Often I find myself staring at the party list for health drops and debuffs instead of looking of the "game" itself, especially during boss fights, almost never get a chance to enjoy the graphic and scenery.
Am I playing it wrong or is this the standard healer experience?
Because if it is I'm jumping ship back to dps and tanking.
Tunnel vision as a healer
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10-19-2021, 01:39 PMLitheSuxmanTunnel vision as a healer
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10-19-2021, 01:52 PMXirean
That's interesting. I usually have this problem with my hotbar on dps.
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10-19-2021, 01:55 PMDeaconMoore
It can be, especially if you are newer to healing. Doesn't have to be that way though, you can setup health bars for the party members to be over their heads so you can keep track of their health on the field instead of the party window as that lets you see more of the game. Depends on what's going on a bit too.
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10-19-2021, 02:03 PMAxzeriuth
If you dont know a fight and acting reactively (after being hit) then sure I understand tunnel vision on the party list so you know what your healing is doing. Once you're comfortable healing and know what attacks do what then you can act accordingly without staring at health bars. It does come with practice.
Another thing would be to have health bars above peoples heads when they get damaged so thats a way to know who needs healing without the party list. -
10-19-2021, 02:31 PMYeol
The default party list position is top left. Makes it harder for you to track people's HP as well as focus on the mechanics. Try moving the party list closer to the middle of the screen.
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10-19-2021, 02:41 PMJeeqbit
You don't need to stare at it, just glance at it with the corner of your eye every 2-3 seconds.
You can avoid looking at it until the boss casts something, because either your party will not take damage until the boss casts something, or what the party member stood in won't need healing until the boss is about the finish them off with a raid-wide aoe. If the party member died from standing in something it won't hurt them to remain dead for a few seconds more until you look at the party list.
You should be able to heal the person quickly with an off-global ability before the boss casts an aoe, except at low levels where you can only cast heals. -
10-19-2021, 02:53 PMXasapisI basically did the same. I have a 27 inch monitor so leaving the group frames at the default position would leave me with a sore neck. I put the group frames almost left center position of the screen and this is the only frame I look at when I want to heal, including myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeol
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10-19-2021, 03:21 PMHysterior
You need to see where your eyes naturally go and change your layout so the most important info are in one place + you'll tunnel vision less and less as you realize how little healing is actually needed
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10-19-2021, 04:09 PMRein_eon_Osborne
Is this is your first time healing? Are you still learning how to play healer roles? Are you using default HUD layout?
If the answer to any of these 3 questions are ‘yes’ then rest assured that you’re not alone nor an oddball. The first two cases will get better as you practice more. Reactively healing will do just that to you & that is fine because you need time to familiarize yourself. Once you’re comfortable, you will slowly learn that almost every incoming damage and debuff are very predictable; even the time when your party will mistake.
Meanwhile default HUD, while it works, it’s not optimal in my opinion. The information you need to see are all over the place: party list, enemy list (for their cast bar), your target, focus target, your own buff/debuff bar, class gauge, and even our own hotbar. The bright side with our hotbar is that we are consolidated to have 1 button spam dps option so you have more leeway to divide your attention elsewhere because all you have to do is just mindlessly tapping 1 button until some healing is needed.
I know not your preferences in HUD layout and I believe this is unique to each of us. You have to experiment yourselves and see which layout works the best for you. They are highly customizable, so that’s a plus point. -
10-19-2021, 04:13 PMNetherealPut the party list in the middle of your screen to the left or right whichever you prefer. Eventually you'll be looking at the scenery while also looking at the party list. This will also help you with snap healing if you end up doing harder content.Quote:
Originally Posted by LitheSuxman
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10-19-2021, 08:14 PMAiscenceWith time you will learn that attacks aren't random in the game. Most bosses will begin with an aoe damage then a tank buster (or the other way around) with generally 10 seconds in between at least, then there wont be any for 30/60 seconds, generally there will be a mechanic in between like dodging circles , a stack, a spread, something like that. So in general you know how 90% of the bosses in the game will work even without knowing them.Quote:
Originally Posted by LitheSuxman
When you get used to that, you'll see that bosses are on a timer: if he does an attack at 15 seconds into the fight, he'll do that attack everytime at 15 sec into the fight, no randomness outside of 1 exception: bosses with 2 patterns, very rare but it goes like this:
pattern 1: aoe - tank buster - fire mechanic - wind mechanic - aoe - tank buster - water mechanic - earth mechanic - aoe - tank buster
pattern 2: aoe - tank buster - water mechanic - earth mechanic - aoe - tank buster - fire mechanic - wind mechanic - aoe - tank buster
As you can see ... not very complicated. In most cases there will be 10 to 15 seconds at least between 2 sets of damage so you can basically heal like this (each 2.5 is basically your GCD/cast time/time of the fight):
15sec: aoe damage
17.5s: you aoe heal
20sec: you aoe heal - everyone is full!
22.5s: Nothing to do so attack spell!
25 s: same
27.5: same
30 s: boss do a tank buster!
32.5: heal the tank
35 s: put a regen
37.5: damage or whatever as there won't be anything for like 10 seconds
As you can see, everything is scripted and there's time between things, you only need one or two heal to heal someone up.
The other advices I can give is: first, use your ogcd more than gcd if you can, they are free and strong: asylum as a whm just for the tank is normal, the potency is stronger than a cure 2. Second: on the same vein don't be afraid to always cast, if you need to heal just cancel the previous cast by moving a bit, nothing's urgent or it's already too late anyway and prob not your fault. Third: when you dodge thing always move just to be outside of the aoe, do not move 3 meters further than it, it doesn't spread and you can't cast if you move. Fourth: try to always stand behind the boss, you will have most people in range and the better they are, the more they'll stay behind too so aoes and stuff are always stacked and easy to dodge/heal.
Hope it helps, it'll come with practice! -
10-19-2021, 09:51 PMgilmorej
After you've done it for a while and gotten more comfortable you'll eventually be able to just focus on what the boss is doing, and while doing that you'll be able to see with your eyes when a DPS stands in bad stuff, or when the boss is casting a tankbuster, etc.. and once you know more fights by heart you can even see ahead of time when a player is about to do something stupid and will be ready to heal them as soon as it happens.
Basically, you'll improve as your comfort with the role improves. -
10-19-2021, 10:39 PMJeeqbit
The default HUD layout is not good, because you have the target bar, casts and status effects at the top, your actions at the bottom and the party list on the left. It used to make it really hard to concentrate on everything until I discovered I could move the target, casts and status effects near my hotbar. Now I only have to look down and to the left.
Legacy movement reduces the time it takes to avoid an aoe by 1 second, because you don't have to turn your camera around before moving. That second could be used to check your party list. -
10-19-2021, 10:46 PMAelin_AshryverHealer main here. Damage in this game is well scripted, once you are comfy you will be planning all your heals in advance and only using some tools for when ppl f it up. And I think by default when people lose hp you can see it above their character? Or it may be a setting I have on for healing, I rarely look at my party list to heal people. I am watching my whole party and the fight, I know when damage comes and I ALSO can see my party members when they position wrong and will take damage. I only use my party list to target and throw out my cards and heals. You will just be staring waiting for damage because you are new to the role.Quote:
Originally Posted by LitheSuxman
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10-20-2021, 12:37 AMBsrking5
As a healer i tend to watch target of target, usually the tank. Which is center up a bit for me. If an aoe hit i'll aoe heal. I tend to not worry so much about the dps health, they generally aren't going to die and most of the time its because of a failed mechanic which there is little i could do to fix. The tank thou, im deciding when to single target heal. I'll also put enemy cast bars near the center so i don't have to draw my attention away from me, the center of the screen.
As a paladin or rdm i find it much easier to throw out spot heals when needed. -
10-20-2021, 01:02 AMJeeqbit
In most cases it should only be the tank taking damage, unless there was a raid-wide aoe or a specific mechanic which you will get used to when you have done the fight before, so you can keep the tank on your focus target. Sometimes your party will get hit by things that were avoidable, but most of the time if it's just moving out of an orange circle they are going to do it.
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10-20-2021, 02:39 AMMiracle_Diva
As some people said before, adjust your HUD, you can move stuff like HP bars around, try to make use of Focus Target option, with more time and experience you will be able to determine the pace of dungeons.
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10-20-2021, 11:48 AMTaleraRistain
Move the pieces of your HUD around so you can keep an eye on those things without having to look completely away from the fight. I still have mine in upper left but I've been playing MMOs for over 20 years so it's second nature to keep that in the corner of my eye. It sounds like it doesn't work there for you, so find a good spot where your eyes naturally go that isn't going to block you seeing the fight and plop the party list there.