Healer targeting on controller

Hi Healers,
I have been playing/raiding since 2.0 but have avoided healing like the plague for only 1 reason. I have no idea how to bounce between the targeting boss and 8 party members efficiently on a controller without missing a beat. I would like to heal but have no idea how to do it without horrible macros and other junk everywhere.

How do my fellow controller folks manage so much continuous targeting?

I use the control pad. Left/right for ennemies. Up/down for party.
I usually target the boss and only "mouse overheal"

Like Sylvain said, up/down on the direction pad scrolls through the party list. You can scroll though the party list while you are casting and it will not interrupt your spell so long as you don't select a new "hard target". If you don't hit confirm (X/A) then you will be "soft targeted" and your target will snap back to whatever you have hard targeted after you cast a spell or use an ability on the soft target. I also normally keep the boss focus targeted (target the boss, bring up the sub menu and select focus target) so I can keep an eye on its cast bar. Also I have L3 set to /assist. If I have the boss hard targeted and hit L3 it will switch target to whatever they are targeting (usually the tank). Hitting L3 while targeting the tank will target whatever they are targeting which can be useful to get your target back to the boss or a mob to use to cast aoes off of during a pull. It can also let you target a main tank in another party for alliances/fates/Eureka etc.

My biggest beef with controller gameplay is enemy targeting. I use a combination of tab-target (L1/R1) and face-target (X to select the enemy you're facing). It's pretty frustrating, but I've gotten used to it. The main issue for me is that the face targeting isn't sensitive enough, and tab targeting feels so random. If it just cleanly scrolled through enemies on my screen from left to right, ignoring depth, it would be a lot easier. We really need some QoL on this issue.

As for going back and forth between your target and the tank, THAT, I can help with. I use L3/R3 for this. I have L3 keybound to "Assist", which targets whatever your target is targeting. And R3 is my keybindable #98 macro, which instantly targets my focus target.

I can get to the MT (or whoever has aggro) by simply hitting R3, then L3. And I can always get back to the boss after scrolling down the party list to heal someone by just hitting R3.

Scrolling around the party list is definitely a bit slow, but I prefer that to misclicking with a mouse. And personally, I've never been able to play hotbar games with KB/M. It's beyond me how people manage it. I could do it if I had a pricey mouse with programmable buttons, but a PS4 remote is just so much more reliable.

Down on the d-pad to target the first 4 members of the group. Up on the d-pad to target the bottom four. Note that soft targeting will not take your hard target from the boss so long as you do not press X on the soft targeted party member. This is a habit many new healers have using a controller, forcing them to retarget the boss after using abilities on a party member. If this is happening to you, try to drop it asap. Life as healer will be much easier once you do.

You should not need any macros as a healer. If you want to be efficient, avoid them entirely. There are a couple that can be useful, but meh; far from necessary to have them on your crossbar.

The advice everyone else is giving should fix it! For what it's worth this was a big obstacle for me too, but am enjoying the class now that I've learned. Hope you have a lot of fun healing! :D

I would disagree on the soft target only. Not only is it harder to see, but you may need to hard target someone from time to time. If you can get in the habit of managing both soft and hard targeting as needed, that works. Or you can just always hard target then macro back to the tank.

Unlike /action macros, there is absolutely no delay in using a targeting macro, therefore use them librally for whatever floats your boat.

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Originally Posted by NocturniaUzuki

I would disagree on the soft target only. Not only is it harder to see, but you may need to hard target someone from time to time. If you can get in the habit of managing both soft and hard targeting as needed, that works. Or you can just always hard target then macro back to the tank.

Unlike /action macros, there is absolutely no delay in using a targeting macro, therefore use them librally for whatever floats your boat.

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Many things in this game have multiple indicators. Especially in combat. A soft target ring isn't any more difficult to see than a hard one, and healers don't need macros of any kind. Seeing the member you want to target highlighted in your party list is not only more reliable, but it also allows you to know exactly where to look to ensure the correct member is targeted because unlike the player, it never moves. Taking your hard target off of the boss should only happen for very select circumstances such as add phases, and definitely not when you want to use an ability on a party member because it is so frequent.

I tried using so many macros for the sake of efficiency and I have yet to find one that did not bite me in the ass at some point. There are more different and varied situations a healer will face than there are available target syntaxes, losing your reliability on such things is only going to make you a more effective and efficient healer in the long run. Because healers are casters, they have the luxury of being able to use their cast times to plan their next move and target who they want. Unlike jobs that heavily utilize weapon skills, this basically eliminates the need for any macros.