Hi, I am currently still a fairly low level conjurer. I am level 16 and am able to travel now but that also means raids/dungeons. I had my first last night and I found myself only concentrating on the hp bars of my party. I have a feeling I am doing something wrong? I feel I will mess up bad if I go from party member to enemy to do some damage and someone will need to be healed and i wont be able to switch back fast enough haha. Is this normal when new? And how do I get practice without pissing people off by trying all this out?
Conjurer help please
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02-13-2015, 12:09 AMcassiomel78Conjurer help please
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02-13-2015, 12:20 AMRhoddODduw
Easiest way around this is to create macros for your offensive spells for use inside party content.
For example;
/macroicon Aero (this will give your macro the aero picture and relevant cool down info)
/ac "Aero" <tt> (this will cast the spell on the target of your target)
Now you can target your tank and fire away!! -
02-13-2015, 12:28 AMMoqi
It's normal, don't worry. You're gonna look at the bars a lot. Being able to look at them and the field/do damage is going to come with practice: once you learn when people are more less to take damage, you'll also know that it's safe to look away from the party list.
If you are in a FC you can enter a dungeon with a premade party, so you can experiment as much as you want, but low level dungeons mobs don't hit very hard, so there is plenty of room for error anyway. If you mess up, don't panic and try to recover. You can start practicing dealing damage without using Cleric stance; once you are more confident in your abilities you can start going in Cleric Stance to do damage and switch out of it to heal. Keep in mind that any class can pretty much tank the first few dungeons mobs, so even if you let the tank die by accident, you can just keep healing whoever gets aggro (even yourself) and get through it. -
02-13-2015, 12:34 AMAsheilin
Yes it is normal, macroing is a great help... I'd actually go a step further with your macro
/macroicon Aero
/ac "aero" <t>
/ac "aero" <f>
/ac "aero" <tt>
I use this on my scholar and whm now. <t> is target just like your regular aero spell, however if targeting friendlies it wont cast thus other two lines. <f> is for focus target, this will more often be helpfull at far higher levels but should lay groudwork for it now as 45+ you'll usually want to focus target the boss so you can see when its casting certain things. <tt> is target's target, so you can be on your tank or dps and hit what their targeting. these apply in this order, target? no, focus? no, target's target? yes
also, if you use this macro; go into your chat settings and turn off error messages in the chat log you usually watch. I usually watch general, so removing it from that. This makes the No responses not clog up the chat log -
02-13-2015, 12:46 AMsciondar
Since you're just starting, focusing on the group's hp is good. A good place to practice switching are with fates especially if you can team up with a friend. As you gain more comfort with your spells and timing you'll find your groove and be more confident in what you're doing in the dungeon. As a healer, keeping the team alive is more important than throwing out a spell or 2. That being said, it doesn't hurt to quickly throw an Aero onto the enemy that the group is attacking.
Be patient with yourself and don't be afraid to tell the group at the start of the dungeon that you're new and open to suggestions, a lot of peole are understanding and willing to help. -
02-13-2015, 12:57 AMRisvertasashiFirstly, welcome to the healing role. You're doing nothing wrong by staring at the party bars. The trick, when you get to endgame, is to keep track of those bars while also dodging and handling mechanics. Tunnel vision is a very real problem for healers. But if you just want to stick to dungeons or such, you don't even need to worry about that.Quote:
Originally Posted by cassiomel78
I've moved my party window closer to the center and, as others have mentioned, I've too found <tt> macros to be of great help. Good luck! -
02-13-2015, 01:02 AMDeifactI find this helps alot, don't be afraid to play around with the UI editor (even though its a little unintuitive at first!) you can even resize your party bar and place it closer to the middle, so that you can still see that bars but it isn't obscuring your view!Quote:
Originally Posted by Risvertasashi
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02-13-2015, 01:22 AMcassiomel78
Wow, thank you all so much for this very helpful information. A few of you have mentioned macros. I no this is going to sound so new lol.. but I have no clue what that really is. Also, I am using ps3 and ps4 not a computer. If that matters at all.
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02-13-2015, 01:51 AMRisvertasashi
Macros are a built in thing you can use on any platform that can play XIV. It's basically a way to write out a series of actions, or just an action you want to work slightly differently. Pull up the system menu, the same one you would use to log out, and you should see an option to take you to a macro editor. Go to one of the squares are just start putting text in. For example:
Then you can put that on your hotbar like a regular abilities. In this macro, the /micon command gives it the icon of aero and makes the cooldown display as well. <tt> means "target of my target", which for me, usually works out to be the tank's target. So I'm targeting the tank, and aero/stone/etc will cast on whatever the tank is attacking.Code:/micon Aero
/ac "Aero" <tt>
Some guides that may help you get started with macros: text guide video guide alternate video guide -
02-13-2015, 01:15 PMLegretta
You can also try using a mouse over macro. It can make swiching targets fast/eayer. Thou you have to keep an eye out were you curser is as with it you can some times miss heal if your mouse is over the wrog player. I usly try keeping my curser over the party list to keep that a rare occurrence.
Heres the mouse over i use:
/micon "Cure"
/ac "Cure" <mo>
/ac "Cure" <f>
/ac "Cure" <t>
This also dousnt require you to have a player targeted to heal. So you can have a mob targeted and use your mouse over to case a heal on a player. -
02-13-2015, 07:50 PMWerhuskyQuote:
Originally Posted by cassiomel78
Wont work, just to say it XDQuote:
Originally Posted by Legretta
In general nothing wrong to focus HP bar till you used to dungeon gameplay itself and the dungeon (you'll notice when big damage incoming and when less to squeeze in ur dmg skills).
Macros are in your menu I use PS4 iirc options on controller -> very right dropdown menu -> User macros
There you will find some examples of macros that are mostly useless tho :P
At all a macro makes you able to use certain skills in combination or like others recommended you can heal your tank dps and without switching target put your dps skill on the mob.
I know I am bad at explaining it.... but best is to try out n find/invent your own macros. The text commands are summoned up here HF with it
http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Macro
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest.../text_command/ -
02-14-2015, 03:04 AMSaseal
Very normal when new ^^ You will start off looking at HP bars a lot - it's normal. :D When you've progressed and gained more experience using a healer, you'll start to adjust to being more aware of your surroundings and timings on top of the HP bars. It just takes time and experience in parties :) Soon, you'll be able to focus on everyone's health, the focus-targeted monster's casting behavior (Odin's Sanngetall, Angra's Mortal Gaze or Aevis's cries for example.... assuming everyone isn't dying from everything else at the same time *Slaps Odin*), AoEs, monster positions, and your cool downs without too much trouble ;) You'll be able to get a feel of when's a good time and when isn't to DPS ^^ (but earlier on than any of those beforementioned encounters, don't worry >.>)
If you don't feel comfortable stance dancing or dealing damage, I'd say don't do it until you're comfortable in your class - you'll start to pick up timing and recognizing when you should and shouldn't. -
02-14-2015, 05:27 AMLegrettaActually it can work on PS3/PS4 If they use, or ever do at some point, a mouse and keybord. As PS3/PS4 can use a mouse and keyboard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Werhusky
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02-14-2015, 05:37 AMNiwashi
I actually think it's a bit premature to start setting up macros before learning the skills and when/where to use them. At this point in the learning curve you're better off using the skills directly and learning how to target directly.
And yes, as a healer, a lot of your attention is going to be on your team's HP bars. Making sure you can keep everyone alive (especially the tank) is your first priority, and when you're first starting out it's fine to make it your only priority. Becoming proficient as a healer is just about keeping everyone alive. Going beyond basic proficiency into being highly skilled involves knowing when to focus on that and when to switch over to dealing some damage. You'll see threads on the forums talking about how healers need to be able to deal damage as well, but that's mainly a higher-level concern. When you're just starting out, it's ok to just focus on the basics. For a healer, the basics are seeing who needs a cure and curing them.
As to your concern about being able to switch back to your party members quickly enough when needed:
Are you using the controller scheme where you hold the R2 and/or L2 down while also pressing a face button in order to perform your cross-bar skills? (I think that's the default pattern, IIRC.) If so, it frees up face buttons without the R2 or L2 to be used for other features, including targeting. All of the following only applies with that controller scheme (which, as the one I use, is the only one I'm really familiar with):
The up/down arrow buttons will cycle just between your party members (in the order they appear in the party window). That's usually a pretty fast way to get to any of them. Selecting someone with the up/down buttons and then activating a skill will soft-target them for that skill, meaning that one skill is directed to them, but then your target returns to whatever it had been. Selecting someone with the up/down buttons and then pressing X to confirm that selection will hard-target them, meaning they'll remain the target of all your skills until you select someone/something else.
Similarly to the up/down to select party members, holding L1 while pressing up/down will scroll through the (already engaged) enemies that appear in the enemy list. Use the same pattern of following it with X if you want it to become your new hard target, or not if you want to soft target it for only a single action.
The left and right buttons will cycle targets among things in front of you, according to your current targeting filters. I believe the initial default targeting filter when you begin the game is "All" meaning it will cycle between all nearby players, mobs, NPCs, objects, companions, pets, and minions, sometimes making it quite difficult to select the particular one you want. (This is a bigger issue in crowded FATEs where all might be present at once than it is in dungeons, but it's still worth setting up some other options.) Luckily, while the default isn't always great, it is configurable.
If you go into Character Configuration in the Control Settings section, Filters tab, there are a couple ways to customize your targeting filters. At the top it has a section for selecting which types to target while your weapon is drawn and which while it's sheathed. Below that is a section for using up to four filters based on the controller's face buttons. Only enable one of the two types, as enabling both will make them interfere with each other. I prefer the face button selection: You can set it so that, for instance, L1 + [square] would put you in "Friends" targeting mode, L1 + [circle] will put you in "Enemies" targeting mode, and L1 + [triangle] will put you in the default "All" targeting mode, or you can also set up custom modes by choosing the individual checkboxes for what to include in your filter. Once you've set that up, then you can alternate your targeting mode by L1 and a face button. The left and right arrow buttons will only cycle between targets of that type until you use L1 and a different face button to change your targeting mode to something else.
Incidentally, in dungeons where the only friendly entities are the other players in my party, I usually keep my targeting filter set to "Enemies" mode, since up/down already handles my party members anyway. I use the "Friends" targeting mode during quests where I want to heal an NPC, or in open world content where I may want to heal players who aren't in my party. -
02-16-2015, 05:36 PMWerhuskyI also recommend to set up a pet Filter so you can keep pets up. Especially in egi tanked runs :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Niwashi
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02-16-2015, 06:00 PMNimras
well, it will come with experiance. just play the game and youll learn it in time. Remember that your main job is healing so you dont have to feel guilty about not dpsing.
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02-18-2015, 10:10 AMradioactive_legoIMHO healing on ps3/4 sucks. The targeting system (soft targeting, d-pad, hotbar activation) for party members is akward. Workarounds exist, and Id be happy to show you, if interested. example: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VR2_qJLZ1sgQuote:
Originally Posted by cassiomel78
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02-18-2015, 10:20 AMNaria
^ I'm going to disagree, I main sch and play on the PS4 and PC and I use controller on when playing on my PC also. I prefer it to when I used keyboard/mouse. Placing ground aoes can be awkward on the PS3, but I think the DS4's touchpad handles those abilities well. I think it just comes down to personal preference.
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02-18-2015, 10:28 AMradioactive_legoI would say we agree completely then. Find a method that works for you. Old school works for you. Targeting macros work for me. Neither of us are wrong. I'm giving the OP another option that nobody else has offered; surely you do not disagree with that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Naria
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02-18-2015, 11:00 AMNiwashiI find party members to be the easiest to target by controller, as they're always available in a clear and predictable order with just the up/down buttons to scroll through the party list. The difficulty comes in targeting enemies you haven't aggroed yet, which is more of an issue for tanks and damage dealers (though it includes anyone when they're soloing).Quote:
Originally Posted by radioactive_lego