As a healer, is it my job to DPS? A new perspective.

[Atomicstorm]

One cure per ten seconds is all that is necessary in low level content. With two scathes, I'm pressing more buttons than a 0 DPS healer in sastasha. It's not about the label our jobs have, it's about how much effort the players are putting in, and a lot of healers just don't put in any.

Not in any of the df I've been in. Maybe it'll be different later but in the end, if I wanted to be a dps player, I'd roll dps. I contribute when it's possible but I'm not going to get into this nonsense that every second has to be casting something.

A warning while healing in cleric stance would be nice. Happens everytime I stance dance.

[Supersun]

I'm just about to hit 60 and in all my dungeon crawls, I've never been in a situation that is described where there isn't anything to do. Someone always needs heals or a shield. Soon as I click cleric stance, I have to turn it off to heal.

Oddly enough it only gets easier from there. The Vault at level 58 is probably one of the most healing intensive dungeons in the game, and a good number of the level 60 ones are ridiculously easy (Hi, Pharos Sirius Hard). In fact the only level 60 dungeon that I would say can be hard to heal is the Arboretum. The rest are "I never have to drop clerics stance" easy if you know what you are doing especially with a good tank

[basketofseals]

Oddly enough it only gets easier from there. The Vault at level 58 is probably one of the most healing intensive dungeons in the game, and a good number of the level 60 ones are ridiculously easy (Hi, Pharos Sirius Hard). In fact the only level 60 dungeon that I would say can be hard to heal is the Arboretum. The rest are "I never have to drop clerics stance" easy if you know what you are doing especially with a good tank

I always found that really strange. Even a minimum ilevel, stuff just doesn't hit as hard as the leveling HW dungeons. Of course there's other mechanics that make end game encounters harder, but it feels strange to have a couple of trash mobs in Dusk Vigil hitting you harder than a primal.

[Jukebox12]

i know alot of healers that they just heal and some do try to dps but any damage from healers helps out alot imo even if its DoTs here and there

[Greedalox]

I make it an effort to assist the party as best I can with the tools I am given for the class I queued as. I would never forsake tools in my kit for a notion as silly as "Why should I have to? It's not my job."

Welcome to teamwork! ABC's, Always Be Casting. If you have time to stand there and do nothing while everyone is topped off, you have time to DPS and improve your group as a whole.

[gumas]

The way i rate "combat" healer just for fun =D
1. Just heal no dps at all.... 70% what i got from DF
2. Dps but no CS dancing.... D-
3. CS but only apply dot.... C+
4. CS on, dot and single target.... Solid B
5. CS, dot, single target, aoe.... A- "one happy tank"
6. Everything point 5 + 100% utility uptime (swiftcast, time dilation, presence of mind, etc).... A+ /thumbsup <healer> "Friend pls? =D"

I really like healer (techinally all class not just healer) who are not "saving" their utility only for boss fight, those atk buff, barrage, power surge, etc... Basically that 60+ CD skill for the love of all use it, by the time we finish 2 wave of mobs it will be ready again.

[RizenSaga]

These forums need to stop.

I'm not disagreeing with what you wrote, but the context is completely wrong. I came back to FFXIV after almost a two year break(best gear in game was ilvl 70/80?) My very first dungeon the tank pulls massive amounts of adds. I barely keep him alive. After it's done (very first pull) he calls me out. Telling me to dps more.

What you are writing about is eventually true. Healers should help do damage if they can afford it, but they need to make that choice. The mentality you are creating is idiocy.

Don't be an elitist. Don't make this game toxic. Healers will come to that conclusion naturally, and it's important they do. Forcing them to take risks, making them feel inadequate and possibly forcing wipes before they are confident isn't a good thing. And you might say you didn't mean for this to target new people- but it does.

[FallenWings]

These forums need to stop.

I'm not disagreeing with what you wrote, but the context is completely wrong. I came back to FFXIV after almost a two year break(best gear in game was ilvl 70/80?) My very first dungeon the tank pulls massive amounts of adds. I barely keep him alive. After it's done (very first pull) he calls me out. Telling me to dps more.

What you are writing about is eventually true. Healers should help do damage if they can afford it, but they need to make that choice. The mentality you are creating is idiocy.

Don't be an elitist. Don't make this game toxic. Healers will come to that conclusion naturally, and it's important they do. Forcing them to take risks, making them feel inadequate and possibly forcing wipes before they are confident isn't a good thing. And you might say you didn't mean for this to target new people- but it does.

Believe it or not, the issue is not whether when the healer will realize their ability to do more. The problem is if they are even willing to do more.

The tolerance of an "elitist" towards a player who is GENUINELY making attempts at improving is basically infinite. You can wipe all you want, I don't mind. Infact, I'll even communicate with you some ideas on what you can do thus not only improving your skill, but the quality of the playerbase and the experience as a whole.

The tolerance is low when we encounter the people who do NOT make an effort and hide behind excuses like, "I'm a healer, I only heal" to justify their frankly sub-optimal play.

It's not the inexperienced, it's the willingly lazy ones that are a plague to our game. Just as you would prefer a DPS or tank that makes an attempt to execute a GCD every chance they get, so you would a healer.

[RizenSaga]

My reply doesn't seem to be working.
What i'm trying to say is that knowledge without wisdom isn't a good thing. We have a fact Healers should do damage. It makes party kill faster.

This fact without wisdom gets repeated by idiots. You can't say one fact have zero math/context. That's lazier than the healers not doing damage.

Now i'm saying that context is needed. Party composition, tank/healer skill, and DD DPS output are all variables. If I have two Black mages in my party and the tank pulls huge pulls I know I might need to spam heals and the black mages will do more damage than i could of. If I have two dragoons in my party the tank might have to keep the pulls smaller and I will be free to dps and heal.

[Rivxkobe]

These forums need to stop.

What you are writing about is eventually true. Healers should help do damage if they can afford it, but they need to make that choice. The mentality you are creating is idiocy.

Don't be an elitist. Don't make this game toxic. Healers will come to that conclusion naturally, and it's important they do.

I strongly disagree. These threads(not forums) need to stay alive because it is an important topic about gameplay.

1. This thread isn't telling healers to always DPS. It isn't about times when you have to be healing 100% of the time, or when you have a squish tank or you are new to content. This about being effective and efficient when you have down time and are comfortable with the tank and content. I don't understand why people come into these threads and say stuff like "the healer needs to make that choice" and/or "they should only damage if they can afford to". When literally the OP and most people who are Pro-DPS always make sure to state this fact. Because we KNOW we are healers, not DPS, and healing comes first. Again this is about when you have downtime and that instead of doing nothing you should be doing something.

2. If you are blaming threads like this for people telling you to DPS more when you had a hard time keeping the tank alive then that in itself is idiocy.

3. In no way is this thread, or threads like it, trying to spread toxicity throughout the game or be "elitist". No one is telling players too call out and harass healers who do nothing but heal (and if they are they should be reported) because, again, it is their choice what to do. Trying to help someone be more efficient and effective is not toxic. Its also important for players to try and understand why others play the way they do. Even if it annoys them or they think they are playing sub-optimally.

4. Sadly many healers do not learn this. There have been countless times that I have encountered healers who completely ignore their damage spells unless they are soloing. There are also tons who do not use/hotkey/crossclass Cleric Stance. I have also met many who remove older healing spells (ie. no Cure or Cure II just Cure III) because they don't read and don't take the time to understand their spells. Yes, this is kind of off topic, but I am using it to make a point: there are healers who don't take it upon themselves to learn how to play their class, and while they can do this if they want it isn't effective or efficient.

5. Honestly, it would be good for new players to see this. Watching a Healer (or Tank or DPS) stand around and/or not use 80% of their kit is, frankly, irritating as hell.