WHM Role Skills?

[Nicodemus_Mercy]

I consider Cleric Stance worthless since 4.0 launched. Five percent more damage for 15 seconds every 90 seconds is just too inconsequential to waste a skill choice on, especially when your primary role is healing.

Swiftcast and Lucid Dreaming are must haves IMO. You need to be able to instant res people and you need a way to regenerate MP.

While some people like to use macros to swap skills, I consider Protect and Esuna must haves for me specifically.

I am not interested in juggling role skills via macros only to have something fudge up the macro's execution and I am lacking a skill I need at a specific time. Parties expect the healer to have Protect. In the case of a static 8 man you can always designate one healer as the Protect giver and the other can take something else, but in general I always have Protect. The same goes for Esuna. Unlike some players, I make it a point to cleanse any and every debuff that can be cleansed (when possible and when it won't get someone killed). While not every encounter requires it, I like knowing I always have Esuna when I need.

That leaves me with one role skill choice left. I basically have Largesse there. While not vital, its always useful when heavy damage is incoming and you want to pump up your throughput. Of all the role skills I chose, Largesse is the ONLY one I could consider swapping out for something else if I found it useful for a particular encounter.

Cleric Stance = a waste
Break = a waste
Rescue = very situational
Surecast = very situational
Eye for an Eye = doesn't do enough for its duration and cooldown to really matter.

So basically I find little to no reason to deviate from: Protect, Esuna, Swiftcast, Lucid Dreaming, Largesse

[Cynfael]

I still want to know why Break even exists. It’s so horribly useless that’s basically a “noobtrap” skill that tries to fool new players into thinking it has to be good for something simply because it exists.

[Ghishlain]

I really disagree that Lagresse is low priority.

As Cynfael has mentioned, your mileage with Lagresse is dependent on spending your GCDs to heal. My own personal experience is my healing partner in my static loves pushing HPS so I'm left to essentially Regen, use my oGCD heals, and occasionally GCD spot heal. This puts Largesse pretty low on the scale for my on a personal tier list.

I still want to know why Break even exists. It’s so horribly useless that’s basically a “noobtrap” skill that tries to fool new players into thinking it has to be good for something simply because it exists.

The only time I've seen Break used at the highest skill levels is during the first O4S solo heal when the N.AST was using it to fill GCDs between mechanics without spending MP. That's... about it. lol. It's not much of a reason but still puts it slightly ahead of "useless" I guess? *Shrugs*

[Cynfael]

As Cynfael has mentioned, your mileage with Lagresse is dependent on spending your GCDs to heal. My own personal experience is my healing partner in my static loves pushing HPS so I'm left to essentially Regen, use my oGCD heals, and occasionally GCD spot heal. This puts Largesse pretty low on the scale for my on a personal tier list.



The only time I've seen Break used at the highest skill levels is during the first O4S solo heal when the N.AST was using it to fill GCDs between mechanics without spending MP. That's... about it. lol. It's not much of a reason but still puts it slightly ahead of "useless" I guess? *Shrugs*

You have a point; I forgot that it had an MP cost of 0, so I suppose it's better than nothing if you're attempting a world first and are having to make every point of MP and every GCD count.

[KokonoeAiyoko]

Thanks for the helpful responses.

Yeah I suppose getting rid of Eye for an Eye for Lucid Dreaming is a much smarter choice (I honestly misread this ability a while back and it's why I wasn't using it and kept wondering why they got rid of refresh).

That said, I can't seem to part with Cleric Stance as I do feel it's useful for typical dungeons and I don't run savage. I can't seem to find a spot for Largesse as I don't want to get rid of Esuna either as it does has its uses, especially when Paralysis occurs.

That leaves Protect and I feel that's useful as well. I kind of feel I can get by without Largesse since I don't run Savage or Extreme content these days.

[Estelle9lives]

I disagree with Largesse being low priority for WHM, as it takes effects on HoTs and Cure III which is where WHM's main source of healing comes from. It's much more useful than something like Esuna that is only useful in very few situations, 99% of them requiring your party members getting hit by things they shouldn't. My personal picks are: Protect (if my co healer isn't carrying/for dungeons), Cleric Stance, Swiftcast, Lucid Dreaming, Largesse, Surecast (swap protect for this after cast).

[Tridus]

That leaves Protect and I feel that's useful as well. I kind of feel I can get by without Largesse since I don't run Savage or Extreme content these days.

If you don't mind not being able to cast Protect during combat, the macro solution works great for it. If you really want to cast it during combat, then you're pretty much stuck having it slotted.

[NorthernLadMSP]

Lucid Dreaming is not optional. It's the most mandatory cross role skill a healer can take.

[miraidensetsu]

I quit using Cleric Stance around the SB change since it only lasts a few seconds anyways, I just use Intelligence Materia to up my attack. Which seems to work better anyways. Hope this helps! ^^

Int? But healer's magic attack is calculated using Mind. Since Stormblood I thought that Int was pretty useless for healers.

[miraidensetsu]

Largesse's priority depends on how much you are able to leverage abilities vs. spells.

If a large portion of your healing is coming from abilities (as it should if the healer is playing efficiently and if the party is not making life difficult), Largesse's value is diminished.

On the other hand, if you are having to use GCD heals frequently, or if you anticipate the need for significant burst healing, Largesse pays for its slot.

How to make a large portion of a White Mage's healing come from just Bene (180s CD, 100% HP), Asylum (90s CD, 100 pot for 24s) Assize (60s CD, 300 pot), Tetra (60s CD, 700 pot) and PI (60s CD, 150/300/450 depending on confession stacks)?

Remember that Cure, Cure 2, Cure 3, Regen, Medica and Medica 2 are spells. And I think that most of WHM's healing include those 6 spells.