The idea that we need to DPS must go.

[BorealDusk]

Would you, as a healer, truly be content with the tank doing once or twice their AOE combo every once in a blue moon to keep aggro? Yes, even in single target because that's enough and is still shinier than the single target one, usually, so bonus points for style?

Same here. I wouldn't mind healers focusing just on healing if the game was designed for it. However, as everyone has said, the damage is usually predictable, there are a lot of oGCD heals and there will be a lot of windows where you could have been DPSing, which contributes more than overhealing when it isn't needed. The healer's priority is keeping the party alive just as the tank's is grabbing aggro, but that doesn't mean it should /just/ do that. Because going with the logic that only DPS should push their numbers, tanks should just go AFK whenever they get enough aggro. And even with DPS you could just do your 1-2-3 combo and since you're doing damage it's good enough.

Sure, if you don't know the fight, the class or you're still improving or whatev you can play conservatively but not DPSing just for the sake of it it's being lazy, and like ColdestHeaven said no one likes carrying lazy people.

[SleepyNeko]

Only way they can make pure healing is by nerfing healer's dps to the ground (like <1k but increased damage back 1000% when solo) and reduce MP regen while making spells cost less and give all healers raid buffs.

[Hatstand]

Only way they can make pure healing is by nerfing healer's dps to the ground (like <1k but increased damage back 1000% when solo) and reduce MP regen while making spells cost less and give all healers raid buffs.

That would just mean healers were doing less damage, not no damage. I know I’d still be pushing my damage buttons, and I suspect that there are a lot of other healers who choose contributing something over contributing nothing during downtime.

Although if they made healing spells so costly that I had to sit on my thumbs while waiting for my mana to Regen between heals... tbh I’d probably just quit healing. That sounds like what we’re doing now but even more boring and less room for optimisation.

[Wawachume]

That would just mean healers were doing less damage, not no damage. I know I’d still be pushing my damage buttons, and I suspect that there are a lot of other healers who choose contributing something over contributing nothing during downtime.

During Heavensward I wasn't willing to use cleric stance—due to my inexperience and general incompetence, I felt I'd be taking too big a risk with the group's survival—so my damage spells did basically nothing. But I still cast one every free GCD, just to...like...show my support.

[Dogempire]

During Heavensward I wasn't willing to use cleric stance—due to my inexperience and general incompetence, I felt I'd be taking too big a risk with the group's survival—so my damage spells did basically nothing. But I still cast one every free GCD, just to...like...show my support.

During heavensward it's understandable to be a little reluctant considering healer dps was much more risky to do back then and took a lot of attention to whether you were in cleric stance or not before casting heals.

Now it's just lazy if you don't dps considering it's completely risk free.

[Sloprano]

During Heavensward I wasn't willing to use cleric stance—due to my inexperience and general incompetence, I felt I'd be taking too big a risk with the group's survival—so my damage spells did basically nothing. But I still cast one every free GCD, just to...like...show my support.

It's no worry, five seconds was more than enough time for healthbars to drop suddenly.

Think we've all been there. Deathly afraid to even look away from the tank's healtbar for just a moment. Then slowly, as you run with people you know, run the content more and more, get familiar you start looking for more oppertunities to get some more healing or another damage hit in. Finally knowing you can commit yourself to 5 seconds of very weak healing to help out with some damage was very exhilirating hoping nothing unforeseen happend.

[Zenji]

I got this from a person posting in another healer DPS thread and I will say it here. If your party sees enrage in a fight and you did no DPS as a healer its entirely your fault.

[Canubirt]

If i did 0 dps and we saw enrage that typically means i was either a. Solo healing or b. Healing and ressing dps due to mistakes while running out of mana. Just saying its not always on the healer if they dont dps.

[niko1415]

Maybe someone can lend me a hand of how I can ease my monitoring so that I can put some damage on the boss.

These are the things I am monitoring as a Healer (in General, and in no particular order)

1) My HP
2) My MP
3) Debuffs affecting me
4) My CDs (including fairy)
5) My Position relative to the enemy
6) My Position to the Tank(s)
7) My Fairy's position
8) In Coming AoE and any signs of it
9) Tank(s) HP
10) Debuff affecting Tank(s)
11) Tank(s) position
12) DPS HP
13) Debuff affecting DPS
14) Position of DPS
15) Incoming Adds
16) Boss's HP
17) Triggers (or like timing. I don't know how to say it, but when you go into a boss, some of them do actions in order, so you know what timing it is and what should be coming up)

I think that's most of it?
So until everything is checks out, I wouldn't DPS. Grant it, some of these check happen instantly unless they require my immediate attention (something is about to happen, or Tank took damage that went beyond my assumption of how much HP they should have left after said action occurred).

How can I minimize this list?
Should I stop worrying about healing people all the way?
Also, if it's official that DPS is necessary for healer (apparently, some job quest tells you to DPS while healing?), then why they take away tons of damage spells. I really do miss my dots, regardless of how minor my damage about was?

My theory regarding this topic is, we need all the help we can get to get more damage on the boss, and if there is a lull, you should damage since it's the least you can do. But on the flipside, there are moments where people take too much damage from even preventable that I can't. As well, I have actually ran out of mana between DPSing and emergency healing because people took unnecessary damage.

[Urthdigger]

Maybe someone can lend me a hand of how I can ease my monitoring so that I can put some damage on the boss.

These are the things I am monitoring as a Healer (in General, and in no particular order)

1) My HP
2) My MP
3) Debuffs affecting me
4) My CDs (including fairy)
5) My Position relative to the enemy
6) My Position to the Tank(s)
7) My Fairy's position
8) In Coming AoE and any signs of it
9) Tank(s) HP
10) Debuff affecting Tank(s)
11) Tank(s) position
12) DPS HP
13) Debuff affecting DPS
14) Position of DPS
15) Incoming Adds
16) Boss's HP
17) Triggers (or like timing. I don't know how to say it, but when you go into a boss, some of them do actions in order, so you know what timing it is and what should be coming up)

I think that's most of it?
So until everything is checks out, I wouldn't DPS. Grant it, some of these check happen instantly unless they require my immediate attention (something is about to happen, or Tank took damage that went beyond my assumption of how much HP they should have left after said action occurred).

How can I minimize this list?
Should I stop worrying about healing people all the way?
Also, if it's official that DPS is necessary for healer (apparently, some job quest tells you to DPS while healing?), then why they take away tons of damage spells. I really do miss my dots, regardless of how minor my damage about was?

My theory regarding this topic is, we need all the help we can get to get more damage on the boss, and if there is a lull, you should damage since it's the least you can do. But on the flipside, there are moments where people take too much damage from even preventable that I can't. As well, I have actually ran out of mana between DPSing and emergency healing because people took unnecessary damage.

Ok, first off don't worry about healing people ALL the way. So long as they can reliably survive the next mechanic, they're safe. This is especially the case if you have regens or fairies to help top people off. Those tools exist to help you heal more efficiently, and they won't work if people are ALL the way up. Let them handle the brunt of the regular auto-attack damage.

Second thing you have to realize is that the vast majority of these can be tracked by just monitoring the boss. Incoming AoEs, debuffs, all of that can be tracked by watching the boss and reacting when they start performing an action. Part of healing is learning the fight, so the first few runs are more research, but by the time you're clearing you'll know what attacks do what. If there's AoEs, just take a quick glance over at the party list to see who got hit, and heal/esuna as needed.

Third is learning your own hotbar. You should at the very least know where your basic heals and damage are so you can hit them without looking. While you're looking at the boss waiting for a thing to react to, do your DPS. When it's time to react, use your tools effciently, using your oGCD abilities FIRST before reaching for your GCD heals, unless a lot of damage needs to be healed immediately. As for looking when stuff is off cooldown, you can check during your cast time for other spells.

Lastly, learn the fight. Your first few tries on any given fight are likely going to be spent in a more defensive style, constantly trying to be ready to heal. However, all fights are scripted, and you'll eventually learn what the attacks do and when they happen. Your most important DPS tool is the knowledge that an AoE won't come out for a good while yet.