Healing stresses.

[Plegethorn]

Ever been in those situations where everyone is dying and you have no clue what to do? Maybe you're out of mana? Maybe you're just focusing on keeping the tank alive?

As an Astrologian, I've come to respect healers even more than I did as a DPS, you all do great jobs.

What I'm asking for here is advice. If things start to turn sour in a battle, I crack and will usually end up wiping.

How do you guys cope with the stresses of healing?

[Rawrz]

Just work on a priority system and stay calm. If a dps dies? No big! Take your time. As long as you and the tank are alive, you can keep on chugging in most situations. Prioritize keeping yourself alive and the tank a close second. Obviously take care of your beautiful dps party members, but don't choose to rez them or heal them if it would result in you or the tank dying!

[Beyondgrave]

Always keep calm. Don't panic. The minute you panic, you will make mistake eg:wasting a cd, or getting hit by avoidable dmg. When dps die, you don't have to res them right away. Wait until you are sure that things are good then you can go ahead and res

[Twilite]

Usually when I get like that it means its time for med/medica II.

Those DPS that die repeatedly you just have to let stay dead don't feel bad about it. And often you dont have the resources for >2 raises.

[Risvertasashi]

What I'm asking for here is advice. If things start to turn sour in a battle, I crack and will usually end up wiping.

Above all else, keep the tank alive. From there, like others have said, it's just a priority system. As long as both a tank and healer(you) are alive, you have the best possible chance at recovering.

If you're having a hard time keeping up, the people on the floor can wait a few moments longer. Once you're caught up, start raising, but try to know the fight well enough that you know when the safe times to raise are (phase transitions, times of low damage output, etc). If LB3 is up, feel free to use it.

[Immut]

It's all about priority management and thinking ahead. You just have to think "What are the loss conditions here?", "What do we need to do to recover from a mistake?". Sometimes you gotta let people die. Sometimes you gotta let the tank die. Sometimes YOU have to die. That one's pretty rare.

99% of the time though, healing priority is you>tank>smn because they have raise> everyone else. The other healer can take care of themselves, fuck'em.

Above all, you just have to sit back and stop caring. If you wipe...oh well? Too bad, try again? Everyone else gets butthurt or embarrassed at deaths, but it's part of the game. As long as you're trying your best, what more can you do? Be sure to /laugh at anyone who dies to their own stupidity, because most of the time healing stupid is just going to get you killed too.

In general, follow this guide:


SEPARATE SECTION FOR ACTUAL HEALING ADVICE

Actually this is general game advice. You need to be able to think on the GCD level. Everything happens in 2-3 second bursts. Every enemy will autoattack nearly simultaneously, then wait for a couple seconds before doing it again or using a move. If the tank just took a TON of damage, you still probably have a second or two before they take any more. ALSO. enemies will not attack if they are casting, take advantage of this.
That said. Swiftcast is your best fucking friend in the universe. Don't save it for raise. If you have it for raise, great, use it. But if the whole party is at 1000 hp and you know more shit's coming, medica + swiftcast cure II on the tank will put everyone in a much better spot before the next enemy GCD. Say you got paralyzed. Esuna, then swiftcast + whatever. You won't even miss a beat on healing. You can even swiftcast stoneskin when the tank is at full hp, then cleric stance to save yourself a second of animation lock and give yourself that much more time to DPS.

Once you realize one second is actually a very long time, then you are ready to play video games.

[thunderbreak]

Need a rez and no swiftcast? don't be a derp, use lightspeed/presence of mind.

Healing is too stressful? Roll a scholar, respect the power of education lol.

[Velox]

This is the Healer's Bible. Study it, embrace it, know it.

https://youtu.be/2DxS7eT_ky4

[ChameleonMS]

This is the Healer's Bible. Study it, embrace it, know it.

https://youtu.be/2DxS7eT_ky4

LOLZ!!!!!!!!!!

[Ashkendor]

Compared to a tank or dps, healers have a lot to keep track of. Dividing your attention takes some practice, but don't worry; it gets easier! Focus targeting the boss will help you keep track of what it's doing. Make sure to watch that cast bar.

Make sure to pop Luminiferous Aether before you are flat dry on mana. I usually use it when I'm at 50-60%.

Other than that, prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. Keep yourself and the tank alive. If DPS players are sucking up your mana by not performing mechanics or standing in all the pretty floor candy because "mah deeps," cut them off. If they want to take avoidable damage, they can heal with Bloodbath/Second Wind. If they don't get the picture from that and end up (repeatedly) falling victim to natural selection, just stop res'ing them. Staying dead hits them right where it hurts - their DPS numbers. To really drive the point home, you can go stand on their corpse while you heal other people. Dance the Manderville on top of them if you're so inclined (though make sure it's safe to do so; getting yourself killed would just make you look even more ridiculous than they do). :3

Obviously, there are times you have to heal through unavoidable damage and there are honest mistakes. Nobody's perfect, but as long as people are trying to execute mechanics it helps you out a great deal so reward them for it by, y'know, keeping them alive. If you have more than one DPS dead, your first order of priority should be a SMN if there is one and then BRD/MCH since they're actually directly useful to you (mana regen). It helps if you know the pacing of the fight from playing through it on other classes, because you'll have an idea when big damage goes out. If you know you're due for AoE damage, get an AoE regen or shield up. One of AST's strengths is their instant shielding when they're in Nocturnal Sect. Use it and abuse it in place of Virus/E4E since you don't get those.

Even if you do wipe, it's not the end of the world. Just try to figure out where things went wrong and fix it next time. :3