New WHM - Need Direction

[lxSch]

What a great thread with very helpful healers everywhere. UOdhn already gave a great list and reasons for the cross class skills, I agree with him on that list. I would like to expand on the Triage response by subteraneanbird (oh gosh, what a hard name to type! ha ha).

I was a DRK and RDM in FFXI and when I started with 1.0 I started as a WAR. When 2.0 released, I decided to do something different and did my story quests as a CNJ/WHM and ended up loving it so much it became my main now (more so than WAR). Everything was dandy until I got to Suken Temple of Quan and I had a tough time healing. I had to learn the this the hard way: heal yourself first before others.

Triage:
As a healer, like subteraneanbird said, is to keep the group alive, but not necessary everyone alive. Tank in this game, for the most part, can take quite a few hits before going down. If you get hit by an AoE along with the group, your first priority to heal YOURSELF.

In Qarn WHM should not cast anything else but Regen and Repose (also Cure I if WAR is tanking). I remember once during the 2nd boss fight one dps was disconnected and just stood there in the middle - i kept Regen on him and he never died lol (just stood there, never dodging or anything). But new WHMs would run in panic and spam Cure II on every scratch, ending with no mana or being killed themselves. I use Cure II / Cure III only if person will die without it or if i have a free proc.

Regarding priorities, healer should not cast single target heals on anyone but self and tanker. The way ffxiv fights are designed dps are supposed to dodge harmful areas and only take damage during unavoidable mechanics, which then must be cured by Medica, Medica II or Cure III, but not single target heals. I often see new healers trying to compensate someone's inability to avoid damage and then dying themselves or letting tanker die, because they were doing something they were not supposed and combat was not balanced for. It's funny to see how someone's dodging skills dramatically improve once they notice healer does no healz and non-dodged damage can kill them xD

To back my words a little, yesterday i got Titan (HM) in roulette and solo healed (10% echo) it without ever using targeted heals on anyone but the tanker. Tanker alive, me alive, 2 dps alive, rest are dead and die very fast even after being revived again and again. But those who could dodge stuff had no troubles surviving and team was fine with just 2 dps.

[Roserei]

I have enjoyed being a WHM, then I went to Cutters Cry! I feel like such a newb. I have figured things out mostly, but Tanks think I can kite adds and heal, lol sure. The Chimera boss is crazy hard and I'm being told to use Esuna to remove status effects but I can't tell when someone has a staus effect.

I remember my first time at Cutter's Cry, being told I needed to kite the adds on that particular boss...I agreed to try, but inside I was thinking nooo, I can't do this! I did manage it after a couple of deaths, and it was a few minutes later that I realised hey, that would have been a lot easier if I'd used Regen!

Status effects should show up as a list of icons next to each person's name/HP bar in the party list. Even if you don't recognise the icon, you can tell if it's good or bad by the shape. Good effects have a slightly pointed top, like an 'up' arrow. Bad effects have a slightly pointed bottom, like a 'down' arrow.