Starting Sage

[Tahbitha]

I started playing FF XIV right before Endwalker released. Since then, I've finished the MSQ as well as spent a lot of time levelling up various jobs. Right now, not counting DoH classes, I've got five jobs at 90 (Dragoon, Black Mage, White Mage, Bard, and Paladin) and four others getting close (Ninja, Dark Knight, Summoner, Scholar). All of these jobs start at a relatively low level, which means that by the time I get into 70 and higher content, I've had plenty of practice at the foundational spells/skills of each job. I'm certainly no master of any of them but I at least know what I'm doing.

So, this weekend I decided to give Sage a shot, which of course starts out at 70. I got the job unlocked, reviewed the descriptions of all of the skills, did some extra research on Youtube, and got my hotbars set up in a manner which I thought would work for me. With all that done, I started the initial job quest where I have to escort an NPC through a small instance and keep her healed while she tanks some bad guys.

It... did not go well. That poor NPC never had a chance.

Nothing wrong with the class design or anything like that, but starting in at 70 with no prior experience just didn't work for me. No matter how much I read about how the class skills are intended to operate, it was just too overwhelming. I have to learn by doing, not by reading or watching. So what I'm doing now is going back and doing some early sub-30 instances to get comfortable with the foundational mechanics and then work my way up, as if I was starting at Level 1. It'll take a bit to get up to where I am comfortable doing higher-level content but there's no way I'd even consider doing any groups with other players until I know at least mostly what I'm doing.

I know that Sage has been around for a bit now and I am wondering if folks starting it have had the issues I've had. I know my method isn't going to work for everyone but I know it's going to work for me.

[Astrus]

Coming off of WHM with its abundance of raw healing SGE was a bit of an adjustment, but at the end of the day it's a healer like the other three.
I had more issues adjusting my expectations to the reality of the Job (a DPS Healer or Leech Healer it is not).
Nothing running a couple of dungeons with the Trust NPCs before moving on to "live" specimens didn't fix though, it is now my most played healer.
Yet some paper tanks make me wish I was on WHM with its plethora of chunky oGCD heals.

[Jeeqbit]

No matter how much I read about how the class skills are intended to operate, it was just too overwhelming.

Spoiler: Sage is a clone of Scholar.

I recommend typing these commands:
/hotbar copy SCH 1 SGE 1
/hotbar copy SCH 2 SGE 2
/hotbar copy SCH 3 SGE 3
/hotbar copy SCH 4 SGE 4
/hotbar copy SCH 5 SGE 5
/hotbar copy SCH 6 SGE 6
/hotbar copy SCH 7 SGE 7
/hotbar copy SCH 8 SGE 8
/hotbar copy SCH 9 SGE 9
/hotbar copy SCH 10 SGE 10

Then press P to open Actions & Traits and drag Sage's version of the same abilities onto the place where you have Scholar's version.

There are a few things different. In particular, in order to use the DoT (like Scholar's Bio), you must first use Eukrasia and then the single-target attack (Dosis). In order to use a shield, you must first use Eukrasia, then the cure/physic spell (Diagnosis).

[CVXIV]

I don't recall having trouble with it.
Need to keep barriers up and Kardia so when you attack the NPC receives a bit of healing.

[Gemina]

Even with having played SCH since HW, there was still a bit of a learning curve. While I could recognize which skills mirrored SCH's and place them in a similar crossbar setup, I could not do that with all of them. They have plenty of skills that are unique to them such as Toxicon, Kardia/Soteria, Phelgma, Pneuma, Icarus, Eukrasia, Haima/Panhaima. None of these skills are things SCH can do. In order to get a hold of the job, I had to recognize that SGE is still a healer, and it is really helpful to set up your healing abilities in a similar manner as a healer you are already used to playing.

For example, you do have SCH leveled so I would place Druochole in the same place you have Lustrate; Kerachole in the same place you have Sacred Soil; Ixochole in the same place you have Indom; Physis in the same place you have Whispering Dawn, etc.

Eukrasia and Addersting are mechanics unique to SGE, and they coincide with each other. Something you can try is soloing boss FATEs of a level at or even above your own, and allow your chocobo to grab enmity. You can then get into the habit of using Eukrasia to deploy shields that will break, especially if you use them when the boss is telegraphing an attack. You can also deploy the shields on yourself if you have hate. But I mention your bird specifically as a substitution for a tank.

A lot of normal 8-man content make deploying shields redundant. Against single target, Toxicon is essentially a return for spending a GCD to deploy a shield. Against multiple enemies though like when tanks pull W2W, it's return is magnificent and you definitely should be deploying those shields. Toxicon is also a movement skill, so you could look at shield deployment as storing adderstings for situations when the boss will force movement.

Try not to stress about too much though. Proceed at a pace you're comfortable with. The more you play any job in FFXIV, the better you get at it. Practice, practice, practice.

[Jeeqbit]

Haima/Panhaima

Panhaima is basically Seraph.

[Gemina]

Panhaima is basically Seraph.

No, it's not. Panhaima works in reverse to Consolation. With Consolation, players get the direct healing up front before any damage is received. With Panhaima, the direct healing comes from whatever stacks remain after the damage has taken place. Because of this, even though both abilities are used to mitigate damage, when they are used is different. In order for a SCH to get the full potency from Consolation, they need to wait until the group receives the initial AoE attack. For SGE, they need to execute Panhaima before any damage is received.

This isn't going to make a whole lot of difference in casual content, but in situations where incoming damage has a significant threat level, maximizing the available potency these abilities give helps alleviate some of the pressure from it.

[Maltothoris]

Kardia/Soteria, P

Soteria is rouse and Kardia was actually an old thing that some schs did where they marcoed where whenever they casted broil, the fairy would heal party based on their position in the party list.

[Jeeqbit]

Soteria is rouse and Kardia was actually an old thing that some schs did where they marcoed where whenever they casted broil, the fairy would heal party based on their position in the party list.

Well now from my perspective, these heal potency buffs like Soteria or Zoe are replacing things like the single target regen Scholar has, or Recitation. This is a list I made a while ago.

Kardia/Summon Eos
Eukrasia and Pepsis/Emergency Tactics
Dosis/Broil
Eukrasian Dosis/Bio
Diagnosis/Physic
Eukrasian Diagnosis/Adloquium
Prognosis/Emergency Tactics+Succor
Eukrasian Prognosis/Succor
Ergeiro/Resurrection
Physis/Whispering Dawn+Fey Illumination
Phlegma/Energy Drain
Druochole/Lustrate
Dyskrasia/Art of War
Kerachole/Sacred Soil
Ixochole/Indomitable
Taurochole/Excogitation
Haima/Summon Seraph
Panhaima/Consolation
Rhizomata/Aetherflow
Krasis/Protraction
Pneuma/Dissipation
Holos/Fey Blessing
Zoe/Recitation
Soteria/Aetherpact

[Gemina]

Soteria is rouse and Kardia was actually an old thing that some schs did where they marcoed where whenever they casted broil, the fairy would heal party based on their position in the party list.

Rouse and macroing Embrace are in the past. Kardia is still SGEs answer to Embrace from SCH's fairy but Eos will cast Embrace regardless of what the SCH is doing, even during downtime when the boss is not targetable. SCH's can still increase the potency of Embrace by using Fey Illumination or Protraction, but each of those skills also has mitigation attached to them as well, which is received by the target/party members regardless if the SCH is dealing damage or not. These are apple and orange comparisons at best.