But...I...I don't wanna DPS, I'm a healer...

[PriestAlseid]

Hey guys, new here, still on my free 30 days and still learning the game.

The point of this thread is that I've never seen a healer system like this, where we're also meant to DPS, and I'm not sure how exactly that works because I rolled a healer specifically because I didn't wanna DPS. I haven't been shouted at by anyone yet but I've been doing a little DPS in dungeons as I level, but I'm a "Keep everyone topped off" kind of healer so I've mainly been focusing on that.

My question is, and I want a right out answer, should I just stop playing and find a different game with a more traditional healer role that is exactly that, a healer? I'm thinking the answer is yes but I want opinions from the player base that's far more established than I am.

I'm assuming that in end game content the healers here are required to DPS against end game content or they're not taken along.

Thanks guys!

[koroko220]

I'm this game inside dungeons and raids healers are not REQUIRED or EXPECTED to dps outside the most recent raid instances. Healers only dps in progression raids or if they are comfortable enough to dps. By the time you get to this content you may also feel more comfortable to dps as well. The Healers that dps are the ones who know their class well and how to balance healing and dpsing. Since you are on trial you haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg yet keep on truckin and see how things turn out.

[Odett]

I'm this game inside dungeons and raids healers are not REQUIRED or EXPECTED to dps outside the most recent raid instances. Healers only dps in progression raids or if they are comfortable enough to dps. By the time you get to this content you may also feel more comfortable to dps as well. The Healers that dps are the ones who know their class well and how to balance healing and dpsing. Since you are on trial you haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg yet keep on truckin and see how things turn out.

I'm sorry, but that's really bad advice. I wouldn't say healers are "required" to DPS, but this game's content is not centered around you healing full time, ESPECIALLY Scholar. I've seen healers that throw a Cure/Physic/Benefic every time a tank falls below 100% HP and it's one of the biggest ways to seem like you're working hard but accomplishing very little. Sure, you'll get those tanks every once in a while who insist that they're DPS and don't pop a single cooldown and you'll end up on babysitting them, but this isn't usually the norm.

Again, it's not that you're required to DPS, but when you're just standing there, doing absolutely nothing, why wouldn't you want to contribute to the group? This falls into the whole "doing the bare minimum" argument. Suppose you roll as a SCH and you get Toto-rak or anything below it for your leveling roulette. I'm not even joking when I say that you can take out Eos, auto-follow your tank, and complete the dungeon, but do you honestly think that makes you a contributor to your team? As someone brought up earlier in this topic. You can be a tank, Overpower spam, Flash, or Unleash/Abyssal Drain in an AoE pull, then go AFK. You CAN do that, but it's just lazy, and same goes for healers.

My advice would be to start getting used to DPSing as soon as you feel comfortable healing. Low level dungeons require VERY little healing, and give you a lot of time to DPS as a healer. The earlier you start getting comfortable with cleric dancing, the easier it will be in the long run. The longer you hold out on it, the harder it will be to get used to. You'll have a much easier time learning how to cleric dance in anything from 1-39, rather than starting at Stone Vigil, or Aurumn Vale. Healing is not so much about knowing when to heal as to knowing when not to heall.

OP, the game has 3 healing jobs. Out of all of them, SCH is the most DPS-intensive, has the more complex DPS toolkit out of the other 2 healers, and has a Fairy that will help you heal. If you don't prefer to DPS, you might not like SCH. Astros are a cool mix of healing/support, and if you enjoy being busy all the time, I think you'll enjoy that job. WHM is the current king of burst heals, and their DPS capabilities fall between SCH and Astro, Astro being last.

You're by no means required to DPS, but it's a nice thing you can do to help out a run go faster (you'd be surprised at how faster a run will go when your healer DPS'es), or just for the sake of doing something when you have no heals to throw it (because overhealing is a bad thing and you shouldn't get used to it). Also, it's a good idea to keep in mind that DPS can be its own sort of mitigation, because you're killing things faster.

As a sidenote, tanks, especially WAR's and DRK's, have self-sustaining abilities themselves. Unless your tank is very squishy, or you're doing a fight that involves a tank buster, it's a good idea to start healing a tank roughly at 50-60% HP instead of every time they fall below 100%. The reason for this is that they can recover the HP you're trying to heal by themselves. For example, at a level 60 expert roulette, if I roll as a DRK or a WAR, for boss battles, the only healing I will need will come from your Eos. Any healing done by you will be completely unnecessary, because Eos/Selene and Souleater, or Inner Beast, Bloodbath+IR+Berserk, Storm's Path, Equillibrium, and Thrill of Battle are more than enough to keep me alive.

[DreamWeaver]

Dungeons etc play however you want.
Extreme Primals(tough boss encounters, but healer dps not generally required) play however you want.
But if you want to participate in the end game raiding scene (Alexander Savage) :
1) WHM and AST = heals 90%, DPS 10%.
2) SCH = DPS 90%, heals 10%.

According to your forum account, you're currently leveling a SCH.
If you wanna spend time healing and not DPSing, I strongly recommend you to switch you main to either a WHM or an AST.

I don't like how the party composition in the end game raid are 2 tanks 2 healers 4 DPS, but in reality if you want to clear stuff in a timely manner without resorting to over gearing, its actually 2 wannabe DPS who can take hits, 1.1 healers, 4.9 DPS, that's how overtuned the DPS checks are in this game ;_;.

[Cynfael]

Hey guys, new here, still on my free 30 days and still learning the game.

The point of this thread is that I've never seen a healer system like this, where we're also meant to DPS, and I'm not sure how exactly that works because I rolled a healer specifically because I didn't wanna DPS. I haven't been shouted at by anyone yet but I've been doing a little DPS in dungeons as I level, but I'm a "Keep everyone topped off" kind of healer so I've mainly been focusing on that.

My question is, and I want a right out answer, should I just stop playing and find a different game with a more traditional healer role that is exactly that, a healer? I'm thinking the answer is yes but I want opinions from the player base that's far more established than I am.

I'm assuming that in end game content the healers here are required to DPS against end game content or they're not taken along.

Thanks guys!

You'll see tons of threads on this already, but quick points:

1. I wouldn't stop playing the game just because you don't feel like you want to DPS. Most players find that contributing DPS on healer is natural once they figure out that healing most content gives you plenty of downtime, and there's nothing else you would be doing, so...yeah.

2. Most MMOs I've played expected a certain level of DPS from healers, at least at high level play. Some healer classes simply didn't function without using attack spells since landing abilities on the enemy was part of the requirement for healing to work. FFXIV is very beginner friendly in that you don't need to do much to fill your minimum role requirement.

3. If you enjoy healing but for some reason truly can't bring yourself to DPS much for whatever reason, go for AST or WHM. I suggest this not because their DPS is poor or because they are incapable of DPSing while healing (quite the contrary), but the playerbase seems to be more forgiving of ...less proactive WHMs and ASTs.

All of that being said, you'll probably realize that contributing DPS as healer feels natural and appropriate as you practice it. Look at it as a mini-game to keep yourself busy while no one requires healing if that helps.

As for keeping people topped off, it's a very inefficient playstyle that will get you called out in pretty much any game, especially where healing is so intensive that you have very little opportunity to DPS (games like that tend to emphasize MP management, and topping people off needlessly is a cardinal sin in that regard).

Good luck with whatever you do!

[DreamWeaver]

3. If you enjoy healing but for some reason truly can't bring yourself to DPS much for whatever reason, go for AST or WHM. I suggest this not because their DPS is poor or because they are incapable of DPSing while healing (quite the contrary), but the playerbase seems to be more forgiving of ...less proactive WHMs and ASTs.

Hey don't dice WHM/AST k? you know how much harder it is to press the regen/AB button every 21/18 seconds compared to just typing /follow once?
That difficulty is why WHM/AST dps less.

[Tint]

Hey don't dice WHM/AST k? you know how much harder it is to press the regen/AB button every 21/18 seconds compared to just typing /follow once?
That difficulty is why WHM/AST dps less.

no, not really. but first i have to say a regen heals less than the fairy and ticks only every 3 seconds, while the fairy has a 2,5 sec gcd.

the reasons scholar dps more is that they have enough mana for dpsing. on my whm i'm oom before the fight ends when i'm dpsing in a 10 min fight.
scholar also have more dps abilitys which don't require accuracy.
but the biggest reason is the fairy: a whm can heal as much as a sch + fairy. a whm + fairy can heal even more. the "solo" healing whm is in fact a whm + fairy.

[koroko220]

Also after you break into heavensward content (if you like the game enough and bought the expansion) you can unlock astrologian which is a healer/buffer. Their dps is least of the 3 healers so you don't dps much at all.

[Astral145]

Then don't DPS.... Its your account and if you stick with the game then play as you like.... Don't feel you have to do anything you don't want to do. This is a GAME not a job... If your a healer and the tank tells you to dps then switch to dps mode and don't heal him...

Make a raise macro that says

/micon
ac/ "swiftcast" <me>
p/ "well you told me to dps so I did, don't blame me for why you are making love to the ground."
/wait 1
/ac "Resurrection" <t>
p/ "Now get up and stop complaining"

[braneri1]

stuff

I would kick anyone who did that immature crap. You do realize that is griefing right? Unless the tank is throwing a huge fit about wanting the healer to dps then your reaction is completely uncalled for and a reportable offense.

Please op, ignore this person's awful advice, all it will do is cause more problems.

Anyways yeah, as long as you keep everyone alive nobody should really complain, but you'll find in many dungeons throughout this game that they do not require intensive healing at all. Especially as a sch, the fairy does much of the healing for you. So oftentimes you will have long periods where there is nothing really to heal and any heals you put out would be overhealing and a waste, so in those cases you could take a few seconds to throw out some dots and bane. Certainly more fun than standing around doing nothing, it keeps you busy and speeds up the run. I personally would not see any sense in literally ignoring half the skills my class can use. A healer contributing dps is still actually contributing to healing, as the faster stuff dies, the less damage people take. Proactive mitigation over the long term.