What Healer role would best suit me?

Yeah I know these threads get maid all the time, but none the less I am here pondering what I should do. XD

So I main BLM and the only other class I have bothered putting any time into is SMN. Problem is, my buddies are all DPS also with one tank. We decided that I should be the one to role Healer so we can all queue up together in dungeons.

My question is, as a primary ranged DPS player what are some of your opinions on which Healer class would best compliment my play style choices? I know Scholar sort of comes with SMN but as a BLM I am not sure if I will adapt well with it yet. (I know ANY healer will take time though XD)

I thank you for your time and advice. :)

tbh if i were you id level them and try them all out

whm= pure heals, hots
sch = dps, fairy, shields
ast = mix of both, cards

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Originally Posted by WingsOfAzrael

tbh if i were you id level them and try them all out

whm= pure heals, hots
sch = dps, fairy, shields
ast = mix of both, cards

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That might be just what I end up doing. They all seem fairly interesting.

Scholar's the best choice if you like casting dps, but trying them all is a good option.

All three healers are viable for farming content, so just test them out and play whichever you like most. Taking the time to acquire cross-class abilities on WHM is a good excuse to play around with it. Your choice only really matters in end-game 8 man raiding where you'll want to synergise with your other healer.

I'd start by asking what you like about blackmage.

If its big numbers and the spell procs, I would recommend WHM (and maybe AST, but WHM has the bigger heals still).

If you like contributing damage and healing, SCH is your best bet.

If you like juggling all your timers and cooldowns, give AST a test drive.

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Originally Posted by Anova

I'd start by asking what you like about blackmage.

If its big numbers and the spell procs, I would recommend WHM (and maybe AST, but WHM has the bigger heals still).

If you like contributing damage and healing, SCH is your best bet.

If you like juggling all your timers and cooldowns, give AST a test drive.

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I do enjoy those big numbers. XD WHM was the intial thought as it is the polar opposite of BLM, so aesthetically, it is pleasing to me as well.

Part of me is interested in AST as well because I like the over all theme of the class and I am one of those weirdos that actually enjoys juggling enochian and my other cooldowns. XD Not sure how comfortable I will be with DPSing and healing at first but either way, SCH will be there as I am leveling SMN anyway so might as well. XD Who knows I might just roll all 3 after all. lol

WHM and AST are somewhat similar in terms of their healing power (especially since AST can stack more crit and less spellspeed because they have a passive spellspeed increase with diurnal stance). I'd give both a try, whichever is your preference.

btw, if you haven't gotten cleric stance and protect yet, I would get that first. Stoneskin is actually less useful now and you can get away using a nocturnal a.ben and then switch to diurnal during the fight.

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Originally Posted by Anova

WHM and AST are somewhat similar in terms of their healing power (especially since AST can stack more crit and less spellspeed because they have a passive spellspeed increase with diurnal stance). I'd give both a try, whichever is your preference.

btw, if you haven't gotten cleric stance and protect yet, I would get that first. Stoneskin is actually less useful now and you can get away using a nocturnal a.ben and then switch to diurnal during the fight.

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Awesome! Thanx for the tip. I will definitely give both a try and will get those skills tonight when I get home from work. ^^

They changed it so you can switch sects midfight? Last I checked it wasn't possible. Anyway, with SCH comes the pet management. WHM is fairly straight forward healing (or damaging) without hoops and loops. AST has the card management.

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Originally Posted by Sida

They changed it so you can switch sects midfight? Last I checked it wasn't possible. Anyway, with SCH comes the pet management. WHM is fairly straight forward healing (or damaging) without hoops and loops. AST has the card management.

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They were saying you can noct A. benefic before pull and then switch to diurnal.

Nice trick in dungeons, kinda pointless in 8 mans though, if there's a scholar they would just overwrite it and if there's a white mage you shouldn't be in diurnal anyway. :P

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Originally Posted by FoxyAreku

They were saying you can noct A. benefic before pull and then switch to diurnal.

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Woops, my bad. Guess I read it tad too hastily. Though with my experience of DF tanks at least, there is no such time as "before the pull" as they seem to race against the clock :o

Since you said you've already tried SMN, I assume that means your ACN/SMN/SCH is level 30+ and your CNJ/WHM is at least 15+. If not, at the very least, you'll want them both at level 15 so you can unlock the jobs at level 30.

As Rikku said, it'd be best to try them out to see what suits you. WHM and BLM were my favorite classes pre-Heavensward, however you might find SCH more interesting instead. It's all personal preference.

if you want to DPS really you should go with SCH, as there is plenty of time to DPS with SCH.
you can also still DPS with WHM as well or with AST.
Since you don't really want SMN/SCH thing then i'd say go with WHM, with WHM you can really dps more than AST and everything is pretty straight forward.

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Originally Posted by drmambo1999

We decided that I should be the one to role Healer so we can all queue up together in dungeons.

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If it's for just dungeons, go white mage. White mage is the easiest to when it comes to AoEing. They're the king/queen in terms of garbage disposal.

Scholar is second best for trash mobs and can push out more damage on bosses.

Astrologian is the worst of the three for dungeons (or any other 4-man content). I'll omit the reasons here for now as I'm on mobile and due to character limits

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Originally Posted by Selli

Since you said you've already tried SMN, I assume that means your ACN/SMN/SCH is level 30+ and your CNJ/WHM is at least 15+. If not, at the very least, you'll want them both at level 15 so you can unlock the jobs at level 30.

As Rikku said, it'd be best to try them out to see what suits you. WHM and BLM were my favorite classes pre-Heavensward, however you might find SCH more interesting instead. It's all personal preference.

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Summoner doesn't require Conjurer 15 though ^^; IIRC it requires Thaumaturge 15.

But yes, like others have said, you'll want your CNJ/WHM up to 34 for all cross-class skills from it (plus a free mount after your level 30 class quest). If you don't have Arcanist at 34 yet, you might want that too, for those cross-class skills. (AST doesn't use ACN skills, sadly, but WHM does, in case you find you like that one better.) All three healers have CNJ cross-class skills available.

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Originally Posted by Lyrica_Ashtine

If it's for just dungeons, go white mage. White mage is the easiest to when it comes to AoEing. They're the king/queen in terms of garbage disposal.

Scholar is second best for trash mobs and can push out more damage on bosses.

Astrologian is the worst of the three for dungeons (or any other 4-man content). I'll omit the reasons here for now as I'm on mobile and due to character limits

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At the moment it is just for dungeons, though depending on how I feel about the role I might go into other content. Thank you for the advice. ^^

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Originally Posted by Noxifer

Summoner doesn't require Conjurer 15 though ^^; IIRC it requires Thaumaturge 15.

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This thread is about healers. OP is asking specifically about healers. So he does, indeed, need CNJ at level 15 to unlock SCH. As he needs ACN at level 15 to unlock WHM.

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Originally Posted by Selli

Since you said you've already tried SMN, I assume that means your ACN/SMN/SCH is level 30+ and your CNJ/WHM is at least 15+. If not, at the very least, you'll want them both at level 15 so you can unlock the jobs at level 30.

As Rikku said, it'd be best to try them out to see what suits you. WHM and BLM were my favorite classes pre-Heavensward, however you might find SCH more interesting instead. It's all personal preference.

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I do still need to work on CNJ. I was going to last night but got caught up in pony farming again. XD WHM is still sticking out a lot for me, so I think I will try that first, but I have decided to just give them all a go since that seems to be the general consensus and why not? XD I thank everyone for their input on this. You all have been very helpful :)

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Originally Posted by drmambo1999

At the moment it is just for dungeons, though depending on how I feel about the role I might go into other content. Thank you for the advice. ^^

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If transitioning into harder content, white mage possesses all the learning curves you'll need for the other jobs:
planning, mp management, anticipating, "cooldown using" as well as synergy. Healing's probably the only role in the game where healers have to adapt to each other to function optimally, unlike DPS and tanks who perform their own rotation and mechanics. Of course, you can set rules with each other to simplify things. But any healer knows very well their healing game cannot be possibly be framed in with a bunch of rules (for example: designated tank to heal)

Regardless, with the list mentioned above, White Mage is the most basic healer and thus most suitable to learn to heal other content with aside from dungeons. You may feel the drop of raw healing power from the other healing jobs, however.

edit:
I'll drop this one here for you to think about, if you ever plan to become an endgame healer after all: There's an unwritten rule of main healer/supportive healer role. Main healers doing the majority of the healing, supportive aiding the main healer when needed. Much like in a dancing pair where one leads and the other follows.

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Originally Posted by Selli

This thread is about healers. OP is asking specifically about healers. So he does, indeed, need CNJ at level 15 to unlock SCH. As he needs ACN at level 15 to unlock WHM.

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That is true, but the comment I was responding to said (paraphrasing) "since you have SMN, you have CNJ at 15 already". Maybe the comment wasn't meant that way, but it was how I read it, seeing as how having tried SMN out doesn't in any way mean having even unlocked SCH yet =) Sorry for being unclear in my response.

If you already use a summoner then why not try scholar. Your already leveled as an arcanist. Your dps (dots) are almost the same. And you're already use to having a pet around. So you just need to do the job quests. You might also want to buy only of those things from the grand company shop that lets you re do your bonus stat points.

Most BLM players enjoy seeing their big Fire spells numbers, so WHM might be a good choice, while also being the easiest healer to start ou your healing adventures (and he deals big damage numbers too). But you can also try AST since it feels like a WHM up to level 50 but do mind that at 60 they are pretty different from each other.

Remember that all healers work around the three basic basic spells: A spammable heal (Cure/Pshysick/Benefic), a bigger heal (Cure II/Adloquium/Benefic II) and an aoe heal (Medica/Succor/Helios), everything else its what it will define the healer identity. WHM have tons of other heals, while SCH has constant supporting abilities and AST has their card management skills.

each healing class has a different mindset you need to be able to be in. For some that mindset is different, but as I have played all three, this would be my advice.

WHM: Large up front heals, high aoe healing, regens, simple skills, but lots of use. Low skill ceiling for newcomers.

SCH: Shields, preheals, lower aoe healing potential, high single target (if you macro in your fairy), high skill ceiling for new comers, lots of juggling skills, cooldowns and micromanaging your fairy if you want to get the most out of your job (and if you are going heals, you should want to be good!). Two different pet options that bring different skills to the table, use this if you like being a busy body and like adding DPS, as doing so is easier as you have heals going off without needing to directly control them.

AST:Shields, regens, adaptability, flexibility. Your sect makes a big difference, though regens give you the most wiggle room. Medium skill entry, high skill mastery. Easily the second most busy, if you are sitting around as an AST, you are missing a lot of opportunities. Use AST if you like dealing damage, balancing heal and buffs, adapting to difficult situations and juggling a random mechanic for those buffs. Again, medium skill to start, high skill to master.

So, based on that, try them all out, you'll want to anyway for the cross class, but keep in mind, each healer has a different "flavor" to them. Figure out where your healing style is and have fun!

WHM will probably be the most comfortable, coming from BLM. WHM is more straight forward. Reaching the skill ceiling on SCH is going to require pet management and macros, which can sometimes get complicated (read the guide in my signature if you're interested in learning about it). I love SCH, but it's not for everyone.

As others have suggested, you could always try 'em all out and decide for yourself.

I would try WHM first unless you have a strong desire to play a preventative healer or love the concept of having a pet. SCH is an amazing job but I really enjoy knowing fights and maximizing the damage reduction potential of the class. It isn't a traditional healer and you don't see big raw numbers on the screen.