When did this become a trend?

[Dzian]

I've noticed this trend too. Last time I notified the healers about it (nicely!) one (who was only healing) replied with "YOU try healing this!!!" I was progressing as SCH in A11S then (and have beaten it since). :P At the time when Prey comes there really isn't anything else going on, and it always comes at same time, so there really isn't an excuse not to at least try to heal the target. And often when I've been the target the healers really aren't even trying, since I don't receive a single heal.


As already said by others, I see way more ignoring prey from "I'm here to only heal" healers than from the healers who are actively using their whole tool kit.

to be fair. I've seen this happening a lot. but also I don't place all the blame on the healers. I see quite often ranged dps are all over the place when the photons drop everyones hp down to 1 and all those party members are in polar opposite corners of the arena it's pretty tough on the healers to get all there hps back up because there so spread out its impossible to hit them with indomibility or succor heals so forced forced to single heal everyone and try if i have time to shield the prey target. happens a lot with ranged dps where if they were spread out anymore they'd be separate arenas fighting the same boss.

a12 is the same when players get marked I cant adlo them because no one is standing on the stack marker over my head which means screw keeping you alive I'm gonna shield myself because noones stacking on me and I'm going to take that full hit.

I was in a11 on my ninja earlier and had a smner and machinist complain cos they both died due to lack of heals after that photon thingy when they were a both thousand miles away from the healers... I got hit by medica 2 succor and indomnibility within seconds of the mechanics going off so if they were in range they'd have been hit by all 3 of them and be at full hp. totally not the healers fault they died...

[Taika]

to be fair. I've seen this happening a lot. but also I don't place all the blame on the healers.

I definitely agree that it's not the healers' fault if the DDs aren't positioned in a sensible way (it's the DDs responsibility to try to stay in range of AoE heals). But I think this is a separate discussion from the Prey mechanic, since there isn't any AoE hits going on during or right before the Prey in this fight. And the Prey target can't do anything to help the healers deal with the mechanic (other than stay apart from others and somewhere where they're easy to see).

[Mikaeus_The_Lunarch]

tbh i find the prey kinda hard to deal with sometimes. like i try to heal the target, but most of the time i don't notice the marker in time to start precasting some heals. then there are some times when the marked target runs toward me or outta my range.

anywho even when i'm not healing, i still see most prey targets just get ignored intentionally or not.

[Ghishlain]

tbh i find the prey kinda hard to deal with sometimes. like i try to heal the target, but most of the time i don't notice the marker in time to start precasting some heals. then there are some times when the marked target runs toward me or outta my range.

anywho even when i'm not healing, i still see most prey targets just get ignored intentionally or not.

Just as a tip in general for any fight, every fight in the game to date is scripted in such a way where you'll be able to predict when a mechanic will happen. Though you won't know the target immediately, you'll know when to expect a particular mechanic.

Additionally, for this particular mechanic, if you're keeping an eye on the HP bars, you'll notice that the prey target will have a debuff on them that's marking them for Prey. This can be an infinitely faster way to determine the target then trying to rotate your camera to find the correct target. As long as you're standing in the middle-ish of the arena you'll be able to target and heal them with ease. If push comes to shove, keep an instant heal CD ready to go. They aren't there solely for the tanks' HP~

Don't get discouraged and keep going

[technole]

It is a good lesson on using the party list, positioning, and cool down management.

Some healers tend to be poorly positioned for prey, like they are already at the far edge during the laser but they should stay near the center for the bait. You can't use the "you were out of range" line on a single-target heal, in a circular arena. Being a healer is also about strategic positioning for dodging and healing mechanics. As a shield healer you can even AB/Adlo as soon as you see it on the party list, that'll give some breathing room and likely will be must if they have raise weakness.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

It's what happens when everyone insists that DPS is the pinnacle of game play & healing comes second. If healers were encouraged to mainly heal, rather than DPS, I guess they'd spend more time looking at the friend's health rather than the foe's.

This x1000. Currently proDPS healers tend to demonize those healers that would rather focus on making sure the party survives through all mechanics rather than spend 90% of their time in clerics.

[MeridaQ]

Hmm this seems like a blame game, if you are a healer and you run A11nm. If the prey target dies and they have separated themselves from the party. The only person to blame is yourself. It is a healer mechanic that you have to do. Sure if the party is really bad it's hard to do. Even if your cohealer is dpsing, if the prey target dies it is on you and them. If you haven't discussed who is doing it, then it is both of your responsibilities and if they die it's both of your faults. I dps as a healer and in a pug group I pre shield the group and rouse whispering dawn or fey illumination. One adlo after first hit then back to the boss. It takes practice, but let's not continue this blame game. It is a healer mechanic, it is better a tetra and lustrate is blown than the dps dying. Stop getting mad at your cohealer, focus on your job.

[Miyha]

I usually just wait for the first hit then Essential Dignity, and Benefic II after the last two (I start casting before the second one hits and it heals right after number 3). I have a regen up as well. On Noct AST I have my shield up, Essential Dignity/Shield after the first hit, then Benefic II after the latter two. On SCH I've been Adloing before the first hit, lustrating, then adloing again. Might be overhealing on my part, but I never trust the other healer to do this mechanic correctly so I try to over-compensate. ;;;;

[Taika]

This x1000. Currently proDPS healers tend to demonize those healers that would rather focus on making sure the party survives through all mechanics rather than spend 90% of their time in clerics.

This is a really bad strawman. No one has ever suggested that good healer play means ignoring essential healing requirements. The pro-DPS argument is that a healer should cover the minimum healing requirements (= heal as effectively as possible) and then use the remaining time and resources on DPS.

[caelumsixsmith]

That's what happens when people say a healer's priority is DPS. The people who don't really know how to play their classes will likely stick to what everyone thinks is right and use that as an excuse to whatever happens. I've never been to the mentioned instance, but as a healer myself I do notice others having a poor focus. Lately, I've had the luck of being in the same queue as decent healers, but many other times I'm the one healing the most and still switching Cleric Stance on to contribute to the DPS. Depending on the situation, I swap to Eos and focus solely on healing the whole run, so concerned other healers can be for what their roles should be all about.

The solution would probably be to encourage healing over DPS, but that will hardly ever happen seeing as how FFXIV's combat is so dependent on DPS.