Any tips for dodging AOEs as a healer?

[FengPopo]

I always loved playing the healer role in every MMORPG that I've played. I can say that I'm a fairly good healer. I started my WHM job in FFXIV thinking it'd be a similar type of play style as other games, but I got a rough awakening when it came time for Titan. FFXIV has a ton of movement and AOE dodging during fights that is unlike other games I have played before. I've never had to move or dodge so much as a healer before.

No matter how hard I try, I just cannot avoid dodging at least one AOE. I've fallen off the ledge in Titan many times to my utter embarrassment. I would see him put down landslide but I would just be a second too slow to react. I feel like maybe my reaction time is too slow. But what can I do if my reaction processing is a few seconds slower than the average person? Am I doomed to just keep getting eaten by AOE and failing my party members?

This has become very frustrating for me because I WANT to be a good player and do harder content, but I'm just inherently a slow reactor.

Does anyone have any tips/advice on how to deal with dodging AOEs in time?

[Riepah]

If your reaction time is really consistently slower than it should be and you can't change it, try learning the boss patterns by heart. You don't have to "react to" as much as "anticipate" the attacks, then.

[Feylie]

If your reaction time is really consistently slower than it should be and you can't change it, try learning the boss patterns by heart. You don't have to "react to" as much as "anticipate" the attacks, then.

^ This.

Literally every fight in the game is a dance. You can't dance the dance without knowing the steps first. There's very little RNG.

[Selli]

You have to dodge AoEs as soon as you see them, even if that means interrupting your cast.

Also check your graphics settings. I had 0 issues until I got into Titan as well and for some reason Titan makes my frames drop by a good 40-50 FPS.

[Quinna]

IMO the best thing you can do is practice the content, watch different videos and really focus on patterns and learn the fights so you are up and moving before the AOEs even hit the floor. :3

[Byonka]

You have to dodge AoEs as soon as you see them, even if that means interrupting your cast.

Also check your graphics settings. I had 0 issues until I got into Titan as well and for some reason Titan makes my frames drop by a good 40-50 FPS.

This helped me a great deal too.

IMO the best thing you can do is practice the content, watch different videos and really focus on patterns and learn the fights so you are up and moving before the AOEs even hit the floor. :3

^ And this. You'll be much faster at dodging once you've memorized the dance/ know what to expect.


Another thing is not allowing yourself to get tunnel vision. (staring at party list health bars.) Actively recheck the situation, try to watch what the party is doing. This to me was and still can be the hardest thing to over come.

Practice really does make perfect. Good luck!

[Gillionaire]

Just be ready to move instead of being focused on your cast bar. Even if it's 85% filled, just move and lose the cast.
It's not like your tank's going to die because you didn't get that one cast of heal off, but if you die, the tank WILL die.

And.. yes, unfortunately, if your reaction is just too slow, not much can be done about that
Since Tex is one of those things where you can't recover, once you're knocked out, it's over kind of deal. Also, no amount of gear will save you from it either, so it's a true skill check in that sense.

Also, check your play style and see if you're unable to move AND cast skills at the same time.. I've noticed that some people have trouble doing both at the same time, if that's the case, you could practice it. maybe try playing BRD or something and be constantly on the move without stopping at any time.

[Saseal]

Also, check your play style and see if you're unable to move AND cast skills at the same time.. I've noticed that some people have trouble doing both at the same time, if that's the case, you could practice it. maybe try playing BRD or something and be constantly on the move without stopping at any time.

I recommend this as well - I had quite a bit of trouble in Titan HM till I switched to Bard for a while. It was quickly a cakewalk on Bard, and the practice transferred over to when I'd play WHM again. A lot of my trouble spots I got over using Bard. Now I consider Titan HM fun o_O

The main thing, though, is to not wait to finish casting - unless you intend to take a hit from a WoTL (but Never landslide!), knowing you can take it, if something is truly that dire (like low health MT and Bene on CD). You can also hit sprint at any time - for casters it's free movement speed since they're not penalized by the TP loss (unlike melee are).

If it's not that - check the graphics settings or the speed boosters mentioned earlier x.x An FC mate of mine had such bad lag that I still outran his sprinting, while running normally. Pingzapper cleared that right away, as soon as he tried it. He didn't do the whole Disconnect symbol dance or jumping places.... just everything for him was incredibly slow (and he appeared slow on my screen, too) - which meant things appeared incredibly slow, too (AoEs, spawns, etc). While that may not be the case for all content for you (as he only had this happen -worst- for him in some openworld areas and some dungeons (Brayflox. As a new tank. He cried for days.) you can stilll run it during instances where you suspect this could be happening... especially Titan HM

[baopee]

try either enlarge the party list or move it a bit closer to the center of screen, this way your eyes can focus on you character instead of glancing back and forth on the party list. It give might give you the half second that you need to dodge the aoes.

Also are you playing on PS3? I had some problem to dodge wotl when I still had PS3. Therefore it might not be you can't dodge the aoes, it is simply display lag.

[Cynfael]

Keep in mind that ground-telegraphed AoEs determine successful hits before the indicator vanishes. If you fail to move completely out of the yellow area before it vanishes, you will be hit even if the attack animation appears to miss you.

You can also clip your casts and still complete them while moving depending on latency. If I start moving when a cast has ~.4 seconds left, I can move while completing it.