Easiest Healer to play?

I have never healed before in an MMO. I would like to learn. I have been tanking almost exclusively for probably 15 years.

Also, if I could ask two more questions so I don't have to make other posts.

What is the hardest and easiest Tank job to play and/or master?

What is the hardest and easiest DPS job to play and/or master?

Just planning out which jobs i want to finish leveling. There are nights when I feel like playing something challenging, other nights, I just want to chill. I would like to have options depending on how I feel.

Thanks ahead of time for the replies. I'm constantly blown away by how helpful and polite the community is here compared to other mmo's I have played.

This will depend heavily on what your goals are and what you find challenging.

If you're looking to clear dungeons without deaths as a pure healer then all of them are equally easy. SCH's pet covers a lot of the healing burden, but both AST and WHM have so much free healing that there's no risk of failure.

If you wish to deal moderate damage but still err on the side of caution then I'd go with WHM. It has a diverse set of healing spells that can be spammed and a very simple damage toolkit. AST has superior MP efficiently when played well and a similar set of healing spells, but cards add a tight timings and can be distracting if you're new. SCH has a small set of healing spells and many of its healing abilities (cooldowns) rely on a shared resource. After you're comfortable with SCH's resource management it's the easiest healer to use in dungeons because of its instant cast aoe attack.

Mastering any of the healers will rely on maximizing cooldowns. Every one of them has "free" oGCD healing that can be used to cover the majority of damage if used efficiently. Additionally, you'll need to understand all the tank jobs' defensive cooldowns and how the other healer jobs work. Every healer composition plays slightly differently. Beyond that each healer presents different playstyle challenges.

WHM plays similarly to BLM. Limited mobility, lots of cast bars. You'll need to know what mechanics are coming and preposition to maintain uptime.
AST is very high activity. It's the most mobile of all healers but makes up for that with lots of oGCDs to weave. You'll need to be able to target an ally, use an oGCD, and retarget the boss in under a second if you want to avoid clipping your GCD. There's also a decent amount of double weaving so low latency is a must. Using cards effectively requires an understanding of every other job in the game so that you can maximize burst windows, though this is only a concern in organized groups.
SCH is somewhere in between. It has lots of casting but also has an at-will instant cast for mobility and weaving at the cost of reduced offensive output. More oGCDs than WHM, but doesn't need to target allies like AST. Of the three healers I have the least experience with SCH in endgame content. Hopefully someone else can give a more detailed summary for it.

WHM for sure is the easiest to play and learn, but still difficult to optimize at high end due to very limited weaving and mobility. But it's a good healer to pick up starting out. SCH requires good heal mapping and AST is high APM and requires positioning and some knowledge of the encounter. AST is a little more rewarding when played well and is currently the best healer in the game at 80.

WAR is definitely the easiest tank by a mile and dps is subjective. You might find a melee clicks better with your tank experience. GNB is probably the hardest tank (but not too difficult) due to extra apm and BLM the most difficult dps to master.

If we're talking about the easiest to get into then PLD and WAR are probably on about the same level. They both have rather simple rotations and it's really only when you get into optimization that paladin becomes a completely different beast. Warrior does however turn dungeons into a complete joke at level 76 when you gain Nascent Flash.


Gunbreaker, as already mentioned, has a higher APM due to it's load of oGCDs at level 70+.

Dark Knight feels somewhat lacking in defense since you don't gain access to your low cooldown mitigation in the form of Blackest Night until level 70 and Dark Mind only works on magic damage which doesn't help much for trashmob pulls.

After the 5.3 changes, AST is easily the best healer to start off with. At low levels you basically have a free 40s benediction, access to regens before WHM, and infinite mp, which is actually a problem for the other healers as they get their mp tools much later on.

Depends on your own playstyle honestly, we all might have different opinions.

I personally think AST is easiest, but WHM is very easy too, again, depends how you play.

Easiest tank in my opinion: PLD it's very user friendly- most cooldowns, self heals too OP. has 2 very basic rotations from melee combo -> magic combo

Most difficult: either DRK or GNB: both have more complex burst combos when off cooldown, but then again that's up to the player,

Easiest DPS: I'd say they're all equally challenging in their own way: each DPS has a strict DPS rotation that gotta be followed to maximize your DPS. ex: BLM is the easiest class to play, but can also act as a double edge sword and be the most difficult if you dont utilize your toolkit and stay away from icemage. But to answer this honestly: maybe DNC, or RDM/BLM is fairly really easy to follow- realistically all are but they dont have too much weaving as some others.

Most difficult DPS: again, BLM can also be very difficult if you're trapped playing icemage all the time. Other than that, I'd say MNK is pretty up there with SMN (SMN has a lot of double weaving)

Up to honestly each player, but no class is fully difficult once you get practice in! I hope this helps! (:

Thanks for all the replies. I had to travel right after making this thread and forgot about it.

Great info though. The Sch looks appealing only for the little pet. I have always had a weakness for pets. I will probably stick to Whm until I really learn the ropes. One this is for sure is you cannot use the 1st sixty levels to gauge your performance with a given class.

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Originally Posted by select20

Thanks for all the replies. I had to travel right after making this thread and forgot about it.

Great info though. The Sch looks appealing only for the little pet. I have always had a weakness for pets. I will probably stick to Whm until I really learn the ropes. One this is for sure is you cannot use the 1st sixty levels to gauge your performance with a given class.

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Quick bit of advice in regards to that. If you want to play SCH for the pet...don't.

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Originally Posted by Absurdity

Quick bit of advice in regards to that. If you want to play SCH for the pet...don't.

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I will keep that in mind.

WHM (White Mage) very good healer and dps also. Easy to play.

Personally I think SCH is the easiest and best of the three healers to play, because it teaches you how to heal efficiently while still being flexible. WHM and AST both have a habit of encouraging heal spam if you don’t learn how to use all of their respective tools, but SCH’s weaker GCDs force you to learn how to utilize its whole toolkit as you level to compensate.

As a bonus, you also can unlock SMN at the same time, the best DPS class currently, and one I’d say is the most faithful to the classic fantasy of a SMN when translated into a trinity-MMO. It’s got a lot of fiddly parts to micromanage, but this iteration is the easiest the job has ever been honestly.

Whether both come off as hard or easy mostly boils down to how you handle organizing their buttons.

WHM for easiest.

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Originally Posted by select20

I will keep that in mind.

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I guess I should clarify this a bit more. The SCH pet has always been a bit of an issue. In it's earlier days it had an insane delay in it's reactions, so you would end up pressing a fairy skill and it could take anywhere between 2-8 seconds before the fairy reacts...if it does at all. Then they managed to pretty much fix it in Stormblood, it's reaction time was significantly increased, you could command your fairy to do something while you yourself were in the middle of a cast and it would often use the action before your cast was even finished.



In Shadowbringers however they not only removed their fixes for the fairy but managed to make it worse. Nowadays your fairy just "exists", meaning that it spams a low potency heal on targets that have <100% hp, with no control over who it heals (something you could control before), you also can't activate it's abilities while casting anymore because it will just wait until you finish your cast, put you in a short animation lock and then use it. This essentially means that all fairy actions are now oGCDs for you, because not using them like oGCDs causes you to clip. On top of these two issues they managed to introduce ability ghosting to both SCH and SMN, this means that if you press your pet's abilities too quickly in succession then they will sometimes go on cooldown but the fairy won't actually use it, wasting the ability.


This is what I meant with "don't play it for the pet" because instead of adding to the job the pet is one of the most frustrating aspects.

CNJ/WHM is probably the easiest (as WHM starts off as a level 1 CNJ and becomes WHM at 30). AST starts out at 30, while SCH (which is probably the most complex between it and AST) starts out life as a DPS (the Arcanist) and becomes a healer at 30 when Arcanist forks into SMN and SCH (as both share the same XP bar as they are derived from the same class - so you get a 2fer =D

Why did they revert the changes to fairy if it was fixed?

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Why did they revert the changes to fairy if it was fixed?

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That is something I assume SCH mains are asking themselves to this day. I heard "quality of life change" thrown around but whether or not they actually used that as a reason I don't know and considering that it would be a nonsensical explanation for those changes I avoid putting words in the dev teams mouths. Whatever reason they had for changing the fairy it is inferior to it's Stormblood version and that doesn't even include the fact that they basically turned Selene into a glorified glamour.

So do they take away all these abilities from healers just to give them back in the next expansion?

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Originally Posted by glamazon

So do they take away all these abilities from healers just to give them back in the next expansion?

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We can hope.

At *high* level they all have their optimisation niche and I'm not sure you can say there's an easiest healer. For instance I'm a terrible WHM and find it incredibly hard to optimise while I have 0 issue dealing with cards and 'oticing who's bursting when.

However, as many have stated, whm is considered to easiest because of his very straight forward kit and I also would definitely recommend WHM to anyone who wants to start healing (unless they have strong understand of the game mechanic already)

Easiest? I'd say WHM because of the sheer number of insta-casts and ogcd heals.

WHM is easiest but most boring later on. AST is much more interesting compared to WHM but it’s more challenging. Sch imo was ruined - it used to be the high DPS healer with somewhat more dps skills than the others, plus the fairy was much stronger. These days AST is equally good at shields and better at dps. SCH should be made the DPS healer again to restore its identity.

Easiest: White Mage (WHM)

WHM is the most straight-forward healer with very few gimmicks. It's the archetypal "I am the healer" class and I'd always recommend it for beginners.

WHM playstyle: basic single-target and AoE heals and healing over time. Several instant heals at higher level. Opportunity to spam massive AoE heals at high levels.

WHM flavour: holy, light, elements, prayer

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Middle-of-the-road: Astrologian (AST)

AST isn't difficult, but you have more to think about due to the card system. You'll need to split your awareness between healing and managing cards, so it's not quite as simple as WHM.

AST playstyle: basic single-target and AoE heals with a choice of regen or shields. Heavy focus on card management for buffing party. Interesting moves like timed heal "bomb" and duplicating heals which require preemption and strategy.

AST flavour: stars, divination, time, lights

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More complex: Scholar (SCH)

Scholar, in my opinion, is the most challenging healing job to pick as someone new to healing in FFXIV. It's not hugely difficult, but there are a lot more buttons to press, and a focus on preemptive shielding and pet management. It's the least "classic" healer IMO.

SCH playstyle: Smaller basic heals. Preemptive shielding. Pet management (actions, positioning). Combining actions to buff or alter your shield spells. Limited charges per minute for "big" spells with risk of leaving yourself vulnerable if expended too quickly.

SCH flavour: academia, fairies, tactics, tech (sort of)

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TL;DR/summary: You'll be fine no matter which job you play, but I think you'll have the easiest time with WHM. WHM is a good introduction to healing with fewer gimmicks to worry about until higher levels. AST and especially SCH are more complicated. I would not advise SCH as a first healing class unless you really like the sound of it.

Pick the healer you like. None are difficult. Once you get in the swing of things you’ll be fine. Also don’t listen to people who try to micromanage how you play.
Are you keeping your party alive?
Are you doing damage to the enemies?
Are you having fun?

Then you are doing your job the right way. If someone has a tip listen and judge if it’s right for you and if it isn’t ignore them.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Then you are doing your job the right way. If someone has a tip listen and judge if it’s right for you and if it isn’t ignore them.

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There are objectively right and wrong ways to play a job, though healers do have more subjectivity to their decision making than tanks or dps.

Still, a healer sticking single target regens on the whole party when they could just use their AoE regen would be a good example of an objectively poor choice.

Don't get your head stuck in the sand. If someone understands more then you about healing their advice will likely be correct even if it contradicts your instincts.

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Originally Posted by Veis_Alveare

Still, a healer sticking single target regens on the whole party when they could just use their AoE regen would be a good example of an objectively poor choice.

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Sort of off-topic, but this is basically the healer's equivalent to Ice Mages from way back (unless it's still a thing)

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Originally Posted by Veis_Alveare

There are objectively right and wrong ways to play a job, though healers do have more subjectivity to their decision making than tanks or dps.

Still, a healer sticking single target regens on the whole party when they could just use their AoE regen would be a good example of an objectively poor choice.

Don't get your head stuck in the sand. If someone understands more then you about healing their advice will likely be correct even if it contradicts your instincts.

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When your aoe is on cd and you have a single target spell that will put both a regen and a shield on the target then yes I’m putting that on the target

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Originally Posted by glamazon

When your aoe is on cd and you have a single target spell that will put both a regen and a shield on the target then yes I’m putting that on the target

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You realise Neutral Sect also applies to Aspected Helios, right?

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Originally Posted by glamazon

When your aoe is on cd and you have a single target spell that will put both a regen and a shield on the target then yes I’m putting that on the target

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Aspected Helios, the said AoE - is a GCD action which shares the same cooldown timer as Aspected Benefic.
If you can apply more than 2 Aspected Benefics, you might as well apply an Aspected Helios in that timeframe.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

When your aoe is on cd and you have a single target spell that will put both a regen and a shield on the target then yes I’m putting that on the target

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When I need to slice bread, I too like to use a spoon. Someone tried to offer me a bread knife once so I ignored them and haven't talked to them since.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

When your aoe is on cd and you have a single target spell that will put both a regen and a shield on the target then yes I’m putting that on the target

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Your AoE can't be on CD - Aspected Helios, just like Aspected Benefic, is a GCD action. You can use it every 2.5 seconds, sps dependent.

Aspected Helios and aspected benefic stack do they not? Why is that? Could it be because they are supposed to be used together?

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Aspected Helios and aspected benefic stack do they not? Why is that? Could it be because they are supposed to be used together?

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Because the regen versions have different potencies??? The shields don't stack though, with the stronger one overwriting weaker ones.

Mate, you can't dig yourself out of a hole by lining the walls with steel. You'll never shake your reputation as the guy who cast 8 benefics over 1 helios like that.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Aspected Helios and aspected benefic stack do they not? Why is that? Could it be because they are supposed to be used together?

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If they were "supposed" to be used together wouldn't there be like... any scenario where that's an attractive option?

Having the Asp. Helios buff on a main tank will invariably help mitigate a bit more of the autos they take for a short while but what you're suggesting is akin to casting Asp. Helios specifically for that bit of tank healing as opposed to just using your proper single target version of the same skill.

It's even spiritually similar to dps who don't AoE, or who AoE on single targets - there is an appropriate number of targets for some abilities in this game. You'll benefit from learning what those are.

Don’t need to shake anything. I knew what I was doing and had fun doing it. No one died. We won the fight. I also did damage. Check check check. And now I completely understand the people who say you don’t pay my sub.

Yeah and that’s different for different players. Some always aoe with more than one some don’t. Some do it at three or four. They will decide what’s optimal for them.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Yeah and that’s different for different players. Some always aoe with more than one some don’t. Some do it at three or four. They will decide what’s optimal for them.

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There's no such thing as 'optimal for them'. There is only objectively correct and objectively incorrect. Using a single target heal for aoe healing might still work but you should realize that it is the objectively worse choice.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Yeah and that’s different for different players. Some always aoe with more than one some don’t. Some do it at three or four. They will decide what’s optimal for them.

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Some jobs have different breakpoints for their general AoE rotation or for using AoE moves over single target ones (DNC uses their AoE procs even on single target and swaps at 2, SCH and AST do more with their AoE at 2 enemies but WHM will still use Glare over Holy until 3, etc.) but there is no such thing as "deciding what is optimal for them" rather just... playing correctly or not.

If you want to actively choose to play incorrectly then just be ready for the consequences - more deaths and wipes, the potential to be kicked for your mistakes and (as we've seen here) people calling you out on your poor choices.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

Don’t need to shake anything. I knew what I was doing and had fun doing it. No one died. We won the fight. I also did damage. Check check check. And now I completely understand the people who say you don’t pay my sub.

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Look, jokes aside, people are mainly just trying to help you here.

Let's say you burn out of resources and pop Neutral Sect. You use 1 AspHelios.
1. The entire party is immediately healed and shielded. This is far safer than AspBenefic x8.
2. If the party takes more damage, you can use another AspHelios. They all immediately get another shield/regen/heal. Again far safer.
3. If you were AspBenfic spamming on 8 people, player 8 wouldn't receive any attention until after about 17 sec. They're in danger.
4. In the above scenario you cast 6 Malefic.

So overall you healed more, you kept the party far safer and you dealt 1500 potency of damage (and even more if it was aoe). You're the sort of AST the party is glad to have. Wouldn't that be more fun?

Finally someone reasonable. I can agree with this. But when point two happens and neutral sext is still up. Then I am going to sue asp benefic.

I think you all in your perfect savage high end raids where no one is stepping in anything bad and everyone has meteorites the fight have forgotten that this isn’t the case with the majority of players.
People step in bad. People have poor connections. There is lag. For me healing comes before anything else
This mindset of I can let them be one third health doesn’t work because this is not a static group. I don’t know these players and they don’t know me.

It’s great that your statics run like well oiled machines and you can do the minimum when it comes to healing. I have not encountered runs like that.

I will agree that some of those befits went unused and I probably didn’t need to cast one on everyone. However I have to maintain an element of fun for me and that is healing shielding buffing etc. yes I dps but I don’t want to button mash malefic. That’s not fun. Thank god for cards. But yes maybe I can put asp b on the tank me and main damage dealer and not everyone.

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Originally Posted by glamazon

People step in bad. People have poor connections. There is lag. For me healing comes before anything else
This mindset of I can let them be one third health doesn’t work because this is not a static group. I don’t know these players and they don’t know me.

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Then why would you heal inefficiently?

While you're casting Benefic on players 1 and 2, player 3 is getting killed.
If everyone is taking damage, Helios and heal everyone at once. This is simple stuff.