From red to green to blue - playing all three roles

[astercantus]

Heyo, FFXIV community. I just wanted to share my experience as someone who has invested a fairly significant amount of time in the game playing all three roles. While I'm not at max level yet for any of them (still working my way through ShB and am also attempting to level them simultaneously..RIP), they're all at 70+ so I do think I am qualified to offer some thoughts.

I started out as a pure DPS only player who refused to touch healing or tanking - I was terrified of having so much responsibility heaped on my shoulders. One day, curiosity simply took over and I tried out healing for the first time as a WHM and loved it until I had my first bad experience in a dungeon. The entire party wiped and anxiety + guilt had a field day in my head and I swore off healing for a very, very long time. Then I reached Heavensward and AST suddenly looked really appealing and I jumped back into it - reading up on guides, learning to pace myself, seeking constructive advice and accepting criticism wherever possible. But somehow a mental barrier had formed in my head regarding tanking - didn't wanna touch it, it just seemed clunky to me, I didn't want to lead a group (imagine the responsibility!!) Took me about 7-8 months to try tanking (began with DRK because edgy aesthetic) and it really took me by surprise. Leading the group in content was not only fun, but it also instilled a sense of confidence in me that DPS and healer did not.

Playing all three roles has really expanded the horizons of my experience - when playing as a tank now, I make sure to pop all my CDs for the healer and adjust the number of mobs I pull based on their skill, because I know exactly what it's like to panic-heal or deal with a tank who doesn't use mitigation. As a healer, I draw on my tanking experience to know when to use the correct kinds of heals and to spot when the tank is in need of immediate assistance or if they can hang in there for a bit longer. And when playing as a DPS, I make sure I know my rotation to burst down the enemies ASAP to make the tank and healer's lives easier. At the end of the day, learning how to play all three roles has significantly improved my experience of the game, plus I think it has also made me more empathetic towards players who screw up in content - when you've been there and done that, it just makes it so much more relatable.

Just wanted to encourage anyone afraid of trying out different roles to give it a shot! You don't have to excel immediately - a learning experience is always going to be uncomfortable and scary, but it definitely pays off. I wouldn't say I'm the best tank/healer/dps out there, but imo the diversity in gameplay has definitely made me a better player in general.

To others in the community who are also triple role players - how has playing all three roles changed your experience of the game? To players who are hesitant about playing one or more of the roles - what's stopping you? Would love to hear your thoughts!

[Vyrerus]

My first job up was DRG. Then WAR. Then PLD. Then SCH. I immediately took to tanking with ease, and enjoyed it so much that I had to level the only other one available. SCH was something I did, cause I was a bit scared to heal, as healing was a very hard thing for me to wrap my head around in the older FFXI. It turned out to be easy, and I quickly fell in love with shield based healing. Later I tried out WHM and grew to like regens almost as much.

Now I've played all three roles and every job except DNC in high end Savage level play at some point. I love them all, though kinda still don't like BLM. I agree that everyone should try all three roles at the very least, because it will make people's skill use stand out to you. You'll realize who's doing stuff right/wrong, and will also pick up tips and tricks about playing the jobs/roles yourself much easier.

Things I'm proud to have tanked and successfully cleared while current:

Living Liquid Savage
God Kefka
Twintania
Nael Deus Darnus
Rafflesia Savage
Ramuh Ex

Things I'm proud that I healed and cleared while current:

Twintania
Omega O11S
Neo-Exdeath
Shinryu Extreme


Things I'm proud I DPSed while current:

Twintania
Nael deus Darnus
Shinryu Extreme
Quickthinx Allthoughts Savage
Halicarnassus Savage

Despite all that I'm still most comfortable on Tank or Melee DPS, just cause they vibe best with my mentality, but I'll never be unable to unsee or stop thinking about how fights are from the perspective of the other roles. It really does change your perspective on the game in some ways. Makes you better at the game too, imo.

[Puremallace]

lol wait till you tank and try to do what you said you see the healer running ahead of you and coming back with another 15+ mobs and you used your defensive CD's because you want to be nice on the first pull. Best rule of tanking is to gauge your healer based on pulling one or two packs at the start and seeing how they handle mana management and just keeping you above 50%. I have had healers literally grip me away from the mobs I was tanking and into a hall because they wanted me to continue forward and pull more mobs.

Everything you listed though is extremely valuable knowledge in a raid without a doubt.

[HappyHaunt]

I'm in the process of levelling all jobs to max; dps is always the no stress option for me usually when it comes to any content type... but that being said I actually used to main AST until recently; it's probably my favourite job and I like to think I was a relatively good healer... only problem is I've had to switch back to using the PS4 to play the game in any proper fashion, as some of my laptop's keys have decided to not work anymore. For some reason I just can't get used to healing using a controller right now; it's made me lose some faith in my healing abilities in more difficult content because of it. Now I sorta main SAM... though I'm not really too concerned with gearing atm as I'm focused on levelling jobs.

Tanking though... yeah although I think I actually find it easier using a controller... my confidence is so low when tanking I never do anything too important with it. I am just so worried about people shouting at me for mistakes. I like using DRK for Frontline dailies; but that's completely different.

Even though I'm trying to get all jobs to 80; I don't plan on using them all... I just want them all levelled for the options to switch if I need too... that and I have OCD... doesn't help much.

[ItMe]

I became a tank main, and then tried branching out to all the roles so I'd better understand what the full team is / can do and boy howdy it's helped me be a better tank.
I heartily encourage all tanks to at least also play healers.

[Goji1639]

I've done all 3 and I'd have to say healing is my least favorite. Most of the time it's boring, but once things start going wrong you have to go from being half asleep to firing on all cylinders in a second. Best queue times of all 3 roles, though.

Tank is probably my favorite. They have actual DPS rotations to keep you engaged at all times, and fighting enemies/bosses head on is the most fun way to do it. Good queue times as well. Tanking raids is annoying, though; mainly because of the awkward who's main/who's OT thing you need to figure out for every single random. I don't feel like having a conversation at the beginning of every run, so I usually just wait 10 seconds or so after it starts and if the other tank doesn't jump in I will.

DPS is alright; obviously it has the most engaging rotations but that feeling of diminished importance is always there. The queue times are horrendous as well.

I didn't level each role to "better understand group dynamics," though, I mainly did it to take advantage of adventurer in need queues, and my DPS classes mainly exist to test run content I'm not familiar with.

[Nulien]

I'm primarily a DPS player, but I've got every job at 80. I'll occasionally heal or tank 4-man dungeons if I'm in the mood, and sometimes I heal 8-man or 24-man normal difficulty fights... never tanked 8 or 24-man stuff though.

I totally agree with the OP about how trying out all 3 roles really helps teach you what things are like for the other people in your group, and makes you a better player in your preferred role. I was also surprised at how much I enjoy tanking in this game... I despised tanking in other MMOs. The reason I don't tank often is because I get anxiety about being in a leadership position, both in games and in real life. But I find it's not too bad for dungeons that I'm very familiar with. Also, Trusts really helped with that last 10 level stretch.

One thing I think SE should consider is adding better rewards to the adventurer in need bonus for expert and 80 roulettes... 7110 gil is all that bonus currently is, and that's not nearly enough to get me to tank or heal more often. If they added, maybe, a handful of extra tomestones, that would definitely get me, and probably others, switching roles more often.

[Schan]

I honestly think everone should dabble in all tree roles. believe it or not it helps your main role regardless of what that might be. I believe it would help with a few misconceptions i see here from people who don't play the role they are giving an opinion on.

And before someone jumps into the conclusion that I am saying that because you don't play a role you shouldn't have an opinion on it... no that's not what I am saying. Every role has an impact on others and i appreciate their opinion on how my role impacts them.

Example: If i tank and I don't use my cooldowns and decide to pull wall to wall the healer will probably blow all of their ogcd heals on me. more often than not by the second time I do that, the healer will have to rely on their gcd heals to heal and more often than not I will be taking more dmg than their gcd heals can heal through so I will die. gcd heals have a very distinct sound to them so I should be wary if I hear them more than twice in succession. in other words, by being negligent of my own cooldowns I am stressing my healer. Don't be me. Your healers will appreciate you.

How do I know? Because I play healer and I know how crappy it is to heal a tank who doesn't use cooldowns. Unfortunatly healers get a very clear feedback of when their tank is being bad but as a tank it's really difficult to get feedback on how much you are stressing your healer through gameplay alone so they kind of need the feedback. Also as a DPS you can help. if you're a melee you do have stuns/feint (considering the WHM hasn't made the entire mob stun immune thanks to Holy). every little bit helps sometimes.

[Anienai]

To others in the community who are also triple role players - how has playing all three roles changed your experience of the game?

Depends on my mood at the time. If a new player ask questions about their mistakes, then I'm as patience as water. I Lala rage when a tank wall to wall pulls and does not use a CD. This is from playing tank and healer.