Which healer do you suggest and how to lvl

[CookieMonsta]

Since no one posted the numbers yet, here they are for reference:

Another thing you have to consider. Even though the SCH shields are stronger on paper, it will never win when it comes to the devil of this game's fight design...balance. They will never ever design any kind of raid hit that will overpower an AH and thus make is so deployed adlo is necessary. This alone completely outweighs Deployed Adlo's advantage and plays in to AH's spammability advantage.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

They will never ever design any kind of raid hit that will overpower an AH and thus make is so deployed adlo is necessary.

This is a real problem for multiple jobs really. I like to bring up Cure III and WHM often in this discussion. Yes they're technically the strongest healer, but those stronger heals will never actually be necessary because if it is that means AST couldn't heal through it with it's tools making WHM mandatory.
They'll never make content that AST can't heal through, and that's going to keep WHM down in it's hole until they get some actual useful utility.

And because I know someone is going to say it: Yes, WHM is VIABLE. But it's not particularly good at all in comparison. It brings extra healing where it's not needed in the slightest.

Imagine someone comes over to your nice slice of birthday cake, and puts a dab of ice cream on it. That's nice, I mean why not, right? No harm done. And then they put another, and another, and you're like t-thats enough thank you, and then they just slam the entire fucking carton on top of your cake and walk away.
That's WHM.

[Risvertasashi]

Imagine someone comes over to your nice slice of birthday cake, and puts a dab of ice cream on it. That's nice, I mean why not, right? No harm done. And then they put another, and another, and you're like t-thats enough thank you, and then they just slam the entire fucking carton on top of your cake and walk away.
That's WHM.

Ehm. I still think WHM is a very well designed and well rounded kit. A complete kit, if you will. That said, a lot of WHMs do overheal.

SCH (in high end content, at least high enough where the fairy can't solo heal) is actually, IMO, good practice for not overhealing. You pop Indom too early, or after the other healer medica'd/helios'd? Too bad, that's your aetherflow stack gone and you're now on a 30s CD. So that could be a good reason for the thread starter/new healers to at least play SCH sometimes even if he doesn't want to main it.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Ehm. I still think WHM is a very well designed and well rounded kit. A complete kit, if you will.

WHM has a good healing toolkit, but the problem lies in the fact that it doesn't go beyond that at all. Both AST and SCH provides more beyond strong healing, and it makes WHM look incomplete in comparison.

It's made worse when you consider you're actually punished for attempting to do more. WHM has the worst MP management in the game by far. All of it's MP saving procs are tied to healing, and Shroud of Saints is balanced around a WHM never actually dpsing and making use of it's Frecures and half medcias. This means that when you decide to DPS, you're losing MP that you will never make back. Meanwhile AST and SCH both have extremely high MP regen, with SCH even being rewarded MP for DPSing via Energy Drain.

Just looking at that alone, you can see how WHM excels in their Healing kit exclusively, but nothing else.

[Risvertasashi]

Just looking at that alone, you can see how WHM excels in their Healing kit exclusively, but nothing else.

Have to disagree here. WHM has the best CC (by far... SCH doesn't have *any* and AST gets one ability on a long CD) and burst DPS of all healers. The latter is especially relevant in dungeons, and in raids for burn phases/mechanic DPS checks.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Have to disagree here. WHM has the best CC (by far... SCH doesn't have *any* and AST gets one ability on a long CD) and burst DPS of all healers. The latter is especially relevant in dungeons, and in raids for burn phases/mechanic DPS checks.

I would agree with you, but as I'm sure you know CC is nearly, if not completely, useless in a raiding environment, which is where all the issues of what WHM offers matters.

If we're looking at dungeons, yes WHM is a very good asset to the group, it's issues with MP not mattering as much there. In raiding however, it's CC is useless, it's MP is a blatantly apparent issue, and their DPS is locked hard behind very short DoTs and ACC issues.
If their idea was to make WHM do well in dungeons and be horrible in raiding, which I very highly doubt, then they certainly have nailed it.

[Gemina]

im assuming potd is the way to go. Ive never played healer in any MMO and I feel like its my time...

... I hear WHM is hot garbage in the middle of summer buried in a desert covered by dead raccoons.

so im assuming my choices are AST and SCH.... what are the real differences????

a link to a good guide for either would also help, ty

No, your choices are sch, ast, AND WHM. You're already off to a bad start healing if you are going to let derogatory comments from spiteful players influence your decisions. Unless your sights are set on a particular healer, very sound advice given to you would suggest you level all of them to see which one(s) you are more comfortable and skilled at playing. Once they are 50-ish, you will have your own formed opinion and assessment of these jobs, and which one(s) you will want to take into raids/ex content. If this happens to be WHM, yes you will be desired less than AST and might have more difficulty progressing endgame, but the way I see it is why even progress it playing a job you don't even enjoy? It is much less rewarding, even with clears but that could be just me.

As for leveling, I haven't done PoTD so can't say much. From what I do know, the no restrictions on group composition means floors are cleared from methods different from clears for FATEs, dungeons, and trials. Because of this, like FATEs, I highly advice that you don't level entirely this way if you plan on grouping. Not that you have to avoid PoTD entirely, just don't get all your in-game experience there. From the leveling I do know, I recommend a mix of dungeons, FATEs, and trials. Avoid leves. Clear your challenge logs, and also do your roulettes.

At 15, got to Hall of Novice. Once there, clear the final test a few times. Do it using just heals, and do it trying mix in DPS and heals. You will see a considerable difference in difficulty, and this transitions into group play stride for stride. Just healing in dungeons is easy, the true dynamic comes from mixing in offensive spells while keeping everyone alive and avoiding mechanics.

Since this is your first time healing in any mmo, and to avoid this getting too long. My suggestion is to get your soulstone(s), during this time you will probably develop more questions, and a keener focus on the road to 50. You may find while leveling Arcanist that you absolutely hate pet micro-management, and if this is the case, SCH probably won't be a good choice as the fairies require even more management than Carbuncle.

I wish you the best of luck!

[Risvertasashi]

and their DPS is locked hard behind very short DoTs and ACC issues.

Read again more closely ~.^ I'm saying the DPS has utility in a raid environment, not the CC.

DoTs are a bit weird, Aero 1 being a DPS loss and Aero 2 being OK but meh. Aero 3, however, is pretty amazing even single target. But the burst DPS comes PoM + Stone III which is amazing even with accuracy issues. It can really help push anything in a fight that requires a sudden burst of DPS, which Alex has had and has in the current tier, sometimes primals have (ravana, bismarck, Zurvan, etc), and so on.

As I said way back on page 1... WHM is overshadowed. But horrible in raiding? No. It's a little behind the others, but it brings a lot to the table still. People are wont to turn "slightly behind" into a perception of "horrible", though, I'll grant that :/

edit: Which, come to think of it, is probably why the first post reads like it does, as though white mage is somehow an unplayable job..

[Bourne_Endeavor]

snip

Problem is, you will not have enough MP to maintain high DPS without forcing your Bard or Machinist to sing/turret for you, thus negating the small benefit you gained. Scholar jumps ahead in overall damage not due to potency but sustainability through excellent MP management. White Mage is by no means incapable of completing endgame content. It is, however, outclassed by Astro and Scholar. People are shying away from White Mage because it offers absolutely nothing the other two healers cannot make up for in spades. Astro has, in my opinion, surpassed Warrior in terms of mandatory composition. Therefore, White Mage is forced to go up against Scholar... and it'll lose that battle every single time.

Nevertheless, White Mage is perfectly viable job. And one I would highly recommend for newer healers. Everything above is strictly endgame min/max discussion.

[Llynd]

Actually, i think you should stop comparing healers like that. It is NORMAL that the whm cannot dps like sch. It is the sch thing to dps, because of its primary class. You want it to be kinda hybrid. on the other hand, it shouldn't have much raw heals because that's whm thing. They should complete each other, rather than compete. It was a big error to create a job that copy the other two. Let's not make the same mistake again. If all three can dps/heal/shield the same, what would be the interest in playing one over another ? One will use a staff, the other a book and another a globe ? And that's it ?