Is increasing QoL for (SCH) pet skills on the devs radar?

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

You can't always place your fairy, and interrupting their actions isn't always the best move on the chess board.

Actually, you can. I place her all over the place whenever necessary. King Thordan EX to avoid knockbacks and Sephirot EX to avoid getting killed, for example. Having a fairy placed is always better than to have her on heel. A fairy on heel will prioritize movement over casting. Try placing your fairy far away, have her on heel and try and have her cast Embrace on you while on the way back to you. You'll notice she's completely unresponsive till she's by your side. When she's on heel, she'll only "check" your current position every couple of seconds. When she moves from point A to B, she won't be responsive to any command, even if it's only 2-3 steps. Meaning that after every embrace, she'll move again till she's at your previously registered position. She won't cast another embrace till she reaches that point. If you can't generate enough distance to convince yourself, try it inside a building where she has to move away from you and make a U-turn around a wall after commanding heel instead.

[Gemina]

Actually, you can. I place her all over the place whenever necessary...

You're right. I should back up a little and say that it isn't always easy to determine the best place to put your fairy. Some fights have heavy dodge mechanics making it difficult to take Eos/Selene off of Heel. Lots of tanks I've grouped with are not conscious, or don't care to be attentive to try and stay in her range forcing me to place her again. And some trash mob fights take place in tight quarters, so you don't have to worry much about range, but you still have to try to keep her out of the fire.

I find that place vs not placed is all about healing efficiency vs mobility. There is no way you have one without sacrificing the other and some of the mechanics in this game require both from its healers, so you have to choose the best time for each. During my short time on these forums, I've picked up the impression that your fairy must ALWAYS be placed. However, my experience in the game has taught me that this is only true when you want to maximize healing efficiency.

The easiest heals are the ones we don't have to do. IOW, best way to reduce dmg taken is to not be there when it happens This includes the dmg to your pet, and unfortunately, they don't have the AI to dodge it themselves so it is much easier to keep your fairy protected when she is on heel Strategic placement of Eos/Selene is one of the things about SCH I really enjoy.

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

Snip

Well, it depends on how you look at it. For one: Healers should, or even have to, know the finer details of what's going on in the fight to be efficient. Or rather, setting the facts, rather than chasing them. If you know exactly when A or B is happening at Y and Z, you should have a general idea where to place the fairy. It's all reliant on the healer's vigilance and willingness to put in that extra effort.

[Gemina]

Well, it depends on how you look at it. For one: Healers should, or even have to, know the finer details of what's going on in the fight to be efficient. Or rather, setting the facts, rather than chasing them. If you know exactly when A or B is happening at Y and Z, you should have a general idea where to place the fairy. It's all reliant on the healer's vigilance and willingness to put in that extra effort.

Mmhmm. Totally agree. Though there are definitely mechanics that force you move, few I've encountered is so random that you can't anticipate where to go, and have to react. This will usually be more difficult the first time through an instance, which is why I am so glad many dungeon mobs have the same types in the outside world that behave very similarly. A budding SCH such as myself will definitely have the fairy chasing me more often as I learn more mob behaviour and mechanics. I'll get there.

[Rawrz]

Mmhmm. Totally agree. Though there are definitely mechanics that force you move, few I've encountered is so random that you can't anticipate where to go, and have to react. This will usually be more difficult the first time through an instance, which is why I am so glad many dungeon mobs have the same types in the outside world that behave very similarly. A budding SCH such as myself will definitely have the fairy chasing me more often as I learn more mob behaviour and mechanics. I'll get there.

Its usually safe practice to just set your pet behind the boss (where melee stand, this is typically near the center of the arena) and call her back when necessary. When knockbacks are involved you'll have to re-place her.

[Gemina]

Its usually safe practice to just set your pet behind the boss (where melee stand, this is typically near the center of the arena) and call her back when necessary. When knockbacks are involved you'll have to re-place her.

Thanks for the advice, I think I do this for the most part with boss fights. The final boss of Qarn and Darkhold in their final phases are two fights in particular where I had a lot of trouble trying to place Eos as she was taking around the same dmg as the rest of the group, so I put her on heel so she can dodge with me. The Ogre boss in Darkhold is another example of random AoEs where everyone is required to dodge. No one can rely on heals in this stage, and is truly an instance of 'save-your-own-ass' please.

When I look at fight videos such as Titan HM/EX, I bite my fingernails trying to find an actual opportunity when the fairy can be placed as primals are known for AoE madness.

I've learned that position is really important as a healer, and it doesn't get mentioned much. Tanks often pull several sets of mobs, and you have to wait for them to establish position before you can do the same