I'm not talking about healer DPS! Click me!

[FunkyBunch]

I vehemently disagree.
At low levels, you can pull off 2 or 3 Fire IIs max. If you are paired with an archer, they might also run out of TP. The mobs have such a large amount of HP that you're just better off killing a mob there and then. If you're swapping into ice mode, and the mobs are still at 77% HP, then it's just slower.

You can always pull off 4 Fire IIs minimum (before you get F3) unless you're terribly, terribly undergeared.
And it may not seem like you're killing them faster, but you are. There is no way it is ever faster to do F1.
You will always be able to cast AT MOST one more F1 than F2, no less, because F1 is 80% the cost of F2 at every level and because there's never a time you could cast 10 F2's.
180 potency vs 300 potency
180x5 is 25% less than 300x4
Even if you're only getting 3 F2's you're still doing 900 potency vs 720 potency with 4 F1s.

This doesn't count the fact that with F2 you have 3 times the crit opportunities per cast.

If the mobs are dying at different rates, it's because the players aren't properly rotating their targets which is not the AoE players fault. And the AoE player should switch to single target at 2 mobs. (unless they're a dragoon and then they should be DoomSpiking still anyway)

[loreleidiangelo]

I love how this thread basically turned into an argument about DPS anyway, even if it's not about healer DPS.

[Windi]

I love how this thread basically turned into an argument about DPS anyway, even if it's not about healer DPS.

ikr?

Anyway, I haven't played as a healer extensively but in a party situation, it feels hectic and kind of nerve-wracking as I have to keep track of my party's HP, especially the tank, it seems.

That's not a bad thing, though. It's a unique experience in this game.

[FunkyBunch]

I love how this thread basically turned into an argument about DPS anyway, even if it's not about healer DPS.

Ooops. /10char

[Joe_Schmoe]

Healing isn't my first choice - that'd be tanking - but I figured I should at least take it up, just to see what it's like. I thought it would also come in handy if I wanted to run with a group, or do a FATE, but they already have a tank. At least with healing I could still contribute without having to follow the herd (of DPSers).

[Atoli]

I had no certain "inspirations" per se, like the OP. In games where I controlled the whole party, I always thought of the healers as necessary but lame.
In hindsight, I really wonder whyever I picked healer in my first MMO
Probably because I started together with a friend and wanted to be able to support her..^^°

Well, the typical healer horrors followed - being poor as hell because all loot went to the one who killed the mob, which was NEVER the healer; getting blamed for any and all f*ck-ups, but never getting thanked for keeping everyone alive and well even through the craziest of fights; having to rely on the help of others to get ANYTHING done because solo was not an option, etc..^^

I'm pretty sure I was healer mostly just out of stubborness for quite a while..xD

It wasn't until FFXIV and the patch that introduced jobs came along that I actually started to ENJOY getting through the hardest content and being able to say to myself "I pulled that off. I kept them alive."
I LIKE how busy I am on healer. As DPS, I can ignore pretty much everything except looking out for a few mechanics. As tank, it helps to have a look at your party from time to time, but you mostly just care about your enmity and cooldowns and some tank-specific mechanics.
As healer, you need to have your eyes everywhere.
Party, mechanics, special tank-related mechanics, own cooldowns, tank cooldowns, DPSing and generally fixing any little thing that might come up. As AST, I get the special joy to also look out for the rotations of my DPS players to see when it's best to give them buffs

...and it's FUN D:

[Silverbane]

My main character has White Mage, Summoner, Scholar, Bard and Warrior at 60, so I can play any role I like. As a kind of casual player (I don't do Savage) I like to play White Mage. I find it more interesting than DPS or tanking.

Instead of a boring rotation, I have to do single-target heals and hots, group heals/hots against unavoidable AoE, MP management, threat management, pro (Virus) and con (status ailments that need Esuma) debuff management, position management (ranged DPS, yes, you CAN stand at your max range, but you don't have to!) and yes, contributing DPS when no one needs a heal.

That's far more variety than a tank or DPS gets, in my experience.

[Neela]

Actually i act like the OP but with a different cls - every new (j)rpg i start i look for a range cls like archer/hunter/sniper/bard whatever.

talking about healers confession i played Ragnarok Online for more than 6 years with different Healer Builds (pure support pve, mvp (like trials in ff), war of emperium (mass-pvp atking and defending the own fc castle) and pvp). There you have to build different builds for different content - joining FF14 was a disappointment at first... at the time i started there only were whms for pure support and hybrid sch who thought they were more like dds than a healer. getting in touch with hw and ast i started to change my opinion and raised all 3 up to the max.

Nowadays i love to play all 3 healer cls equally - but im still missing support skills/cls like time mages or mediators. ff-healing is sadly still basic compared to other mmo support cls. : /

[Valmaxian]

Nowadays i love to play all 3 healer cls equally - but im still missing support skills/cls like time mages or mediators. ff-healing is sadly still basic compared to other mmo support cls. : /

Agreed! I also hoped that WHM (my original toon upon release) was going to be a support/healer with more of the skills I had come to love from classic FF White Mages - Haste, Slow, Blink, Quick, Mute, Life 3, etc. There is still SO much untapped potential. I main AST so I can feel like I'm more of a support healer, but those types of (support) skills should be a bigger part of other classes as well, and not just healers - just my two cents. I've really enjoyed MMO's (RIFT comes to mind) that incorporate support classes that have their unique roles in parties apart from the T/D/H trinity. Personally, I play FFXIV for the polish, the lore, and the storyline.