Stop spamming Medica I & II/diurnal Aspected Helios

[MOZZYSTAR]

Due to the frequent misunderstandings and selective reading/interpretation, I’ve rewritten my post to make what I'm trying to say (hopefully) clearer. If people still don't understand, then... Well, then it'd be on deaf ears, lol. I've said my piece, I'm not going to beat the topic dead. I appreciate those who did understand and tried to help clarify my message with others. Thank you. You're beautiful. Stay awesome.
Disclaimer for myself from the previous edition: I am still going to get a lot of hate for this thread, pfft. I am not trying to be condescending/patronising, but I am a little frustrated so please forgive me if my tone is a little off.


Message: stop spamming your heals when no one is hurting (100% HP) in dungeons; use them strategically. Don’t be a mindless healer.
Spamming definition (in case you're confused): (lowercase) Digital Technology. to execute (an action) or use (an item) rapidly or repeatedly in a video game. [Dictionary Source]

Clarity: this doesn’t mean stop healing all together or stop using medica I & II & diurnal aspected helios all together, that is not what I’m saying. If you have a strategy and know when you should use your spells – like when a party-wide move strikes (among other examples) – then this plea clearly doesn’t apply to you.

Exclusions: I’m excluding fates, raids, trials, and anything you are new to. It’s a learning process. We all gotta learn. I’m also excluding new players because they’re still learning. I find it more unacceptable for a veteran healer to have such a “SLOPPEH” style. However, I do think it's good to nip the habit in the butt early.

In depth: Healing is your job. You have these spells/skills for a reason, use them but use them appropriately/wisely and adapt to different situations. Some dungeons (and some tanks/parties) will require you to heal a lot more, whereas as some other dungeons (and some other tanks/parties) will require virtually no healing. Spamming heals with absolutely no method or consideration to mechanics and/or the party list (when HP across the board is 100% and will continue to be 100% because there are no hard-hitting mechs, et cetera) is a waste of your MP and shows bad MP management, and also generates unnecessary aggro for unclaimed mobs. Using cooldowns like largesse (?) and proceeding to use an aoe heal when everyone is at 100% HP is a waste of not only MP, but of your cooldown. What if you desperately need that CD action in the next pull? Well, you’re SOL because you wasted it when you didn’t even need to heal.

Quick and unwholesome advice(?): You should almost never use regens before or after battle lest unclaimed mobs go for you and give your tank the extra challenge of fighting you for aggro. (If their HP is dwindling quickly then you obviously have no choice regardless if there are unclaimed mobs because you guys will likely make anyway.) The occasional slip-up happens, so don’t worry about that. I'm talking INCESSANT, MINDLESS SPAM. My advice is to learn the dungeons, learn certain moves. White Mage and Astrologian: Diurnal Sect are reactive healers, but you can use their regens effectively as preventive (though try to get it so you heal the second party-wide damage hits to help your MP as you’ll likely need to keep healing until everyone’s up and at’em. If you need to use a regen aoe first, try to follow up with non-regen aoe as I think (I could be wrong) those cost less MP. And you know, just…learn what works for you while learning mechs. It’s painfully obvious when a seasoned player is just spamming willy nilly in an easy, no-damage dealt dungeon without any thought. Don’t be that healer, be amazing. If you don’t need to heal, pick up the slack by DPSing as killing monsters faster helps prevent more damage from happening – but make sure you prioritise your job as a healer. (Don’t be the healer who doesn’t heal, either! Balance, balance, balance. Not too much, not too little. Think Goldilocks.) If you don’t need to use aoe heals, don’t use them. If it’s only your tank taking damage, heal only your tank. It will save you on MP, and maybe let you slip in some DPS depending upon the circumstances help make the dungeon go faster. IF YOU NEED TO REST FOR MP, REST.

Clarity #2: this thread is not advocating that healers must DPS. This thread is saying to stop spamming heals when they're not necessary and BE STRATEGIC/MINDFUL <-- that's the main point of this thread (this cannot get any clearer XD). Throwing in DPS is simply an alternative you can do, if you can do it given the circumstances of whatever you're in.You know what you can handle.


Extra: I am by no means a perfect gamer, or a perfect healer so I am not getting high and mighty. I’m saying this because I’ve been there, I’ve done it, and I’ve learnt otherwise. I’ve also had friends who were terrible healers. Some people think it’s trolling, but really… sometimes it’s just unwillingness to learn and adapt and improve their worth as more than just a spam healer. To me, it just looks like they’re trying to make it look like they’re doing something, working hard, et cetera, when we’re really… they’re not doing much.

Recently had a healer who spammed Medica I&II when no one was being damaged. They even used largesse (or whatever that healing boost is) when no one was taking damage and then spamming an aoe heal. Why? It was so frequent and so uncalculated they seemed like a bot, but they responded when questioned. So yeah, just... relax on them buttons. Focus. If you don't need to heal, help DPS (added clarity: if you need to rest for MP, rest). If this is your "style," then maybe you're playing the wrong healing class for you.


Edit/Question (please read the entire passage before responding) "Why do some WHM (and fewer diurnal AST) use medica II (or a. helios) at the start of every battle/trial?" For certain ones, like Behemoth in the Labyrinth of the Ancients, I get it because peoples' HP are gradually dwindling thanks to the debuff that's on throughout the entire raid. However, for the most part, most raids, trials, bosses/etc. (normal ones, not savage/ex ones) don't require Medica II/regen at the very start of the battle. In this example, you know the battle, you know it's not needed. Why? Yes, I get that scholar does it but they do it with their barriers, which serves a different purpose.

[BillyKaplan]

There's something missing from your post - context. Spamming Medica II and Aspected Helios under Diurnal sect are wonderful when you're dealing with boss FATEs or hunts because they generate so much agro even when no one's hurting for damage. Most likely more than spamming their dps, especially AST whose damage is beans.

Otherwise I largely agree, those things tend to be a waste of MP if no one's hurting.

[MOZZYSTAR]

There's something missing from your post - context. Spamming Medica II and Aspected Helios under Diurnal sect are wonderful when you're dealing with boss FATEs or hunts because they generate so much agro even when no one's hurting for damage. Most likely more than spamming their dps, especially AST whose damage is beans.

I think the context should be obvious, but I'll edit for clarity.

Otherwise I largely agree, those things tend to be a waste of MP if no one's hurting.

I didn't see this part earlier. When I'm playing as bard and a healer is wasting their MP this needlessly/badly, I don't bother with the MP regen song. I probably should, but they should be managing their MP better for certain, rather than justspamming heals when no one is hurting.

[Hasrat]

Also no, "overhealing" isn't a thing that generates any more aggro than normal.

[MOZZYSTAR]

Also no, "overhealing" isn't a thing that generates any more aggro than normal.

Parsing isn't allowed (and I don't do it myself), but I'm using it as an example. If you saw a parsing graph with the damage line being really low and the healing line being really high, that's overhealing. The damage taken and the amount healed should be about equal. So yes, overhealing is a thing.

[Vhailor]

So yeah, just... relax on them buttons. Focus. If you don't need to heal, help DPS. If this is your "style," then maybe you're playing the wrong healing class for you.

Generally agree.

That said, I don't like how the enmity system reacts to PC target effects in FFXIV. In my view, unclaimed monsters should not in any way react to effects targeted at PCs (I believe this is how enmity functioned in FFXI, too, though I may be mis-remembering). This would have a host of advantages from a QoL standpoint: healers could meaningfully assist tanks who pull above their weight class or try to mass pull over too long a distance; Chocobo companions wouldn't get slaughtered in add-heavy situations when their cures gain enmity on unclaimed monsters; all Healers would have meaningful pre-engagement buffs, and would be able to use their full complement of spells for the entire duration of a fight, rather than having to hold off for the last few seconds or so on trash packs. And, of course, newer Healers wouldn't have to learn the hard way to avoid HoT (typically viewed as pseudo-buff spells) during downtime.

[MOZZYSTAR]

unclaimed monsters should not in any way react to effects targeted at PCs

I can't disagree with this, that's for certain. I've found that slapping on a regen on a tank who is pulling big definitely helps. This, I would say, is more of strategical healing - what you're talking about is strategical, thoughtful. Unfortunately, complaining about FFXIV's current enmity system is moot as this is how FFXIV works right now, so people should learn/know by now how FFXIV works, how they should play their classes according to how FFXIV is now, et cetera, (and if it changes, then adapt). What I'm going on about in the first post is not strategical at all for how FF is now. It's just spam. I wish I had a video to show you guys of what I mean by spam because I'm not exaggerating with the use of "spam." It's random, it's almost nonstop, there's literally no rhyme or reason. At first I only noticed it with bad WHM players, but now it seems to be catching on with ASTs in diurnal as well.


Thanks for the comment!

[Rosenstrauch]

So yes, overhealing is a thing.

You misread what he said. "... that generates any more aggro than normal." is the important part of that sentence. He's correct: Overhealing does not have any special modifiers to enmity. A Medica II cast on a fully healed party will generate exactly as much enmity as a Medica II on a party where everyone was dropped to, say, 1 HP.

[CaptainLagbeard]

There's generally very little reason to not have Medica 2 up as a WHM during fights, I imagine it's much same for Aspected Helios for AST.

Regen effects will mess up pulls and make most mobs go for the healer so casting them before a fight is bad, or at the very end of a fight so that they'll still be going for the next pull...

[MOZZYSTAR]

You misread what he said.

No, I didn't misread him I just happened to overlook one part of what he said - like how you glossed over one part I said. Before a battle/at the end of a battle is not good to do and I'll clarify why: unclaimed mobs will go for the healer, and sometimes the tank might struggle to get them off the healer. It doesn't always happen, but it has happened.

Either way, there is really no need to spam aoe heals that much when no one is taking on damage. Manage your MP better and contribute to the fights more than just spamming unneeded heals. White mages and diurnal sects are reactive, not preventive.

Regen effects will mess up pulls and make most mobs go for the healer so casting them before a fight is bad, or at the very end of a fight so that they'll still be going for the next pull...

This ^ Exactly this.


Edit: the other day I was in the vault with a new healer and someone who had a level 60+ tank but only level 50 gear at ilvl 90 in a level 58 dungeon. Needless to say, it was rough. Tank struggled to stay alive because of poor gear, and as a result, the rest of us took quite a bit of damage and wiped 3 times on the final boss. The healer had to heal a lot. A lot of benefics, benefics II's, and aspected helios (both sects to figure out what worked). She pretty much couldn't do anything but heal when considering MP management. <--- This is fine. This is the healer doing her job. This type of situation is not what I'm talking about. I am specifically talking about obsessively healing when no damage is being taken at all. I don't care how one tries to justify it (obsessive/spam healing), it's not effectively playing an FFXIV healer and could be improved upon. Mind you, I'm not getting all high and mighty because I could definitely improve as a gamer in general. But if it's something as simple as this... I implore you to maybe tweak your "style." It's not hard to do and will do nothing but improve your performance. (This also doesn't mean get crazy and spam Holy to let you or your tank nearly die, lol. Balance is a necessity.)