Healing/Tank on PS3 or PS4

[Niwashi]

I find healing to be the easiest to do with a controller (in terms of functional ease of selecting a target and firing off an action). Selecting between four or even eight targets in a clearly labeled order is easier than selecting between a varying number of targets in a random unpredictable order. DPS and tanks have to do the latter all the time. Healers only have to do it occasionally when they want to use some downtime (when no healing is needed) to throw out some damage of their own. (Or they can use target-of-target macros to avoid having to select the mobs at all, even when attacking them.)

[Laraul]

Perhaps I have an affinity for not wasting time and cramping my hands with needless button presses.

Your continued instance to prove your point tells me you have an need to wait time with needless button presses.

Let it go. I think everyone agrees that improvements are needed but that doesn't mean you should blame the controls because simply because you refuse to adjust their style of play.

[JaDore]

some examples of my macros

/micon "Aero II"
/ac "Aero II" <tt>
/ac "Aero II" <t>

/micon "Cleric Stance"
/ac "Cleric Stance" <me>
/crosshotbar change 3

then switches to DPS crossbar

/ac "Stoneskin" <1>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <2>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <3>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <4>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <5>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <6>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <7>
/wait 3
/ac "Stoneskin" <8>

aswell i have activated that i only switch betwen c3 and c4 with R1 (DPS and Heal)
very usefull

images of Crossbars

http://imgur.com/22YSyID
http://imgur.com/KrFD8Gx
http://imgur.com/oir7vBw


aswell you can change in option what targets you can select when weapon drawn

just check NPC and Party member , so you will never accidently target any shit when weap is drawn, easier for healers then

Great post!

[Scapechild]

Just remember, there's a sort of aggro meter under every party member's class symbol and that dictates how much they are aggroing your selected creature. On console, you have to beware because it won't show others when you left or right target them, unless you actually hit x and select them. mostly as a paladin, I keep the main focus targeted that being the one that everyone else should be also attacking, and every little bit either throw out a flash, provoke, or switch targets to one of your enmity grabbing combo moves. if you don't hit x and select the creature but merely target with left and right then after the attack you'll go back to your selected creature. In a way this can be really helpful, if you give the majority of your enmity taking moves to the main and hit the others here and there with some you can usually tank entire groups even as a paladin, without having to spam flash and run out of magic when you find you really need to use flash.

[Melinabean0]

Ah, some more nice tips here! Thanks everyone! I did play around with my settings so I can hold down L1 and choose which set of targets I want to scroll through. It has even made DPS classes easier! I highly recommend that little bit to anyone on a controller.

[Moqi]

Healing is a piece of cake on controller.

Anything else is slightly harder IF you do not have aggro on enemies (when you do you can just use L1+up/down). I am levelling bard and always open with an aoe to get some aggro on everyone so I can cicle easily . It's probably a dps loss but beats keep pressing left/right to find the next enemy the tank is focusing on (and i use filters already).

[radioactive_lego]

Well, since no person has ever been so wrong with a personal preference and profusely publicly shamed for it; let me put it this way to the OP:

When you tank, use of the controller is no different than when you were DPS. Your focus is on generating aggro and keeping the hate on you for the betterment of the party, instead of doing as much damage as possible. However, how you direct your abilities, through targeting, is already a mastered skill, if you've leveled a DPS to 50. As a bonus, your que time for dungeons, dailies and such is usually the shortest among all classes, as of the date of this post, so leveling a tank to 50 is arguably the quickest. When soloing or class/job questing your reduced damage output makes many battles a bit longer but the additional armor/HP makes up for this.

[radioactive_lego]

When you heal, use of the controller is different than when you were DPS. Your focus is keeping the party healthy, especially the tank. Direction of your healing abilities requires you to select party members through use of the d-pad (instead of the shoulder buttons, which is different from DPS). Also consider the dungeon/daily que wait times for healer, while better than DPS, can be attrocious at times. When soloing or class/job questing you have reduced damage output like the tank, much less armor, but "unlimited" HP due to your ability to heal yourself. This will require careful balance between attack and healing spells, and toggling healing/attack stances for maximum MP efficiency.

All others: continue to argue (on the internet) your POV.

[Moqi]

Lmao you're making such a big deal of a tiny adjustment.

OP, if you stick with it it'll become natural like any other things you've learned in this game. Don't worry about it too much, play with your filters and see what works best of you. I was on mobile before so I couldn't say much, but as far as those go, I have one for enemies only (which is what I use most of the time as I can use the d-pad to target party members) and one for "friends" which targets all players (great to heal other alliances, although you can cycle through them as well, but I don't remember the buttons right now sorry >.<). I also have one for everything and one for party members only, but I rarely use those, as the first two are enough for all I have to do.

[Niwashi]

Anything else is slightly harder IF you do not have aggro on enemies (when you do you can just use L1+up/down). I am levelling bard and always open with an aoe to get some aggro on everyone so I can cicle easily . It's probably a dps loss but beats keep pressing left/right to find the next enemy the tank is focusing on (and i use filters already).

I keep wishing they'd change it so that any mobs aggroed by your party (whether it was you or not) would show up in the engaged enemys list. It still wouldn't help with the tank's initial pull, but would certainly make the rest of the fight easier, especially for DPS classes.