Just unlocked WHM - what first?

[theonefin]

I just unlocked WHM. What should be my first order of business? Should I go after any particular gear or just focus on leveling?

Thanks - peace.

[Enkidoh]

Really, it's up to you, although one thing I would recommend is perhaps switch to THM and level that to 26 at least, for one particularly useful ability to cross-class as WHM (Swiftcast). The worth and power of this ability for WHM simply cannot be stressed enough. This will help your job as a healer enormously.

[Sunah]

Just do what you enjoy most, but what Enkidoh said you really need to get swiftcast. It is a MUST for healing. You are going to hear some people say "i do just fine without it! you dont need it! if you are as pro as me blah blah". Just get it. Its too useful.

[Axlle10]

Indeed, level your thaumajiggy to 26 stat! i find its so helpful to have it and really helps whenever you have an Oh-S##T moment. swiftcast has saved my butt so many times. even the "pro" players who say that you dont need it are just fooling themselves. Why not use all the skills at your disposal?

[Assirra]

While i agree with swiftcast, i don't call it a requirement till after the main story.
Leveling a new class to 26 if your main is only 30 seems only counter productive no matter how valuable the spell is.

[NintenPyjak64]

Once you can do Brayflox's Longstop, go ahead and farm yourself the Battlemage set, that will last you until level 44 when you can use the Colliseum Shawl, then 45 will get your your first 4 pieces of AF1.
That takes care of your equipment, so all you'd need from dungeons would be an upgraded green weapon (or pink if you;re getting desperate) and jewelry, though I suggest using High Quality jewelry in case jewelry doesn't drop or your get out-lotted by another caster in the party)

[AiChyan]

What Ninten said is basically how I did it myself. Proceed as you usually would and when you unlock Brayflox farm it for both exp & the battlemage set. I never had to replace the set till lvl44/45 in which I got a mix of colliseum gear (from Dzmael Darkhold) and AF from the lvl45 guild quest.
TBH I never got swiftcast till I hit lvl40 or 45 with my WHM.. but admittedly it makes life much easier, so get it if you feel like it. Just keep in mind you absolutely must have it by lvl50. Good luck

[Yumi_umi]

I'm "that" nub who will say
Get swiftcast when u want, mostly focus on just beating and enjoying the game.
Once ur at 50 then worry about gear and cross class skills.
Remember swiftcast raise isn't all the hype it lives up to be as more than half the time; DF/ PUG healers will swift raise ppl who will just proceed to die the next few seconds.
So ur priority as a whm should be just to learn how to use skills on how they were meant to be used.
Really focus on MP management cuz its a pain when u run low on mana. If you DF and PUG, make sure to expect the worse and prepare urself as random ppl = wild cards.
So gear up via dungeons or MB and go get em tiger. Don't be a static healer, be a healer who can heal all skill levels!
If yoshi ever replaces swiftcast like they did with thunder...
Whms around the world will go nuts and quit probably lol.
Ppl be too reliant on it and think it's the only way to revive and quickly pull clutch saves.

[Vid]

Do what you like but I will give you one tip: Keep your weapon upgraded as much as possible. Your main source of healing comes from your weapon, the higher level your weapon is the more healing and damage you can do. Obviously you'll want to upgrade your gear as well, but the weapon should be your #1 priority, after having fun of course.

[NintenPyjak64]

Snip

Swiftcast IS a top priority. People will make mistakes and die, it's your job to get them up immidiatly to attempt to save fights. Hardcasting raise is only a good way to get YOU killed and the longer a DPS stays dead, the longer a fight will go and the more chance you WILL fail. If you assume all will die in a few seconds of being raised, then why the hell are you even playing a healer?

And people WILL be pissed if they adjust swiftcast as a cross class skill. It gets so much more use on WHM, SMN and SCH then it does on BLM (All it's good for is getting AF3 up if your UI3 drops or is UI1/2 or Flare). It's essentially our new Presence of Mind (which in 1.0 was much stronger. Instant cast and no cooldown, Raise was on a 5 minute cooldown)
SMN remains top DPS without Thunder, it was not a large net loss as people said it was.

Getting the dungeon gear I mentioned is so you don't have to worry about gear until 50. Plus you're gonna farm the dungeon for exp anyways so there's no reason to not get the equipment.