Newb Healer - Question(s)

[Cynfael]

Hey all /)
I'm have not healed actively since quite some time and finally got quite used to how CNJ/WHM works.
But there is one thing that keeps on bothering me and im not sure how to act correctly:
If Tank has 5+ Mobs around him AND there is no DD Class that does AoE damage, should i use Fluid Aura to lower the damage taken by the tank?
If DD takes single mobs and ignors Tank should i push that mob?

I had very very mixed reactions towards using Fluid Aura _and_ not using it.
Halp ._.'

Also is it just me or is "Quick Stoneskin" useless?

Just to add on about Fluid Aura, it is absolutely the bane of party play if you use it incorrectly. Do not use it even to interrupt casts unless the ability that's winding up really, really needs to be stopped. This is rare considering that there aren't a lot of devastating room-wide AoEs or crippling debuffs that are used by normal mobs without knockback immunity.

Sudden knockback can easily interrupt line-of-sight for other casters if the target is instantly pushed even a little out of range or to one side, and a few yalms can make the difference as to whether or not the AoE that someone else was centering on that target hits everything or almost nothing.

In short, never use Fluid Aura to try to "save" the tank from a little extra damage. Even if literally no one else in the party cares, removing the mob from the tank's vicinity can make it so that the tank has to track it down and build enmity on it all over again since it continued to build hate from your healing and didn't get Flashed or Overpowered along with the rest of the mobs.

[xuxuliz]

In short, never use Fluid Aura to try to "save" the tank from a little extra damage. Even if literally no one else in the party cares, removing the mob from the tank's vicinity can make it so that the tank has to track it down and build enmity on it all over again since it continued to build hate from your healing and didn't get Flashed or Overpowered along with the rest of the mobs.

thats what i was hoping to read. thanks :3

[VanilleFang]

I find Fluid Aura much more useful as an "execute" of sorts on regular mobs. If the target is almost dead, you can throw out Fluid Aura + Aero, and if you screw up and the mob didn't die then the mob will just wonder back since Aero will remove the bind effect. It's something you have to practice though, and really try to get into the habit of only using it on mobs that are nearly dead or using it in your rotation against mobs that cannot get knocked back.

[Rongway]

Just to add on about Fluid Aura, it is absolutely the bane of party play if you use it incorrectly. Do not use it even to interrupt casts unless the ability that's winding up really, really needs to be stopped. This is rare considering that there aren't a lot of devastating room-wide AoEs or crippling debuffs that are used by normal mobs without knockback immunity.

Sudden knockback can easily interrupt line-of-sight for other casters if the target is instantly pushed even a little out of range or to one side, and a few yalms can make the difference as to whether or not the AoE that someone else was centering on that target hits everything or almost nothing.

In short, never use Fluid Aura to try to "save" the tank from a little extra damage. Even if literally no one else in the party cares, removing the mob from the tank's vicinity can make it so that the tank has to track it down and build enmity on it all over again since it continued to build hate from your healing and didn't get Flashed or Overpowered along with the rest of the mobs.

To expand on this very good point with some numbers, if you use Fluid Aura on a single target, you do 150 potency and might interrupt each other party member from performing 200 to 500 potency attacks each for one or two GCDs. On a target that is part of a group, it could be between 200 and 500 per party member per target. While numbers on the high end of this range won't happen until 50 and beyond, even at lower levels this means that it'll take longer to kill everything, if even just by two or three GCDs, and the tank will end up taking more damage because things aren't dying as quickly as they could.

[ChiiSoSeriouz]

Just to add on about Fluid Aura, it is absolutely the bane of party play if you use it incorrectly. Do not use it even to interrupt casts unless the ability that's winding up really, really needs to be stopped.

I think you're giving bad advice to a newer player. It's an instant 150 potency attack thats off the gcd. He should be using it frequently, every time its off cd. I don't really care about this stigma that you and others hold for the knock back effect of it, then rage when you see a whm using one of his best dps abilities in a dungeon.
OP, yes you can use it to interrupt enemy cast and aoe, i recommend using it on large circular aoe's that would otherwise make the whole party move. Get in the habit of using it when the enemy is close to a wall. Get in the habit of using it like a "mercy stroke" to finish the enemy off. Using it like that will be efficient.

[Cynfael]

I think you're giving bad advice to a newer player. It's an instant 150 potency attack thats off the gcd. He should be using it frequently, every time its off cd. I don't really care about this stigma that you and others hold for the knock back effect of it, then rage when you see a whm using one of his best dps abilities in a dungeon.
OP, yes you can use it to interrupt enemy cast and aoe, i recommend using it on large circular aoe's that would otherwise make the whole party move. Get in the habit of using it when the enemy is close to a wall. Get in the habit of using it like a "mercy stroke" to finish the enemy off. Using it like that will be efficient.

Discouraging the party-disruptive use of Fluid Aura isn't the same thing as saying that there are no useful applications for it.

I choose to believe that the new player can sort through all of this advice and appreciate the difference between "good" and "bad" uses of Fluid Aura. Training new players to maximize their use of it before they fully appreciate its applications is less wise IMO. No, that 150-potency attack on a 30-second CD is not worth it if it slows everyone else down.

[Rongway]

I think you're giving bad advice to a newer player. It's an instant 150 potency attack thats off the gcd. He should be using it frequently, every time its off cd. I don't really care about this stigma that you and others hold for the knock back effect of it, then rage when you see a whm using one of his best dps abilities in a dungeon.

The stigma is warranted. It's a 150 potency gain for the CNJ and between 200 and a few thousand potency loss for the party if you use it wrong -- and most people do. What you call "one of his best dps abilities" is easily the biggest damage loss in the game if the mob is movable. CNJ should be contributing meaningful damage, and there are ways to do it without screwing with the rest of the party's damage output.

For reference, a 6-target Flare is 2106 potency in a single cast. If you Fluid Aura the wrong mob in a two BLM party, you turn a 4212 potency GCD into a piddly 936 plus your 150, for a loss of 3126 potency not including whatever the tank lost over it.