AST Gear BiS

[KarstenS]

The only 1% left are the savage raids

This is the onliest content in the game, for which you have to think about BiS gear. For every content else, you can use, what you get.

Over the average endgame raid period of 8 minutes 30 seconds, 0 spell speed will net you 204 spells disregarding oGCDs and the like. Prioritizing spell speed gives you 219. Spell Speed is good

No, its not, because the damage incomming is fully scriptet and fix (except in PvP). All you need to know is what to heal and when you do that. There is no benefit you gain from SS over other stats.

In all raids we had till now, I never had healing issues because of lacking SS.

Actually AST casttimes are out of the box still shorter than heals of the other 2 jobs. So SS will be there much more a waste of points.

To each his own I guess, but to me I think spell speed is godly especially with how it affects HoT now.

DET and CRIT are still more powerful for HoTs.

[Gist]

All you need to know is what to heal and when you do that.

So I learned today that healers don't help their raid team DPS during downtime when the damage is scripted and fixed. Combust + Combust II rotation gives you about 200 dps for 10 seconds without cleric stance (same as Aero as it happens), which nets you about 2000 -reliable- damage versus the same that MIGHT be gotten from having one of those crit. That's also not counting the faster Malefic IIs that you're also throwing out. Spell Speed reduces all of your spell cooldowns, not just your healing.

I was told once that DPSing as a healer is required, and having Spell Speed increases your DPS by about 100 on average (a la caster DPS)~

[Spoekes]

So I learned today that healers don't help their raid team DPS during downtime when the damage is scripted and fixed. Combust + Combust II rotation gives you about 400 dps for 6 seconds (same as Aero as it happens), which nets you about 2400 -reliable- dps versus the same that MIGHT be gotten from having one of those crit. That's also not counting the faster Malefic IIs that you're also throwing out. Spell Speed reduces all of your spell cooldowns, not just your healing.

I was told once that DPSing as a healer is required, and having Spell Speed increases your DPS by about 100 on average (a la caster DPS)~

If you start with a punchline, avoid looking like a fool afterwards.
"2400DPS"... but not per second!

"Having SpSp increases your DPS by about 100 on average", well, again, a very meaningful statement.

[KarstenS]

and having Spell Speed increases your DPS by about 100 on average (a la caster DPS)

I'm in a raid group with 2 BLM for one and a half year now.

One BLM is focussed on SS/DET. The other on Crit/DET.

Their DPS is nearly equal.

Sometimes the one has more. Sometimes the other.

And don't get out of the mind: While a SCH can DPS nearly endless without mana issues, an AST or WHM run out of mana after around 2 minutes straight DPSing (single target). The fight in A1S is around 8 minutes long. You will not chain cast all the time. Beside healing, and maybe DPSing, you will have to manage your mana as good as possible. Ballad should only get used, when there is no other solution.