Starting healing with AST... Did I bite off too much?

[Gemina]

Almost the same story with my nephew. Both his WAR and PLD are 60 and 50 respectively. He wanted to give healing a try so he unlocked ast. He might have more XIV experience than I, but he does not have more MMO and healing experience. So I advised him that he level cnj first. I also advised that he level sync down and repeat the first three dungeons when mistakes are much more forgiving. He has little interest in the pet micro management from acn/sch.

He did not take my advice. He had a couple of wipes before deciding to get protect from cnj, and got his ast to about 44-ish before giving it up. He wants to try cnj now, and I warned him that he will have to level acn as well if he plans on being a whm.

If you want to be a good healer, don't take shortcuts. Start from the beginning. Especially if you've never healed in an mmo before. If you decide to level acn as well, you'll be queued as DPS, but don't let that stop you from casting physick. Get used to looking at those HP gauges.

[GeekMatt]

I'd just like to say as a healer, seeing ACN/THM/BLM/SMN use physic or pld use Clemency when I have things under control is mildly insulting and mildly annoying. I'm not someone that needs to go fast, if DPS/tanks aren't too great at their jobs yet or are struggling with mechanics, or if someone needs a potty break then I don't mind waiting in the slightest. But when time is being wasted because you're trying to do something you shouldn't be, instead of doing what you should be, it's really frustrating to have my time wasted.

So if people have died and your healer has proven that they can't keep up, or if your healers dead then by all means physic/clemency away, but each role has its responsibilities and if the others are carrying their weight then please make the effort to carry yours. Also, low HP does not mean the healer isn't on top of things, DEATH means the healer's not on it.

[Gemina]

So if people have died and your healer has proven that they can't keep up, or if your healers dead then by all means physic/clemency away, but each role has its responsibilities and if the others are carrying their weight then please make the effort to carry yours. Also, low HP does not mean the healer isn't on top of things, DEATH means the healers not on it.

I totally understand where you're coming from, but also wanted to offer a perspective that just because another member of the group tosses out a healing spell doesn't mean they think you're not on top of things. You have to choose your battles and this is one I am passive about unless dps or tanking is seriously suffering as a result of someone trying to do my job.

[Oohlalaheals]

I think AST is only marginally more difficult. I was very daunted by it at first because of the difficulty hype. I also felt the razor thin margin of error thing at first, some mp issues, and some not fully understanding the class issues. Now with Luminiferous Aether giving a longer refresh, just spam that Benefic II whenever you need it, you aren't going to run out of mp. Don't be afraid to use your abilities during trash pulls, LA, Lightspeed, Synastry, most of it has a short enough CD that in another 2 minutes when you get to the boss you can use it again. Use your buffs on trash pulls, I try to royal road either an ewer or spire (for AOE) for as many trash pulls as possible. I was playing my AST like it had a razor thin margin of error, and so it did. However now I main AST and I think it has more utility, and more ability to save a hairy situation than the other 2.

Stick with it, and go get Swiftcast it will save your life ALL the time.

[TSLsmokey]

-snip-

As a note, when I use those abilities, it's not that I don't think the healer can't do their job. There are times where, as PLD, I notice the DPS taking more damage than they should and forcing the healer to compensate more than they should. If I can cover myself for those moments to give the healer that time, I will. If I fudge in an early dungeon(Halatali and those thrice damned Lightning Sprites) as smn, I will cover my ass because I don't think the healer should have to cover my own mistake(was yelled at for that exact reason). It's rarely EVER that I feel a healer is incompetent... actually only twice have I ever felt that. once in tam-tara and once in Thordan's Reign(where a PuG screwed us over)

[BrielleBeaudonet]

snip

All great tips. Thanks! I've been using my cooldowns more often and that has relieved a lot of the burden of healing during tougher trash pulls. Right now, I'm trying to get better at card management. Like you mentioned, I should be burning an Ewer or Spire to get the AOE benefit of my next card, but it's easy to forget the functions in the middle of action.

Thanks to this thread, I've got a lot more information and confidence. I've healed the Aery a couple times with hardly a single issue and earned some more commendations. It seems it was just the simple things about the job that were eluding me before!

[DestroyerOfLargePlanets]

Synastry > Aspected Benefic > Swiftcast > Aspected Helios > Collective Unconscious > Time Dilation = Three boosted regens. If you have a Bole or better yet an enhanced Bole to smack onto your tank before Time Dilation, then your tank will never die. Of course, only use this when your tank is pulling an army. Else you'd be better off using Swiftcast on a double Gravity to wreck face.

[DestroyerOfLargePlanets]

I don't main healer however -- in fact, I'm bad at it -- but this triple regen cheeses through all dungeons like they're nothing.

[Roxas_Andrade]

Synastry > Aspected Benefic > Swiftcast > Aspected Helios > Collective Unconscious > Time Dilation = Three boosted regens. If you have a Bole or better yet an enhanced Bole to smack onto your tank before Time Dilation, then your tank will never die. Of course, only use this when your tank is pulling an army. Else you'd be better off using Swiftcast on a double Gravity to wreck face.

You could use Lightspeed instead of swiftcast to get the instant cast on spells and save mp. And then you use Swift to doublecast Gravity.
This big amount of regen power I just used in dungeons in one situation, in the arboretum, before the queen bee boss when the tank pulled all the bees... Usually it's not necessary in dungeons. I don't do savage content.

[DarkmoonVael]

You could use Lightspeed instead of swiftcast to get the instant cast on spells and save mp. And then you use Swift to doublecast Gravity.
This big amount of regen power I just used in dungeons in one situation, in the arboretum, before the queen bee boss when the tank pulled all the bees... Usually it's not necessary in dungeons. I don't do savage content.

Lightspeed would still be up for 2-3 casts of gravity, which means its not worth it. No point cutting your dps by 25% .