Mana Shift use

[EpicCid]

In Eureka last night, I clicked on the wrong hotbar and ended up using mana shift. Not a big deal, it just triggered the macro I have for it. Tells who it goes to and two minutes later alerts that it is ready again. Someone in my party informed me about /echo (wasn't aware I could do that, such a newb) and I said good to know, it was more for my raid healers when we first got together to know when they could ask again. His next statement was I should use it whenever it is ready, especially for AST.

My question is should I just go ahead and use it once it's finished cooldown? Myself (blm) and the rdm in my group only use it if the healers ask, which tends to be when multiple people get killed and need raises. We have an AST in the group but she manages her mp pretty well and we only need to assist her during dire emergencies. How have other people managed their mana shift ability?

[Doozer]

I main AST so I'm prone to looking at the party list even when I'm a DPS, so if I spot a healer who's at half MP I'll give it to them. Sometimes a PLD if somehow they wasted all their MP and no one else needs it. I don't think about it much otherwise. If someone doesn't need it there's no point.

[AC9Breaker]

I don't think its that big of a deal, but I think you've pretty much answered your own question as it varies with people. Some people are really good at managing MP, some aren't. I generally use it whenever its up and I see a healer who could use a boost. Sometimes I'll just tunnel vision though and forget about it until someone dies. Then i usually toss it to healer if they're raising. Either way, I really don't think it matters much since its more like a little cushion to help out.

[Zerathor]

If you have a brd/mch in the party, it shouldn't be an issue. If you have to use it off cd, just use it in the least invasive way possible to not ruin your own dps. Typically after your b4, before the t3 refresh. This is an ogcd clip, and is a dps loss over time, but the only way to manashift without loss is to have a thundercloud proc available while in Umbral ice to weave the mana shift.

[EpicCid]

Thanks, appreciate the input!

[Lucke]

When I'm a RDM, I use it all the time. 99% of the people who get it are healers. I'll throw a Mana Shift to the healer if they die and I raise them, it helps them get back into the fight. If they raise me, I pay for the MP cost by giving them a Mana Shift.

[Rongway]

As a BLM, if you have an opening in your ice phase, you can use it on someone who might not need it yet. As a RDM, I will wait until a healer drops below half. Verraise-ManaShift is a quite generous option, as it costs 45% of max MP, which means we'll go OOM in two minutes instead of four. If I did the raising, I generally expect someone else to do the shifting. Or if someone else provides a raise, I'll provide the shift. It's too expensive to do both most of the time, though.

[Sunako]

I usually use myself manashift on bard during opener and healers after. It also depends how well healers can manage their mana. If healers not need the mana, just use it when ever foe is up. During prog holding shift may work too in case if healer die, they can get fast emergency mp.

[Aomine1992]

Depends on situation if you have a BRD use it during their opener if no ranged dps is available keep manashift in use, I usually hit the healer when they are about halfway in MP