Healers and gearing up for end game

[Azuvidexus]

Yesterday @ 7:21 PM I got my very first L50 character (WHM). Been wondering which is the plan for gearing up? Probably the only "decent" (blue) items I got come from L45 and L50 class quests.

I can't access yet GC L50 items, haven't finished the story yet (at the part that you have to go thru CM). But wanted to have an idea of what to do. Been having connection issues so meanwhile I'm working on Swiftcast.

Read a bit here and there, but I'm confused with all that Relic, Relic+1, Ifrit HM, Darklight (?), etc.

Any guidance, Fellowship of the White Mages (and Scholars)?

[Sodamachine]

Lets start with your last question;
What is Relic, Relic+1, Ifrit HM (and other HMs), Darklight, etc.

So, Relic, or Relic weapon, is sort of the "ultimate weapon" for your job, and is obtainable through a questline after you finished the mainstory. This questline requires you to go through different kind of dungeons, instanced battles, and Primal Hardmodes, and the last part being to beat Titan Hardmode.
Later on, you can upgrade this weapon to +1, to make it even better, by spending 900 Mythology tomes.
So the Relic Weapon is a long-term goal you should work towards, but will probably be one of the last pieces you will get.

What you should do, is get access to your GC lvl50 weapon so you at least can heal somewhat effectively.

So, instead of that, you probably want to get your weapon from Ifrit Hard Mode.
He is a relatively easy fight once you know where to stand and where not to stand.
This is a Itemlevel 60 (Itemlevel is not the same as level required to use the weapon) weapon, that will be a good start to help you get your farming going to the Darklight Gear!
(oh, and you unlock Ifrit Hardmode after beating the story, and going back to Waking Sands)

Darklight is the name of the ilvl 70 blue gear you can purchase from an shop in Mor Donha.
The currency you use is the Tomes of Philosophy that you should have some already from earlier dungeons.
You get these tomes by doing dungeons such as The Wanderers Palace, or if you have a good group, or a bunch of friends, you can go and take on Amdapor Keep. Though this can get really tough at the start though, since your heals arent that good. And it will become a real nightmare if your partymembers aren't good enough and takes unnecessary damage.

Getting Darklight is a bit of a grindfest (by a bit, I mean a lot).
You might can get into a group that is farming one of the last mainstory dungeons, since they give you 100 tomes at the end.
You can also queue up for them by your self, but by doing that, you will very likely get grouped with people who have not been there before, and want to watch the cutscenes, which means the waiting can take some time.

[Azuvidexus]

Wow, thanks a lot for the information!

[Dastarly_Fox]

*Bookmarks page for use later*

[Kyomih]

Just to add to the AK info:

While it's very important that some of the classes (especially DPS) have some DL gear or at least better than just AF, for a Healer it's ok to have the Ifrit Weapon and your AF. That's more than enough. it's even possible to do it with a green ilevel 50 weapon if your group is decent

Or in other words: Gear check for AK is not as important as it is for DPS.

[Lalone]

a group of 3 or 4 friends and I did AK several times completely drunk and we still did it easily still, I might add that I had 1 or 2 pieces of Darklight gear and Jade Crook staff as I was spirit binding to convert to Quicktongue III. So essentially as long as you have the skill you can easily heal this in the 45/50 AF gear with any 45+ weapon.

[Sodamachine]

I did AK with my friends, lvl44 GC weapon and 40-45 white gear.
it WAS borderline, even for a group of skilled friends.
I recommend getting some gear for it if you are going to PuG it.
For your own sake, and for other peoples sake.

[Kyomih]

I did AK with my friends, lvl44 GC weapon and 40-45 white gear.
it WAS borderline, even for a group of skilled friends.
I recommend getting some gear for it if you are going to PuG it.
For your own sake, and for other peoples sake.

Hehe yeah, that is playing it closely. AF gear and Ifrit weapon is more than enough for a healer, though

[Sodamachine]

Hehe yeah, that is playing it closely. AF gear and Ifrit weapon is more than enough for a healer, though

As long as people doesnt eat purple poop on the floor, get stunned by the gnats, or play around with the last boss's tail

[enthrop]

As others have said, healers are not as gear dependent for AK, provided you have a party who doesn't get hit by everything. DO at the very least buy level 48-50 items to upgrade anything you have that's behind (ex ring, necklace, wrist, belt, earring).. at least on my server, these items are relatively cheap. Better yet, you'll make the money back when you convert them later. I successfully have healed AK many times in AF + White Accessories + Ifrit's Cane.

I do suggest you buy the DL Wrist early on though. AK doesn't drop wrist gear, so that'll be a good upgrade.