Coming to understand WHM in endgame

[Gemina]

A thing to keep in mind is generally, forums tend to err towards the min/max levels of content. Which is where the "Never use Cure" thing comes from, because in a min/max static, it's entirely possible for Healers to co-ordinate so as to put the majority of the healing onto their oGCD skills leaving more room for pushing DPS.

I didn't read a single post here that told the OP to not use Cures. I pointed out using Cure II over Cure I, but that is the extent of it. The OP has also expressed his interest in taking WHM into endgame, so optimization and min/max is going to be very important, and it's best to learn it sooner rather than later. But striving to play optimally is going to put you a cut above the rest of the healers in PUGs if even only for the courtesy you're showing your other party members. They will appreciate it. Trust me.

A lot of min/maxers will say that min/maxing doesn't matter for anything outside of savage/ultimate. The ABC rules applies heavily here because they look at every single second during an encounter, and if your GCD isn't always ticking down, you're wasting everyone's time. This is a much different mentality than what's being proposed to the OP here. I oppose the meta mentality, but only the thought processes that lead to exclusions and elitism. I don't oppose optimization by any means.

That is not to dismiss your post though. A lot of healing is reactionary. Especially for WHM, and even more especially in 24-man content. While I feel that savage content tests your ability to memorize an encounter; alliance raids is where it's at to test your ability to react to damage that is not part of the script. In chaotic battles which are common in alliance raids, it can (not always) make more sense to hold on to certain abilities or sit on a couple of GCDs to evaluate the situation. But you still want to ABC as much as possible.

[Kalise]

I didn't read a single post here that told the OP to not use Cures. I pointed out using Cure II over Cure I, but that is the extent of it.

No, but the OP mentioned reading Forum/Reddit posts that said that kind of thing.

Which, like a lot of strange things that people end up getting confused about, stems from people using vague statements as opposed to explaining fully the actual situations. To which, is not a problem for people whom know what is inferred, but for people who are unaware and looking for more information, it ends up giving the wrong idea.

"Never use Cure I/II" "Healer DPS isn't important" "Tanks never use Tank Stance" "Only use oGCD's to heal" "Min/maxing is not important outside Savage/Ultimate content"

These are common statements. But they don't detail the actual thoughts behind them and if taken at face value, are outright wrong.

"Never use Cure I/II" doesn't mean to just take them off your action bar and literally never use them. It means that generally, you'd prefer to be using any other heal in their stead. Sometimes things don't go to plan and you NEED to toss out a Cure II to top off someone who accidentally took some more damage. If you're doing Roulettes you'll likely want to be using Cure I/II frequently because incoming damage tends to be faster than oGCD + Regen can keep up with in higher level dungeons and trials.

"Healer DPS isn't important" is referring to how it's less punishing for a Healer to pause DPS to spend GCD's on non-damage skills than it is for any other role that have higher base DPS so things are played out with that in mind (I.e. Tanks forgoing extra mitigation of Tank Stance in order to push out more DPS > the extra bit of healing they save the Healers having to do by having that extra mitigation)

"Only use oGCD's to heal" again, is more about focusing on utilizing oGCD's more than GCD's. Since it's better play to be able to continue to DPS as much as possible. But if you need to use a GCD heal, you need to use one.

"Min/maxing is not important outside of Savage/Ultimate content" would generally refer to playing in a "Perfect" way. Since you'll never get to play "Perfectly" outside of content where everyone else needs to play "Perfectly" too. It doesn't mean that learning optimal ways of using a class is not important, only that it's good to know the "Perfect" way to play and work towards that while adapting to the content that you're running. I.e. Focusing on using oGCD's to heal, but then using things like Cure I/II when necessary.

[Gemina]

No, but the OP mentioned reading Forum/Reddit posts that said that kind of thing.

Which, like a lot of strange things that people end up getting confused about, stems from people using vague statements as opposed to explaining fully the actual situations. To which, is not a problem for people whom know what is inferred, but for people who are unaware and looking for more information, it ends up giving the wrong idea.

I can't speak for what the OP read on reddit, only what I've seen in this thread; and he, and any onlookers will have received very valuable and elaborate information from its contributors.

I believe I know where your stance is coming from. The 'in a perfect world, in a perfect static, you can play perfectly like this." But no one here is telling the OP to take Cure I and II off of his hotbars, or healer DPS isn't important, or min/maxing only matters in savage. Everything you have elaborated on in your previous post has been covered, and OP understands that a lot of what healing entails is situational. All of this won't change the fact that someone will point out that all encounters in FFXIV are scripted though. It's the cold hard truth. It's why I prefer alliance raid over savage. The latter truly is like learning and practicing choreography, and a misstep can throw everything out of whack. I much prefer the randomness of roulettes, and not knowing if someone will eat a mechanic or not.

Perhaps going into 5.0 the devs will stop the scripted battle nonsense they've been leaning on for over 5 years now. It would be very interesting if enemy AI sees that 5 of 8 party members are below 50%, and moves to finish them off. Right now, healers can comfortably let players sit there so long as they know what's coming.

[Filmakus]

All the information has been extremely helpful with understanding how to use my different skills. Thanks again everyone can't wait to continue my WHM and get it to 70!

[Dmhlucky]

I'm sure it was said, but also play the job as you want to. If you aren't doing endgame content, its a LOT more flexible on how you play.
You Can, just spam cure 1, if you want, and you wouldn't get yelled at. It is more efficient to wait, DPS and use Cure 2 and regen, yes, but you won't get harassed for it.

In lower person content, lets say Duo Eureka as heal/tank, i found i would charge Assize with Lilies before the assize update with the latest patch.
Lilies Can help, but its not something you rely on, which is why most people say don't bother with them. Even if they made it so you could store, and then Choose to activate, that would be better.

All healers start with a DPS spell, that should be an indication of their capability. Yes, their role is to keep the party alive, a "good" healer, will help kill monsters faster, negating the need for extra healing.

Don't get discouraged, healers are fun to play and rewarding. Some situations call for specific things, but for most normal content, play it how you feel comfortable.

[NocturniaUzuki]

I concur that there while our recommendations have largely been based on high-level end-game scenarios, that that is only for ideal scenarios. I would also agree that holding spells and using a lot of Cures is important in things like Alliance raids. And frankly, that is one thing I really like about Alliance gameplay. When I play Alliance, I will typically use about only half my DPS rotations and save the rest for emergencies. Assize can get dropped on cooldown, but Tetra and Bene aren't going anywhere. I have my trigger finger over Rescue too!

In roulettes and dungeons, it's largely casual gameplay and you can do whatever you want. Personally, I play for challenge most of the time, and I find dungeons largely boring unless something makes them harder. I find that difficulty by optimizing. I like max-size pulls, and I like to heal as little as possible. I also tend to play DPS and use my healer knowledge to run healerless dungeons. But that's just me.

[Coltvoyance]

I wouldn't get discouraged by what you read about WHM endgame.

Reading up on the class online is probably the worst thing you can do for your morale.
Fun Fact: WHM players have been insecure and complaining about the class since they nerfed Holy in 2.0. And I say that confidently as a member of its community. (We're right to complain, but we've gotten almost too good at it...)

However, as a WHM main who has been playing since 2.0... the class is still fun. I wouldn't worry about it not being fun to play if you already enjoy it. It gets a lot more fun after 60. It's perhaps not as "exciting" as card games and fairies, but it's still fun. If you're like me... You find ways to entertain yourself; little optimizations you can make, you get riskier with your strats, you start making your own games to challenge yourself...

What you've probably read is that the class is in a tight spot, it's been ripped apart, given to everyone else, and left as a featureless husk. This is partly true. A lot of the vitriol online is because square has treated the class very poorly for awhile now. The greatest crime being the class' lack of definition and uniqueness. The lilies, yes, can be completely turned off and you wouldn't notice. It's a major problem of the class.

However, its still fully functional, and a lot of the statements you're reading that scare you are from super high-end zealots who play 24/7 and min/max to the extreme because numbers make them hard.

What's also true is Square has finally recognized the class is seriously lacking and is doing something about it. We don't know what, but we can hope.

I'd sit back, relax, and enjoy the class. Plenty of us at end-game still enjoy it, and if you decide to, so can you. You picked a great time to get into WHM because we've already done all the hard work of crying for it to be made better. Enjoy the rewards of that in a few months.

[Sylvain]

Also, as a last advice (because everyone covered extensively most of it)

Once you're 70, or while you're leveling up to 70. I would recommand you to take a few minutes to actually learn how the two other healers actually heal.
Their strong and weak point.

More importantly take time to understand how AST Earthly Star and Collective Unconscious and recognize the difference between a regular AoE shield (Succor) and a Deployed Adloquium.
Since Healing is Always done by 2 healers, it is important to have a rough understand of your co-heal tool so that you Don't interfer with their Healing.

A simple example would be the AST dropping the Earthly Star before an AoE. This is a visual clue telling you "I'll heal the next AoE" so to put it Simply, Don't start spamming Medica1-2 right after the AoE.

Sometime you'll be teamed with quite competent healers who will use their ogcd very effectively, knowing how these ogcd works will help you adapt and minimise your time spent Healing.


Most people gave advice regarding WHM Healing but I also wanted to point that, beside in dungeons, you'll Always be 2, so keep that in mind.

[Mortex]

The greatest problem whm has is his immobility that goes for dmg and healing spells. After the ‘quality of life changes ‘ for Astro with his bubble and the possibility to do dmg while you move and having almost the same heal potential as whm makes it so busted. Plus the fact that Astro gives more raid dps then whm. Whm has the blm problem, you feel like a stationary dps/ healer that has almost no ability that you can use when you need to run.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

Everyone already said everything there possibly is to say about WHM, so I just want to add this.

WHM will only truly feel bad when you compare it to the other healers. Once you start noticing what AST and SCH is capable of, you really start to feel how ridiculous WHM is. It pretty much fails at everything it sets out to do, and it only had one job; to be the best at healing, but it doesn't even accomplish that.
We're all hoping WHM sees some major changes in 5.0, but honestly, don't hold your breath. The vision SE has for WHM is fundamentally flawed and they're very stubborn when it comes to changing things. I mean aside from it's balance and playstyle issues, they have an entire lily system they need to fix.
And with Dancer, the next potential healer, on it's way things are just looking worse than ever.