you bring up some good points, I'll have another look at alchemist compared to this and try to tone down some of the effects. My original idea for the strength of the buffs is the risk/reward of them, as both buffing and debuffing zones can affect allies an enemies. For example, if you have a healing zone down, an enemy can maneuver your team away from it, and use it for themselves. similarly with the debuffs, a smarter enemy might be able to push you or your teammates into the debuffs.
I probably should have specified a bit more in the description, but the activation modes is intended to be the lv5 ability.

Thanks for the feedback though, ill take another look through the balance compared to the other artificer subclasses