First time healing (AST) - what should I know?

So this will be my very first time healing - not just in this game, but any MMO. I get that I should probably juggle what little damage I can do with mostly focusing on healing -- I'm still learning what each of the cards do, but what else should I know?

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Originally Posted by Stormfur

So this will be my very first time healing - not just in this game, but any MMO. I get that I should probably juggle what little damage I can do with mostly focusing on healing -- I'm still learning what each of the cards do, but what else should I know?

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While we could write pages and pages of healing tips... Honestly, I think the best thing for you right now is just to get out there and heal. You'll learn the most from pragmatic experience. If you'll be DPSing, don't tunnel vision, maybe consider moving the party frame closer to the center of the screen.

For AST, when I was learning it, I found it helpful to have a reference of what card does what (both in terms of buff and royal road) up on another screen, until I had them all memorized just from using them.

agree @ River

though, i may give you a Tipp or two. AST is my first healer here aswell, though i have been healing in other MMOs so ... let's go

1)
read the tooltips. Look which heal does what, and how strong. Try it out a little bit. Also, read carefully what several Cooldowns (CD) do. Like... Lightaether or something.

2)
just focus on healing. Yeah, one should also DPS a little, but, you should learn and take it slow. Tell the other Mates you are new if they complain, and that you want to learn to heal. When you feel safe, Add DPSing.
When you start DPSing, you will probably cause a Wipe here or there. This is part of the learning Process and needs to be done. Don't give up at any Time, if you have Fun with the Healer-Part.

3)
don't Panic and smash all buttons because the Tank looses a little bit of his Health. Keep observing. If there are 30 seconds gone and he is at 50%, the other 1/2 Healthbar won't probably disappear by some Wizardry. (though, there might be Tankbusters but ... not on lowlevel) just keep cool and begin to heal.
Don't just smash your Big Heal always, when the Tank loses a tiny bit of LP... you won't make it long then. You need to know your Mana

4)
you need to get a ... feeling. When is which heal needed? Is this Spell really the right thing to cast right now?
this ... feeling will come in Time. Best is, just go as much as you can in Dungeons and play with friends. I also say, go random. You will find Tanks that are horrible in their job. So you can learn what that means. :)

all those Tipps are... a bit squishy. That's because healing doesn't have a certain Style like a Rotation. You need to evaluate the Situation and than answer with your Spells to it. This is mostly the big trick.

oh and ... draw your Cards. ^^ as an Astro, you need to learn which card is for what and what Royal Road does. But this will come when you use it frequently.

Thank you very much! I've only hit level 31, so I don't have Royal Road yet but it's very much a juggling act so far between trying to keep everyone healed and doing a little bit of dps. Copperbell was my first dungeon last night - I make sure to let everyone know I'm very new at this. If they don't like it, they'll soon find out they should slow down :)

And yeah, you really learn (and respect) good tanks after taking on healing. I'd encourage healers to level a tank job as well to see the other side. I have a whole new appreciation for using my tank cooldowns now.

Apart from Luminous Aether, is there anything else I can do to reduce aggro? It seems like whenever I heal, it draws monsters to me.

One more quick tip I can think of:
Check if your tank is level synced and in sync'd gear. If you happen to get a true newbie tank that maybe doesn't have the greatest gear, stuff in some of the leveling dungeons can hit a lot harder than you might suspect. Brayflox's and Dzemael, for example, really punish tanks (and actually healers too) for being behind on gear.

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Originally Posted by Stormfur

Apart from Luminous Aether, is there anything else I can do to reduce aggro? It seems like whenever I heal, it draws monsters to me.

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Your stances reduce aggro as well, so don't forget to put Diurnal up (and level syncing removes stances generally, so watch for that). Try not to overheal. Time your HoTs (i.e. aspected benefic) so that it falls off the tank before the next pull.

Of course, at some point the tank needs to established aggro. If they're not hitting some mobs in the pack then... as soon as you heal, they'll go for you. This can be a problem in FATEs too, by the way-- Not that they're very popular right now but for future reference.

I have one of those annoying "Hey stuff's hitting me tank pls take aggro" sound macros for those kind of situations xD

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Originally Posted by Stormfur

And yeah, you really learn (and respect) good tanks after taking on healing. I'd encourage healers to level a tank job as well to see the other side. I have a whole new appreciation for using my tank cooldowns now.

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oh yes. Tanking means, you learn a lot useful stuff for playing healer too. That's a good Thing to do.
I think it's good, to call out that you are new, but also, watch out that it is not ... "to easy" ... it's like going to the fitness centre. If you never change your training and never make it harder, you can't improve.
One Day, you will say "now Tank, pull some Grps together i want to heal my Ass off" ^^ but... one after another

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Originally Posted by Stormfur

Apart from Luminous Aether, is there anything else I can do to reduce aggro? It seems like whenever I heal, it draws monsters to me.

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as said, stances. But asides from that... no not really and honestly, a Tank should NEVER have Problems with Healer-Aggro.

yet, there are certain situations:
when you HoT the Tank BEFORE he pulls, then, the first HoT-Tick can arrive before he can Overpower or something, making the Mobs instantly switch to you. So... better not do that. Let him pull, let him do something, ... then you begin your heals.

IF you are having Aggro...
RUN
TO
THE
TANK
....
this is something ... even experienced or at leas really well equipped Healer sometimes don't get. (not just healers, also DPS have this Problem)
you are basically running away from the only Thing that can help you.
Best Guys are those, who even activate Sprint. If you do that, you deserve to die an awful Death ^^

srsly i see this a lot when i Tank and i don't get why.

As an AST learn how your cards work as far as how extended road works. Depending on the card it will have different effects from aoe effect, to extended time and so on.

Know what you can handle; if tank over pulls, feel free to speak up. Ask for tips and advice.

Don't depend on cleric stance too much.

Know when to switch between them, your first priority should always be healing, dps when to slow or seems appropriate.

Go well geared, max your key trait and focus is possible on spell speed. Use materia, I take spell speed first and then ability speed if my gear slot can't take any more spell speed.

Make sure you have your cross overs traits active. Fast cast is a must.

Bring a supply of echo , and back up MP replenishment. Good for tight situations and CD's.

Use food, specially in mayor battles.

Last tank a few times, so you can see a different perspective. If you have you pretty much will have an idea what a tank needs.
Hope these helps and have fun.

after learning the cards... there is one point which really make the difference on the way to become a good AST: the knowledge and instinct to use the right stance.

It's more than choosing between "Reg or Shield", most of the random ASTs i met just don't care about being flexibel with stances at all... a few days ago had an experience most of the comm would never confirm with... i (ast) was thrown into a really novice-like grp on a12... co healer was a Sch so i switched to Diu stance (unwritten rule cause Noc and Adlo don't stack and negate themselves)... we wiped 3x times until I switched back to Noc - 4/7 player asked me if im serious about that and guess what... we cleared it as Noc/Adlo team without any further wipes. It's not the common way and like I said the Sch was still in training or at least it seemed so. But breaking the "rules" and knowing how to use your stances right might be the last few % to become a good Ast in the end. (Like Schs should know about fairies...but i already gave up on this quite a while ago)

Don't forget to pick up conjurer and level it to 15 for cleric stance and protect, bare minimum; you also want THM to 26 to get swiftcast, and optimally CNJ to 34 for stoneskin.

People will get pissy at this, but just heal. Forget damage. Your job is to heal and keep everyone alive. Focus on that first and foremost. Seeing as you're just starting out you aren't exactly doing Savage raids or something.