How do I heal?

[MXMoondoggie]

WHM is the Healer class it's what you are mainly good at. DPS as a WHM got a boost with some new skills also in the latest patch though we lost some of our capability to mitigate with a stoneskin nerf. But you can pump out heals to an entire raid easily and constantly keep HoT up. You have emergency heals and simple single target cures of various strengths as far as healing itself goes WHM is the most capable.

Playing any sort of healing or support class you should know anticipation is key. Learn to love focus target and how to read the skills coming up. After a while you will learn the orders things happen in and can plan accordingly. You need to be learning about your party. When does the Tank need healing? When will the whole group take damage? Who is struggling to dodge? Does the Tank lose aggro to a DPS?

It's a good idea to read up on the skills of various Tank classes too so you can understand when they are using a defensive skill. If they are in trouble and you know they already used their big CDs you might have to burn your benediction CD to save the Tank.

You just have to keep learning fights and different situations then you'll know how to counter them. Develop a thick skin because there is a stigma that Healing is really easy and people will just blame you for almost everything unless they are very experienced and can see who exactly was at fault. Sometimes it's your fault and in that case hold your hand up and say you made a mistake but the rest of the time don't let people convince you that you are bad because you can't carry them.

When it comes to the Healer people want to take it's one who they can rely on to do the job so they can all do their own without having to worry. A reliable Healer and Support (Basically only Bard is support Machinist has support but nobody seems to know how to use it right yet) can make the run that much more enjoyable for everyone.

[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?

[pushin_tin]

I can't say anything about SCH or AST, but this is how I heal big speedpulls in dungeons on WHM:

1.) Before the tank begins pulling, have Stoneskin applied. Do not HoT until he is done with the pull.
2.) Once the tank stops, use Eye for Eye, place Asylum, pop Divine Seal, and cast a cure or two if he takes an initial spike of damage.
3.) Once the tank's HP stabilizes, apply regen, enter Cleric Stance.
4.) Swiftcast Holy, during stun duration cast Aero III, then one or two more Holy, Assize.
5.) At this point, if the tank is still stable, you can stay in cleric and dps while regen keeps the tank up. Otherwise, leave cleric and restabilize the tank.
6.) Remember that non-CS Assize, Tetragrammaton, and Benediction are good emergency buttons if the tank gets dangerously low.

Now if a tank is overpulling to the point where Benediction and DS-buffed Cure II spam is not enough to save him, then it is the tank's fault. A good tank that knows how much to pull and utilizes his mitigation cooldowns will allow you to comfortably do the aforementioned process.

[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.

[Gist]

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

[Parawill]

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

You don't have to DPS, but finding DPS opportunities that don't conflict with your major role of healing and keeping the party alive means you're maximizing your classes' capabilities. To clarify, by healing only you're doing the bare minimum. When doing DPS and healing, you're pushing your classes' potential.

[Rajeme]

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

Just like how dps should also able to tank. And from tanking like a real tank, you push your potential to the limit and exceed it by force.

[MXMoondoggie]

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

If it's on your skill bar then you should use it. It's all about learning to get the most from your class. And it's more fun to find ways to weave skills in to your rotation instead of just being the Healer and it being a snore fest on a good run.

[Mujuuk]

I found a guide

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...te_job_guides/

[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.