Why is it so hard to gear up as a WHM?

So, I'm not exactly an FFXI veteran (WHM is only only level 99 job ATM) but I keep falling behind and, because I didn't gear up quickly enough before Adoulin came out (and killed everyone's interest in Abby) I'm finding it hard to get my gear level high enough in order to do any other events outside of abby.

Let me explain, Most if not all WHM benefit a lot from having at least some +2 Orison. (At least a +2 body and a +2 legs) ANd getting certain pieces of gear for a WHM to do well can prove difficult (I was sucessful in building an Arka IV, but people still tease me not not wearing any +2 Orison.) There are other pieces from Abby (or other pre-Adoulin endgame, but things like Salvage and NNI have almost as high gear requirements as Adoulin stuff.) that would be beneficial to a WHM (like the ever elusive Serpentes gear, Orison Locket, Shinryu neck, etc.) But it's hard to get your abby gear when other folks won't get much out of it, since people don't want to touch Aby anymore. Getting a shout for +2 items, or Karkadann for Locket, or for Atmas, or even just clears to get to Shinryu is an uphill battle now, and it seems like I have a hard time accomplishing anything unless LSmates help. I hate feeling like a leech to my LS, feeling like a constantly complain until I get help, (even though I don't think I ask too much.) and want to get things done on my own, too...

It doesn't help matters that like 90 percent of Orvail gear stinks. (literally the only good piece for WHM are the feet, as the MND is solid for Curaga and other things, and the legs would only be used for Fast Cast) It's frustrating that any DD that hits 99 can go spam supply runs in Adoulin and get an amazing set of gear (Kariyeh, Thaumas.) and can avoid Abbysea entirely and probably go to non-abby events to get stand-ins for AF3+2 (such as Salvage+1 or NNI gear or Augmented Dyna gear) Yet a WHM can't do that. What sucks is that makes those same DDs and such not want to do Abby, which means I get stuck in a rut.

Occasioally my LS invites me to an event, but I feel like such a gimp compared to everyone else and feel like I'm having a rough time learning my job, that I'm letting everyone down.

How much are your Cure 3 and Cure 4s healing for with the gear you currently have? Also is your healing magic skill high? Because I'm lazy(and don't play WHM alot lol) my body and legs are still +1 and my Healing magic skill isnt capped(around 280 ish, but here's what I use and get close to 800 Cure IVs: around 760 ish. I use AF3+2 Head, Af3+1 Body, Af3+1 Legs, Chelona Boots for Feet, the WHM abyssea Neck, Earring, Cape. For Rings I use Sirona's and that other Healing magic skill+ ring, I forget name. XD And other earring Roundel. Staff is Arka and curatio grip. If you have the Gil can probably get some good stuff off the AH too. ^^ I know you said had trouble with getting the WHM abyssea Accesories, so maybe something off AH till then ?

Yeah, A lot of my other gear is storebought, and my Healing magic skill is pretty close to cap and I have like full Enhancing merits and stuff. for some sets/slots I can't really find good AH alternatives, though. I haven't had a real chance to test my healing numbers since most of the content I heal is stuff that any competent tank/DD can faceroll or brew, so it's hard for me to tell how I've been doing. I do know that I'm usually pretty good about erasing and clearing status. Especially if I ride Divine Caress and pop Divine Seal or Accession of AoE -na spells, or ride Afflatus Misery for turning Esuna into Erasega.

I just feel for some slots there probably isn't much the AH can do for me.

There are online cure calculators if you want to find out how much you cure for.

Also, you'll probably just have to ask people for help with making your orison gear, and perhaps serpentes set too, and perhaps also augur's mitts.

Tell your friends that it is in their own interest to have a good whm they can ask for help from. It is seriously not all that much work to help you gear whm with a few decent pieces. empy head and pants +2, orison earring and maybe you can save up for a roundel earring. Also, you can probably finish WoTG and get a refresh moonshade. That'll probably be a piece that even many better geared WHMs do not have. I rarely see people with refresh moonshades because either they haven't finished WoTG,or they use it as a melee WS piece.

Moon shade is nice for my SMN too. :D

Whm is hard to gear because it is one of the most, if not the most important jobs in the game. Yes as far as healing goes most of the new gear for WHM is not very good and you should not be putting the blunt of your effort into that. What you should be focusing on getting your orision +2 gear from aby (yes aby is a pain in the pooper these days but unless you have a yagrush every single piece is something you will use often) Voidwatch (mainly just Anhur and Heka robes, which you can do right away as most people will spam temp items and you are just a safety net.), Neo-Nyzul Isle (you will need to level something other than WHM in order to get gear from there), and Salvage II also has some decent gear for WHM there as well (you only need to be decent at managing your MP in order to do Neo salvage, super pimped out gear is not a requirement).

To give you an idea of what you should shoot for check out these gear sets they are all pretty top notch but add BGwiki in and you should find it fairly easy to figure out how to obtain these and make your WHM top notch!

Note: The last bit of help I can offer you is reaction time. No matter how good your gear is without a good reaction time your party will still suffer. Work on that first and foremost. Anyways, sorry for the wall of text, I hope this helps you on your way to becoming a well geared and skilled WHM! Good luck to you!

Ask your linkshell for help. You seem reluctant to do so. If you are helping them by going white mages to events, there is no reason they should not help you gear your white mage for said events. In my opinion, a good linkshell is one whose members help each other out with stuff. Unless you are all take and no give (which doesn't seem the case) you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help.

Shame I'm on the wrong server or I would help ya out. I know how it feels to "have to" ask others for help and it does suck, but some things just have to be done as a group (and as someone said above, helping you with your gear is helping the ls as a whole since it helps you do your job better). Hang in there, you will get there :)

While I generally don't like the whole "just level another job" mentality, are there any "solo" jobs that you enjoy? (NIN/DNC, DNC, PUP, BST, SMN?). Not everything can be soloed (even in aby) - nor should you feel you have to (MMOs should be about helping one another) - but having the option there is nice for basic things (and help net you some extra cash from dynamis etc)

One nice thing about people not doing much VW anymore is that there's no longer the looming requirement to level up half a dozen different abyssites.

This means that (assuming you have beaten Shinryu once) you can go around brewing mobs yourself (yes, even on whm). You just need a couple of good MAB atmas to do the job. Cataclysm is just about the best ws for it, but on some mobs, flash nova is equally as good, and also has the benefit of Atma of the Beyond offering both MAB and light potency.

What I would urge you to try and do, is join in a T1-3 delve NM fight. These fights are fairly easy now, with so many DDs having a Delve weapon, so although you might be sub-par right now, they'll drag you through. Once you have beaten one of these NMs (I think Supernal Chapulli is the most popular one), you can buy Bokwus Gloves once you get enough plasm (or if you're really lucky they might drop form the NM and you might win the lot on them).

Arka IV + Bokwas gloves = 37% cure potency. You only need another 13% to cap it. Even with only Orison cap +1, that only leaves 6% to fill and there's a ton of gear options for those last 6%.

Those are nice. I didn't even remember that they existed. With those and empy cap +2 and arka IV, you can cap potency with either orison cape or roundel earring, and spend every remaining slot on cure spellcasting time reduction and fast cast.

The cure to being undergeared is aquiring a balanced party and focus upon being a dedicated healer. Red mage and bard are great choices to add to your party and duo Whm's with martyr are a force to recon with. I'm not an experienced whm myself but I know my battle set-ups as I'm slightly undergeared... I'm choosing to reset my gear at Ilvl 100 via my drg for my whm So I can be on a slightly better grounds to heal in audolin.. I too had a tough time going throguh aby on my whm and I figured I would just skip the content.. lol