Any tips for dodging AOEs as a healer?

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Originally Posted by KisaiTenshi

By "crossing the streams" I mean never walk into an AOE/hesitate/change direction. There's cases like the Ultima Weapon which you will see the line that it's going to fire, but if you're already walking in that direction you will still get hit by it, even if you completely clear it (eg with sprint)

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I'm reminded (besides that I suck terribly at this trial on WHM -____-) of a few instances in Odin Trial where I've been caught in some shitty positioning - where the gungnirs criss-cross 'X' AoE (crossed Gagnrath) a good portion of the middle (usually trying to medica in a spot that would be in range of as many people as possible after a heavy room-wide hit. aka, near the middle, knowing I shouldn't *facepalm*... Falling for the trap, I guess -_-) - usually Odin does his self-circle AoE (Valknut) about the same time, a few seconds before I make an emergency break out of the Gagnrath. I've escaped death a few times by moving out of the cross-cross Gagnrath, into the Valknut AoE, then out again to avoid the Valknut. 9 times out of 10 I can pull it off and escape both this way (I just have to be positioned for this).

At chunks of a time, I don't escape the criss-cross Gagnrath regardless I was clear of it (and not into valknut) when I end up in said bad position. Yet I can run out of Gagnrath, run in and linger in his Valknut AoE for a second or two, and run out without being hit by either. /shrug x.x

Maybe theres some kind of timer to determine if you're going to be hit by it, or not... in which case, it might vary from AoE to AoE?

For the majority of telegraphed AoEs, the ground indicator lines up well with your evasion window; move out before the yellow disappears, and you're fine even if you immediately move back in. There's not much else to it.

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Originally Posted by FengPopo

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Does anyone have any tips/advice on how to deal with dodging AOEs in time?

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I have a hard time dodging stuff as well, find it hard to memorize scripted stuff, slow to react :) One thing that works for me is to assign a hotkey to focus target, so I can tell when main boss getting ready to fire off a big spell, I also adjust the UI enemy cast bar size and placement where it's in my face lol (under HUD Layout, Ctrl+Home to adjust size), that helps as a visual aid. As well as practice, practice, practice, and the fights are scripted, as other people have said. Titan can be a real pain in the backside, no joke >.> If you're doing Titan HM, one kind individual posted Titan's HM rotation here. It does get better with practice, trust me :D And don't let anyone put you off! Keep at it, and good luck :D

I had alot of trouble at first on Titan Ex in terms of dodging stuff. You can always play around with your HUD settings. Made things like your party list smaller and move it out of the way. You can turn off or abbreviate player's names. Less clutter onscreen will help alot. Know the fight you are in. Some are very predictable. Same rotation over and over. Practice makes perfect. Never try to finish a cast if you are standing in danger during Titan. You will die. Watch a video or two to help. Know where you need to be during certain phases and which heals work best in different situations. I made a post on Titan ex a while back. Try to look it up. Theres alot of great advise that helped me tremendously.

You can go by sound as well.
Human reaction time to sounds is about 25% faster than visual stimuli.

I used to have an extremely tough time on Titan HM. It's still not the easiest fight for me, but I got a suggestion from a friend to try the fight in Legacy camera mode. Did this, always use that when I fight Titan HM anymore. For some strange reason, the other camera option often made it appear that i was out of the Landslide even when I was just on the edge of it. Plus, having the fight in Legacy camera mode made it far easier for me to keep track of the boulders when they fell, so I knew which direction to run. If you don't already use the Legacy camera mode, you may want to give this a try and see if it helps you in the fight, like it did me.

Also, if Landslide pops up while you're trying to cure, book it and get out. Getting out that cure is not worth the risk you are taking by standing in Landslide, trust me.

Oh and little tip today that's a bit unrelated but that i noticed our alliance's 2nd healer didn't appear to know while doing WoD. You don't have to face your target to heal. I heal the entire first boss fight in WoD all the time with my back turned. =D

I press sprint on cooldown on AoE heavy fights. It's a nice crutch healers have. :p

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Originally Posted by FoxyAreku

I press sprint on cooldown on AoE heavy fights. It's a nice crutch healers have. :p

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Definitely. I always have sprint on the bottom right hand corner of my hotbar on every job. It's a must have imo, but especially a must have on healer.

i have a weakness in dodging the AoEs too, but thanks for the advice in dodging the AoEs. i rarely use sprint and simply try to stand a good distance behind the boss. though in ifrit's case today, i made the mistake of hugging the tank because it was easier than taking the fireballs, but i ate up a lot of mana to do it. and ifrit hits hard and i was unfamiliar with his mechanics. will be joining maelstrom tomorrow

As the Mothercrystal says: "Listen, Think, Feel."