Healer etiquette and general tips for a noob healer

[Avatre]

- Heal yourself first, tank 2nd and DPS never if possible, let their mistake burn into their minds with the missing 50% of their HP bar.

Jokes aside, this one is actually pretty solid advice.

Until you know the fight at least. I usually heal myself last if I know I have the time for it. I start casting Medica II when the room wide AoE is about 2/3 cast, usually finishing it just after the damage is registered, then throw up a Medica to top us up a bit more.

Though, if someone deliberately doesn't move out of an AoE, they get dropped to the bottom of the priority list.

[Fortune_Cookie]

I trust you'll be able to tell the serious responses from the humorous ones...

"Oh my Draw is off cooldown, lets use it quickly and see what i get... Shit the tanks dead/dying..."

As a recent AST myself, this seems worth emphasising. Don't agonise over the cards - you generally want to get Draw on cooldown asap. Use/spread/RR/minor and move on.

[jstamos]

I'm still a low level (39 i believe) so there hasn't been much to challenge me but there have been some wipes mainly due to me faffing around with the cards.

Keeping people alive > card buffs.

You will eventually get used to which card is which, but there should never be a period where you are spending so long with the cards that someone dies in the meantime.

[Zyaph]

-Imo, the best asset to a good healer is a good UI layout.
I completely reorganized my UI, and even though it does seem kind of messy, for me it's arranged in the best way for myself to see everything that's going on at once. Experiment with the UI and see how much changing it helps(a lot!).
Also your keybinds. I use 1-6 and then QERF, plus Shift and CRTL variations.
-For card skills, I actually bind these to my side mouse buttons. That way I can draw quickly without keeping focus away from healing.
-Make sure Aspected Benefic is on the tank AT ALL TIMES during boss fights. You don't notice the healing drop off until it's too late.
-Make sure you DON'T use Aspected Benific before the tank pulls. Unless you want a near death experience. (:
-Keep the tank on your Focus Target slot if at all possible. This way you can see his/her buff timers real-time.

[Zyaph]

As for macros, Mouse-Over macros are your bff. Unless you use controllers I guess.. But don't overuse them.
I use a MO macro for Aspected Benefic, Esuna, Essential Dignity, and Draw. a Draw MO macro essentially will let you assign the card you just drew to anyone you have your cursor over(including nameplates on your party list).
I know some people use an Echo macro for Aspected Benefic for when it expires on a tank. I personally don't as I keep an eye on timers pretty efficiently, but it's personal taste.
Also remember that a macro skill CAN NOT be "queued", so it can be an overall loss in DPS if you start making EVERY skill a macro.
Swift Rez macro is mandatory. Adding a party message is advisable, so that your other healer/smn knows you are raising. For some reason you can't use the translation text in an AST SwiftRez macro, it completely breaks it. So I just use something like "CASTING REZ ON (t)!!!! 0.5s" with a sound effect.

[Gmot]

I'm not sure if it's been said before, and I'm not max level by any means (I have sch at 61, and Astro at 60) but I've done most of the content I can on these roles, switching between them, since I'm mainly a shorter queue bot for my DPS friends - I'm kidding I swear.

Anyway general tips for Astro
1. Your DPS generally sucks, at least compared to the rest of the healers. Throw in some gravities when you can, but realize that these cost the same amount of MP as Aspected Helios or Aspected Benefic. Run Lucid Dreaming, use liberally - it's on a 90 second CD, so don't really worry about it. It should be back by the time you need it.
2. Study your cards before you draw them, know what they do, and know what they do if you royal road them. It saves a lot of time in dungeons, and it definitely will help avoid wipes since you're not fiddling with cards as much. You see it, you do it, you know.
/continued

[Gmot]

3. Don't be afraid to use Eternal (your 40 second heal that works better when you're on lower health) It's a 40 second CD.
4. Use Benefic 1 liberally especially to get the crit Benefic 2 procs.
5. Noct healers more, but Diu has regen. Noct shields do NOT stack with scholar's shields, so please switch stances if your co-healer is a SCH. It's a waste of your MP and pisses your co-healer off so much. (It's happened to me more than once as a SCH)
/continued

[Gmot]

General healing tips:
Priority healing in order: you, MT, co-healer, OT, then DPS
Priority rez order: MT or co-healer (depending on who is dead), OT, then DPS who can rez so SMN and RDM at lvl 64 (I think?) Then a Melee DPS if you need the LB.
Remember that as a healer, it is MUCH more important for you to stay alive throughout the dungeons or 8 mains, or alliance raids then as a DPS. You are the core to a party, if you die (generally) everyone follows.
/continued

[Gmot]

DPS only when you feel comfortable. Don't be pressured into it, and if you have trouble keeping the tank up, decide what your MP is better spent on.
Also your MP is a valuable resource, don't waste it. If someone keeps dying, I'd suggest to leave them down until you can REZ them without it being detrimental to your party, even if that person is your co-healer. The only thing I suggest not to do that with is the OT, because even if he dies he might be important to some mechanics that require them to agro swap.
Don't feel bad if you wipe, or if you die first. Say sorry, and get back up. Also healers have a general effect on the entire atmosphere, so I try my best to say hello and be nice in content.
We also get a lot of slack for things that aren't our fault. Tanks overpulling, or DPS standing in AOEs and dying. Just relax, its your game.
Also making a macro for protect, and to let the chat know who you're raising is nice too!

[Claire_Pendragon]

Something people will tell you not to do, and I used to as well, is not to use regen before a pull. (dungeons, not bosses)
Honestly with how bad my tanks are 99% of the time, I suggest starting with regen. Just make sure to stay within the tanks location, so the mobs on you dont leave the range of their AoE.

Before I would have to use an instant cast heal or 4 to keep the tank up as they drag mobs to the 2nd+ group of mobs, and then once I plant myself down to start healing, I get targeted by an AoE that will kill me, and if I move, I have no instant heals to save the tank, whos at a constant 25% hp or lower mid cast bar.

Your CDs will semi help keep a tank from dieing, but eventually you'll be out of CDs, and the tank will go down faster than you can spam cure2.
just hope they might actually pop a CD, or actually get gear on their tank 1st, before large pulls. (looking at tanks in i255 gear in bardums run)

even if they are in the gear from the prior dungeon, they WILL take a MASSIVE beating from 2 group pulls, and lightly using CDs.
save 1 emergency oGCD heal for when ur forced to dodge, and use the rest to fill in when they die faster than cure2 spam is healing them.

also ALWAYS look at their gear at the start, and their CD usage at the 1st pull.
if you see they arent in that dungeosn gear or higher, and arent using CDs, dont even THINK about using a DPS move that doesnt stun, or else that tank will be dead before the cast of another heal finishes.
(most tanks cant survive 1 GCD, followed by the cast tiem of ur heal, even if they are at full HP. Sooner or later too many crits or DHs trigger at once, and suddenly they drop dead at full HP)
Once you're down to 3 enemies you can safely cast dmg spells, IF the tank is geared, using CDs, and is at full HP. (yes, even with 3 mobs, they still can die in a single GCD) once there is 2 mobs, you can rely on regen to do most of the healing, and almost stick solely to DPSing.)

in 8 man groups, most pugs just wing it, but I strongly suggest the healers pick "Main Healer" and "Off Healer" Where off healer focuses on AoE healing, and light helping of MT healing (mainly just on TBs.) And the Main healer focuses on keeping the MT healed, and lightly helps with AoE healing. (except on massive nearly party wipe raid dmg, then help a bit more)
This may seem stupid, but every time i get a pug group where healing just never seems to work, If I can convince the healers to pick roles, the group pretty much wins w/o a problem.