White Mage: A Guide

[Sol_Aureus]

That seems to be the case with most gear in this game really, and I like that a lot.

One thing you might want to add in your guide is that Repose is only based on Magic Accuracy (Enfeebling skill doesn't do anything at all for it) and Sleep doesn't override itself. If a WHM is in a situation where BLMs are trying to sleep enemies and one or two stay awake (the teleport before Miser's Mistress comes to mind), it's safe to throw out Sleeps when needed as you don't have to worry about lowering its duration. I think it might be the only status effect that acts this way.

edit: Hell, while you're at it might as well add that Enfeebling skill boosts the success rate/potency of the added effects of Aero/ra and Stone/ra lol

I'll throw those bits of info in when I edit it later, thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I forget to add things :x

[Zyph]

Any plans of updating this with 1.22?

[Aratharn]

lol seriously? Posted yesterday:

I'll be updating the guide within a couple days, for now I'm focused on doing content with my LS.

[Sol_Aureus]

Updated for 1.22.

• Added to Optimal Gear sections for Head and Waist. Expanded explanations to encompass the changes.
• Added side notes to Repose, Stone/Stonera, Aero/Aerora, and Holy about Magic Accuracy and Enfeebling Magic Potency.
• Changed the Mega Potion of the Mind's effect duration from 40 to 60 seconds.
• Revised Playing the Role » Use Regen Effectively. It is now Playing the Role » Use Regen and Stoneskin Effectively. The explanation has also been expanded to encompass this change.
• Expanded and/or changed the wording in the following sections for clarity and accuracy:
  • Spell Mechanics » Specific Mechanics » Regen
  • Gear for a new WHM » Why this gear and Materia?

[Sol_Aureus]

As a separate post, here're my thoughts on the new Materia options for WHM:

• Sound of Certainty [Enhancing Magic +] [Head]
  
  Fantastic Materia. Only goes up to +10 for top tier IV, but still a really nice option for head pieces. You almost have to double slot it to get viable use though, because of the weak returns the materia gives. Still, once double slotted it's arguably best in slot for head.
  
  
• Sound of Serenity [Healing Magic Potency + / MP +] [Feet]
  
  AF Boots win. Though more and more people have been proposing that gear swaps are viable, and I've seen a few people pull it off successfully often, I still maintain the position that until it becomes 100% reliable it's not going to be worth it. If there is a way to make gear swaps 100% reliable, this becomes a more viable choice for WHMs to main in, switching to the boots whenever Regen is cast. Though it's still not THAT viable even with that, because of how often you cast Regen.
  
  
• Stellar Might [Magic Crit Potency + / MP +] [Waist]
  
  Magic Crit Potency is viable on WHM because our dLVL is always 0 (curing other players who are the same level as us). Unfortunately for this materia though, it's not nearly potent enough to justify using it over something like Enmity-.
  
  
• Sound of Suffering [Enfeebling Magic +] [Hands]
  
  Lolenfeebling. But seriously, no way I'd ever use this over Darklight Gloves.

[carraway]

With my current set and a 195/tick regen, I could hit cap (203/tick) by using a Militia Belt (+4 potency and +3 VIT) and a hat with at least a capped Sound of Certainty III (+6 potency). I could then double the hat with a Healer's Hand IV to bring it closer to Healer's Circlet. I would sacrifice 10 healing potency by doing so; this effectively means I'm trading some -enmity from the belt (wholly unnecessary in most cases) and 12.5 HP off Cure and 25 HP off Cura for +8 HP/tick on my regen. +8 HP/tick = +120 HP per regen. Given regen's absurd healing power, this is an absolutely amazing tradeoff.

[Sol_Aureus]

With my current set and a 195/tick regen, I could hit cap (203/tick) by using a Militia Belt (+4 potency and +3 VIT) and a hat with at least a capped Sound of Certainty III (+6 potency). I could then double the hat with a Healer's Hand IV to bring it closer to Healer's Circlet. I would sacrifice 10 healing potency by doing so; this effectively means I'm trading some -enmity from the belt (wholly unnecessary in most cases) and 12.5 HP off Cure and 25 HP off Cura for +8 HP/tick on my regen. +8 HP/tick = +120 HP per regen. Given regen's absurd healing power, this is an absolutely amazing tradeoff.

Also a perfectly viable option. Like I said, a lot of the "optimal" WHM gear comes down to personal preference and what other gear you have.

I'll just try and provide as much information as I can so people can make their own judgments

[Tahldon]

Wonderful thread, Sol.

[Revelen]

Thanks for this! It has really helped me with whm a lot!

[Sol_Aureus]

While I was confirming my projections for turnover levels for protect (I double slotted enhancing into a crown so I can get higher values now to check ) I noticed that some of my chart's protect turnover levels were off. Apparently I forgot to add in the fluctuation for Protect's 5-5 step. This made a few turnover levels off by 1. I also apparently didn't add shell's 6 step, which later in the chart made it off by like 3 or 4 levels.

Anyway, I've corrected the mistake and the chart shown now is correct, so those of you who have saved that image should replace it with the new one.

(Just to be clear, the formulas were all correct, so that hasn't changed. I just transposed them slightly wrong onto my chart which made some levels off a bit. The basic idea is still there though, 438 as the effective cap hasn't changed.)