Tossing an aero here and there

I'm new to healing, actually just considering picking it up but I did it on a different character.

I only got to level 30. I was just wondering, how difficult at endgame (ex primals and all of coil) does it become to toss an aero on the enemy every now and then? I rarely see healers do that and on ps3 it seems so easy. Is it mana problems? Or do things really get that intense?

You won't have the acc to reliably stick every Aero. Plus your Mana is better spent healing (if I had a dime for every pug WHM that did Holy spam in T4........)

There's a few factors.

1) Your DPS if you aren't in Cleric Stance is too insignificant to be worth using, considering the fact that it will take an entire GCD to apply Aero (where a lot can happen)
2) Using Cleric Stance has a 5s cd, meaning swapping to it for a single Aero STILL wastes a GCD. Using Aero II after means you've spent 2 GCD not healing, which can bite you.
3) Not being aware of the fight means you're not familiar of the fight's burst damage, meaning you won't know when to safely DPS.
4) Almost all of the content in the game can be cleared by even 3 DPS, or 4 suboptimal DPS. If you aren't clearing DPS checks, it is in no way on the healer to meet that check.
5) Quite a few fights (like a lot of Coil) are so healing intensive that stopping healing can wipe the whole group.
6) Using Aero hurts aggro management, which is especially detrimental to a WHM
7) While knowing the fight and smart use of Shroud can mitigate it, it is definitely possible to hit OOM on higher content as a WHM. DPS spells are often the equivalent cost of a Cure.
8) WHM single target DPS is lacking even with CS. If you're doing anything it would be AOE, and that's only doable+relevant during Garuda EX.

The amount of DPS time you get as a healer is dependent on how comfortable you are with your skill and equipment as well as the skill / gear level of your party. Bear in mind that healer DPS is lackluster without Cleric's Stance and that upon activating Cleric's Stance, you won't be able to turn it off for five seconds (two global cooldowns). Additionally, Cleric's Stance likes to "stick", in the sense that it's hard to turn off and sometimes the button feels unresponsive. But clicking it too often may turn it off then turn it back on immediately, thus screwing you as well. There's a bit of nuances to Stance dancing that takes some time to practice and learn.

However, Stance Dancing and DPSing is one of the most common ways to reduce healer idle time in over geared situations. For some people, the amount of idle time hampers the enjoyment so they enjoy pushing the class to the limit, while other are perfectly happy completing their role as a healer. Make decisions based on your comfort level and play style :)

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Originally Posted by NintenPyjak64

You won't have the acc to reliably stick every Aero.

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This generalization is false. Healers have perfect accuracy in all content outside of Coil (where your focus should be more about heals than DPS while you get comfortable with the content).

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Originally Posted by Ghishlain

This generalization is false. Healers have perfect accuracy in all content outside of Coil (where your focus should be more about heals than DPS while you get comfortable with the content).

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Since the question was for Endgame, mainly Ex primals and Coil, he won't have it for Coil 1-5 nor Levi Ex. I've tried DPS as WHM before (even using some Astral accessories that had accuracy already on them) and noticed many misses in T2. Garuda, Titan and Ifrit, you can DPS, infact if you don't DPS in Garuda you're not using your 100% potential, and in Titan I focus on healing but I occasionally throw Aero and Aero 2 on the back Gaol where my partner healer is sealed Since all Titan is doing is lifting his leg. In Ifrit if you skip a beat then you could potentially let your tank die to triple fire breaths (I don't do the fight often enough to know exactly when those are coming)

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Originally Posted by NintenPyjak64

Since the question was for Endgame, mainly Ex primals and Coil, he won't have it for Coil 1-5 nor Levi Ex. I've tried DPS as WHM before (even using some Astral accessories that had accuracy already on them) and noticed many misses in T2

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Ah, I missed the bit about specifically end game (me reading much too fast). Having not done Levi EX, I can't vouch for how accuracy is like in Levi EX, but for the other EX primals, accuracy won't be an issue. I've personally found my accuracy better in T4 than T2 because I find T4 is more of a "kill all trash possible" pull versus the boss gauntlet of T2. I have noted an irritable amount of misses in T2 but not so much in T4. In fact, once I stabilize my tank in P2 and P5, my DPS adds quite a significant margin of damage to the Soldiers. I can count the amount of times I've missed Energy Drain on the Dreadnaughts in a single hand over the course of 15+ runs of T4 too.

Mileage may vary depending on player and play style, DPS if you feel comfortable but don't lose focus on the main goal of a healer, especially in content designed to trash people, hard.

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Originally Posted by Ghishlain

...but for the other EX primals, accuracy won't be an issue....

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Edited my post to better reflect this

Oh and Levi Ex seems to have the same acc requirement as Twintania oddly enough. Good thing you healers are getting accuracy with your 2.2 equipment

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Originally Posted by NintenPyjak64

Oh and Levi Ex seems to have the same acc requirement as Twintania oddly enough. Good thing you healers are getting accuracy with your 2.2 equipment

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...that's a scary thought. lol. I guess I know what I WON'T be doing in Levi EX, even after I get comfortable with the entire fight (though I will admit, haven't read anything about this fight yet, just finished 2.2 over the weekend)

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Originally Posted by NintenPyjak64

(if I had a dime for every pug WHM that did Holy spam in T4........)

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The only time i EVER do this, is if the dps sucks even with the 10% buff and we wipe the 1st time. though if this little push the 2nd time around doesnt help, then the whole thing is doomed to fail anyways.

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Originally Posted by Legacy_Wolfwood

The only time i EVER do this, is if the dps sucks even with the 10% buff and we wipe the 1st time. though if this little push the 2nd time around doesnt help, then the whole thing is doomed to fail anyways.

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I've seen healers do this with awesome DPS before Echo. They ended up running out of MP quickly and start crying to the BRD for Mana song during P4/5