DPSing as a healer

[Judge_Xero]

Hi, I'm a newbie playing a White Mage and there's one issue 'd like to clarify. I know that generally I am expected to DPS whenever I can, but I was wondering whether doing it isn't a "waste of mana" in some cases?

Any time you DPS you are making a fight shorter regardless if there is an enrage mechanic etc. This results in less healing overall and less room for errors. Also consider that other classes have finite resources the same as a healer, whether it be TP, MP, CD's (specifically Tanking CD's) and the longer a fight goes on the less of those are available. Especially in the case of TP for melee classes because once they run dry their DPS really starts to plummet.

Healers are built to efficiently maintain their MP levels for both a combination of healing and DPS (outside of heavy AOE casting) so your contribution no matter what you are comfortable with is never a waste, or a waste of mana and if you are only able to DPS a little due to the nature of a fight requiring heavy healing, by design a healers most potent skills are also the most MP efficient.