Unable to main a healer

[Kacho_Nacho]

Well, it's a long story.

When I first started playing, I didn't feel I was contributing to the success of my guild unless I was playing a healer.

My personality is of someone who enjoys taking care of others. I played a holy priest for years and healed my wife as she tanked. My wife may disagree but I feel she is an amazing tank. She taught me a lot.

So, when I took a break from healing, I dove into tanking. It was wonderful and I greatly enjoyed doing it! RAWR!

Then, I got sick. Really sick. Like turn my life upside down, and throw my career aspirations into the trash, sick.

WoW wasn't fun anymore and I had to play at a slower pace and that brought to me to FFXIV. I knew I liked healing but I wasn't sure what to play. That's when I saw "Answers." One look at that cute lalafell healing the hero and I knew what I had to play. So, I started a conjurer.

Needless to say, it fit me like a glove and I naturally progressed into the white mage. To this day, Kacho Nacho is my main.

However, the other jobs of FFXIV attracted me, and I wanted additional characters in case I start up a FFXIV based webcomic, so I created a bunch of alts.

Now, I have melee characters, magic characters, and tank characters. You see, I realized just because one character could do every job, I didn't have to do play like that.

So, what I am saying to you is play whatever you want! There is always an option to nibble on something different along the way. It's just a creation screen away.

[Gemina]

Although SCH seems like it is the most difficult one to play.

I don't play AST, but I believe it is also top-tier when it comes to intricate gameplay. I do play both WHM and SCH, and SCH without question, brings a more diverse set of skills and mechanics over WHM. However, only by playing multiple healing jobs can you determine which one is more difficult for you to pick up. You may find the playstyle of SCH fits yours more naturally over the other healers. That was certainly the case with me when it comes to SCH and WHM, but pet classes have always given me an extra boost of confidence because I feel like there is a safety net there that does not exist with a job like WHM. This translates to an easier time optimizing the job, and making fewer mistakes on the field.

[Misstique]

Well, it's a long story.

Kacho, I love your posts and your proclivity to always be positive. Wish we were on the same server ^-^

[Darkstatic107]

I don't play AST, but I believe it is also top-tier when it comes to intricate gameplay. I do play both WHM and SCH, and SCH without question, brings a more diverse set of skills and mechanics over WHM. However, only by playing multiple healing jobs can you determine which one is more difficult for you to pick up. You may find the playstyle of SCH fits yours more naturally over the other healers. That was certainly the case with me when it comes to SCH and WHM, but pet classes have always given me an extra boost of confidence because I feel like there is a safety net there that does not exist with a job like WHM. This translates to an easier time optimizing the job, and making fewer mistakes on the field.

Yeah I was basing my dislike for AST over level 56 dungeons which isn't exactly perfect lol. I will say that I really want to play AST simply because of their aoe shield. A shield based class is something I crave in a game. Also, After playing more SCH and hitting 66, I am starting to dislike it simply because of the damn pet. Never was a fan of pet gameplay other than AION and Spiritmaster which I am still hoping is used again in another game. Thinking I might level AST a bit and see how that feels. Wouldn't mind trying White Mage out, however mine is only 20.

At the moment I am concerned with picking a main and starting to gear them out before I get left behind so I might have to come back to level a healer once I do that. My old main at launch was the MCH and they are just boring to play and my ninja isn't doing it for me. Considering leveling my Dragoon up from 62 and gearing that before working on a healer. Oh, and I love summoner, except for that damn pet. Now that I think about it, the Spiritmaster gameplay on a healing class would be so sweet. You heal by commanding them to perform heals or other skills rather than you do it yourself. Pets atm just feel like weird turrets that you can tell to stand somewhere and use a move or two.

[Cynfael]

At the moment I am concerned with picking a main and starting to gear them out before I get left behind...

I understand the impulse, but it's honestly impossible to be left behind for long. Even if you're feeling so deeply behind the curve in a given ilvl or content tier that it seems like weeks or months to catch up, that means you are joining in closer to the end of that particular cycle and are about to start fresh on the next one along with everyone else.

If you enjoy working on more than one Job at a time, go for it. Besides, having at least one healer Job in your roster is a great way to get your daily roulettes done if you're using them for tomes and want to skip the DPS queue.

[Gemina]

Yeah I was basing my dislike for AST over level 56 dungeons which isn't exactly perfect lol. I will say that I really want to play AST simply because of their aoe shield. A shield based class is something I crave in a game.

SCH brings a lot of shielding ability. I don't know if it is better than AST, but I do know that SCH brings two Galvanize abilities (single target and AoE). They can spread Eye4eye to everyone and has ridiculous range. And in addition, they can use an aetherflow stack on Sacred Soil, and Fey Covenant provides a strong AoE magical dmg mitigation. So it is there, but yes, they do have the pet.

WHM is more straight forward, but it might possibly be boring to a player such as yourself who desires more engaging gameplay, but it also seems that you are a jack of all trades master of none, and might be one of those players who doesn't truly have a main, but rather take whichever role and job is needed at the time. Just some things to consider going forward.

[Darkstatic107]

I appreciate the input and you are probably right as I can enjoy multiple classes. SCH is fun, but the pet managing is a pain and i'm not sure if I am doing it right. At the moment I send the sucker somewhere and use whispering dawn when the group needs aoe healing. Also, the AST is starting to appeal to me more because I love the aspect of buffing others. Someone like Shiroe from Log Horizon comes to mind and that is a playstyle I can get behind.

[Gemina]

Many SCH will get into the mindset that in order to optimize, they must do certain things with their fairy 100% of the time. Examples of this would be the two you brought up: place and whispering dawn. What I stress to aspiring SCHs, is that if you are trying to weave in abilities you don't even need, you are not optimizing, and again place and WD are two examples of these. You did mention that you use WD when the group needs AoE regen, so you already have the right idea in mind. The same goes for place. You don't need to place Lily if you are not moving. If boss mechanics or trash going wild requires you to move, then this is the optimal time to place her.

This then leads to using Selene over Eos. Eos is basically your, "The shit is real" fairy. The fairy you use when it is time to takes things seriously. If you're in a group, and you find that you don't really need any of Eos' abilities such as an over-geared dungeon, then you might want to consider swapping her out for Selene for the speed boost, and one free cleanse per minute. With summon cast time cut in half and MP cost reduced, this is more plausible now but fairy swapping still hasn't quite reached the potential it can.

In short, pet management doesn't have to be a headache if you don't try to do too much. You have had success with pet classes in other games, and my guess is it was easier for the pet to feel like an extension of yourself. An additional limb, if you will. That might be the situation with your SCH/SMN in this game. Nothing wrong with that though. Even though SCH flows more naturally for me, it still took hundreds, if not thousands of hours for me to get to the comfort level I'm at with it now.

[Darkstatic107]

I really do appreciate the input. It is helping me conceptualize SCH to an extent. My biggest concern/issue with pet management is keybinds lol. I already use so many for my skills, that fitting in a few extra is a pain. What do you use for them all? I use Q E R Z X,4 mouse buttons, control+ 1-4 and if I really need it I use shift+1-3 (although I hate using shift)

[Gemina]

I really do appreciate the input. It is helping me conceptualize SCH to an extent. My biggest concern/issue with pet management is keybinds lol. I already use so many for my skills, that fitting in a few extra is a pain. What do you use for them all? I use Q E R Z X,4 mouse buttons, control+ 1-4 and if I really need it I use shift+1-3 (although I hate using shift)

Psst! I'll fill you in on a little secret. I don't use keybinds/macros

Granted, I use a controller, but even on PC, I'd set my hotbars and use everything manually because I don't like being at the mercy of the wait times of macros, and the 0-9 limitations with keybinds. If I were to set keybinds to make life easier, I would simply prioritize my most frequent skills that don't require switching targets, even then, healing is so situational, so they would be allocated mostly towards DPS skills, in which case my muscle memory has developed to the point where keybinding these abilities would actually slow me down.

This might not be the case with you though, and you might benefit more from keybinds. This is where experience comes into play. Throughout my healing career, I've spent a great deal of time in FATEs and other solo content to figure out exactly how things work in relation to how I have my crossbars set up, and then taking this knowledge into group content so I can be sure that I am doing things correctly with the abilities at my disposal. An example would be SCHs getting back their Sustain ability. When this happened I had to make an adjustment to my crossbar setup, and I would tell myself, "where would this ability flow more naturally?" And from here it is trial and error. I'll set Sustain one place, and then decide that it just doesn't 'feel right' on that particular slot. So when it is on the right slot, and I see Lily is taking damage, thought and action are as one, and she gets Sustain without a second thought.

While the afore mentioned leaves the impression that it takes a lot of time and effort, everything I mentioned also comes to the player naturally if it is a playstyle suited to them, and I am only confirming for them what they already know. For those riding the learning curve, the advice can be quite helpful. I think there is a job or two out there that everyone will struggle picking up, but with time and effort, they can be really good and find a lot of enjoyment playing it. I think this is more satisfactory than being naturally good at a role or job where things come easy for you.