White Mage: You should DPS and here's why.

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Originally Posted by Psychosamm

I think i'll just stick to healing and thorwing in aero's here and there, and the occassional Holy. I see no need for me, the HEALER to be doing two jobs. The DPS should be able to do their job without having the need to call on me. You don't see anyone asking the DPS help heal, if that ever happened you would be called a shitty healer. Not to mention having to deal with stealing hate from bad tanks, then getting bitched at for dpsing. I think i'll pass. If you want to go ahead and dps and heal go for it, though saying that all healers need to be dpsing is silly.

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There's no shame in asking for help with healing, so long as an ARC is with you. Most people know that the healers job is, in many cases, the hardest(ignoring the occasional downtime). The only people that judge you are the one's that are either quick to point fingers when something goes wrong, or simply haven't tried being a healer before. Worst case senario, they came straight from WoW.

I'm sure a lot of other people have said it, but there's really no reason not to DPS unless:

Your tank is undergeared (Meaning they are taking heavier incomming damage that requires constant maintenence)
You are undergeared (meaning outgoing heals are not strong enough to maintain the tank without constant maintenence)
Kthulu has spawned and is constantly AoE'ing the party (meaning that it's an AoE heavy fight / people are taking cleaves / Red spots.)

Even then, with all the tools we are given, there's no reason why you can't stance dance and try to help out with a bit of extra damage. It makes the dungoun go faster, it's fun to cast some extra DPS, and on some fights, it's a bigger advantage to the team to go DPS-heavy than it is to stay healer in some cases (I'm looking at you, Demon Wall Pre-Bee phase; and also what OP said... damage mitigation through expedited destruction of the enemy is beneficial)

Do I dislike the other healers who won't DPS? No, not really. I'm just grateful I don't have to party with them on my healer. But if you're not having to go overly intense on your heals, I see no reason not to DPS save for laziness, which like another poster said - is all well and good. Just own up to it.

I have no qualms with any healer that belives it's their duty to take on two roles. More power to you. But NO ONE has the right to call a healer that won't attack lazy! If anything those people are wise to save any MP they still have (doubly so in speedruns). Every plan has a margin for error, and nothing is guarenteed. Doing more than just Areo I & II to dps is dangerous. If you're so determined to stay active in dull moments, then how about renewing Stoneskin on everyone who's been hit? There's usually more work to do by the time you finish.

*eidt* this obviously applies to WHM only! As many have constantly pointed out, SCH and SMN's are more than capable of handling all roles!

I didn't realize this was even a thing. If you're standing around -WAITING- for something to happen, you're useless to your entire group. Swap into cleric stance fast an start throwing dots, cast a stone 2 now and again, swap back out when tank needs some love. Forget the divine seal thing, going in prepared and knowing what you can heal for and from makes all the diff in the world. I let mine know, the ones I run with constantly, I'm guna let you drop to about 30% before I start heals, a bit higher for paladins. Granted that's not on every pull but I know what each mob is capable of and know what I can heal for. Saying oh but my MP can't handle it? Sorry, if your MP can't handle healing and dps'ing on trash..you need some work. For those saying, but what if the fight goes bad!? Just know the mobs, know your own skills. If mob A is capable of doing X amount and your tank can't survive that..then heal him. Lazy WHM's in this game I swear..

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Originally Posted by Zanika

I have no qualms with any healer that belives it's their duty to take on two roles. More power to you. But NO ONE has the right to call a healer that won't attack lazy!

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In AK, as an example, if your group is properly geared and you're not nuking, you will spend majority of your time standing still doing nothing while you could be actually useful for your group. I don't know what you call that but to me that's lazy.

I agree that us healers should DPS when possible. Problem is, other people don't like it. Too often I'll have another player throw a bitch fit and shout at me to stop "dpsing and heal!!!" after I cast a single Aero...

I still make use of Aero and Aero II when I can, but with the exception of Demon Wall, I avoid DPS as much as possible just to save myself the grief.

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Originally Posted by Zanika

If you're so determined to stay active in dull moments, then how about renewing Stoneskin on everyone who's been hit?

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You're assuming the tank sucks and everyone is taking hits.

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Originally Posted by TeganLaron

I agree that us healers should DPS when possible. Problem is, other people don't like it. Too often I'll have another player throw a bitch fit and shout at me to stop "dpsing and heal!!!" after I cast a single Aero...

I still make use of Aero and Aero II when I can, but with the exception of Demon Wall, I avoid DPS as much as possible just to save myself the grief.

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I'm waiting for the day when this'll happen to me. But for some reason it hasn't. In fact I've had more praises than complaints.

Different experiences though. I suppose I've just been lucky.

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Originally Posted by Tanaya

You're assuming the tank sucks and everyone is taking hits.

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Cant ignore the fact that large number of tank in pug are crap. As WHM, if u dont use stoneskin to the minimum the threat, u r likely to OT in some cases. It isnt efficient, but still an alternative to healer DPS. It also need a lot of practice to master anyway because sometimes this buff doesnt work as expected due to programming failure.

No, I'm sorry I fully believe if you're a WHM worth your salt and you've got the opportunity to put some dps into the mobs, then you should. Standing there uselessly waiting makes you a scrub.

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Originally Posted by Zanika

I have no qualms with any healer that belives it's their duty to take on two roles. More power to you. But NO ONE has the right to call a healer that won't attack lazy! If anything those people are wise to save any MP they still have (doubly so in speedruns). Every plan has a margin for error, and nothing is guarenteed. Doing more than just Areo I & II to dps is dangerous. If you're so determined to stay active in dull moments, then how about renewing Stoneskin on everyone who's been hit? There's usually more work to do by the time you finish.

*eidt* this obviously applies to WHM only! As many have constantly pointed out, SCH and SMN's are more than capable of handling all roles!

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Stupid text limits.


It's all subjective and opinion based. I do view them as lazy - if they are capable of doing, and the situation permits, and they choose not to, then they are opting out of additional work because they see it as 'not their job.' To me, this is lazy. This is like having a Co-Worker who says it's 'Not in their pay grade', or purposely acts in a way that tries to bypass having to do a specific job (I've worked in Pharmacies where the other techs try to do something else after sitting around looking at shoes to avoid getting the register, for example - another point of 'being lazy.')

As I said, it's not a bad thing. It IS just an action, and I'm not using a negative connotation for it. I respect your choice, as you believe that is the way the class should be played. But I think it's mildly hypocritical to say "SCH can keep DPS'ing, and SMN's can off-heal, but don't expect a WHM to do it!" This just puts me of the impression that you play a White Mage only.


Now, you did mention to renew stoneskin on 'everyone that has been hit', but very rarely in my parties will anyone save the tank take a hit in my parties. The only time I really use stoneskin in such scenarios is right before a boss pull - because then I can DPS at the start of the fight (All three bosses of AK. I even throw out DPS on the dragon boss most the time, because it downs the statues faster to have a ranged caster on them.)

I do want to ask - what kind of gear are you going into these instances with? If you're still a bit newer / early on, it may well be a comfort thing that has made you believe this. But if it's just because you want to have YouTube up on your other screen without worrying about cycles, then you're purposely not playing to your maximum potential - and that, in and of itself, is lazy.