How do I heal?

[Cynfael]

Why should I be expected to DPS when that's not in the job description? o.o

Killing mobs to complete duties is in every combat class' job description. The key difference among the roles is what their primary responsibilities are in a group setting so that essential functions are handled. Once minimum requirements are met, your concern shifts to making things die faster. Same is true of tanks in that they aren't best played as passive enmity sponges.

[zuzu-bq]

I loved how OP is being active in this thread instead of just creating it and leaving.

Everyone is giving healing and damaging tips, so I would love to throw out a bit more about being a healer and how you can position yourself.

To be a healer on FFXIV is is to be a tactician, as the Nymian scholars would instruct you. Even this being a Scholar-ish lore point of view, you can really apply it on any healing job. Know your job, know everyone else's job. Communication and experimentation is the key of being a good healer. Talk with your party, specially your healer partner when doing 8-man groups. Try different ways of healing each mechanic and use the one you feel its more comfortable to your party while being comfortable for you.

Even though you can get some tips about healing, its not about a recipe like how you should do a rotation. Remember to experiment, preact and be ready to react to any unexpected issues.

[Gist]

Okay, I understand that DPSing can help me push my limits, but is it absolutely necessary to pass a DPS check in endgame content? Most of the time, I don't have the resources or time to stance dance; if I do, an important member dies due to my negligence.

[NeaturalBomber]

Okay, I understand that DPSing can help me push my limits, but is it absolutely necessary to pass a DPS check in endgame content? Most of the time, I don't have the resources or time to stance dance; if I do, an important member dies due to my negligence.

To be honest if a healer is needed to dps your dps players ain't doing there job , there is no real reason a whm should be dpsing maybe a few dots here and there but nothing serious
As long as your healing properly I wouldn't bother unless you want to try improve your own play

[Cynfael]

Okay, I understand that DPSing can help me push my limits, but is it absolutely necessary to pass a DPS check in endgame content? Most of the time, I don't have the resources or time to stance dance; if I do, an important member dies due to my negligence.

The key is to choose your actions appropriately, just as with all other things.

The only real failure is in not considering DPS skills as options. Healers who ignore that part of their kit are doing themselves and their parties a disservice during healing downtime.

Not DPSing because the healing requirement of the encounter precludes such is another thing altogether.

[Caede]

I'm a new healer too (Just started healing a few months ago), but I've been playing MMOs since Lineage back in the 90's. Here's my advise:

Arrange your HUD so everything is centered and easy to see/access. I like to have the focus target near the party frame so I can keep an eye on boss mechanics while watching HP bars.

If you use a mouse/keyboard, keybind all your skills. You don't want to be clicking stuff during combat (a little clicking is okay, but it takes time to move the mouse and this can delay healing). I also have 1 bar set to the largest setting and placed next to my character to keep an eye on important procs and cooldowns.

F1 - f8 will target your party members (also you can move people around in the party frame for easier healing).

The rest will come with experience. Such as, don't always spam Cure II, most of the time a Cure w/ Regen will do just fine. Good luck!

[Parawill]

The only time you should ignore healing and DPS is when you hit an enrage skill and you don't need to keep DPS alive. :-) Even though if you miss a few times, those few DoTs and whatever you throw at the boss can get a clear or not. Damage is damage ^-^

If you do start incorporating DPS into your playstyle, if you can pick out recovery phases of an encounter (low damage that can be sustained by heal over times or simple Cures), start with throwing only DoTs up. Once you become more comfortable with both healing & MP management, you can throw in extra DPS in the long run.

[Gist]

Hmmmmmm. Alright, huge thank you to everyone who answered my noob questions, hopefully I'll be able to go out and heal with little difficulty! </3