I'm done.

[Alisa180]

For the longest time, I’ve always said that I’ve reeked at DPS. This is not without merit, as I’ve always played healing classes, and when I do play a DPS I tend to tunnel-vision too much, leading to death by mechanic. This has led to a bit of irony, thanks to the current meta and healers being pretty much required to contribute DPS as a result.

That said, I did level up one DPS job, Summoner. It, along with White Mage, intrigued me before I started playing FFXIV. I accidentally started as ACN (mixed it up with CNJ and thought it was the class that became WHM. Oops!), but I found I loved leveling up the class, even though I eventually switched to CNJ and mained that and WHM through 2.0. I eventually went back and leveled it up, and gained SMN. I quickly fell in love with the job, even BEFORE gaining Deathflare (Dat Bane AoE! And the pets!), and its been my secondary job ever since.

It got to the point where I even went through the 2.x and 3.0 MSQ as SMN. I used SCH to get gear/tomes from Alex NM and EX Roulette while bringing WHM to cap (Using the fact healers share non-Eso gear to my advantage). Unfortunately, I just couldn’t handle SCH at higher play levels, though I desperately wanted to like it. And while leveling SMN, I encountered the aforementioned ‘tunnel vision’ problem. I died at least once a dungeon, and I apologized to the healers for it on many occasions because as a career healer myself I *knew* how frustrating it had to be.

Not to mention SMN is considered one of the most complex classes to play for a reason, and I had difficulty remembering every part of my rotation. I tried running Neverreap as SMN, and while I didn't die somehow, I got a snarky 'Hope you enjoyed your carry SMN' from one of the party members after the last boss (after they hadn't said anything the whole time), which was incredibly discouraging. It was a huge sigh of relief when I finally got WHM to 60.

Sadly, the main reason SCH didn’t work out is the same reason why, as I finally move into Savage, I’m encountering problems as WHM: Healer DPS. I just *can not* stance dance. I fumble it in myriad ways, and between that, keeping an eye on everyone’s HP, AND dodging, it inevitably leads to death. Either my own or someone else’s. I have kept constantly trying to master it, and it keeps eluding me. I’d be perfectly fine it I wasn’t expected to DPS, but I am, so I have been forced to adapt. I already know I can’t straight DPS well.

Or so I thought.

Recently, I had an *amazing* run of Fractal Continuum as SMN. I was remembering almost all of my rotation. I was dodging with using Ruin II and weaving oGCDs. I’m still in awe. I even got a player commendation at the end for reasons I can’t quite pinpoint, but I like to think it's because I was doing so well. (I don’t parse myself because I feel like I do better without knowing exactly how much I’m sucking at the moment.) The takeaway is I’m *capable of DPSing.* I need more practice, of course, but with time and gear I might even be capable of handling Savage as SMN.

So it is with a somewhat heavy heart that I am giving up on healing in FFXIV. I’m done. I just can’t handle the current meta, and I’m definitely not capable of handling Savage. It sucks because I used to heal back in World of Warcraft, a healer was the only thing I played. Raid healing was some of the most fun I had, and the fact I can’t have that same experience in FFXIV is disheartening. The irony being I originally came to FFXIV BECAUSE I thought I’d get that experience. Thank the Twelve for SMN and all its awesomeness. It’s also a surprising relief not having to watch everyone’s HP bars.

I wish to apologize to all of you in advance, because while I’ve gotten *far* better, I’m still the gal ‘most likely to die to an AoE.’ Not for lack of trying, mind you, but that Photon Spaser...Good thing SMN is one of the most mobile jobs, so with some practice hopefully I’ll be able to overcome the issue. I’ve caused healers a lot of grief, probably will continue to cause grief, and so I apologize to the ones who will have to deal with this headache. (Like the healers who had to Raise me every few seconds on AS1 this morning, though to be fair I was lagging and ended up outright DCing...)

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

Yeah, the healer meta does suck pretty bad honestly. Glad you found something to fall back on in this game, though! Just keep trying and you'll get it! Good luck!

[Velox]

The healer meta is to heal. That's it. Healers only have to contribute damage on content that's being completed undergeared and the DPS alone can't best the enrage mechanic.

If someone bitches about you not DPSing in a trial or dungeon, feel free to kick that person for harassment. There is absolutely 0 obligation for a healer to DPS in ANY content other than bleeding edge raids.

[Velox]

As for raiding, only DPS when you can. Never feel obligated to DPS just because someone tells you to. The healer's ability to DPS comes strictly from the performance of the other 7 people in the party. If people aren't giving you the opportunity to DPS, then don't. Your meta is to heal. That's it.

[Zenji]

Tbh, the trick is to master multi-task. The only way your gonna be able to do harder content is to know your class rotation by heart so that you can concentrate on Mechanics. It takes tons of practice but you'll get better with time.

[DarkerOrange]

Not this again...please stop with the complaining

WHM and AST are expected to DPS very little, but as SCH, you have so many tools that it would be a waste not to.

[RadiantRay]

Well you don't need to dps in normal groups but let me tell you in Savage (you mentioned this raid so imma talk about it) you're going to want to dps because you're going to get so tired of not meeting the enrage and dying with 1% hp remaining on the boss. After so many wipes at 1% you just want to clear by any means at that point. Still though even in savage as a whm you're still healing 98% of the time, the healing requirement in Savage is no joke either

[Alisa180]

As for raiding, only DPS when you can. Never feel obligated to DPS just because someone tells you to. The healer's ability to DPS comes strictly from the performance of the other 7 people in the party. If people aren't giving you the opportunity to DPS, then don't. Your meta is to heal. That's it.

My issue is that I *can’t* DPS as a healer ‘when I can’ or ‘when I have the opportunity.’ When I do, well, as I said it tends to end in death. I’ve been practicing, and practicing, but I just can’t get the hang of it. I eventually came to the painful conclusion that it's not a skill I’ll be able to master, especially not at the level required for Savage and other harder content.

Tbh, the trick is to master multi-task. The only way your gonna be able to do harder content is to know your class rotation by heart so that you can concentrate on Mechanics. It takes tons of practice but you'll get better with time.

One issue is that for healers in the current meta, you effectively have to memorize two rotations. Your healing rotation, and your DPS rotation. And you can only use one or the other depending on the circumstances. Unlike with tank stances, being in or out of CS renders one of the two rotations effectively useless. It is incredibly easy to accidentally DPS while out of CS, or heal while in it. The 2.5s CD for Cleric Stance doesn’t help either.

You also have to be able to shift targets well, and it can be tricky to learn how to smoothly transition between healing the party and DPSing (Assist Target helps, but it's not a perfect solution.) AND you have to do all this while keeping an eye on both your feet and the party’s HP. I play on a controller, BTW, which does not help the targeting thing.

Multitasking has never been my forte, and that might sound strange from someone who’s playing SMN. It’s just easier to handle one, albeit complex, rotation, then two different ones.

Well you don't need to dps in normal groups but let me tell you in Savage (you mentioned this raid so imma talk about it) you're going to want to dps because you're going to get so tired of not meeting the enrage and dying with 1% hp remaining on the boss. After so many wipes at 1% you just want to clear by any means at that point. Still though even in savage as a whm you're still healing 98% of the time, the healing requirement in Savage is no joke either

I know. That’s why despite complaining about healer DPS frequently, I tried desperately to learn how. The problem is, especially in, say, AS3, there *very* little margin for error. Especially if you’re a healer. In the end, I simply couldn’t close the gap in my skills. And you’d be very hard-pressed to find a group that would accept even a WHM that refuses to use CS at all.

[Niroken]

One issue is that for healers in the current meta, you effectively have to memorize two rotations. Your healing rotation, and your DPS rotation.

We have rotations? How come no one ever told me this. >:0

[DarkerOrange]

oh no, Bio II, Miasma, Bio, Aero, Shadow Flare, Broil until dots run low, refresh dots....so taxing