Hallu!

So I recently hit 60 (about three days ago) and I'm now about to start doing Alex S. I've heard a lot about how healers have to DPS as hard as possible to help with the DPS race and this has got me somewhat worried. From the content I've run so far, I usually only DPS when a) the tank and myself are geared to a point where hots and the occasional Cure I or Cure II are enough to keep the tank alive while I DPS or b) it's a fight where nobody takes a lot of damage and I know I can dps safely and won't need giant amounts of heal suddenly or c) when the tank pulls giant groups and my fingers get itchy for that holy spam.

Now, my issue isn't the stance dance, I'm mainly worried about MP. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm just generally a bad healer when it comes to MP management, but from some of the parses I've done in Alex I'm usually a few hundred hps above the other healer if it's a SCH or pretty much on par if it's another WHM or AST and my overheal % is usually at around 25% - 40% (the more aoe heals a fight requires, the more overheal % usually). I have no clue if that is good or if I'm spamming too much. However, despite using Assize and Shroud as soon as they're up, I normally run out of MP eventually in long fights, even when I don't dps. (When I DO dps, I apply dots and use Stone III for single targets)

What can I do to avoid this? Should I be using something else to dps? Am I missing some skill or consumable that can be used to regain further MP? (I do have Hi-Elixir for real emergencies, but that barely covers the cost of one heal)

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance.

Pria

Edit: I normally use HQ Pineapple Juice for most content except leveling dungeons.