Starter healer... WHM?

[Imora]

So I want to level a healer on top of my growing list of jobs. I'm *really* interested in AST, but I'm on a controller and the constant target switching and general busyness is just overwhelming.

I have SCH at 37 but I hear that's just as bad.

So I'm guessing go WHM? I haven't the slightest clue how lilies work, and I'm not used to NOT hardcasting heals(last played a healer in 3.1, had all 3 at 60 and was pretty good at AST but now? Urrgh) so I'm like...

What do? Suggestions?

[ItMe]

Yeah, try WHM.
Not only is it the most straightforward bread and butter healer right now, but it's not drowning in oGCDs like the other two so you shouldn't have as many problems target switching.

[Imora]

Aight.

I'm using a controller so target switching for me is a bit of a pain in the ass but I want to make it work.

[ItMe]

I play AST on controller.
WHM is a great place to start, but really all you need to make it work is practice.
Good luck : )

[Imora]

I play AST on controller.
WHM is a great place to start, but really all you need to make it work is practice.
Good luck : )

How the hell do you handle cards? I'm constantly having issues swapping players to apply cards because the tanks getting trucked and I need to spam him because low level tanks don't know what mitigation is T.T

[Allegor]

WHM is basically like playing an AST without cards, earthly star, lightspeed, aspected benefic, collective unconscious, and you get your "essential dignity" at lv 60 instead of 15. In ARR levels you literally have no ogcd save for presence of mind at 30 and benediction at 50, and only get 1 lily spell at lv 52 while the other 2 are all the way in the mid 70's

[ZedxKayn]

Ironically WHM is probably the worst healer to start with because it relies on GCD healing too much.

SCH doesn't have cards and therefore less target switching than AST so it's probably the best bet.

[IceBlueNinja]

I play ast since stormblood days on ps4 with controller and handle it fine, even now that I play on pc now for 3 months I still set it as ps4 console way and play on controller still, for me it be really wierd and strange I think if I even dear attempt to play on keyboard. Practice it is all it takes to pull off using ast/sch on controller, I do see for real though with whm I only need about 4 extra things on a 2nd bar vs the other two that I eat up 2 sets of bar lol.

[Roeshel]

So I want to level a healer on top of my growing list of jobs. I'm *really* interested in AST, but I'm on a controller and the constant target switching and general busyness is just overwhelming.

I have SCH at 37 but I hear that's just as bad.

So I'm guessing go WHM? I haven't the slightest clue how lilies work, and I'm not used to NOT hardcasting heals(last played a healer in 3.1, had all 3 at 60 and was pretty good at AST but now? Urrgh) so I'm like...

What do? Suggestions?

I would go with sch. They have instant heals and unlike ast they can use them up to three times in one min.

[Rilifane]

WHM is a fantastic choice for dungeons because Holy is just so good but if you want to learn how to properly heal while dpsing instead of the classic "I'll just heal everyone first and then maybe dps a bit", WHM mostly teaches bad habits because its toolkit is so barebone you have to use a lot of GCD heals. Far more often and for much longer than the other two. As beginner friendly as it looks, it's actually strongest in the hands of very experienced healers and not particulary good or easy to handle for a starter healer because healing and dpsing is mutually exclusive for a long time.
If you struggle with getting rid off the GCD heal habit, WHM will shove it right back down your throat.

SCH has far less target switching than AST because your instant aoe is centered around you, not targeted. So you can just keep targeting the tank while doing your thing. It's a bit more busy and has more buttons because you have a larger toolkit but managable. It's very easy to get used to GCD dpsing and oGCD healing on SCH.
And the fairy auto heal makes it a bit more forgiving than the other two because it's like a permanent regen on (mostly) the tank.

AST is the busiest healer with frequent target switching because of Gravity being targeted but remember that while cards are good, you can gradually incorporate them as you get more used to target switching on controller. So if you fail at cards at first and card the wrong person, it's not the end of the world. Chose your battles and set your priorities correctly, then you can go for AST aswell. You'll only run into problems if you want to nail everything at once.
Just like SCH, the free weaves make it easier to practice GCD dpsing while oGCD healing and slidecasting is more forgiving. But it will require more target switching than WHM or SCH in mass pulls even if you don't focus on cards at first.