A question for tanks~

[Nullie]

Hello, I play whitemage as a main and I've always thought I've done a pretty good job at it. I've done plenty of Ak's and the such. I've never had any problems with a tank before. I try to help out when I can when they are new and such, but this happened to me earlier.

I seen a linkshell comment (not free company) asking to form parties for Ak. They needed a healer so I joined. So we're playing and things are going fine or so I thought. We are speeding along quite nicely. Up until right before the wall. The tank (has af2 body and +1 shield) who was part of the same linkshell says in chat (not knowing I'm part of the same linkshell) "This whm ????ing sucks." I reply "Really, I do?" He pauses for a moment not sure what to say and then finally says "Well, yeah. Your mp is always full and my health is always about half. I'm practically dying." Note: My mp was never always full. I always keep the tanks alive and never stray from the main purpose of my job. I never let them get dangerously low, but rushing through Ak I like to get it done asap. So I do damage, Aero, Aero 2, Thunder, Stone 2. When I see the tank start getting about 2/3 or 3/5 hp I begin curing to full and go back to dealing damage and I'm always 100% sure to do my job during bosses.

The tank was never in any danger of death ever. However, I just took it for granted that people who do ak try to get it over fast enough. So from what I'm guessing is that he wanted me to spam cures on him non stop and not deal damage. So my question for the wonderful tanks out there would be: During runs like Ak, would you prefer me, a whitemage, just to spam cure on you and always keep your hp at near 100% or would you rather me do damage to help us get through the dungeon faster as long as I don't compromise my job? I don't know if any other tanks have felt this way and if the majority of you prefer I do that then I will.

I don't know if other tanks have felt this way or not because no one has ever said anything to me. But then again they could just talk badly about me behind my back. I'd really like to know what you would prefer me doing. I don't want someone going around saying "yeah that ishiene phye. Thats a ????ing noob whm."

I helped finish the wall. Said "Thank you for the party. I'll be leaving now." and exited. I won't play with people who insult you behind your back. If you have a problem with me then I'd prefer you say it to my face.

[Zykor]

It's good that you are eager to help in any way you can, but as a tank I'd prefer to be above half if possible at all times, not because we're at any risk of dying but simply because we don't like to be that low (same thing with losing hate, it's not a big deal if the dps can tank it but it still makes us feel like we failed at our task haha).

Personal preference is to be full as much as possible without overhealing, but a lot of WHM's aren't good so if I'm at half with a bad WHM things could go bad quickly.

[Shuon]

i play both tank and healer.

unfortunately, i disagree with the post above.

what makes a good healer is understanding the mechanics of the fight wrt damage received as a whole. simply put, ur job is to make sure the party survives. there r times when the party's hp isn't always full but there is absolutely no threat of death - then regen and move on. one very good example of this is Garuda Story Mode - any healer knows that when the feathers are out, tossing a regen on the DPS is all you need even if they are always at 70% or so hp.

a tank, on the other hand, needs to be well versed in positioning, timing and attack patterns, and the timing and potential output of spike damage so they could pre empt with cooldowns and/or stuns. BUT a tank rarely pays attention to the rate at which the entire party is suffering damage, let alone decide for the healer at what percentage should the party's hp be, or HIS hp should be.

I believe as long as the party is kept alive, free from debuffs while maintaining a sustainable mp-pool, you are doing an excellent job, and ignore his comment

[Tronic]

As long as we don't die, are uncomfortably close to dying, or don't have to blow a cd to stop us from dying, do as much damage as you want.

[Kal-El]

As long as I don't die you're doing a grand job!

Extra DPS is always nice.

When I'm on WAR just watch out for spike damage because I'm waiting for you to cure before I use my wrath for Inner Beast.

With PLD just keep regen up and don't let me have an "Oh shit! I'm gonna die" moment when my HP is at 5%.

[Pangtao]

He was being a rude and on top of that hes a coward for talking behind your back. That is all.

[Azyurel]

Personally I'm fine with it as long as I have faith in the healer. Seeing it was probably your first run with him he didn't know what to expect from you. He was probably shitting bricks when he was getting low and didn't see any incoming heals. I'd probably be very skeptical as well if I saw a Healer DPSing and I looked like I was going to doe. I've also had WHM that let me die, because they were too busy dotting mobs though. I've also had WHMs in kill me because they were too busy on Google news....

Not sure I would have left though. I would have at least finished the instance and showed him that he was wrong for making the assumption, THEN I would have just black listed him. Nothing worse than having to try and find someone halfway through an instance.

[Nullie]

Not sure I would have left though. I would have at least finished the instance and showed him that he was wrong for making the assumption, THEN I would have just black listed him. Nothing worse than having to try and find someone halfway through an instance.

Yes, I thought about that. On normal circumstances I wouldn't have left if it were just randoms in there. It would not have been fair to them. However, they were all friends. If I was horrible for them then they can find another healer. For me there is nothing worse than being told you suck at your job when they have know clue what I have to go through.

I'd say more is almost always better. You don't want to be wasting heals, anything where the health hits 100%, but at the same time you want room for those moments when stuff goes bad. All it takes is one dps getting hit wrong or the tank not stepping out of something right and suddenly you have a bigger issue on your hands. That's my thoughts anyways, may not make much sense from a healer stand point though.

I can understand this happening as well. I've leveled scholar completely through dungeons as I loathe fate grinding, but I've seen my fair share of this happening. It normally happens with people who are unfamiliar with the stage or who are new the dungeon in which case I'm prepared for things like that to happen. But people who run it everyday and become pros know what to expect and what should happen. I am always ready on a moments notice to switch instantly.

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate all of your comments.

[Sixteen]

It depends on what you are doing, given that you are doing AK you were playing exactly as you should. It's a farm run, so as a healer you are most efficient while doing DPS rather than keeping tank topped off. As long as the tank is not dead you are doing your job right. Not topping off is only an issue if your group is struggling to begin with, then as a tank you are not sure when to use your cooldowns as you don't know what your healer is doing.

[TofuPenguin]

It really depends. If you know how the dungeon mechanics work there's nothing wrong with helping out with dmg imo, so long as you perform your designated role as priority.
I run with a WHM friend and he does the same thing often stopping to dmg mobs and bosses when he feels my HP is at a comfortable level and we haven't had a problem. Sometimes I do dip a little low but I know him well enough to trust his judgement. However, one thing I do not appreciate is him running in to aoe the mobs just as I pull (lol). He knows not to do this but usually does it just to give me a hard time.

Some tanks prefer people to stick to their designated roles and not step out of them but I think this is more of a trust issue than anything else. If they're not familiar with your playstyle and not sure how well your healing is they may be a bit finicky. I'm sure if this tank knew you better he wouldn't have behaved this way. But it's always hard to tell with people you don't know. :P