How scared should I be about DPS?

[MoroMurasaki]

Healer DPS in casual content really, really isn't so important as to stress about it, and if you're raiding or doing savage then you're at least familiar enough with the game by that point where DPS is second-nature. Okay that latter part might be an exaggeration, since I've raided with some truly, TRULY awful people, but you get the idea.

Healer DPS in casual content can be viewed as unimportant in the same way as dps rotations, tank CDs and pretty much everything can be viewed as unimportant because not having it isn't going to wipe you it's just going to slow you down.

That being said casual content is certainly a place where strong healer DPS can make up a considerable portion of group dps. I have been second in DPS throughout a run of Ala Mhigo on WHM - while my dps there did not make or break the run (except perhaps on the sword phase of the final boss) I think calling it unimportant is selling it short.

If I perform to the best of my ability in a mildly competent Byakko EX run I doubt I'm contributing a large portion of the group's damage as a WHM. In a dungeon though? Or a non-ex trial even? It's all proportional and when you're doing content with people who may not know what they're doing (hence 'casual content') a dpsing healer may very well outdps some of their dps counterparts. That's not a small contribution.

OP - don't freak out about dps as a healer. It's all gravy. That being said... who eats mashed potatoes without gravy? It is most definitely important if you care about doing your best for your group which it seems like you do.

As everyone has said I think you've got a great mindset going into this and nothing to worry about. Checking out fflogs could certainly help you fine tune things though.

[Malkria]

All matters of DPS aside, there may be some value in working out why you're on the razor's edge so much.

That would usually be either people standing in the fire, tanks not using defensive CDs when they pull multiple mobs, and sometimes having to cover both my and my co-healer's portion of healing. I've had plenty of WHM who focus on doing DPS over healing and it leaves me constantly running 30-50% MP while I struggle to keep a whole team up.

Honestly the most stressful thing about healing in this game has been the multi-pulls from tanks. Because 8/10 times the tanks who do it either don't use CDs or are really to squishy to be doing it. I know if you are doing the latest razor edge content that everyone needs to push DPS. But I don't plan on doing the latest razor content, especially since with my schedule most of the time I barely have time for doing all the roulettes each day.

[MoroMurasaki]

That would usually be either people standing in the fire, tanks not using defensive CDs when they pull multiple mobs, and sometimes having to cover both my and my co-healer's portion of healing. I've had plenty of WHM who focus on doing DPS over healing and it leaves me constantly running 30-50% MP while I struggle to keep a whole team up.

Honestly the most stressful thing about healing in this game has been the multi-pulls from tanks. Because 8/10 times the tanks who do it either don't use CDs or are really to squishy to be doing it. I know if you are doing the latest razor edge content that everyone needs to push DPS. But I don't plan on doing the latest razor content, especially since with my schedule most of the time I barely have time for doing all the roulettes each day.

Some general AST dungeoning tips from me though I am not an AST main by any stretch of the imagination...

Mainly heal in Dirnal. The thoroughput of a regen will beat the pants off of a shield every time. More HP per MP despite the Noct healing potency buff.

Swap to Noct between pulls/before a boss and toss a shield on the tank when you can. It will likely get eaten while he runs but better that than his health.

Use Collective Unconscious. It isn't just for the 10% mitigation the regen it applies is hefty. It's also a regen available to you in Noct stance if you insist on healing in Noct.

Speak up for yourself if you can, spend your MP wisely. If a dps is eating tons of AoE to a point where you're healing them like they're another tank let them die. You can raise them but maybe the death will get their attention since the flasy orange circles apparently didnt.

Use the direct heals (Benefic/Benefic II/Helios) more than the Aspected versions in general. Aspected Benefic specifically can be a huge MP sink.

In a situation with an AST and a WHM I am usually the WHM. WHM is better equipped to handle things like stack markers (with Cure III) and raidwide damage where as AST (in this situation) is the better choice for a tank healer. Keep Earthly Star active to heal through tankbusters when you can, between that and ED you should be able to baby the tank. You have to trust your WHM cohealer's regens as well though - plenty of time I heal through something like Diffractive Plasma in O7n with a Medica II and see an AST/SCH pop Aspected Helios/Succor after the damage comes out. Why? People aren't topped up but there also isn't more incoming damage so let Medica II tick and bring them up naturally.

If you still feel like your cohealer is dps-happy maybe say something? At the end of the day none of us are mind readers and Stone IV is a potency gain from Malefic III so the WHM's dps should be higher than yours.

[Valmaxian]

Snip

I swear you're a mind reader... This is EXACTLY what to do as an AST in dungeons. For me, the healing portion of my group contribution is a very "fix-it-and-forget-it" approach. Each of the three healers has plenty of options to set the tank/group up to survive while you blow things up:

WHM: Regen, Medica II, Asylum, Divine Bennie, Holy stun
SCH: Adlo, Excog, Tether, Sacred Soil, Whispering DAMN, Eye for an Eye (I still use it!)
AST: Bole, Asp. Bennie, Asp. Heli, Collective Unc, Earthly Awesome

The game gives us plenty of options to keep people alive and do other things. Start slow if you're feeling overwhelmed, and don't worry about beating out the DPS. Any damage is helpful. If you find the confidence to rock out the nukes, DO EEEEET!

[Elamys]

I do everything Moro suggested except swapping stances constantly, I just find it annoying and also don't like the possibility of getting stuck in the wrong sect on accident. It doesn't make the biggest difference to me AST may not have as many emergency tools as WHM but it can still be really strong when things hit the fan!

[Awful]

Swapping stances in dungeons is good, going Noct to put up a shield, then swap to Dinural so you can DPS while that delicious shield is up. I don't find it annoying just comes second nature as I sometimes que as an Ast when I get bored of tanking sometimes.

[Transient_Shadow]

Just do what your comfortable with. We all start at different paces. I really sturggled to dps as a healer when starting (this was back when stance dancing was still a thing mind you) but I eventually became skilled enough to gauge how much my tank could take before needing to heal him again.

My general rule is if there's little to no healing to be done then its time to dps. if your team is getting thrashed or the tank is pulling so much that you need to keep him from dying then its time to heal.

[Sylvain]

You shouldn't be stressed at all and the guy saying "your main function is healing and you should focus on that" is absolutely right.

You are a healer, not a dps. (de don't even count healer dps to calculate dps check. Altough I have high doubt whether or not this is true for v4/8 ans super savage.

Now before anything, since ff14 dmg c
Mostly comes into the form of burst (avoidable or not).
It means that the more you know how these burst come, the better ans faster you can heal through those (leaving you more free time).
Then come tank and dps. The better à tank will mitigate, the less heal he'll required (so more free time) and the less dps die and take useless dmg, the less spot heal will be needed.

In the end, once all the avoidable dmg is avoided, tank mitigate properly and you perfectly optimise your cd, you'll realise you have A LOT of free time.
Now at this point, the question is "should you spend 70% of the fight doing nothing?"
If you feel like "yes" then don't dps
If you feel like "no" then dps.

Finally, there's something funny happening when you don't need to heal.
If you don't need to heal, it most likely means no one is failing or dying.
If no one is failing or dying
, then most likely the dps are competent enough to meet the dps check.
If dps are competent enough, the in fact your dps contributions is useless because the boss will die anyway.
The sad truth is, the more dps fail and die, the more your dps will be valuable.

I personally dps whenevr I can but I absolutely do not feel pressured. If we meet the enrage on anyrhing that is not v4-v8 or super savage, it is surely not because I didnt d enough dmg.


Dps is simply optimisation, it's candy it's a bonus.
The fact that you ask this suggest you havent even set foot into savage. If your group (for baking for ex) needs your dps, well your group is just terrible because theres no way an average group should need heal dps to complete the fight.


(skipping phase is a different story)

[Wrothgar77]

Sometimes I feel like dps'ing as a healer, and sometimes I don't. If you aren't doing progression raiding, there shouldn't be an expectation to. As is so often said - you pay your own sub, play how you want

[RopeDrink]

Healing is a variable: dependant on your team, their ability to dodge mechanics, their defenses/gear/health, the tank, your own gear/healing power, how much DPS the team has overall, and how much freedom all of these factors give you.

I never think of myself as 'there to heal', I think of myself as 'there to keep people alive'. There's a big difference. As you gain more gear and become accustomed to content, especially when you've an equally geared tank, you'll eventually learn all the patterns and inevitable damage intakes content throws out like the back of your hand, to which you can save yourself time with proactive heals and thus give yourself more time to do something else (whether that is damage or heal a different target).

Example - I did an Ala Mhigo today where I was 2nd overall damage dealer as a WHM (granted, it's AoE heaven for a WHM). This had more to do with me knowing when damage was going to happen as opposed to how many damage spells I threw out. That first boss, for example - unless people eat the line-mechanic, nobody will take any worthwhile damage outside of the AoE 'jump' he does, which also has a cast timer and only does about 10% HP damage party-wide (ie. you don't even have to heal it until later). As a WHM, this means I go in there knowing that Regen/Benison will keep the tank alive by itself (no tank busters), a proactive Med or MedII will look after the DPS (if they really need it), and I have all the time in the world to 'react' to the rest - if there's nothing that needs reacting to, I'm throwing Stones like a lunatic. In short, just because someone took damage doesn't always mean "Oh my golly-gosh, I better heal that damage up" - at least outside of content with actual healing checks.

When it comes to crunch time - did you keep people alive? Yes? Good. Job fulfilled. If, in keeping people alive, you find yourself with opportunity windows (and managed to weave in damage), all the power to you - that is the type of Healer I want on a team.

Those complaints you claim to be familiar with? The bulk of those are squarely aimed at Healers who have above mentioned freedoms literally handed to them on a regular basis but decide to stand around doing nothing anyway. Unless you're in a PF group where people absolutely will be checking damage numbers during specific raids, then the bulk of said complaints won't apply to you seeing as you are clearly willing to contribute when you have no other immediate priorities, which is welcomed in casual content.

Raiding isn't overly different, insofar as the 'variables' still apply in raids and you will also still get opportunity windows, yet they will come in-between more frequent mechanics and healing checks.