Why you should play a healer!

[Gemina]

I still dont understand why people get stressed about healing, whats so hard about it?

It's not the difficulty, or what you perceive to be a lack of it that is stressful. It's the expectations we carry, even in DF. If we DPS, we get told to heal. If we heal, we get told to DPS. If the PT wipes, it's our fault. Tanks pull wall to wall before even gauging if we're capable of handling it. These are just a few examples without the mention of the enormous amount of pressure we put on ourselves to perform.

Cast cure, repeat. If its a big pull, cast cure, some OGCD, repeat.

Comments like this always make me want to throat jab someone. There is so much going on in a healer's thought process before they even toss out one single cure. Healers do not have a set rotation. Even their openers are subject to change. Sure, you can sit there and just focus heal, but it is on the healers to challenge themselves by optimizing their entire toolkit while keeping the party going until the clear. In order to do this, a number of checks are made in a matter of microseconds before they cast or use a skill.

Things are easy for everyone when the going is smooth. The experience or inexperience of a healer shines bright when something decides to toss a wrench at "cast cure, repeat. Big pull, cast cure, some oGCD, repeat."

Relax, its a game!

You are correct, but that doesn't mean to be complacent. What you do affects the experiences of those who are playing with you.

[Okamimaru]

Still don't have any desire to be a healer... or any caster really for that matter... and the attitude the community has towards healers doesn't help... melee dps is my preferred area ... but props to the healers who love it

[Cynfael]

Things are easy for everyone when the going is smooth. The experience or inexperience of a healer shines bright when something decides to toss a wrench at "cast cure, repeat. Big pull, cast cure, some oGCD, repeat."

You aren't wrong, but it's also true that healing tools are incredibly powerful and that the healing Jobs themselves are mechanically simple. Personally I experience very low stress as a healer except in the odd situation you describe, where everyone else is conspiring to make your life difficult by failing mechanics left and right. Even then, if they are doing so poorly that I'm challenged to keep them alive, I am at peace with their accomplishment should they actually manage to die.

For me I suppose it comes down to this: healer gameplay is the most forgiving and least stressful in execution (even for a true "ABC" healer), but other players are more likely to be a source of stress since they may be inclined to blame the healer regardless of where fault actually lies. If this happens to a player frequently enough, or if they are fairly sensitive to criticism, the healer role could become stressful pretty easily.

[Risvertasashi]

For me I suppose it comes down to this: healer gameplay is the most forgiving and least stressful in execution

Good lord.

[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.

[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*