Unable to main a healer

Hey all,

I just returned to this game after a 2 month break and decided that I was going to look for a new main to play. Currently at max I have a MCH, DRK, and NIN; each of which I have grown to dislike in their own right. While looking for my next 70, and potential new main- I stumbled upon my SCH who is currently level 62. It has been a tough decision to choose between DRG and SCH as I tend to always gravitate towards DPS in games. This thought process got me thinking, why do I always gravitate towards DPS when I find healing to be far more engaging?

In every MMO I have played, I usually have a DPS main, and a Tank/Healer alt that I can use as I see fit. Usually I tend to prefer healers as the mechanics are generally more interesting and I enjoy a control based playstyle. In fact, I have always wished their could be a class based around shields and preventing damage, one where it is more of a supportive role with active shield mitigation. When I started FFXIV, I was an arcanist by chance and happened to stumble upon the SCH without even being aware of their abilities. Needless to say, I loved the mechanics (other than the pet) and used it to level the rest of the way. Even though I loved SCH (even if it isn't the exact shielding class i fantasize about) it was and has generally been a lot of fun to play. The same goes with AST although I am on the fence about them.

The point of this post is that I do not know why I can never main a healing class and was wondering if anyone else has had trouble with this in the past? I think it may have to do with the idea that DPS get bigger numbers/stronger with gear, whereas healers are more able to protect but it never gets more interesting beyond that. Perhaps it is because of fear of such an important role? Honestly, I have no idea.

So what made you guys decide to main a healer, or perhaps even main a tank at some point?

Hi :)

I started out with a Black Mage, but halfway through that decided to try a healer because I fancied something new, and liked the faster queues. I didn’t really research them beforehand but just picked White Mage, found it tough at first, but got the hang of it quite quickly, and I find healing very rewarding and it feels like im making a good contribution, certainly more than a dps who is paired with another dps in a dungeon. After White Mage I levelled Scholar and now Astro.

Give it a go and see what you think :)

In my mind, healer is the most powerful role in the game. You can heal or prevent damage, inflict damage, and sustain yourself like a boss where damage isn’t sufficient to kill you outright.

I do enjoy playing DPS and tank here and there, but healer is what I play most. Also doesm’t hurt that queues for daily roulettes are consistently short :)

I don't mean to play the contrariom but as a WHM I put up the biggest numbers in the game - Benediction a WAR in Defiance, ~70k right there!

Jokes aside I (as per usual) agree with Cynfael. Healers are incredibly powerful and versatile, we can adapt to almost any situation and can carry a party better than any other role or job.

At the same time a bad healer can cripple a group even in casual content so I understand having apprehension about it. I would advise running some content you're feeling insecure about with some friends, if it does indeed boil down to you being anxious.

I see two major issues with people not wanting to main healers in FFXIV. The first is the salt from the community regarding how a healer should be played, there is no one set way that works for everyone.

The second is how attentive and in tune you need to be with you surroundings and your group. If you don't know your group very well, it can kill runs rather quickly as other have stated.

I always gravitate toward healers for the simple fact that there is always something to do. Every group will make you play slightly different based on gear and skill levels.

Just my two cents.

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

So what made you guys decide to main a healer, or perhaps even main a tank at some point?

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My story with healers began back in 2005, when I started to play Ragnarok, my first ever MMO. I started with thief, but was bored to death playing. Then they launched the 2-2 classes and was attracted to monks and its Asura Strike damage. Great!. But to create a monk, I had to level an acolyte, the only class 1 designed to be the healer/support class. While leveling the acolyte, the healing part of the class was attracting me, since I was able to help better who was with me. And for some years I mained both Priest and Monk (I like to think that I mained acolyte back then), including going to the war using a priest. And that was more fun than do the same with the monk. And with the priest I was interacting way more with other people.

Since then I always main healer when going to a new MMO. Mainly if there are the possibility of being mostly self-sufficient, what requires at least good healing skills and some DPS tools that don't need to be good enough to take the place of a proper DPS class, but good enough to actually kill things when needed. And that's why I mained White Mage on FFXIV.

I always gravitate to healers because the supporting character mindset just appeals to me. I'm less interested in putting up huge crits (although WHM is capable of some impressive numbers) and more interested in making everyone around me more awesome. It extends into other genres of game too, my Pathfinder character is a healing/buffing Cleric. CharOp folks will tell you that healer isn't the best way to play Pathfinder (or D&D), and they're right, but I find something deeply satisfying about walking up to someone at 2HP who is afraid of dying and fixing it (and thats before tossing out some of the really strong buffs). Sure I barely do any damage myself, but that hardly matters when I've tripled the Fighter's effective damage by giving them an extra attack, Smite Evil, and a +5 Holy Sword all with a couple spells. They feel awesome smashing stuff like that, and that makes me happy.

Got a bit sidetracked there... Anyway, healing in this game is a bit different because you're not doing it all the time. So in addition to keeping everyone alive and allowing them to blow stuff up, you can contribute significant DPS in your own right once you're comfortable enough to push it.

That might be what you're missing when playing one here. It doesn't have to be about just protecting in this game. You can blow stuff up at the same time.

Saving a party from the brink of a wipe (or even just saving a person from a near oneshot + followup damage) is a lot more satisfying to me than a good parse. (Also I hate the very concept of rotations).

I rolled main healer because I like being the busiest and challenged the most. I get bored very easily in games (which is why I get burnt out so often from them). FFXIV is pretty easy by my own experiences but AST at least keeps it busy. And considering in this game where healers are expected to be part time (or mostly) DPS classes then it's even better for me.

I'll be honest, leveling a healer started way back in HW when i was trying to finish a DRG Relic. Queues were faster then and it was a no brainer for trying to get it done. (I still haven't finished that relic *snorts* i need my dragon on a stick, i'll get it, eventually) Now however, I main Healer because I want to. I enjoy being the one that has to figure out exactly what a mechanic is going to do and if i need Single Target or Group wide Healing. It's also a good way to get rid of daily frustration. Log in, queue up, throw stones and Wind Bombs at mobs, get frustrated and realize how trivial everything is and start snickering and giggling about my mistakes and the mistakes around me.

Also, my FCmates look at me as kind of a savior, they don't have the patience to do anything other than Tank/DPS for the most part...and they're all leveling DPS. as a crafter (that's my end game, not savage raiding) I tend to poke them for mats if i'm in the middle of crafting, so in return: i give them my queue to level. So...I'm helping others as well.

I started this game as a Smn and was really awfull at it because I didnt understand how "the game works" (2nd MMO after ffxi) For me, being Whm, is what made me understand the game cores and mechanics. And I didnt love having to follow a rotation (Or I didnt understand) so healer was the way to go for me. Now I play pretty much everything

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

So what made you guys decide to main a healer, or perhaps even main a tank at some point?

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I mained a healer for years and started maining tank at the launch of stormblood.

In this game, healers are extremely powerful. When content is designed, it is designed without healer dps in mind, so any additional DPS you add helps carry dps. You can make an otherwise impossible DPS check possible. If tanks arent using cooldowns properly, you can accommodate that as well by throwing down some HPS. Healer are very good at helping groups meet minimums. They have alot of "carry" potential.

Tanks are a different story. They arent as great at helping groups hit minimums, but for dungeons, they are especially good at pushing party's into their optimums. For example, landing the correct pull size for a party is a nice optimization over pulling 1 group at a time. Plus the queue times are great.

Actually I got into healing "accidentally".

I always loved support classes in MMOs. I played an Arcanist with the expectation of going Summoner with a group of friends. The person who was supposed to be the healer kinda went on a tirade and refused to heal so I went scholar and found out I loved it! FFXIV is the most engaging healing role I've played in any MMO ever, and Scholar just fits my play style very well.

I had some huge learning to do when trying to complete AS3 but it's been a fun journey for sure.

I have always run as DPS in most games, with a few Tanks thrown in here and there. I decided to try out Healer this time around because of two reasons; I didn't want to wait around in Que the whole time, and the healers looked interesting to me. I also wanted to try a role that I honestly have never touched before.
So far I am enjoying my time as a healer, and I finally understand why healers are stressed out all the time :)

Actually just remembered after reading another post; another reason I am healing this time around was my friends pressured me into it saying that they are both choosing DPS jobs. I am the type of person that wants to have a complete group as best we can, so I put it upon myself to take on the tank or healing role. I feel a little less honest, but still my comments up top also stand as a good reason as to me healing.

I started as a healer main back in ARR, after getting sick of DPS queues that took 1 hour + at the time, and trying to level my BLM, the class I started the game as, became tiresome. I abondoned it, leveled Arcanist, the started working on SCH. Soon after it was WHM, and until the end of HW I never really bothered much with DPS classes until SB, where I decided it was time for a change.

Overall Queues, and actually feeling like I'm helping a group leaving that feeling of satisfaction way puts that stress of healing high end duties worth it in the end. I may not main a healer anymore, but I still avidly keep one of them geared, just in case of my friends require a capable healer. :3

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

So what made you guys decide to main a healer, or perhaps even main a tank at some point?

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Healer's are one of the supporting pillars that keep a run going straight and true and has the power to fix any pot holes that pop up as the party car drives really fast through the street.

I enjoy having that responsibility and the challenges associated with it. There's a difference in healing a structured static versus healing a more randomized PuG set up of the 24 man and I revel in all the different situations that my group can put me through. It's exhilarating to pull off clutch healing plays that save an individual or even the whole party / raid from wiping.

To main a healer, especially in this game... you need to be a certain type of person. We call this specific type of person a "Masochist". The reason I say this is because we literally have 2 mother fin damage skills while leveling. Unless you are a SCH or something but no one likes those anyway! One is a DoT and the other is a 40 sec (feels like it) cast time damage skill that looks cool but tickles the enemy. So while trying to quest you just whittle down the enemy for at least 5 minutes, only to finally vanquish your enemy. After a 30 second celebration you realize you are only 1 out of 10 kills into your quest but yet you keep on trucking along... this is what it means to main a healer.

I'm the opposite, and I have a lot of difficulty letting go of healing when I run content as another role. I can't tell you why you gravitate towards DPS jobs when healing is so much more engaging, but can relate to the satisfaction you feel playing it.

I started the game as an ACN, so technically I started grouping as DPS, but I always knew I wanted to be a healer main. I just wanted to learn the game engine first before taking on that responsibility, and I felt DPS was a good way to do that. The things that scare most players away from healing are big reasons why I actually enjoy it. I love having the responsibility of keeping the party alive and cleansed. My eyes are constantly shifting from the HP bars, the field, the focus target meter, and my CDs, and neglecting any of them for too long can lead to an under performance, or even a wipe.

The multi-tasking and the control I have as a healer are enough to keep me glued. I feel like I am the heart and blood flow of my party. Constantly pumping and providing nourishment to the group. But then there are all those fabulous glamour items too. I've always preferred cloth over leather and plate armor, and when I see these threads asking for glamour restrictions to be lifted; I sit comfortably back already having access to most of the items I desire. There are exceptions though (I'm looking at you, Griffin Leather Skirt of Fending)!

I could go on all day about why I play and love this role, and trying anything else just makes me run right back to it. However, I did decide to take a tank to at least 60. I need to know what they go through, and experience the other end of the tank/healer synastry. I feel it will only make me a better healer.

The best advice I can give you, is if you're enjoying it, then don't stop. But don't try to force yourself to main the role if that isn't where your heart is.

Didn't expect so many replies and I greatly appreciate each and every one of them. I am going to give it a try and level my SCH/SMN to 70. I am enjoying healing and the supporting role that it offers, even more so than AST. Although SCH seems like it is the most difficult one to play.

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

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Your idea of being boring and never changing with gear will totally change when you start raiding as a healer.

For me healing is the most boring class dungeonwise, but its the most enjoyable on raids (ofc all of this is my opinion only)

Well, it's a long story.

When I first started playing, I didn't feel I was contributing to the success of my guild unless I was playing a healer.

My personality is of someone who enjoys taking care of others. I played a holy priest for years and healed my wife as she tanked. My wife may disagree but I feel she is an amazing tank. She taught me a lot.

So, when I took a break from healing, I dove into tanking. It was wonderful and I greatly enjoyed doing it! RAWR!

Then, I got sick. Really sick. Like turn my life upside down, and throw my career aspirations into the trash, sick. :(

WoW wasn't fun anymore and I had to play at a slower pace and that brought to me to FFXIV. I knew I liked healing but I wasn't sure what to play. That's when I saw "Answers." One look at that cute lalafell healing the hero and I knew what I had to play. So, I started a conjurer.

Needless to say, it fit me like a glove and I naturally progressed into the white mage. To this day, Kacho Nacho is my main.

However, the other jobs of FFXIV attracted me, and I wanted additional characters in case I start up a FFXIV based webcomic, so I created a bunch of alts. :D

Now, I have melee characters, magic characters, and tank characters. You see, I realized just because one character could do every job, I didn't have to do play like that.

So, what I am saying to you is play whatever you want! There is always an option to nibble on something different along the way. It's just a creation screen away.

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

Although SCH seems like it is the most difficult one to play.

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I don't play AST, but I believe it is also top-tier when it comes to intricate gameplay. I do play both WHM and SCH, and SCH without question, brings a more diverse set of skills and mechanics over WHM. However, only by playing multiple healing jobs can you determine which one is more difficult for you to pick up. You may find the playstyle of SCH fits yours more naturally over the other healers. That was certainly the case with me when it comes to SCH and WHM, but pet classes have always given me an extra boost of confidence because I feel like there is a safety net there that does not exist with a job like WHM. This translates to an easier time optimizing the job, and making fewer mistakes on the field.

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Originally Posted by Kacho_Nacho

Well, it's a long story.

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Kacho, I love your posts and your proclivity to always be positive. Wish we were on the same server ^-^

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Originally Posted by Gemina

I don't play AST, but I believe it is also top-tier when it comes to intricate gameplay. I do play both WHM and SCH, and SCH without question, brings a more diverse set of skills and mechanics over WHM. However, only by playing multiple healing jobs can you determine which one is more difficult for you to pick up. You may find the playstyle of SCH fits yours more naturally over the other healers. That was certainly the case with me when it comes to SCH and WHM, but pet classes have always given me an extra boost of confidence because I feel like there is a safety net there that does not exist with a job like WHM. This translates to an easier time optimizing the job, and making fewer mistakes on the field.

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Yeah I was basing my dislike for AST over level 56 dungeons which isn't exactly perfect lol. I will say that I really want to play AST simply because of their aoe shield. A shield based class is something I crave in a game. Also, After playing more SCH and hitting 66, I am starting to dislike it simply because of the damn pet. Never was a fan of pet gameplay other than AION and Spiritmaster which I am still hoping is used again in another game. Thinking I might level AST a bit and see how that feels. Wouldn't mind trying White Mage out, however mine is only 20.

At the moment I am concerned with picking a main and starting to gear them out before I get left behind so I might have to come back to level a healer once I do that. My old main at launch was the MCH and they are just boring to play and my ninja isn't doing it for me. Considering leveling my Dragoon up from 62 and gearing that before working on a healer. Oh, and I love summoner, except for that damn pet. Now that I think about it, the Spiritmaster gameplay on a healing class would be so sweet. You heal by commanding them to perform heals or other skills rather than you do it yourself. Pets atm just feel like weird turrets that you can tell to stand somewhere and use a move or two.

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

At the moment I am concerned with picking a main and starting to gear them out before I get left behind...

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I understand the impulse, but it's honestly impossible to be left behind for long. Even if you're feeling so deeply behind the curve in a given ilvl or content tier that it seems like weeks or months to catch up, that means you are joining in closer to the end of that particular cycle and are about to start fresh on the next one along with everyone else.

If you enjoy working on more than one Job at a time, go for it. Besides, having at least one healer Job in your roster is a great way to get your daily roulettes done if you're using them for tomes and want to skip the DPS queue.

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

Yeah I was basing my dislike for AST over level 56 dungeons which isn't exactly perfect lol. I will say that I really want to play AST simply because of their aoe shield. A shield based class is something I crave in a game.

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SCH brings a lot of shielding ability. I don't know if it is better than AST, but I do know that SCH brings two Galvanize abilities (single target and AoE). They can spread Eye4eye to everyone and has ridiculous range. And in addition, they can use an aetherflow stack on Sacred Soil, and Fey Covenant provides a strong AoE magical dmg mitigation. So it is there, but yes, they do have the pet.

WHM is more straight forward, but it might possibly be boring to a player such as yourself who desires more engaging gameplay, but it also seems that you are a jack of all trades master of none, and might be one of those players who doesn't truly have a main, but rather take whichever role and job is needed at the time. Just some things to consider going forward.

I appreciate the input and you are probably right as I can enjoy multiple classes. SCH is fun, but the pet managing is a pain and i'm not sure if I am doing it right. At the moment I send the sucker somewhere and use whispering dawn when the group needs aoe healing. Also, the AST is starting to appeal to me more because I love the aspect of buffing others. Someone like Shiroe from Log Horizon comes to mind and that is a playstyle I can get behind.

Many SCH will get into the mindset that in order to optimize, they must do certain things with their fairy 100% of the time. Examples of this would be the two you brought up: place and whispering dawn. What I stress to aspiring SCHs, is that if you are trying to weave in abilities you don't even need, you are not optimizing, and again place and WD are two examples of these. You did mention that you use WD when the group needs AoE regen, so you already have the right idea in mind. The same goes for place. You don't need to place Lily if you are not moving. If boss mechanics or trash going wild requires you to move, then this is the optimal time to place her.

This then leads to using Selene over Eos. Eos is basically your, "The shit is real" fairy. The fairy you use when it is time to takes things seriously. If you're in a group, and you find that you don't really need any of Eos' abilities such as an over-geared dungeon, then you might want to consider swapping her out for Selene for the speed boost, and one free cleanse per minute. With summon cast time cut in half and MP cost reduced, this is more plausible now but fairy swapping still hasn't quite reached the potential it can.

In short, pet management doesn't have to be a headache if you don't try to do too much. You have had success with pet classes in other games, and my guess is it was easier for the pet to feel like an extension of yourself. An additional limb, if you will. That might be the situation with your SCH/SMN in this game. Nothing wrong with that though. Even though SCH flows more naturally for me, it still took hundreds, if not thousands of hours for me to get to the comfort level I'm at with it now.

I really do appreciate the input. It is helping me conceptualize SCH to an extent. My biggest concern/issue with pet management is keybinds lol. I already use so many for my skills, that fitting in a few extra is a pain. What do you use for them all? I use Q E R Z X,4 mouse buttons, control+ 1-4 and if I really need it I use shift+1-3 (although I hate using shift)

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

I really do appreciate the input. It is helping me conceptualize SCH to an extent. My biggest concern/issue with pet management is keybinds lol. I already use so many for my skills, that fitting in a few extra is a pain. What do you use for them all? I use Q E R Z X,4 mouse buttons, control+ 1-4 and if I really need it I use shift+1-3 (although I hate using shift)

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Psst! I'll fill you in on a little secret. I don't use keybinds/macros :)

Granted, I use a controller, but even on PC, I'd set my hotbars and use everything manually because I don't like being at the mercy of the wait times of macros, and the 0-9 limitations with keybinds. If I were to set keybinds to make life easier, I would simply prioritize my most frequent skills that don't require switching targets, even then, healing is so situational, so they would be allocated mostly towards DPS skills, in which case my muscle memory has developed to the point where keybinding these abilities would actually slow me down.

This might not be the case with you though, and you might benefit more from keybinds. This is where experience comes into play. Throughout my healing career, I've spent a great deal of time in FATEs and other solo content to figure out exactly how things work in relation to how I have my crossbars set up, and then taking this knowledge into group content so I can be sure that I am doing things correctly with the abilities at my disposal. An example would be SCHs getting back their Sustain ability. When this happened I had to make an adjustment to my crossbar setup, and I would tell myself, "where would this ability flow more naturally?" And from here it is trial and error. I'll set Sustain one place, and then decide that it just doesn't 'feel right' on that particular slot. So when it is on the right slot, and I see Lily is taking damage, thought and action are as one, and she gets Sustain without a second thought.

While the afore mentioned leaves the impression that it takes a lot of time and effort, everything I mentioned also comes to the player naturally if it is a playstyle suited to them, and I am only confirming for them what they already know. For those riding the learning curve, the advice can be quite helpful. I think there is a job or two out there that everyone will struggle picking up, but with time and effort, they can be really good and find a lot of enjoyment playing it. I think this is more satisfactory than being naturally good at a role or job where things come easy for you.

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Originally Posted by Darkstatic107

I really do appreciate the input. It is helping me conceptualize SCH to an extent. My biggest concern/issue with pet management is keybinds lol. I already use so many for my skills, that fitting in a few extra is a pain. What do you use for them all? I use Q E R Z X,4 mouse buttons, control+ 1-4 and if I really need it I use shift+1-3 (although I hate using shift)

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I can't get by without using Shift, tbh. My keybinds for all Jobs are something like this:

Q E R Z X
Shift+Q/E/R/Z/X
Shift+D
Shift+A
Shift+S
M4, M5
Shift+M4/M5
Spacebar


As much as possible, I try to assign somewhat similar abilities to certain keybinds (to be clear, I don't mean macros except as far as assigning <mo> to get around hard targeting where desired).


Examples:

- For my healer Jobs, E is always the basic AoE heal (Succor, Medica, Helios); Shift+E is Indomitability, Medica II, and Aspected Helios. For tank and other melee it's Step 2 in a combo; for BLM it's Fire III, Verthunder/Veraero for RDM, etc

- Again for healers, Q is the basic single-target heal (Physick, Cure, Benefic); Shift+Q is a modified single-target heal for WHM and AST (Regen, Aspected Benefic). For SCH it's different: I use it for Emergency Tactics

- R is my Adloquium/Cure II/Benefic II; Shift+R is Deployment Tactics/Cure III/Royal Road (kind of a catch-all keybind since the aforementioned heals have no direct upgrades)

- X is Lustrate/Essential Dignity/Tetragrammaton

- Shift+D is Broil/Malefic/Stone/Fire IV, etc. Basically spammable nukes.

- Shift+S is an oGCD action like Minor Arcana or Between the Lines

- Spacebar is another oGCD or pet command, including <t> and <mo> for many (Benediction, Draw, Embrace, Spirits Within, Aetherial Manipulation, Bloodletter)

Jump is moved to Shift+Spacebar since it's so rarely necessary to jump.

I will give some of those keybinds a try! Never did think to use shift+e and so forth over my other binds. Also, my sch is 68 and it has been fun so far. Although I have enjoyed summoner a bit more.Waiting on 70 to see how things go!

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Originally Posted by Misstique

Kacho, I love your posts and your proclivity to always be positive. Wish we were on the same server ^-^

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Awww, thank you.

Personally I'm beginning to hate healing in this game. I've been a healer for end game raiding since 2.0 launched and have gone through all 3 healers but the DPS requirements for healers in O4S are driving me up the wall. I'm honestly considering calling it quits. Git-gud scrub me or w/e I'm just sick of it. I'm of the mind that if a healer has time to DPS then they should but having out right number requirements for healer DPS is killing my drive to be an end game healer. Healer DPS should not be the deciding factor in clearing savage content.

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Originally Posted by Azphel

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Yeah, I kind of get that. I DPS because it's expected, but it's not what I enjoy. On the other hand... not too many other places to go. Traditional MMORPGs aren't really being released. New MMOs typically use even heavier instancing, may not have healers at all, and definitely can't match XIV for content.

Even though she's main healing and not me, my static's cohealer still gets pressured to do at least 2k DPS. And I'm just there thinking "You need *some* GCDs to heal..."

But for all that, I would still rather do that instead of just play a DPS. And if someone gets tetchy about the numbers, I start pointing out their mechanical mistakes and so forth...

I'm going to take this in a different direction on the off chance it helps anyone. But you could consider investing in an mmo mouse like the logitech g600 or the razor naga. That with mouseover macros is gold. Very reminiscent of WoW's "grid + click" addons.