DPSing as a healer - best practices

[Runalong]

I'm all for healers doing dps because it speeds things up. On my scholar I throw out dots to help out but sadly I've run with a few healers on my Paladin who've let me die because they are more interested in doing damage than healing.

[PennyDreadful]

Be a Scholar and use Lustrate while in Cleric Stance because it still heals the flat 20% of max HP.

[Sirantha]

Use Stoneskin liberally while in Cleric Stance. Stoneskin always shields for a set amount (18% of max HP) even in cleric stance.

Thank you, an FC member and I were theorising about that this weekend, I'd thought about doing this while I was DPSing. Thanks for the tip. And thanks to everyone else for the tips as well!

[Tzain]

I've got two dps modes I run with. I keep them on two entirely different hotbars so I can switch between as needed.

Hotbar 1 is all about the defense. The only offensive skills there are holy (for AE stun more than damage) and a macro I use. The macro toggles on Cleric stance, casts Aero II, then aero I on the <tt> target, then toggles off Cleric stance. The whole thing takes less time than a holy and almost always works (just have to consider the whole thing one spell)

Hotbar 2 is a different story. I have Cleric Stance manually on that bar, but the only heals I have are Stoneskin, Cure II and regen. To use this bar I stoneskin the tank, toss a regen, activate cleric stance and spend as much of the next 20 seconds targeting mobs and blasting them as I can before I downshift out of cleric stance, heal up the tank, and drop another regen and go back in. The trick here is Stoneskin. I keep that on as much as possible. In fact I often use Swiftcast + stoneskin to keep the uptime and let the regens top them back up. Stone II, a macro that combines Aero II and Aero, Holy are all mainstays.

I have found though, that the true secret to dps as a white mage is actually REPOSE, I said this in another thread, but I'll repeat, "Repose healed 100% of the damage you didn't take" It's situational, but it's THE most powerful tool in the box (IMO) when it comes to doing something other than spam healing. It buys you time, time that you can spend Casting offensive spells, defensive spells, or sticking a finger up your nose and waiting for someone to get smacked in the face. Up to you. But if you're expecting to do white mage damage while CC isn't being implemented you're going to have a really bad day.

For reference, usually when I'm doing this, I'm seeing about 200-250 worth of Aero and about 350-400 per cast of Stone II in mostly strategos and an ifrit weapon in AK. it's a little over 50% of the total dps that my similarly geared blm is capable of (that weapon isn't nearly as good though being a WP drop.) Still, I think that's pretty respectable all things considered.

[Delvish]

Speaking of Repose, I don't WHM enough to be sure but I think if you Aero/AeroII then repose, the ticks will not wake up the mob. This would probably be the most efficient use of repose.

[LiadansWhisper]

Speaking of Repose, I don't WHM enough to be sure but I think if you Aero/AeroII then repose, the ticks will not wake up the mob. This would probably be the most efficient use of repose.

This is true. Dot ticks don't break the sleep (neither does Flash). Bane spreading dots to your target will similarly not break the Sleep. However, reapplying dots directly will break it.

[FinagleABagel]

This is true. Dot ticks don't break the sleep (neither does Flash). Bane spreading dots to your target will similarly not break the Sleep. However, reapplying dots directly will break it.

Yes, most people should notice that there is an initial hit potency and a tick potency. That's why direct hits cancel sleep, it's effectively no different than casting Ruin on them.

[TastiestFrank]

Situations like the one you described are ripe for Holy to shine. The stun slows damage on the tank while you're Cleric'd and buys you time to exit Cleric Stance and safely resume healing.

The big things about Holy are that it:

1) puts you in danger of proximity AoEs, so you need to know how the mob's abilities work
2) isnt cheap
3) has some threat to it

I'll often let tank get initial aggro + pull sorted out, Renew, top them off, then Cleric and Holy twice, Swiftcast, Holy a 3rd time, then hop out, Shroud of Stealth and continue healing.

It's like adding an extra DPS to your party every other pull for trivial content... all while doing your job of keeping everyone alive.

i'd recommend only 2 Holys if SoS isn't up - the aggro and mana costs become problematic past that.

[TastiestFrank]

Oh and remember that Benediction isnt affected by Cleric Stance. So long as that is available to use, you should have confidence to add in some DPS on trivial content in case something goes wrong.

If you use Benediction? Just hold back on Cleric Stance for a bit. Also dont forget that you can still do damage outside of Cleric Stance. Every little bit helps, even if it's just an Aero now and then.

[Simaril]

I like to dps as a whm, and have to restrain myself to conserve mana on bosses.

-I love repose... especailly in undergeared, or unskilled groups
-I don't like to switch stances; I'd rather be ready to heal at any given time

-stoneskin!!