Grouping Worries

I am currently a lvl 15 CNJ and have just hit the first dungeon in the main storyline after soloing up to this point.

My issue is I am a little worried about forming a group to tackle the dungeon and am just looking for a little reassurance really.

The main issues I have are:

1. Although I am by no means a newbie to MMO's (I was a lvl 80 Wizard in EQ2) I've never really played a healer class before and I don't want to join a group and then fail and let everyone die if I can keep up etc..

2. I play on PS3 so chat/communicating with the group could be an issue as it takes and age to type out a message using the PS3 keyboard.

I know communication is kinda essential to survival in a group!

Like I say main thing holding me back is the being new to healing and I just don't want to let the group I do join down if I'm a bit useless (I find PS3 targeting a challenge at times!)

Any help/guidance anyone can give would be very appreciated

Use the D-pad up and down to target your party peoples.
I don't have a keyboard at all, and I'm doing fine.
I'm up in Toto-rak atm. It gets shaky there with healing and they got poison so it's a lil hectic
have Esuna ready in Toto-rak. At the end of the day, I suggest you getting a keyboard asap since
later you may need to talk. :x

I played with several PS3 users who were able to type back quick responses. Though I am a PC user, so I'm not sure of their method.

Honestly, healing is really easy in Final Fantasy at the early levels. Just spam heal your tank, you won't run out of mana and he/she won't die. IF you let a tank die while you have 90% mana, expect to get yelled at. In addition, it's the internet, so if you get yelled at, just ignore it and try again. You can also bail in the middle of a group anytime you feel insecure and re-queue again for another group.

Additional edits.

*Don't worry about DPS as a healer.
*Don't pull stuff, ever.
*It's OK to let a DPS die if you're saving a tank.
*It's OK to let a DPS die if he pulled stuff he's not suppose to.

*****I forgot to mention this, since it's comparable to being a PS3 player*******

As a tank/DPS who wants faster queues. I check all the language options. A few times I have been in a party of players who spoke a different language than me. However, if you do your job right, you'll never have to talk to anyone.

http://www.amazon.com/PS3-Wireless-K.../dp/B001ENPDJA
They're using something like this I'd guess.

Yes, just keep the Tank alive. I am one and on my first run, i told everyone i was starting and would do my best, they were nice about it and kept me alive mostly. I did my best, all we can do really and worked hard and we got thru. I didnt have time to talk much at all and most everyone else didnt say much either. It is pretty clear where to go and what to do, but mostly as a healer you give the tank and the team the chance to stay alive and face down the baddies. Some are tricky there is a boss in that one that runs around in circles and is a bear to catch. Lots of imagination by the developers. And as said, if you dont find the group is right for you you can log off any time, and try again, as a Healer you will always be welcome. Healers and Tanks do have a lot of weight on them but all we can do is try our best. :)

One thing you will want to do is if you pull hate, don't run around. If you have a Gladiator tank, run towards them so they can Flash, or if you have a Marauder try to position the enemy in front of them so they can grab it with Overpower.

Don't get too paranoid about your tank dieing, as they can take a few hits unless they are severely undergeared. You will want to give them a moment to get hate on all the enemies before you go healing them. If you heal before they've grabbed hate the enemies will just head right for you and the tank will have to reposition and grab them off you.

Sastasha is pretty simple so don't worry too much, just get the hang of playing as your class. It's the first dungeon so everyone will be learning as they go, too. Also, as someone mentioned, hitting up and down on the D-Pad allows you to easily target party members.

Another thing - If you play around with your cross hotbar enough and get used to it, you may like making macros with some common phrases like "Hello" that you can put on your crossbar so you don't have to type too often. However, a USB keyboard is highly recommended.

These are great suggestions so far. Let me suggest that if you haven't already, run the guildhests for levels 10 and 15 (and beyond when you get there). After you unlock the first one (I did so in Horizon), you proceed through them in order using the Duty Finder. These seem to be designed for players who are new to grouping (or at least their role in a party) and offer a great chance to practice your skills in a light party setting. You also get a nice xp bonus on your first time through.

I also want to point out that it is perfectly fine to nuke in dungeons, but you will want to practice it and take a few battles early in a dungeon to get a feel for how long you can let the tank go without healing. Not only will this make the dungeon go more smoothly, your Limit Break bar actually fills up much faster if you heal people that are closer to death rather than spamming healing when they are near-full. Once you get the hang of it you can throw in Cleric Stance switching and then healing becomes a very active role.

I only say this because endgame dungeons will go a lot more smoothly if the healer assists in damage when the party's HP is fine. The dungeons I have done required you to kill enemies quickly to get away from a pursuer, and a few bosses have required me to throw out a Holy or two in order to get rid of assisting enemies quickly before they can become an issue.

Some fights are definitely intended for you to focus on healing 24/7, though, but it will be obvious when that is the case.

Get a bluetooth keyboard. Logitech has a few at a good price. I posted their K810 a while back, which was on sale for $59 (normally $99). That sale has passed, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find a good deal on another model.

Use the D-pad to target. PS3 targeting is horrible, but it should be easy enough with only 4 players. You don't really have to worry about AOE healing until during/after the Ifrit fight. The early healing levels are really, really easy, and usually only the tank ever gets hit with anything.

I did quite a bit of tanking in WoW, along with a fair bit of healing. One of the most important personal rules I followed hasn't been mentioned yet. If the tank consistently gets to 100% health during a fight, the healer is probably over-healing. Keeping the tank just below 100% is optimal. Over-healing increases hate towards the healer, making the tank's job more difficult. There will be times when an over-heal becomes necessary, but try to avoid it when possible.

Firstly, welcome to the wonderful world of MMO healing! I am usually a healer in MMO games but this time I chose to shake things up by picking a tanking class. Do not be afraid to let your group know that you are a new healer and are still learning the ins and outs of the class. Most of the time they will be very gracious about it and be patient, or perhaps even offer words of advice along the way. In the event that you find yourself grouped with someone who is.. less than patient.. don't let it discourage you, there will always be those sorts in random dungeons.

Also, have you done the Guildhests yet? Those are extremely quick and to the point skirmishes that help show you the ropes of your selected role and may be a good place to start before tackling your first dungeon.

As a Tank we can bear seeing death approach a bit, before we get worried enough to be distracted. We also can take care of ourselves with a potion or our own Convalescene or other Cross Abilities in a pinch if the healer is totally overwhelemd with other duties but we do get nervous if the XP bar falls too far. And as Estelios says, some bosses demand different tactics, we are all learning on the job here, in one way or another and that makes it a shared challenge and victory that much more nice to share.

And yes over healing is harder for us too, as it makes it harder for us to keep all that lovely hate coming to us. :)

I am as candid as possible with teams as i am learning too, and they have been very nice about it... so that was a relief as one wants to do the best for everyone. Except the enemies. :)

There are low stress ways to practice I have found, our roles, ..by using them in FATES..and other areas. I have practiced tanking with the main foes in FATES and have seen healers do the same thing, and used my own Conjurer class to help heal lead fighters in FATES as a way of self learning. Also enjoy going to the area of tough but needed prey for HUNT logs and helping others get their catch...all good ways to learn on the job.

Thanks guys all of your comments have been really helpful.

Luckily i have found a way to link my laptop to my ps3 and use the keyboard so the typing issue is resolved hurrah!

I haven't tried any of the guildleves as I have shied away from anything that suggested grouping up until now but I will jump into one tomorrow and see how it goes and then try the first dungeon run what's the worst that cant happen eh?!

Really good too get some helpful and constructive responses thanks guys really is appreciated maybe I'll make white mage yet! he he

New tank here, haven't partied/grouped yet. ;)

But I can answer the PS3 question - I have a wireless keyboard that's attached to the PS3. It comes in handy, big time. I don't use it all the time, of course, but if I want to type in a quick word, or something, it's there when I need it. Comes in handy. I would recommend having something like that on hand. It doesn't need to be a super fancy keyboard, either.