Healer.. How do you target in Fates?

[ShadowDan]

Best way to get credit in FATEs as a healer if to cycle through with Shift and cast Aero. Repeat and win. Keep your heals for members of your party as anything else is pretty much a waste of time, unless you feel like going the Medica way.

[Rivienne]

Best way to get credit in FATEs as a healer if to cycle through with Shift and cast Aero. Repeat and win. Keep your heals for members of your party as anything else is pretty much a waste of time, unless you feel like going the Medica way.

You only need to cast 1 aero to ensure you get credit. From then on regular healing nets top score as well. For example the other day I received the Svara best possible achievement while solo-healing. I targetted svara and hit aero, and then for the rest of the fight I just cast cure 1, 2, regen, and raise. I have done the same thing in most fates, and I have most of those "best possible score" achievements.

EDIT: this is not to say aero'ing isn't easier. Because face it, it is. Just cycle mobs and cast aero. Instant gold on everything. But it is in fact possible to get top score by healing every time if you cast on aero first and cycle heal, and I much prefer to do it myself because it feels more like it is useful experience. Whereas casting aero on everything and ignoring my healing is about as useless as you can get for practicing for dungeons.

My preferred method right now is to target another player and use a macro for aero <tt>. I cycle through, and cure then aero tt, then keep cycling. I don't always have time for damage dealing in some fates, so this way I can focus on healing, and throw in an aero as time permits.

[Amiabelle]

I'm not a "healer", per se, but I do have a few heals at my disposal. When I am in a FATE (and not in a party, which is most of the time), what I generally do is target the mobs, then Cure the mob's target (macro: Cure <tt>). My reasoning is, the only person who's in desperate need of a Cure is the person who is currently being beaten up.

Even if that person is running about like a headless chicken, Cure <tt> will hit them. If there are multiple mobs, I cycle through them, checking to see if the <tt> is in need of a Cure.

Is this the "best" way? Maybe, maybe not. But it makes me feel as if I'm helping and I generally get good end-of-FATE awards.

For what it's worth, I also try to Raise the fallen during FATEs. That way, they can get back in the action, which helps all of us. Sadly, on the few occasions when I've been the fallen, I lie there, the FATE ends and everyone disperses, leaving me on the ground.

[Celgorath]

Fantastic replies, very very helpful information here... Thank You very much all

[Niwashi]

Plus healing people doesn't help you get gold if they are not in your group. People might thank you, but the fate won't

This is an often-repeated myth. You do get FATE credit for healing anyone who is fighting FATE mobs, even if you're not in a group. I've frequently gotten gold in FATEs just by healing other players when I was solo. I've also gotten silver just by healing NPCs (could probably have gotten gold for that if the FATE wasn't almost over by the time I got to it).

Another thing you can do is go into your character config, disable the auto filter (the one that changes when the weapon is drawn/sheathed) , and enable the manual filters. By hitting L1 + a button, you can swap the filters which change what you scroll through with left and right on the D-pad.

This is what I use. L1 + square makes me target cycle through enemies only, L1 + circle makes me target cycle through player characters only (whether in my party or not), and L1 + triangle makes it cycle through everything. It's made selecting whichever target I want really easy.

As far as healing people kiting, I would just say "please stop moving" and if they keep kiting just accept it and let them die. It is not worth the frustration as it is a nightmare healing someone that is running around, and barring very few circumstances it is a terrible thing to encourage, speaking as someone that has played both a healer and tank.

It's bad for the healer and tank, but it's sometimes the only way to stay alive. If someone is kiting because they have to (i.e. because they're on the verge of dying the next time the mob manages to get a hit in) then if they were to stop and stand still long enough for you to cast Cure, the Cure wouldn't work as by then they'd need Raise instead.

So telling them to stop moving is pointless. The best thing is for them to keep moving but stay within your vicinity. Luckily Cure has a fairly wide range, so they might be able to keep kiting the mob in circles around you while you complete the spell. You might consider changing your message from "please stop moving" to "stay within 30 yalms of me if you want healing."