Medica II

When should I be using this? I've noticed that I can do the same amount of healing with 2 medicas and I often feel like I'm over healing with medica II or wasting mana

Any advice would be appreciated

Medica2 has a HoT effect at the end of it, which is very useful when the entire party is taking damage. 2 Medicas is actually more healing power than medica2 (even with the HoT), but you will have to stand still to recast the 2nd medica (and it doesn't heal the tank more either during the extra cast time). Some fights have movement or damage mechanics that make the 2nd cast difficult or impossible to do without putting yourself or the tank at risk. An example is Titan, where Medica2 is often used to offset unavoidable damage from stomps so the WHM can top and stoneskin the tank in preparation for mountainbuster, or run to escape plumes.

Essentially, medica2 is a good heal-and-forget spell which lets you focus on single-target heals or dungeon mechanics. You'll use medica the most often, and only use medica2 and cure3 for specific situations.

Medica II has an added regen effect to it, so often toss it up once if there's a lot of aoe, then use Medica to buffer the hp a little more. Be careful to not medica II at the start of things, it will pull hate (like regen).

Actually, I feel like Medica I heals more than Medica II in the initial cast off (not adding in the regen).

When I use it, I consider a few things:

-Does the tank have aggro on everything already?
-How long can I anticipate the monsters dying before the regen portion falls? (I prefer it to end right before or slightly after the mob dies - the remaining regen will grab aggro on you at the next mob the moment the tank gets near... and most tanks just do not wait for even half a second)
-Are the rest of the party getting damage fairy often, even if minor?

(Continued)

-Does the tank need every bit of help they need? (Regen + Medica II regen + healing... like large pulls in HMs, primals/EX, etc)
-Do I have to pause in healing a lot for something or anticipate I need to run around a lot and need to help myself heal the party (Swiftcast on CD and ressing someone; or in high movement/frenetic battles causing difficulty in casting multiple heals; is someone else in dire need of heal spamming but need more than just regen on the tank; etc)
-Am I anticipating an AOE or seeing AOEs hitting people often


I like using Medica II to help me out like Regen does but on a larger party scale - but I -think- the regen #s on medica II is lower than Regen's (or so I thought I've seen - but don't quote me on that). Also take into account that like regen, it will draw aggro on non agroo'd mobs... and that counts for the entire party going anywhere near another mob/monster ------ and especially ADDs in the middle of boss fight.

I'm not a WHM so take this with a grain of salt, but from what I see the WHM's in my static do Medica II is used during heavy AoE damage phases like vines in T6 for example or before a big attack like a Judgement Bolt in Ramuh. The Regen effect with this is the primary reason. Big heals to top people off prior to the hit and then the Regen to quickly get them up high again (of course a follow up Medica after the attack is usually given as well). But ideally this mixed with Succor/Sacred Soil from the SCH will let Regen just heal what little damage was given (if any).

Again take this with a grain of salt and let real WHM's comment ^_^

Medica II is useful to recover after a big hit but the group won't be taking any other damage for a significant amount of time. It is also nice for periods of sustained but small-ish AOE damage. It is weaker up-front than Medica and Cure III so use those instead of you need to get the group up right this second.

Turn 6 was brought up and it's a good example fight. The vines between players will apply a dot and having Medica II up beforehand counteracts some of the damage, especially since you might have to move to break vines yourself and won't be able to stop and cast. Spit does heavy AOE damage to the group but generally in turn 6 only the tanks are taking any significant constant damage when vines aren't up, so Medica II and letting the regens tick is very mana efficient.

Medica II, as others have said, is a heal and forget spell; did the party eat an AOE? Medica II that shit up and use Medica I to heal any leftovers if required. Just don't spam either Medicas too much since hate will build up on you faster than the rage of personal housing.

I almost never use medica 2 in dungeons, but I use it often in raids and trials. F

Medica is for quick AoE healing to prepare for another incoming AoE. Medica II is for the HoT effect and is more MP efficient than spamming Medica if you don't need to top people off immediately.

Another thing to note is to avoid using Medica II in situations where adds will spawn. For example, in Titan EX after Earthen Fury you have a couple of seconds to get the group healed up before the adds spawn. Medica or Cure III will do the job just fine, whereas Medica II will be ticking and will cause you to get a decent bit of hate as they spawn and may make it harder for the offtank to grab adds and might mess with positioning, which is extremely important at that point.

Thanks for the feedback guys

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Originally Posted by Anova

medica2 is a good heal-and-forget spell

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I agree and you summed up correctly.

I think it's a forget spell mostly because its use must be thoughtful. It's clearly a very strategic spell :

- it costs intermediate/huge MP
- it combines instant heal + HOT
- it generates a lot of threat due to the HOT on many ppl first and due to the 30s of the effect then, which is very long

Many things must be considered to know when to use it :

If you're looking at the MP cost, Medica 2 > Medica
If you're looking at the range, Medica 2 > Medica
If you're looking at the cast time, Medica 2 > Medica
If you're looking at the values, Medica 2 > Medica (~1500 HP > ~950 HP)

Knowing all of this, you can already begin to understand when it can be used or not.

The biggest difference between them is that one is instant efficient whereas the other one takes time to be efficient. That means you'll use Medica when you need to top ppl quickly, before another attack, and if not, depending on the damages, you'll use Medica 2. Why "depending on the damages ?" Because you don't want to overheal. The HOT lasts 30s, this means there will be 10 ticks on each ppl affected by the spell. So, if the damages are really less then 1500, you shouldn't be using it in most of the cases.

But there are specifics cases where it can be useful even if the damages are < 1500. Mainly, it's to smooth damages taken. If several raid attacks are coming, it can smooth it all and take out some tension (thinking mostly about double dives T9-P1).

The extra range of Medica 2 can sometimes be an argument to use it instead of Medica if you can't move to finish healing few ppl by single target spells, but it's really uncommon.

As some ppl said, it can be pre-casted if you know you'll need to move/to go away from the raid/to focus on the tank during some raid attacks.

As its particularity is to be a HOT, it clearly appears that Medica 2 is useful while DOT damages are taken by several ppl/all the raid (CF T6 chains examples, Ramuh's chains).

The most important thing to keep in mind about this spell : in most of the cases, do not use Medica right after Medica 2. If you do, ppl will be topped off while keeping the HOT 30s for nothing but overhealing. Basically, if you do you are just canceling the main use of Medica 2. Once more, it depends on the damages taken and the fight, but be aware of it.

Hmmm well... while healer roles are pretty much straight forward, knowing how or when to use certain abilities is another category.

So... Med 2... one example for using it...let's take T8 as an example.

After dreadnaught an AOE tower will go off. That is when I M2. And that's it. I go back into focusing the MT. I just let regen buff do the work healing my party. I don't use M1 right after because there's no point. It's a waste of mana and I can't afford to have my bard sing for me before Allagan field. The meles might need TP song or we could push dps with foes.

Allagan field is when I usually ask for MP if I ever do need it because that seem to be the most hectic phase for my static. T8 does burn a lot of mana so when to use shroud or your X ether is another thing to work with. M2 does cost a lot.

When in doubt though, use cure 3... Like if sh,--ts going down and you know this huge up coming aoe is going to hit us so hard you don't know if you're ganna survive..... with the right timing you might save your party if everyone is stacked. Unless the damage is over 6k then gg.

Medica II used to be godly before they nerfed the regen to half its potency. It was powerful enough to bring an entire party from 50% hp to full in mere moments. These days it's more of a preventative. I don't use it on damage heavy phases, preferring the more solidly useful Medica for that. I'll cast Media II in advance if I'm expecting such a phase to arrive, so that during the phase I can heal damage without relying on the regen alone.

Cure III is a far superior heal to both but it has a short range, so it's mostly used for catching the tank and any nearby melee... which, sadly, isn't as often as one would like.

I tend to use medica 2 over medica, I've never pulled with it because bumpy the time I use it the tank has agro well established and I try not to let parties get into that state.

Use it when the whole party takes unavoidable aoe damage or after phase aoes in primals. Only time I use cure 3 over medica 1/2 is on xande's levitation platforms because everyone is bunched up together and I just cure any stragglers cure 3 doesn't hit.

Also please don't use it just as tanks pull, one did that to me in ultima and...um...she tanked for QUITE a while after ._.

Bumpy, dam auto correct "by the". No edit button on the mobile either...

I'd also say it's good in CT behe to negate the electric floor damage but try not to use it too often as it sucks your mp dry.

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Originally Posted by Ignnis

Only time I use cure 3 over medica 1/2 is on xande's levitation platforms because everyone is bunched up together and I just cure any stragglers cure 3 doesn't hit.

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I never use Cure III on Xande, even for that attack, because if everyone is stacked (which they should be), then Medica II is enough to get people near topped off with the HoT ticking. Then after Burning Rave when he quakes, you follow up with Medica to again top everyone off. The only part in that fight that gets dangerous is towards the end when he does Quake into the yellow circles exploding followed up with another quick Quake. There I just Divine Seal + Medica x2.

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Originally Posted by Ignnis

I'd also say it's good in CT behe to negate the electric floor damage but try not to use it too often as it sucks your mp dry.

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There, you should just keep the HoT ticking the whole fight. One Medica II and you can ignore your party for 30 seconds. It's not healing intensive and if you're using SoS properly, you should never have MP problems - barring random people dying and needing to raise them, of course.

Rule of thumb for Medica II/Medica: never Medica II while the HoT is up unless it's about to wear off.

My general rule is that in any case where there is significant, ongoing AOE, I use medica 2 unless the hot is already up, then medica 1. If it is one aoe, medica 1. Also, don't underestimate cure 3, it has potentially amazing potency/MP and is far more efficient than medica if the party is stacked.

I use divine seal + medica II + regen on the tank right before spamming holy during a large pull. That gives the tank around 1k regen per tick and I won't have to be afraid of them dying. Just make sure that shroud of saints is available to nullify the enmity/mp drain.

A plus for Medica II is that its regen effect is separate from the regen effect from the Regen spell, making the healing over time even better when both are active. I'm the kind of WHM that uses Holy a lot, which means that I want the tank to be healing as much as possible before I go in Cleric Stance mode. I start with Stone Skin, then I let the tank get proper aggro, then I go Divine Seal, Regen, Presence of Mind (to speed up casting speed), Medica II, Cure II on the tank if needed, then Cleric Stance and Holy spam. That is, unless the pull isn't big enough to warrant all this, in which case I cut the Presence of Mind and Medica II, and sometimes the Cure II if it's unnecessary.

Also, you wouldn't believe just how often my Medica misses a person or two, whereas Medica II would have reached due to the extra 5y radius. Can't always expect everyone to stick close together when playing with randoms. Anyway, when the HP loss is rather small on several people, I will usually use Medica.

Divine Seal + Medica II + Regen is a pretty potent heal over time. Its very similar to a Cure I spam every 3 seconds.

Medica II is for sustained chip damage, when MT is taking damage.
Turn 2 enrage to boost heals