Why you should play a healer!

[Cynfael]

Good lord.

*shrug* It's true exactly the way I wrote it. Healing doesn't depend on combos, timers, or positioning. Encounters are thoroughly scripted. From a mechanics perspective, it's difficult to argue that healer isn't the easiest role.

[Risvertasashi]

*shrug* It's true exactly the way I wrote it. Healing doesn't depend on combos, timers, or positioning. Encounters are thoroughly scripted. From a mechanics perspective, it's difficult to argue that healer isn't the easiest role.

You're a walking incarnation of the "It's just sitting back there and pushing a button, how hard could it be?" stereotype.

I know I won't convince you, but timing, positioning, and so forth are vitally important to healing. Among other things.

[Cynfael]

You're a walking incarnation of the "It's just sitting back there and pushing a button, how hard could it be?" stereotype.

I know I won't convince you, but timing, positioning, and so forth are vitally important to healing. Among other things.

You’re reading an awful lot into my statements and being borderline insulting on top of it. I’m not sure why I deserve your attitude, but by all means, indulge yourself.

[Kabzy]

...timing, positioning, and so forth are vitally important to healing. Among other things.

He said timers, not timing. Timing is something every job has to deal with, so it can't really be applied to healers specifically. As for positioning, not sure I agree with you there. I stand close enough to the boss/middle and that's about it. Literally only have to move for mechanics (again, like every other job) and nothing else. DPS jobs have actual positionals and tanks do whatever tanks do.

I agree with the point that healing in execution is far easier than the other roles. We literally have 3 DPS buttons, don't even have to worry about Cleric anymore and our heals are ...heals. In the case that we make a mistake, we often have emergencies to rectify them, no other role can do that. In execution it's easy, in everything else you can argue that it's one of the more tougher roles.

[MoroMurasaki]

*shrug* It's true exactly the way I wrote it. Healing doesn't depend on combos, timers, or positioning. Encounters are thoroughly scripted. From a mechanics perspective, it's difficult to argue that healer isn't the easiest role.

I can understand this sentiment but at the same time I think in this case it's being used too much as a blanket statement. If I misunderstood I apologize but it certainly seems like you're applying this to 'all healing'.


I think without a doubt healing a competent party on a familiar fight is the easiest role in any part of this game. Easier than gathering. That being said healing an inexperienced or careless party in an unfamiliar fight is definitely more challenging.

I think this is the nature of support roles in general because the same can be said of tanking. Unlike DPS we all have a hard cap of performing our primary objective (aggro the boss/heal the damage) and the rest of what we do is more flexible. True, most channel that into optimizing their own personal DPS which is certainly simplest as a healer, but healers are also the role that has to cover up for human error much more so than any other.

In short this depends too much on your party to say healing is always easier, at least in my experience.

[Cynfael]

In short this depends too much on your party to say healing is always easier, at least in my experience.

I appreciate the reasonable response, so let me explain briefly:

When I stated that healing was mechanically simple, that’s exactly what I meant. I took care to specify this, but at least one other poster still managed to misconstrue what I wrote as some kind of criticism or attack on the healer role.

My opinion is that SE keeps healer and tank roles less complicated by design to offset the greater responsibility and broader range of actions they carry. Contrast with a DPS job like MNK, which has both timers and positioning to take into account but has comparatively minimal interaction with the party.

[silverlunarfox]

I appreciate the reasonable response, so let me explain briefly:
snip for space and too lazy to edit.

I was going to comment in a negative light against your comments, then I noticed you have scholar listed by your picture. Scholar is by far the EASIEST healer to play. The others do tend to take some more skill. And I main a Scholar myself. But i do agree with your last statement. They are less complicated (more or less) since they have a greater role. But I also main Warrior, and while I find it easy, others will find it less so. So it all depends on the player. What you think is easy, others will think difficult at one time or another. *shrugs*

[Cynfael]

I was going to comment in a negative light against your comments, then I noticed you have scholar listed by your picture. Scholar is by far the EASIEST healer to play. The others do tend to take some more skill. And I main a Scholar myself. But i do agree with your last statement. They are less complicated (more or less) since they have a greater role. But I also main Warrior, and while I find it easy, others will find it less so. So it all depends on the player. What you think is easy, others will think difficult at one time or another. *shrugs*

I actually main AST for Savage, but I play all 3 healers in lvl 70 content. I usually play WHM for dungeons, so SCH has ironically become my least-used healer in 4.x.

Also, I would suggest that WHM remains the easiest healer to play due to how straightforward and powerful it is. Players who manage CDs and resources poorly tend to struggle with SCH as soon as any real difficulty arises.

[Amenian]

Trust me. Nobody wants me playing healer! I'm an amazing tank, good dps, and absolutely horrendous healer. I can't place my finger on why, but if I heal people will die.

[MoroMurasaki]

snippity snipped

I get what you're saying for sure and I don't feel like anything you've said has been close to an attack on healers, for whatever that's worth. I could 100% agree with a statement like "Healers can often be the easiest role" or "Healers are the easiest role mechanically" because both offer qualifiers either to the specificity of in what capacity healers have it easy or that it is not always a walk in the park as a healer.

I also realize this is arguing semantics which I totally don't want to do with you, I respect you a ton for your contributions to this forum and I mostly just wanted to toss my two cents in.