WHM and Holy

Having just got Holy recently, I've been wondering how other WHMs are using this (if they are).

I'm guessing you're meant to use it when you're low on MP and in a tight spot but after using it a few times it just doesn't seem all that useful. The damage (considering it uses all your remaining MP) wasn't anything special, even when I tried using it on full MP. I was hitting around 1400 with it on lv48 monsters (at 50CNJ/WHM).

Is there a use for this that I'm missing? I'm just interested in seeing how other people are using the spell.

I like to help someone kill a difficult NM and then, at the very last moment, when it's almost dead... run in and have the killing blow with Holy... That's the only use I see, really... especially since it takes all of your mana. It seems more like a 'fun' ability than anything, and that's sort of how it was in FFXI too (although it didn't drain all of your mp).

I'm not exactly complaining, though. Our other new abilities are pretty damn awesome.

It's useful to toss out when you're at low MP and have some kind of MP recovery ability ready, since the damage is high and you only need 280 minimum MP i believe, or at least the help says it costs 280 MP. I haven't been too low on MP with Regen around :p

Aside from that, it's essentially your emergency escape. You can't recover MP while you're being attacked and since your MP is low already this gives you a means to get out of that situation.

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Originally Posted by Ryuko

I like to help someone kill a difficult NM and then, at the very last moment, when it's almost dead... run in and have the killing blow with Holy... That's the only use I see, really... especially since it takes all of your mana. It seems more like a 'fun' ability than anything, and that's sort of how it was in FFXI too (although it didn't drain all of your mp).

I'm not exactly complaining, though. Our other new abilities are pretty damn awesome.

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Holy was actually somewhat powerful in XI... it didn't do anything "special" (damage-wise) because it didn't consume your entire MP pool. It was high-cost and what we thought was a long recast, but in XIV it wipes MP and has an even longer recast. @_@;



It seems like the "Holy" we've been given is simply an ability for when we're solo and need to run away?! THM/BLM can bind better with blizzara without a full MP wipe--no reason in a party. But I thought jobs were supposed to be FOR PARTY PLAY? ; ; Also, as I understand it, the damage on Holy is negligible as well. A full MP wipe should be part of Benediction if anything... not our only defense against a horde of mobs. (Read: d e f e n s e. Does not include offensive spells, I'm aware of aerora/stonera. Holy seems more suited to running away than for attacking.) If you want an ability for "OMG I'VE LET MY ENTIRE PARTY DIE, NOW I NEED TO RUN AWAY!" situations, that's fine, but please don't give it the name "Holy," which I've associated with powerful light-based attacks?

I use Holy as a finisher. It took me a while to figure out about how mamy HP a group of monsters may have left but it's pretty useful if timed right :)
Also, Holy-bombing is pretty effective; have 8 white mages all with Holy and MP reg ability ready and most mobs don't stand a chance (except for bigger bosses).

@Mychael: Holy is actually quite strong, even without Cleric stance up and wearing WHM AF I was doing around 1.1k damage to the Stronghold enemies I was fighting. My Stonera gets up to 1.3k on the same enemies but that's at the end of its combo, with Cleric Stance, 282 INT, and 470ish Magic attack from my CNJ solo gear. I need to see how much damage it does with my CNJ solo gear.

Is it possible some enemies can be weak to holy, such as the undead and voidsent present in Darkhold?

Hello,

So far Holy does not appear to do much damage when compared to BLM magic attack spells. So perhaps it is not meant to be used in this manner?

The real only advantage I can see it having is if it is indeed used in a situation where there are a lot of skeletons? Perhaps when they come charging out in defense of Batraal, a well timed Holy might stop them .. teehhe.. dead... in their tracks ^.^;

I think this is the only spell that affects creatures that are 'weak' to Light/Holy.

Thanks for the answers, it does look pretty limited in its use. I suppose if you have Fully Blissful Mind and Shroud of Saints ready then the MP hit isn't as bad but it still seems very situational.

Holy proved to be useful yesterday... doing the BLM final AF quest we got ridiculously unlucky with 4/5 blms standing slightly too close to the boss and getting stunned, resulting in them all getting murdered by the lanterns. I ran up, Holy'd to kill them while the other whm healed, I recovered w/ Blissful mind and Shroud of Saints, Presence of Mind > Raise x2. When the next set of wisps appeared the other WHM did the same, followed by more raises.

We actually managed to turn that fight around for an astonishing win thanks to Holy.

I think the first thing to remember is that WHM is a healer. If Holy were more powerful, it would alter our role as main healer. It does have its uses when situations are dire, especially if Blissful Mind and Shroud of Saints are up to use right after. Mostly, just like 11, it's just a fun tool to play around with; so enjoy, and don't take it too seriously. :)

I would find it a BIT more interesting if it did a LOT more damage but COST us a lot more. Not only all our MP, but all of our HP as well. A sort of self-sacrificing move (in order to help the others).

Or if it also did a raisega.... So in the heat of battle, my comrades fall one by one. I seen that defeat is near, and reach within myself for one last desperate measure. I unleash a brilliant flash of light damaging, and stunning the foe whilst raising my friends.... before finally dropping to the ground.

Note: Holy still does full damage even if you have the bare minimum (280 MP) to cast it.

The thing that makes Holy good is the fact that it's instant cast proximity AoE and deals a good amount of damage (more than Flare on BLM). If you've done a lot of stronghold fighting or attempted Cutter's Pass, you'll realize that the game tends to have a heavier focus on AoE when compared to XI because normal mobs die quickly.

Burning MP on non-comboed Stonera or Aerora along with BLMs before using Holy to finish off a group of mobs can be more helpful in the long run than being a cure bot. Too often I see a situation where a bunch of almost dead mobs are beating on BLMs that keep getting interrupted/have low MP while the WHM frantically burns MP healing them. You'd be better off nuking along with them before that stoneskin/sanguine rite buff fades.

With so many ways to regenerate MP now (Blissful Mind, Shroud, Ballad, standing still lol), I think more WHMs need to be more liberal with their MP and help kill faster. More dead mobs = less cc required, less healing required, saves time, etc. WHM (along with BRD) is almost too good in this game because they add so much utility while having decent and safe DD potential. I'd like to see more people take advantage of this.

Of course, this only applies to situations where you know that helping out will result in dead adds and that everyone can survive for 10 seconds without you healing. Don't blow your MP when you are the only healer, your MP regen abilities are on cooldown, and the mobs are nowhere near death.

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Originally Posted by Felicity

I think the first thing to remember is that WHM is a healer. If Holy were more powerful, it would alter our role as main healer. It does have its uses when situations are dire, especially if Blissful Mind and Shroud of Saints are up to use right after. Mostly, just like 11, it's just a fun tool to play around with; so enjoy, and don't take it too seriously. :)

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^ This right here.

I've been having fun with it while soloing NM's for GC seals. I just rotate Stone & Aero Combos until I get down to around 300 MP. Then, making sure Blissful Mind is already activated and ready, I just pop Presence of Mind, then Holy, then restore MP with Blissful Mind, then Pop Holy again. Back to back Holy you get about 3k damage and with the earlier Combo rotations this usually finishes them off.

That's about all its good for. It's a staple of the WHM job that we all expect to see, but anything more and it compromises the focus of your role as a Healer.

Silly theory but... maybe it's also useful to let your party know that you are out of MP. What better way to do that than a giant explosion of light?

Holy is an awesome finishing move.
Boss is at 1% cast holy, end for story.

When all the little ants surround everyone in Cutter's Cry around the Princess and everyone is taking a lot of hits (or for some reason they are on top of me), I use Holy. It kills them all in one hit. Getting MP back is another story so have Blissful Mind ready -_-

I love jacking kills with Holy, and with Chainspell (or whatever it is called now) and Bliss, I have two chances!

I wonder how often the "chance of bind" goes off? I'm thinking it might be useful in situations where the tank loses enmity on a group of monsters and they all come barreling towards you. Could holy to bind them and then run off a little ways since a WHM with no MP is better than a dead WHM?

I kinda wiish holy's damage would be influenced by how much you've healed. But meh beggers cant be choosers.

What I like to do in the first room in Cutters Cry is run and pull all the ants and use Presence of Mind > Holy > Blissful Mind > Holy and instant kill the whole first room. Good fun lol.

Still climbing the ranks of White Mage meself, but Shroud works to half the cost of Holy (so it doesn't take all MP?)

Would this work if one (or more) were being offensive?

Bliss > Presence of Mind > Shroud of Saints > Holy > Holy > consume Bliss.

Shroud doesn't halve the cost of Holy (or any spells for that matter), it halves your current Enmity and grants you substantial gradual MP recovery. That sequence you gave probably will work but you will need to wait for your MP to tick back up to 280 for the second Holy. Usually I just consume Blissful Mind before hitting the second holy and use Shroud of Saints after that.

doh! for some reason I was thinking Shroud halved MP cost. Shows how long I've been reading that tooltip haha

The biggest benefit I have found of holy is it is extremely fast cast and does not require a target. useful when you want to get the spell off quick, like when you are running away. Also useful for showing off in towns since you can cast it in town :D/

Totorak (sp?) boss dies instantly with Holy.... lol

For CC speed run, in the last room with piests, (two groups piests one group doblyns) one strat that many groups use is to gather the last two pulls (doblyns and a set of piests) sleepga, /countdown to blms casting flare, once flare lands the whms then POM holy / blissfull mind / holy. The 4 holys from the two whms are what will make or break this putting out enough damage for most groups that aren't extremely well geared. While this is an EXTREMELY particular and narrow use, I none the less rather like it since it does make that room easily 30 seconds quicker which really helps on speed runs.

Holy scales very well with Int/M.Att. granted playing WHM you rarely have any of those stats. I have a nuking-ish gear set for WHM for moogle runs. I've got my holy to hit for over 2k with a 1/2healing 1/2nuker gear on.

I really see holy as a future PvP ability. Makes melee question rushing the WHM with holy. It is insta-cast, hurts a lot, and binds you. Prefect last ditch WHM in PvP "Oh crap!" button.

I think there is more to holy than meets the eye. The only time I've ever hit 9999 damage on this game was with holy. I was popping off holy for fun on lvl 13 monkies in the shroud, around 5.5k per holy. I crit'd for 9999. The most I hit with BLM with thundaga/burst combo'd with excruciate on kobolds was i think 7~8kish. But a plain old holy just crit'ing maxes out? Hmmm.... Maybe some kind of hidden damage bonus or something. No idea.

Cleric stance + Holy Bomb :P = Fun

You know, I think the common trend for WHM is that we are the Final Fantasy official Healbots along with other classes like RDM etc. The beauty of FFXIV is that it allows for a form of tweaking, as a WHM you have spells at your disposal like Stone/Aero(AoE versions aswell) for Offensive, and great defensive spells like Stoneskin/Regen/Cures. The beauty of WHM (As opposed to Conjurer) Is that you have some WHM specific spells like Holy/Buffs.

Personally, I wish I hadn't built my CNJ/WHM into a Healbot, I wish I had broken the rules and enveloped myself as a Damage Dealing Conjurer/WHM. Let's be honest, CNJ/WHM is fun, whether you're healing or dealing some damage, I find CNJ/WHM is a rather common Class to be grouped with, it isn't uncommon for there to be 2 in 1 PT, many times one is asked to DD and Support Heal (In XP PTs). TBH: A CNJ with Other Abilities Mixed in has probably one of the best survival methods of the current classes. Second Wind/Necrosis thrown into the mix, CNJ has endless possibilities ATM.

Bottom Point: WHM/CNJ comes with Great Offensive Abilities, perhaps you may all dislike the Idea of Holy for a WHM who should be healing (Personally I think Holy should have the Benediction ability, and Benediction a totally different ability, a sort of +% of Healing Done or something). But I think any WHM/CNJ willing to be their own man should try being more than what meets the eye. Perhaps we were given our gifts for a reason... assuming 2.0 doesn't take them away ! :-)

Has no one else wondered why there was no initial addition of a RDM? I think CNJ/WHM fills in any role RDM could have been desired to accomplish(Hint hint; Cleric Stance). Just my 2cents on that department. Happy Holifications !

amen! HOLY SUCKS, and is a huge disappointment to waste a WHM ability slot on such crap.