Healer DPS - enjoyable or a chore?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Because that is not the intended way to play it. Yoshi-P, and the developers use Cure/Cure II for the majority of their healing. I'm not going to play this meta argument again.

If you do not want to play it as intended, that's fine, but don't berate players that they are doing anything wrong if they only heal, because that IS the intended way to play it, and outside of a EX synced raid, there is no reason to push that meta at all.

At the same time, they're not only contributing significantly less than everyone else, but actively making the dungeon slower. This is why people get upset with healers not DPSing or damage dealers refusing to aoe. It's objectively less efficient. If people don't like that, well, ask the devs why content is so undertuned healers have to deal damage or they're literally going to stand still doing nothing.

[Risvertasashi]

Even I quickly figured out that you are supposed to DPS as a healer but I thought that it will be through small simple 1-2-3 combo and not through spamming one button for single target and one for AOE. More buttons to press yes, but not by much.

The thing is... we already have 4 hotbars' worth of abilities. And we're about to get 5 more abilities in 4.4. I'm genuinely not sure where to put all the buttons I'm supposed to push next patch.

And I definitely don't want even more buttons just for a DPS rotation.

[Limonia]

Because that is not the intended way to play it. Yoshi-P, and the developers use Cure/Cure II for the majority of their healing. I'm not going to play this meta argument again.

If you do not want to play it as intended, that's fine, but don't berate players that they are doing anything wrong if they only heal, because that IS the intended way to play it, and outside of a EX synced raid, there is no reason to push that meta at all.

First question: Why is this a meta argument / what does that have to do with the meta?
Also (in a scenario where people have at least a decent understanding of the fight and don't mess up every mechanic that exists), if "the developers use Cure and Cure II for the majority of their healing", then why does Divine Benison exist? Why does Assize exist (and why does it do damage)? Regen? Asylum? Tetragrammaton? Why do buffs like Largesse exist? Or Presence of Mind? Thin Air? BECAUSE if you ONLY heal with Cure and Cure II and do nothing else, the tank would never fall low enough that you would need to shield him and you would never have to heal faster or stronger. So why do these abilities exist? Why does Lucid Dreaming grant MP regen? If you only heal whenever someone really needs healing, you won't even need more MP.

Also, why do you think that it is fair towards the other players in your group if you just stand around and idle 80% of the time, when everyone else is working?

[Grimoire-M]

I liked this post because I agree that it can create an atmosphere that puts an unfair amount of stress on new healers.

But I'll say this: I was recently leveling a PLD and had to stop because I became so frustrated that I was visibly angry.

When I tank: I can't tell you how many DPS single-target in dungeons or simply don't ride the GCD. The DPS is always so lacking. I hate saying it. I really do. But it's true.

As a DPS: My co-DPS is single-targeting. Great. Now what do I do? Scatter is the most DPS, but I could burn one thing down very quickly as a form of damage mitigation because I know our healer is struggling.

It's messy. And it's helped immensely by a WHM going the extra mile.

In an ideal world, a healer won't have to DPS. Last night, we did Castrum Abania. Two RDMs, I was one. We both knew what we were doing. We also had an excellent WAR. My WHM girlfriend said during one pull, "You guys are killing them too fast! I can't DPS!"

In general, Swiftcast + Holy takes no time at all, and Aero III can be cast during the stun and can be supplemented with Presence of Mind. It does wonders for the average dungeon party, and your poor tank (and his/her cooldowns) will thank you.

It's important to understand that DPS is still damage mitigation.

For new healers all I ask is that they try to maintain DoTs on bosses and to use Gravity/Holy For AoE if they feel comfortable, with me being more aggressive about Holy cause the stun will let them heal up in-between if needed. I understand that in levelling dungeons you aren't guaranteed to have great healers or even great gear, which will necessitate the extra healing that we do not see currently. It's the equivalent of asking a new/undergeared tank to maintain their main 1-2-3 aggro combo and flash/overpower, and to use their good cooldowns first if they think they can pull big.

As for bad DPS that only single target, just throw any single target oGCDs in their mob's direction for that pull, and pull up the Job Guide so you can tell them what their AoE abilities are before the next one. AoE trumps single target DPS by such huge margins that it's not worth stopping it because the other DPS doesn't know they have AoE. For SMNs/BRDs explaining how their DoTs can be spread over multiple targets to achieve the same effect as AoE might take a bit, but it's worth the effort.

Stop and help them learn now, rather than suffering with it.

[Lynesse]

Stop and help them learn now, rather than suffering with it.

In an ideal world, absolutely. Your post is pretty presumptuous. I do reach out, and I do so nicely. Sometimes people listen. Sometimes they don't.

"Use Flash 2x for every pull. C:" "Scatter at 3+ enemies to avoid wasting potency. Moulinet effectively puts you a GCD ahead every time you use it."

You can't control what people do. You can't even make them respond to you.

As for this:

AoE trumps single target DPS by such huge margins that it's not worth stopping it because the other DPS doesn't know they have AoE.

That's true most of the time, but not always. Again, you're being presumptuous. At 3 enemies, Scatter is contributing the same potency as a Veraero/thunder. Scatter + Veraero/thunder is identical in potency to Scatter + Scatter and generates mana quicker, but comes with the caveat that I risk wasting potency later by killing one enemy faster. The potency I lose is between 60-100 every other GCD.

This can and has taken heat off of the healer and allowed them to DPS more, which can result in a gain.

For 4+ enemies, the math is more complicated. Scatter + Veraero/thunder is viable up to, I believe, 5 enemies because of mana generation and Moulinet, but we risk losing potency later by making enemy health bars uneven. If enemies die unevenly, all we've effectively done is shifted potency around and caused ourselves to potentially lose damage on Scatter and especially Moulinet.

I'm also paying attention to the aggro meter for when the WHM inevitably steals aggro, and I need to dash in and nuke something down.

Edit: But my point is: Sometimes tanks are bad. Sometimes they don't group enemies properly. Sometimes assassinating a key enemy helps the team in unusual ways. It does happen.

I've edited this post a billion times for the sake of clarity. Oy vey.