Is it okay to not DPS?

[416to305]

Get used to where the Benediction button is, it will save you many times when DPSing! Can let the tank get pretty low and then pop that and back up they go. For me I was worried about MP management initially thinking I'd run out all the time and then not have enough to heal, but that is extremely rare unless you are spamming Holy, but you're only going to spam Holy in certain situations, mainly where you know you'll have time after to get that MP back up. I like that there's a cool down to remove CS as it forces you to strategize on when to best use it.

[Phileas]

Dont start DPSing really until you are comfortable with your ALL your healing tools (ie. its probably best not to start till you're level 50).

Gauge the damage the tank is receiving - if he is getting knocked down to 75% in a single blow, chances are you are safer not stance dancing and focus on supporting the tank. Also watch how your DPS are - are they moving out of unnecessary damage? Minimising avoidable damage as much as possible? If they are and the tank is not taking a massive hit in HP, stance dance away.

Healer DPS should be viewed as nothing more than a bonus - NO content in FFXIV is tuned with healer DPS in mind.

[Risvertasashi]

Some people actually look down on healers that DPS. Not on the forums, but you'll find them in other places.

I think everyone can agree with this: Get comfortable with the counters and healing first. Healing is always your first responsibility.

Then, once you're not worried you'll lose someone, and you find you have some spare time in fights... then, if you want to, DPS ：) (I encourage it though!). As another poster mentioned... Have benediction at the ready just in case you misjudge.

[Cynfael]

Hi, I'm fairly new to this game but am fairly old to healing/support in other MMORPGs. I was just wondering if PUGs look poorly at a healer who doesn't DPS? I've tried stance dancing and DPSing in between heals, but I seem to fudge things up. That usually ends up with a death or a wipe.

Oh dear, this again. And so soon!

Speaking as a major proponent for responsible healer DPS, this is my input:

- If you want to be the best at your role, you will learn how and when to incorporate DPS. This does mean that there may be fights, especially those you haven't learned yet, where you do minimal or no DPS, and that's ok as long as you are otherwise performing your job.

- The average PUG probably won't be too concerned if you don't DPS as long as you aren't plainly standing around watching them fight for you while you have minimal or no healing to do. Good players will recognize and appreciate DPS contribution from the healer(s) as long as it doesn't cause inconvenience or death to the party (which it doesn't if you are doing it correctly).

- As a general rule, if your party has to adjust its behavior to accommodate your penchant for DPS, you are probably doing it wrong; good healer DPS complements the party's actions.

- As SCH you have the easiest time DPSing since the fairy will do a lot for you (even more if you are manually casting Embraces from her as you DPS so as to keep targets, usually the tank, topped off).

- Learning fights is the key to doing all of this correctly, including the actual healing portion. If you know when the damage is coming and who it is going to hit, you can plan for your DPS windows as well as what you will do if a party member makes a mistake.

[Gorlioliolio]

- As a general rule, if your party has to adjust its behavior to accommodate your penchant for DPS, you are probably doing it wrong; good healer DPS complements the party's actions.

Unless their behavior is to stand in pretty much every bad thing while doing piss poor dps, then screw em, just outdps those people and keep the tank up.

[JamiaHaab]

I really think it depends on the situation and your comfort level with your party members HP, but when there is some down time can you not be cute and make your character sit down or jump around like a crazy person waiting for the tank and DPS to kill the enemy? When leveling Monk I've been getting a lot of healers like that and that's what might make people think that you're lazy for not contributing.

[Dante_V]

Unless you are doing bleeding edge content at low item levels you likely won't /have/ to dps. It is a bonus to your team. First priority is always heals. Doing dps will make you a more valuable commodity as a healer but it isn't necessary, just helpful. However if your team dies while you dps then that's obviously no bueno. So do what you are comfortable with.

[416to305]

For me I'd always DPS from 1-50 (or I guess 15-50 technically!), just to make it go faster because the dungeons are pretty easy there requiring minimal heals. At minimum what I do is pop CS, cast Aero II and usually Virus if it's a boss, and then drop CS. Every little bit helps, and even if you're not comfortable full on DPSing back and forth, you can easily fill the gaps between heals by just doing an Aero II while in CS. I do this especially at the start of a boss, when the tank has done his first attack on it, as usually no one takes major damage for at least 20-30 seconds so you have plenty of time to do this. I tend to DPS on adds vs the boss. I can't think of how many times it's been an instance where it's easy adds (the kind that a single DPS can take them out) where it's been me the WHM killing at least a few of them while the DPS's are still so focused on the boss they don't even notice them.

[PetiteMalFleur]

I always appreciate dps from the healer in leveling dungeons. I've never asked a healer to dps because people are at various comfort levels with their role. In raid content, particularly FCoB, I absolutely look down on a scholar who doesn't dps even a little.