How do I heal?

[Ninster]

I hate to hijack this thread, but I have some relevant questions:

How do I heal in high-level content? I've gotten used to healing and (trying to, depending on the tank) Cleric Stance-dancing with all three healers fairly well in low level content, where packs are generally pulled no more than 2 at a time (anything more than that and I start foaming at the mouth trying to keep up with the tank). In most high-level dungeons, though, pulls are done usually until each gate from what I've observed. I have enough sense to not to apply regeneration effects until the tank has hate on everything, but what do I do if the tank's health is going below 50% and he's still pulling?

Also, how do I heal in 8-man content? I've never really felt any synergy with the other healer in what little I've done and I've kinda just watched HP bars. But if the other healer is competent enough to keep everyone up, I kinda feel like I'm not doing much of anything. So how do I know when I need to help and when I can DPS?

[MXMoondoggie]

How do I heal in high-level content?

you just want to find that balance between heals and DPS. Depending on the class you are playing you will have different kinds of skills but what I find with WHM is with stoneskin up and eye for an eye I have quite a lot of time before the Tank is in any real danger so I can start in cleric stance and pump out some DPS. At 60 the rotation changed a bit so I go something like open with holy which will stun all mobs and damage them meaning the Tank is taking no damage, Aero III which will hit all the mobs then holy again for another stun, assize gives you mana damages all mobs with possible big crits and gives some HP back to the Tank then a final holy if you can before cleric stance is turned off and Tank is topped up. By that time everything should be dead anyway with good DPS you will barely need to heal the Tank.

Synergy with another Healer is hard in a PuG you don't know each other or how you like to play your class. There are several accepted rotations for Tank and DPS but with Healer often people just throw their own playstyle in so it can be hard to learn what kind of person you are playing with. Depending on the class the other Healer is and how they play I try to adjust my style a bit. Some Healers will heal a ton so you can heal a bit less off their shoulder and do DPS at the same time though this suits a SCH more so if you are WHM and the other person is a SCH I'd just assume they want to do that so take on the power Healer role and pump out heals. SCH can handle mitigation and DPS quite easily as can AST and are good at focusing on a single target like the MT leaving the WHM to focus on big group heals for raid wide damage and spreading their HoT.

For the most part it's about knowing what the class and the player are good at and trying to make the most of their skills and how they fit in with yours.

I think I play better when I have more of a free role to get Healing to areas that need it most and get a bunch of DPS out but I'm quite comfortable doing heavy healing too.

[Risvertasashi]

I hate to hijack this thread, but I have some relevant questions:

How do I heal in high-level content?
-snip-
but what do I do if the tank's health is going below 50% and he's still pulling?

Second question first: Generally... heal the tank. It's on them for pulling more than they can handle. If you want you can let them die, alternatively. It's a lose-lose scenario.

First question: Same basic principles as earlier in the thread. Learn the fights really well. If you aren't comfortable DPSing for this, then don't; that's OK. DPS (IMO) is for when you know a fight well.

You'll learn when the big hits are coming, what tools are best for what situation. For example, Cure II is very inefficient, but sometimes necessary to get through damage spikes. Cure I spam is more mana efficient, but if you want to DPS, Cure II could potentially let you get back to Cleric faster. HoTs are generally good to have up any time there's incoming damage or will be soon, but try to avoid them just before adds pops. Divine Seal is on a short cooldown; use it often, don't hold onto it "just in case" (like not using it for several minutes). But when you know fights, popping it just before a big damage spike is valid.

Really, look at every single skill you have. Carefully note down its effects. Figure out the best times and situations to use it.

Even Surecast is not useless. (Some will disagree with me on this, but really, I think it's useful on some fights).

Now you might want specific examples. For this, you want to go look at the healing guides to various fights, this one for example. Now to really get the most of it... don't just blindly follow what the guides say. Try to figure out why the guide recommends healing a certain mechanic or piece in a certain way. If the guide doesn't specify... ask yourself: When would be good times to pop my cooldowns? When should I use my mitigation (or avoid it and let the SCH mitigate)? Another example, in that guide above, it's telling you to regen in a way that regen won't be up when the add pops (even though it doesn't say this directly).

Beyond that, have a healer wingman come with you on fights that isn't afraid of telling you where you can improve.

[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.