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

[Cynfael]

snip.

I understood where you were coming from, but your comment did make me think about less nuanced replies in that vein made by other posters. That's why I commented without quoting you; I didn't want it seem as if I were criticizing you or calling you out.

Anyway, I do sympathize with players who feel the shock of a sudden expectation to significantly change their approach to the role. I think some players have never made the initial adjustment from solo questing mode to fully functional party play.

[Arrius]

SE designed this game in a way that everyone (healers included) have to dps

/end of thread

[Watachy]

Slackers :s

What a nightmare !

[Neophyte]

I think you mean everyone (as a healer ) has the option to dps not that they have to dps. >.>

And every dps has the option to stand in AoEs or in front of cleaving bosses and the option to either do 800 or 1800 dps.
And every tank has the option to use CDs and the option to do unnecessarily small pulls. They have also the option to wait 2-3 mins for all their def. CDs come up again before pulling the next 2 mobs or even 6 minutes between every pull for hallowed ground.

Options are fun.

You have the option to play good or bad. If you use the 'option' to play bad, others have the option to kick you.


1) Caster mantra: Always Be Casting.
2) Healer mantra: Keep your party alive, but don't overheal.
3) Practise until you fulfill those requirements.

That's all.

[Deathgiver]

1) Caster mantra: Always Be Casting.
2) Healer mantra: Keep your party alive, but don't overheal.
3) Practise until you fulfill those requirements.

That's all.

But, but.... UYBHSATT!

[Hayward]

Honestly, I'd welcome more healers (if I'm not the healer myself) actually doing their primary job instead of playing graba$$ trying to be a Twitch/YouTube celebrity or trying to get recognized on XIVLogs. Either as a Summoner or a Black Mage, I will eventually get clipped by something due to casters ALWAYS being targeted (Especially when Enochian's in effect). I don't need a DPS disguised as a healer eyeing their stats while I'm looking to recover from another Prey mechanic that also seems to target casters. Maybe SE should consider giving BLM Drain in the 61-70 range considering there's little enough help coming from healers trying to outperform actual casters.

*Sorry about that partial digression. A12 mechanics are making me crazy as a caster.

[Cynfael]

Honestly, I'd welcome more healers (if I'm not the healer myself) actually doing their primary job instead of playing graba$$ trying to be a Twitch/YouTube celebrity or trying to get recognized on XIVLogs. Either as a Summoner or a Black Mage, I will eventually get clipped by something due to casters ALWAYS being targeted (Especially when Enochian's in effect). I don't need a DPS disguised as a healer eyeing their stats while I'm looking to recover from another Prey mechanic that also seems to target casters. Maybe SE should consider giving BLM Drain in the 61-70 range considering there's little enough help coming from healers trying to outperform actual casters.

*Sorry about that partial digression. A12 mechanics are making me crazy as a caster.

I hear you, but that doesn't have anything specifically to do with healers and their hotly debated (for a few people, anyway) obligation to help the other two roles kill things as they're able. Good healers know how and when to use all of their tools.

What you describe is just players being bad.

[lvillanueva5]

I'm a fresh 60 WHM and am uncomfortable stance dancing in current content. It seemed like every time I went into CS, something happened and I have to click out of it to heal or try to click out of it and it screws up and I'm sitting there healing in CS wondering why people are dying Lower level content is fine, especially in leveling roulettes. I try to dps a little in 50 Roulettes, but often times, the tanks are doing huge pulls and I'm focusing on trying to keep everyone up.

I don't have 60 Roulettes open yet and find I'm super uncomfortable even trying to DPS in CS in 60 dungeons. I know it's not much, but I do at least put up my dot and throw out a couple of stones or holy even when not in CS. I'd like some advice on how to get better at stance dancing. I'm a firm believer in ABC as well, but stance dancing is just very intimidating to me at the moment.

[Cynfael]

I'm a fresh 60 WHM and am uncomfortable stance dancing in current content. It seemed like every time I went into CS, something happened and I have to click out of it to heal or try to click out of it and it screws up and I'm sitting there healing in CS wondering why people are dying Lower level content is fine, especially in leveling roulettes. I try to dps a little in 50 Roulettes, but often times, the tanks are doing huge pulls and I'm focusing on trying to keep everyone up.

I don't have 60 Roulettes open yet and find I'm super uncomfortable even trying to DPS in CS in 60 dungeons. I know it's not much, but I do at least put up my dot and throw out a couple of stones or holy even when not in CS. I'd like some advice on how to get better at stance dancing. I'm a firm believer in ABC as well, but stance dancing is just very intimidating to me at the moment.

What you describe is completely normal. It's natural to be uncomfortable with stance-dancing at first.

Some suggestions:

1. Learning your duties, key mob abilities, boss encounters, etc. helps so much. There are truly very few surprises in the game that are not directly attributable to player error. Even when error is the issue, knowing the encounter helps you anticipate what sorts of mistakes your fellow players are likely to make and how bad they will be (e.g. if failing a mechanic or standing in a certain AoE might lead to death, you will know to be on your guard; if the consequence of failure is a boo-boo, you know that no one is going die from it even you just changed to CS and need a few seconds to swap back and top them off).

2. Observe your tank's gear, overall HP, and CD usage. If your tank drops like a rock from a normal pull, you know that opportunities to DPS may be limited and difficult to secure, and that's really okay. Especially as WHM, don't pressure yourself to commit to DPS rotations if your team honestly needs more healing than they should. Also be aware that most tanks pop their CDs early in an encounter, and if there happen to be hard-hitting mobs that appear while most of their defensive abilities are down, they might need more help from you.

3. The easiest time to DPS for at least the cooldown of Cleric Stance is immediately after you've applied regen and/or mitigation abilities to your topped-off tank. You can usually do quite a bit when your tank has a fresh Divine Seal Regen and is able to stay more or less inside your Asylum.

4. Remember that you have Benediction and that saving it for an emergency that A) might never come and B) might not even be salvageable is not the best way to get use out of it. Benediction can be used strategically to help you contribute DPS at key moments without interruption, and it can also be your failsafe while you are learning when and for how long you can safely DPS. I found that having Benediction on a mouseover macro is incredibly convenient, and this way I actually use it instead of letting it constantly go to waste.

5. The more you practice, the more natural it will be to swap your stances. You'll find yourself toggling CS on and off constantly in most groups.

6. Don't compare yourself directly to SCH. It's not that you can't contribute great DPS and stance dance effectively, but it's easiest for SCH because of how their kits work. Even a mediocre SCH should be able to put out some damage without getting anyone killed, but I feel that effective DPS as WHM (and AST, for that matter) has a slightly higher skill floor.

[Normalizer]

One way to learn it is to see it in action. You can try go in dungeon with different roles if you have, and see how your friend (pro) WHM do stance dancing. WHM is my favorite job when speed run dungeon. Also don't be discouraged, when you get better gears and get more experience it will be easier and easier. I found a video on youtube about a WHM dps in anti tower, might give you an idea or so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgMg3o6vsIw

Want to point out somethings:
1/ don't spam cleric button more than 1, it often will turn off CS just to turn it on right away. It happens a lot if you have laggy connection too. Just don't be panic and spam that button.
2/ holy give stun, if you can land the first holy you have 5 sec you don't have to heal. Keep chain-casting holy is one of the way you can dps while keeping the tank alive Just don't go out of mana xD
3/ pop that divine seal at every trash pull!

Good luck and have fun with stance dancing.