to differentiate from Counter Evade, and would give the Friar a more reliable short stun in group fights against melees. Also nice for early levels when Evade is low.
Double-Strike: Was changed to a group heal, but imo a 45ish crush DD would make more sense given the name and be less powerful at low levels.
Excommunication: was changed to chain off Holy Staff, rather than Parry. It is very high staff, so a 50 Staff Friar would likely have low Parry chance.
Some additional effects/procs would be nice, but changes like those made on live might be too ambitious for this topic.
Other
Friar has Str as 2ndary rising stat, but it does nothing at all for them. It would be nice if this were changed to Dex (+23 at level 50). For a long time Mythic did say this was next to impossible to do, though.
Thanks for reading/feedback.
Yet, imo the Friar does need some tune-ups to not only make Friars more viable, but to add versatility to Alb group builds (and avoiding the pitfall of making Friars solo gods). The Friar as it was designed on live 1.65 suffers from two major problems: being both a class hybrid and a role hybrid.
To explain, being a class hybrid usually means your class resources are split between two traditional roles, Other than Friar, think Thane and VW. In the Friar's case this is melee and healing (with buffs as a minor consideration). Simply put, Friar healing does not stack up to 1.0x spec healing in a manner equal to the way new Thane and VW nukes stack up to 1.0x spec nuke lines. IMO, this applies to all hybrid healers, but the transition from front-line melee to healing is much more costly than it is from peels/cc for the Naturalists.
Second, to be a role hybrid, means you take on multiple roles in a group setup. A Friar is the essential example of what this is - Staff is intended to be a front-line brawler type weapon spec, whereas peelers and healers (the other role they're given) tend to work mid to back-line. There is an actual physical and mechanical gaps Friars need to cover, and it's not possible to do so without SoS or Charge. Wardens, on paper, seem like close mirrors of Friars, but their job is back-up healer and peeler. Not much of their class resources are invested in offensive assist or front-line abilities. They flow between their roles quite well with many decent group abilities to cover their bases when they really do have to switch things up.
In short, 1.5x spec healing lines could use some help (but not too much). And Friars need a way to better contribute as, or shift between, its two roles in a group.
--
So how do we address the issues? Some suggestions from history (Mythic made a lot of mistakes, but eventually made Friars wanted in groups), plus a few more:
Rejuv:
HoT: Was added to game with same delves on live. However, it was combat castable on the move and uninterruptible with a 3s cast time. 4s standard cast time is highly punishing to Friars, as it costs them 2-2.5 seconds in which they can't move or perform offensive melee roles. Setting the casting method to how it is on live would let Friars flow between their roles more easily.
Heal Proc: added around 1.82. Procs are still fundamentally unpredictable. This was compensated for by a 25% proc rate on live, whereas on Phoenix the proc itself has a greater range (great) but a lower proc rate. IMO, setting the proc rate to live would be a helpful but not overwhelming HPS boost (approx 28 HPS at max rejuv and cap speed assuming 100% hit rate). Keep in mind, this is at 1.5 spec points, so the Heal proc here is much more costly than it is on live.
Additional Utility: After the above two changes, Friar Rejuv would more or less be on par with other 1.5x heal lines. At that point, all 1.5x heal lines could use a slight buff. For the Friar I'd propose adding mid-high level instant group cure disease (was given to Paladins on live), with radius/RUT improving at each tier. Something like 750 range/20s at the top. While DZ/DoT cures are technically the same across the board, a Friar will often be out of position and in melee which means casting is much harder. A mid Rejuv Friar would give Alb some decent options against mass disease from Shaman, where it usually has the fewest cures per group (compared to 3-5 Nats in Hib).
Enhance
Fatigue Redux: Was made group cast in 1.82. This was a great way to get more group util for Friars, without creating problems solo. It also made up for an Alb weakness (Endo and other utility spread thin) while actually synergizing with Paladins, so not really stealing their job.
Haste: Timer was dropped to 2m and eventually 1m. Right now, it's very long. Taking it down to 60s would make it more usable between fights and in drawn-out group fights, but would be unlikely to impact 1v1 where most fights are decided long before the 60s mark.
Additional Buffs: Enh looks good on paper until you realize a lot of the buffs are just there to compensate for the Friar's low armor/absorb. The Friar's style line is built around off-tanking and going toe-to-toe with enemy DPS, but taunts don't work on players to draw them in.
Proposal 1, Taunt: lower CD to 20, and make it apply a debuff (type: Spirit); target deals 10/15/20/25% less damage to targets other than the Friar until they have hit the Friar once, or until 20 seconds have passed. Wouldn't affect solo game.
Proposal 2, Self-Speed Buff: Add a +4/8/12/16/20/24/28% in-combat movement buff to self-haste shout. This will help Friars get to and from the front-line to the back-line more easily, and overcome some vulnerability to CC. Would still be canceled out by snares and disease, so it would be ineffective against melee in 1v1/small man.
Staff
Heal Styles: Added in 1.82, but Mythic made some controversial choices here. They originally had a 50 point HoT on Holy Staff, and changed this two or three times because it was seen as too strong solo. I would add a very low value (50), mid-range (1000) spread heal, while raising End from 15->20. Solo it should heal the Friar for 62.5 but in full group it would heal for 60-130ish for injured targets. This would be a reliable but small heal to help in groups and supplement with Rejuv procs. Friars would use Friar's Friend for snares.
Figure Eight chain: Was changed to frontal. I think this was a good change to differentiate from Counter Evade, and would give the Friar a more reliable short stun in group fights against melees. Also nice for early levels when Evade is low.
Double-Strike: Was changed to a group heal, but imo a 45ish crush DD would make more sense given the name and be less powerful at low levels.
Excommunication: was changed to chain off Holy Staff, rather than Parry. It is very high staff, so a 50 Staff Friar would likely have low Parry chance.
Some additional effects/procs would be nice, but changes like those made on live might be too ambitious for this topic.
Other
Friar has Str as 2ndary rising stat, but it does nothing at all for them. It would be nice if this were changed to Dex (+23 at level 50). For a long time Mythic did say this was next to impossible to do, though.
Thanks for reading/feedback.