I'm having a hard time picking a healer. I've read countless topics on the forums and I've come to realize that they are mostly similar, with one class slightly better then the other on different things. So based on what information I give you, perhaps you guys could help me decide.
I have a level 50 arcanist which I have taken summoner and tbh I haven't been really drawn to my Scholar. The DPS for the class feel's lacklust when I'm doing solo content, and mirco managing my fairy in dungeon's is a pain in the arse. Not to mention the moment I don't micro manage my fairy it feels like my party decides to always die, and I have to blow fairy cool downs to keep them alive only to find out my fairy skills are on cooldown. On a positive note I really like the whole barriers and preventing damage aspect of the scholar but that's it. I often feel like I just can't put out enough healing in high stress situations.
Picking a Healer
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12-08-2013, 04:12 PMOrihara_IzayaPicking a Healer
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12-08-2013, 04:13 PMOrihara_Izaya
I have yet to play a white mage but what I do like from what i've seen is that they get a staff, can use holy, and can do on demand heals. I'm aware that they are MP heavy and stuff.
Well that's all I hope you guys can shed a little light, right now i'm leaning towards just leveling a white mage and just seeing if I like it more. But i'll wait till I get some responses :)
Edit: I think what would be most helpful for me is telling me what healer you enjoyed the most and had the most fun with, I kinda of have a idea of what each can do. -
12-08-2013, 06:00 PMKarnage720
I personally did SCH because I've always found WHO boring since ffxi. I already had my SMN to 50 and unlocked SCH JUST for the sake of having it unlocked....unfortunately I fell in love with it. I have done couple end game items, titan, turn 1 etc and I've never felt that my heals weren't enough. During dungeons like AK it is extremely fun. With cleric stance on, you will do really good damage. Remember, you still have access to shadowflare, and all the other SMN dots plus thunder and aero. Just play both roles and see which you like more. They both compliment each other really well.
Actually just remembered, the ONLY time my heals didn't seem like enough was during WP SRs, those things are crazy lol. Harder than Titan HM for me. -
12-08-2013, 07:45 PMSinaloa
One healer is as viable as the other for any content. If you like to continiue playing your summoner go for whm. Spares you the decison to gimp one slightly.
Else if you like AK more go for Sch. If you like WP more go for Whm. But in the end it doesn´t matter - Both can do both with ease. Just more fun with the according class.
Whm got more crybabies in the forums so they will propably get a buff sooner than the Sch. -
12-08-2013, 09:23 PMSebazy
Sch don't really mature as a healer till 40+, they get most of their important tools quite late. Whm are the opposite getting a decent spread of abilities early on. As a sch you'll feel like a turret healer, as a whm you'll never feel like you have enough mp =)
At 50 it really boils down to whm being better at healing damage that's been taken and is more of your classical old school mmo healer, whilst sch is far more suited towards limiting the damage before it even happens, if you played a disc priest in WoW you'll be right at home. -
12-08-2013, 10:40 PMYuiSasakiThat sounds wrong. I hate AK, WP is way more funnier, and shorter, and less annoying <.<Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinaloa
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12-08-2013, 10:46 PMSinaloaFeel free to actually read my post.Quote:
Originally Posted by YuiSasaki
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12-09-2013, 12:41 AMharkinateThe only thing I can say about WHM compared to SCH is that they have bigger heals and are generally easier to play as, but they do have MP issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by Orihara_Izaya
For your concerns regarding SCH, there's a couple things I can say here:
1 - DPS is lackluster, yes, but it's a healing class. It's still 2x better than WHM DPS against single targets, so there is that. Make sure you use Cleric Stance. I just flip to SMN when doing solo quests/grinding that don't require you to be SCH (ie, relic quest).
2 - Micro Management for the fairy is easy once you get the hang of it. It's pretty much required to be a good SCH healer in later content. It's especially important to put the Fairy heal at the very least on your keybinds, as by default they will only cast the heal when a party member is at 80%hp or less. Once a Fairy is summoned, if you click 'Steady' on the pet bar, then select an enemy and click 'Obey'. This will ensure that the Fairy doesn't blow its 3rd and 4th cooldown automatically and you will be able to keybind those and use them when needed. This doesn't prevent Eos from using Whispering Dawn unfortunately.
3 - What I usually do for big heal situations is Adlo + Fairy Heal at the same time. They don't share the GCD so that's one good benefit of having a fairy. If Rouse is active, the Fairy's heal is actually pretty decent. Don't underestimate having a free heal in general that can be cast seperately from (and as often as) your own heals. Also don't forget about Lustrate - it's a huge heal when used on Tanks - but make sure you keep your eye on Aetherflow stacks and don't blow them all too quickly on longer fights (energy drain helps a lot with MP management)
4 - Keybind Place and Heel. If you don't use Place (or Stay, but I prefer Place) your fairy won't cast heals if you keep moving, since it tries to stay with you. They receive very little AoE damage from bosses so you usually won't have to move them out of 'red stuff'. If you use Place/Stay don't forget to Heel before you move to the next fight or it'll desummon once you get to a certain range. -
12-09-2013, 01:37 AMKarnage720
4 - Keybind Place and Heel. If you don't use Place (or Stay, but I prefer Place) your fairy won't cast heals if you keep moving, since it tries to stay with you. They receive very little AoE damage from bosses so you usually won't have to move them out of 'red stuff'. If you use Place/Stay don't forget to Heel before you move to the next fight or it'll desummon once you get to a certain range.
Is this still true? I've tested this out on several occasions and never found my pet NOT to heal when I'm moving. -
12-09-2013, 01:40 AMharkinateThe pet can't heal while it's moving to catch up to you. If it's already casting it won't move until the cast is complete...but it won't start a new cast until it stops moving. This isn't too bad until you get to highly mobile fights like Ultima Weapon/Titan/beyond (haven't been to Coil yet)Quote:
Originally Posted by Karnage720
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12-09-2013, 01:46 AMKarnage720Hmm, maybe I just haven't noticed then and I've done Titan and T1 boss. I've also decided not to try to micro manage pet until 2.1. Its a lot worse than SMN pet management. However I do have embrace key binded. I find their AI to be pretty decent.Quote:
Originally Posted by harkinate
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12-09-2013, 01:49 AMharkinate
It is, but I find it easier to manually cast Embrace anyway as I can fairly effectively heal 2 people at once using that method if necessary. Saves me from having to blow mana on Succor when only one member aside from the tank needs a top-off.
It really is easy though, you just have to start doing it. You'll get used to it pretty fast. The biggest problem for me is still remembering to Heel the pet after a boss fight.
I also just want to clarify that the Fairy can't cast its heal while moving - all other abilities are instant-cast so they cast them just fine. -
12-09-2013, 04:10 AMDyssydPlayed both, and I prefer WHM. But, I've been playing CNJ since beta phase 2, so I have a lot of experience with all things WHM. I'm a pretty bad SCH, which is why I don't like it much. I started getting the hang of it by the time I got through the relic quest, but it was nowhere near the same level I play my WHM at.Quote:
Originally Posted by Orihara_Izaya
That being said, I feel there is a large shortage of good SCH's, so if you decide to go this route, it should be relatively easy to find a coil static or an awesome FC.
My suggestion, level your CNJ/WHM to get cross class skills (So your SCH is ready if you go that route), and see how you like it. Aim for 35 though, so you get a chance to use regen. It's only 1 level over stoneskin and pretty much a core ability for WHM. -
12-09-2013, 04:56 AMBigpurpleharness
Don't want to worry about hate/MP and be the best at ST heals? Pick SCH.
Want to AoE heal the best and nuke better? Pick WHM. -
12-09-2013, 05:04 AMOrihara_Izaya
Hmm thanks everyone I have a bit to chew on, I'll level a cnj to 36 for stone skin and then I'll probably make my choice from there. Feel free to keep posting, i'll look back at everyone's feedback. Thanks for taking the time to post it helped alot!
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12-09-2013, 05:56 AMabzoluut
Great thread.
I'm in this exact same situation (have both tanks, and a dps). I like healing too. I'm leaning toward SCH (played disc priest as someone mentioned). However, I so don't like having a pet, the fairy thing. I know it's minimal, but still.. Just my very personal opinion.
Are there any end-game SCH's who can give an idea of how much micro-managing is needed (preferably for Coil)?
Again: I do not think the class is not fun to play because it has a pet. It's just something I do not really like. Like someone wanting to tank, but does not want to with a shield equipped.. -
12-09-2013, 06:03 AMSebazy
At the moment outright micro managing the pet just isn't worth it, the AI is mostly decent outside of a few range issues and it leave you to focus more on the task at hand. You can also just use the fairy heal like an independent off GCD heal leaving the AI to deal with cool downs itself.
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12-09-2013, 06:45 AMAnova
For now, I am in the practice of placing my fairy and letting her do her thing instead of micromanaging her. That might change once pet macros become available, but we'll see how well that gets implemented. Thankfully the AI for Eos and Selene is very predictable, so if you position her correctly, you shouldn't run in to any issues with her. Just be aware of which enemies will target her and which ones won't when placing her.
As for Coil, I'm currently on T4 only, so my insight might be a little limited. I usually place my fairy off to the side near the tank for T1 ADS. Consider the fairy as a third healer when healing for T1 Caduceus. There is a safe spot in the middle that is ideal for the fairy to heal all party members on their approach to Caduceus and the tanks during the split. A combination of adlo+phys and embrace is enough to keep your tank up during the solo heal phase. Use virus, rouse, and other damage mitigation as needed when the damage stacks have built up. If you time your adlo properly for the hoodwinks, it should be okay if you have to lustrate to make up any mistakes. For gear, consider your relic+1, crit, and +determination items. Crit improves your mitigation ability and determination increases the healing power of your fairy.
T2 ADS is a little harder because of allagan rot. You will want to place your fairy in a position ideally suited to heal both tanks while avoiding ADS' cleave range. You will also want to avoid placing it in the center or where you are grouping up as Rot will transfer to your fairy and potentially wipe the party.
T3 is relatively simple. You can just use your fairy as sacrifice if you need to draw aggro away.
And I'm still working on T4, so if anyone wants to take it from there or add a WHM perspective... -
12-09-2013, 08:58 AMabzoluut
That's some nice info from you guys. Sounds good if the fairy is able to do her thing.. I indeed wonder how that will be post 2.1.
Totally forgot about +1.. Another 900 tomes xD -
12-09-2013, 10:04 AMAzryolMy main is WHM however, I am always so happy to see a SCH in the group. They are VERY useful because of their shield spells and they make my job a lot easier another WHM in the group. Don't say that they lack luster because they are also very effective at keeping the tank alive while I try to aoe heal the groupQuote:
Originally Posted by Orihara_Izaya
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12-09-2013, 11:55 AMGuardianX
I prefer whm because I suck at pet control. For those people who are skilled at controlling pets I give my hats off to them. Whm + sch is the best healing combo in game.