Attention Scholars: Always place your Fairy!

[FinagleABagel]

I'm not understanding what you guys are quibbling about then. As you've so aptly summarized here, one person is advocating placement to prevent delayed casts, while you're saying minimizing movements achieves more or less the same thing. And since you're both advocating micromanaging faerie heals when possible... what's the issue?

It is quibbling, but there is an important distinction. This thread is advocating the placement of fairies after the primary reason for doing so was removed. While I may occasionally have an issue with my fairy taking damage because she is casting while I'm moving, that problem is NOT solved by placement (arguably, it's worse).

If you viewed the video, the other scholar almost runs to the other side of the area when Caduceus splits. That's a horrible strategy. Even worse, he pigeonholed his fairy onto one tank and did the same thing on the other tank. The fairy has no chance to keep the other tank alive alone. It also wouldn't help a white mage much. The fairy has pretty low throughput so it's best to use to spike in conjunction with Physick or to keep ppl topped off from incidental damage (for when Succor would be too inefficient to use).

[Maku]

When you have zero range issues and independent casting, what advantage does placing your fairy have over someone who doesn't place it but manually controls it in the same fashion?

There is one advantage. She does in fact cast Embrace more frequently when placed. You however are correct in that if you don't have range limitations you can just manually control her. The one and only really quality of life advantage you have by placing her is that she will cast more often and STAY on steady and not cast Whispering Dawn because you are not forcing her to cure and thus not kicking her out of the stance. In a fight with no range limitations that is really the only advantage.

[FinagleABagel]

There is one advantage. She does in fact cast Embrace more frequently when placed. You however are correct in that if you don't have range limitations you can just manually control her. The one and only really quality of life advantage you have by placing her is that she will cast more often and STAY on steady and not cast Whispering Dawn because you are not forcing her to cure and thus not kicking her out of the stance. In a fight with no range limitations that is really the only advantage.

That's what I thought...I pretty much never let Eos do her thing when in Coil. The AI is just too wonky and maladjusted to deal with Coil damage.

If I could define target priorities and HP thresholds (% of HP by job), then I think placing becomes viable again. I just can't get over the lack of such basic functionality that has existed in games for healer type pets for years....

[XNihili]

Ok tried the placed fairies in the Stone Vigil. I don't know if I were more efficient but at least I was way way less busy and could afford to go AFK while in combat if I needed to.
Got to try at the Aurum Vale, this one is really going to mean something.

[Maku]

Ok tried the placed fairies in the Stone Vigil. I don't know if I were more efficient but at least I was way way less busy and could afford to go AFK while in combat if I needed to.
Got to try at the Aurum Vale, this one is really going to mean something.

The AI casts faster when they are placed. They might cast faster when they are in stay as well but I have never tested this. That is why you noticed you were doing less cause the faerie was in fact healing more often.

[Vittorino]

You guys are missing what I'm saying. It has nothing to do with distance/location. The Fairy AI behaves differently depending on if it's on Heel or Place. On Heel, it will often times wait 3-4 seconds between casting Embraces. If it's on Place, it will fire off heals non-stop with no delay until everyone is above 80%, and she will typically top people off since she will begin casting a second Embrace before the first one has even hit.

Let them go about how they want to play, when they cannot down certain bosses due to a lack of healing/skill and understanding their role, they will understand they are missing a vital mechanic of their class. Moreover, this separates the good's from the bad's lol.. been known this since day 1 when i became a SCH Aug 28 lolz.

[XNihili]

The AI casts faster when they are placed. They might cast faster when they are in stay as well but I have never tested this. That is why you noticed you were doing less cause the faerie was in fact healing more often.

I'm pretty sure that the fairy was casting as much (if not more) before when not placed as it did with this run. I know because I was ordering any and every of its healing cast. The AI is not the best at picking the right person to heal but it's ok most of the time and it's way less stressful.

[fnt]

Just get a proper keyboard/mouse bind both your embrace and your pysick to the same key... and overheal like a baws...

Pros:

Split the aggro with your pet
600 (almost cure II) for 133 mana
Can heal 2 targets at the same time if you use a mouse over macro
More heals = more crits from fearie = more spell speed with trait
did i already say you heal with a potency for 133 mana?!

Cons:

Havent found one yet.


So yea i dont use place on my faerie only on some bosses where it actualy has a benefit like it not getting hit by aoe. For the rest i leave it by my side as an extension of myself.

[Soukyuu]

you mentioned AK and I hate placing my fairy during the Demon Wall
I will always keep her on heel for that fight, the 2 other bosses I place her.

Demon wall is perfectly fine, what I do is place her in the middle so she can reach any of us and let her do her thing. Casting Succor after each position change prevents her from being hit at all - adloquium blocks all damage since her def is insane, not to mention the HP. So far, the only fight where she died for me was hydra, when she landed in the ball of fire AoE.

Ignore the OP, she's wrong.

OP isn't wrong if you let the fairy do her thing. Some people prefer to set her to full manual and direct her healing. Others (like me) prefer to adapt to her AI and let her be the support healer. Most of the times I manage to place her so that I can pop Rouse right before she casts whispering dawn etc. I'm not questioning manually controlling whispering dawn is more effective, but honestly, it's not that much of a difference. I can't talk about coil yet, but up to titan, you really don't have to tell her what to do. As long as you can anticipate what the AI will do.

The AI casts faster when they are placed. They might cast faster when they are in stay as well but I have never tested this. That is why you noticed you were doing less cause the faerie was in fact healing more often.

It's not casting faster, it just appears so. If you have her on heel, she will move each time you move, even if it's only one step. She might not appear to be moving on screen, but what the code seem to do is tell her to move from x,y to x,y (i.e. not move) but it still does seem to reset her casting. On place/stay however, this check doesn't seem to be there. Which is why she is casting as fast as she can.

Just get a proper keyboard/mouse bind both your embrace and your pysick to the same key... and overheal like a baws...

Better yet, just write a macro. Also usable on gamepad

Cons:

Havent found one yet.

Not being able to heal multiple players at the same time. What I do is not go for the target with the lowest hp unless it's critically low. The fairy (roused) will target that one - meanwhile I get the second lowest. Then switch, if needed (usually, it's not)

[Maku]

It's not casting faster, it just appears so. If you have her on heel, she will move each time you move, even if it's only one step. She might not appear to be moving on screen, but what the code seem to do is tell her to move from x,y to x,y (i.e. not move) but it still does seem to reset her casting. On place/stay however, this check doesn't seem to be there. Which is why she is casting as fast as she can.

So what you are saying is she casts faster when on place or stay because she doesn't have the movement check. ^^