This thread confirmed for me what I was already suspecting. "Play like you want" aside, there is simply nothing in the Heavy Armor or Medium Armor lines that aids in healing. In order to have sufficient crits, magica cost reduction, and magica pool, a viable healer needs use Light Armor. This, in turn, forces you into Ranged for your DPS and Magica for your resource pool, which locks you into Destrostaff for your DPS bar.
I respecced last night and am now frantically trying to gain XP in Light Armor and Destro staff as fast as possible. Goodbye, warrior/healer I actually wanted to play.
Would have been nice if Heavy Armor had given a
large bonus to all heals received
and given and Medium Armor had given a bonus to critical heals, making both a little more viable for healers. That would have been well-designed and would have fit in with the stated philosophy of the game. Perhaps we could push for these changes...?
"A probable impossibility is preferable to an improbable possibility." - Aristotle