Final Fantasy XIV - Guide: How to Play Healer

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Final Fantasy XIV - Guide: How to Play as Healer

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A complete beginner's guide on how to play healer and everything you need to know to deal with the most diverse situations the game throws at you.

Por Luiz Otávio

traducido por Meline Hoch

revisado por Romeu

So, you're telling me you want to become the one who decides who lives and who dies in my group, the one everyone begs for a fraction of your power so they can withstand all the evils thrown at them? You've come to the right place! In this guide, I'll outline the main mechanics dedicated to Healers and give you some tips for doing well with each of them!

General concepts and mechanics of Healers

Slidecast

The main drawback of this function is that many of its attacks have a channeling time, meaning you have to stand still to hit. However, there’s a method that can be used to mitigate this: the "Slidecast"

Depending on your internet connection, you may start moving before the bar is full, and the spell will still be cast. I usually start moving when there are 0.5 seconds left, but remember, this is just a guide! Practice moving before your casts end to find out when you can move.

Swiftcast and Rezz

It's important to note that it won't always be possible to channel a spell to maintain constant damage and survive. To achieve this, all Healers have a Role Action called "Swiftcast." It's a buff that allows you to bypass a spell's channeling time, making its cast instantaneous. As a beginner healer, I highly recommend saving Swiftcast for the resurrection spell, aka "Rezz," which is common to all healers.

The main reason for using Swiftcast for this spell is its channeling time, which is between 7 and 8 seconds. Standing still for that long can be lethal, so it's best to avoid it.

Positioning

Typically, a Healer should stand directly behind the bosses, or near the healers and the rest of the team. Avoid standing near the main Tank as much as possible, as bosses often have area-of-effect attacks aimed at them. They can handle the damage, but wearing a few pieces of cloth like you are? Not so much.

In addition to standing behind the boss, it's best to position yourself near the center of the arena. But why? Many area-of-effect healing spells don't have a global range but rather a limited area around the healer. If you're in one corner of the arena, your area-of-effect spell will hardly reach someone in the opposite corner. Being in the middle of the arena when casting this spell solves this problem.

Weaving and GCD usage

One thing Final Fantasy XIV does very well is create the false impression that you're killing it with damage, and then, when you actually stop and analyze, you've dealt less damage than the entire team. To avoid this, it's good to keep these two concepts in mind: "Weaving" and "GCD."

Starting with "GCD," it stands for "Global Cooldown." In practice, whenever you use a Weaponskill or Spell, all other spells go on a short cooldown, usually around 2 to 2.5 seconds. The key is to always keep this "GCD" running.

Note that when using a skill, several skills also go on cooldown.

Now that you know about the "GCD," let's talk about "Weaving." As you've seen, not all abilities are on this "GCD", and that's when we start using "Off-Global Cooldowns" or "oGCDs." By doing so, we perform what's known as "Weaving," which is using an ability while it's on a global cooldown to avoid losing damage.

Depending on your connection, you can use two abilities within this cooldown. Keep in mind that these abilities create a short animation lock on the character, preventing them from using another ability. Learning how to use this effectively makes all the difference in your damage output in the end.

Now that you know what weaving is, take a look at this:

Note that the cast time is shorter than the GCD time.

This is standard for Healers' basic attacks. Their basic attacks have this window precisely to facilitate the "weaving" of oGCDs, so use this time wisely!

Role Actions

All classes in the game share some abilities with other classes in the same category. For example, all Tankers have a common set of abilities. These fall under the "Role Actions" category, and for Casters we have:

Esuna

"Esuna" is an instant spell that clears a debuff. There are several types of buffs and debuffs. Take a look:

Here you can see some types of debuffs/buffs. Note that buffs have an upward arrow and debuffs have a downward arrow. The one that can be cured by "Esuna" is the one with this white stripe above.

It's a good idea to pay attention to curable debuffs, as there are some "Doom"-type debuffs that, if not cured by a healer, will simply kill the player at the end of their duration. However, minor debuffs like "Poison" that deal very little damage can be ignored, or even just a single heal can be used to compensate. This understanding comes as you learn more about the game.

Finally, there are some debuffs that are only removed if the player reaches full HP. It's worth keeping this in mind with some types of Doom you encounter.

Lucid Dreaming

Lucid Dreaming is a buff that can be used to replenish your mana, generating about 500 mana every 2.5 seconds for 21 seconds. Ideally, it's best to use it when you're around 7,500 mana, so you can maintain the ability to keep healing and, eventually, bring back that little friend of yours who tripped and is there examining the ground.

It's worth remembering that if you're defeated, your mana will drop to zero, and a mage with no mana can't do much. So, as soon as you're picked up by the healer, wait to be healed, then use Lucid Dreaming and return to combat.

Surecast

It works almost like Tankers' Arms' Lengths. The main difference is that, instead of slowing enemies that hit you, it prevents your channeling from being interrupted by damage.

However, Surecast's main use is to avoid being knocked back by most attacks that could interrupt your cast. Focus on the “most” part.

How do you know if knockback immunity works or not? Well... trial and error. One situation where it doesn't work early on is the Titan's charged punches, right at the level 30 Trial. As you progress, you'll discover where you can and can't use it, and where it's actually worth using. There are cases where, to make a mechanic work, you need to be knocked back, and if you're not... you take a vulnerability home with you.

Repose

As the name suggests, it puts the target to sleep for 30 seconds. It seems like a good ability; however, the enemy awakens and returns to combat as soon as they take any damage, which makes its use extremely niche, as it requires good team coordination to extract any benefit from the spell.

In a more desperate situation, you can apply a DoT (Damage over Time) effect and put the target to sleep. The damage from this type of effect doesn’t awaken the target.

Rescue

One of the most meme-inducing abilities in the game. Limited to being able to be used in combat, this skill allows you to pull an ally toward you. You could be praised for saving a player from certain death or anger a black mage by pulling them out of the Ley Line. Be cautious when using it!

Resurrection Spells

While not a "Role Action" per se, all Healers acquire a version of it at level 12. They have different names, different icons, and slightly different animations, but they all work the same way: at a cost of 2,400 mana and with almost 8 seconds of channeling, you bring back a fallen player, but they return with a debuff.

The debuff decreases the player's offensive stats by 25% for 2 minutes, and if they’re defeated before the debuff wears off, the next time they are raised, the debuff goes up to 50% for another 2 minutes.

As soon as someone is raised, they’re left with very little HP, 0 mana, and a buff that makes them immune to damage for 5 seconds, as long as they don't perform actions. Use this window to heal/protect this player before an area of effect attack finishes them off again.

Which Healer is best for you? Shield Healer or Regen Healer?

Before we begin, it's worth remembering that all Healers are capable of completing any and all content in the game, with no significant discrepancy in their capabilities to the point where a Class would be excluded from groups as unviable. Therefore, always remember to use the one that best suits your needs.

Now, a brief explanation of this difference between healers: there are two types, as I mentioned earlier, and the gameplay varies significantly depending on how they perform this role.

What is a Shield Healer?

What is a Regen Healer?

Conjurer/White Mage - Regen Healer - Free Trial - Starter

Let's start at the beginning, then! Conjurer/White is the only true starter healer, so to speak. Want to start the game as a Healer? Conjurer is the way to go. The others require you to level another class or have progressed through the main campaign. All of these requirements will be explained in their respective topics.

To unlock Conjurer, simply go to the Conjurers' Guild in Old Gridania and complete the quest Way of the Conjurer

Main Mechanics

At early levels, spells called "Cure" and "Medica" will be your main tools to keep your team going. They consist of spells with a channeling time that heal a target or an area, respectively, immediately after the cast ends. Therefore, it's best to be careful not to start channeling when the tanker is very low on HP, as they may die beforehand.

A word of caution about the "Cure 1" passive: It's a trap. Once you have access to "Cure 2," there's no need to use "Cure 1" under any circumstances. Healers have excellent mana regeneration, especially with "Lucid Dreaming," which I mentioned in Role Action Skills, so this benefit of not spending mana simply isn't worth it.

Just so you don't overlook "Medica 2," I'll give you a warning: "Medica 2" consumes a lot of mana, and if you need to quickly recover your group's HP, "Medica 1" does the job better. Ideally, you use "Medica 2" before damage comes in, and after the damage comes in, use "Medica 1."

Lilys and You

Although they're only introduced to players at level 52, Lilys are the main resource every White Mage should know how to use. While in combat, you gain one every 20 seconds, and you can accumulate up to three.

Remember how your low-level spells had a channeling time and cost mana? Spells that use Lilys are instant-cast, cost no mana, and heal just as much! The spells that use Lilys are "Afflatus Solace," a single-target, level 52, and "Afflatus Rapture," an area-of-effect, level 76.

Blood for the Blood Lily!

Don't worry, Lilys have an extra bonus. At level 74, after using three Lilys in combat, a new type of Lily will be unlocked: the "Blood Lily." I know you're a healer, but... how about throwing a tactical nuke at the head of someone who gave you the wrong look? We're talking about an area-of-effect attack with 1360 power on the primary target and 50% less power on the others.

Support and Utilities

One of White Mage's main differentiators is its dash that doesn't require a target. At level 45, Aetherial Shift allows you to dash a fairly generous distance with a one-minute cooldown. I've lost count of how many times using this has gotten me out of a tight spot.

Another skill to always have on hand in tough situations is "Thin Air." It takes up to two charges and makes your next spell use no mana. The ideal use of this is to bring allies back without having to spend almost 25% of your total mana, which is even better if you use the Swiftcast tip!

"Plenary Indulgence" can be confusing to use at first, but this skill is an excellent tool for recovering your team's HP. When you use it, the party gets a buff that whenever you use one of the AoE healing spells (Medica, Medica III, Cure III, or Afflatus Rapture), in addition to the heal from them, another 200 potency heal will be applied. This effect lasts 10 seconds and can be activated multiple times within that time.

General Tips

Use "Assize" whenever available. It heals, deals damage, and restores mana!

Use Presence of Mind whenever available. The exception would be if the fight is about to end.

Remember that Asylum, in addition to granting HP regeneration, also increases the healing received!

Arcanist/Scholar - Shield Healer - Free trial - Starter

Starting as the DPS Caster Arcanist in Limsa Lominsa, this class works primarily with summons, in which the player's attacks change as they switch summoned pets. Initially, only the default Carbuncle is available, and it doesn't do much other than scowl while you take a beating from monsters.

As you level up, around level 22, the class's main mechanic of alternating summons becomes more evident. You use "Aethercharge" to temporarily enhance your base attack, "Ruin," and when the effect ends, you can summon your three summons, each of which will transform your "Gemshine" and "Precious Brilliance" into elemental variations.

Only after acquiring the Scholar's job stone through the Arcanist quest Forgotten but Not Gone

will you receive an item called a job stone. Equipping the job stone drastically changes your previously acquired abilities. For example, the "Physick" heal will now heal significantly more, and your summon will be changed to one that automatically heals allies.

A word of caution: you must be an Arcanist, not a Summoner, to complete the quest that unlocks the Scholar. If you're already a Summoner, remember to unequip the job stone.

Eos and You

This fairy will act as your helper during combat. While she's nearby, every 3 seconds, she'll automatically heal the lowest HP player in the party, allowing you to focus on other things. Both Shield Healers have this function, allowing them to heal simultaneously while using their basic kit.

Additionally, some of the Scholar's abilities are commands you can give the fairy to perform more powerful actions, such as "Fey Blessing," which is a very generous area-of-effect heal from the fairy's location, or "Fey Illumination," which increases the healing your allies receive by 10% and reduces the magic damage they take.

Main mechanics

Aetherflow is the main resource that every Scholar must learn and master to excel.

How does it work?

An example of its power is the Excogitation skill. By spending 1 Aetherflow, an ally gains a buff that lasts 45 seconds so that if their HP drops to 50% or less, they'll automatically receive an 800-power heal. In other words, throw this at that friend you don't want to deal with and move on with your life.

Another example of what Aetherflow can do is Sacred Soil, which creates a zone that reduces all damage the party takes by 10% for 15 seconds and, at level 78, also grants regeneration, with a cooldown of only 30 seconds.

There's more! Every time you use Aetherflow, your fairy builds up a counter that allows her to channel all of her power into an ally, with nearly double the potency of her standard heal.

Support and Utilities

Scholar has a debuff he can cast on enemies called "Chain Stratagem." This increases the chance of enemies with this debuff to be critically hit by 10%. This is especially effective in Alliance Raids, where this buff can benefit up to 23 other players.

Another unique use of the Scholar is "Expedient," which grants the damage mitigation effect to allies by 10%, in addition to granting "Sprint" to allies. This is great when the team is in a position where they're about to take damage.

General Tips

The Scholar has a skill called Recitation that, besides guaranteeing that your next heal with certain skills (Adloquium, Concitation, Indomitability, and Excogitation) will be a critical hit, also doesn't use resources like Aetherflow.

A popular combo is using Recitation (Guaranteed critical healing) > Protraction (Increases maximum HP by 10% and healing received by 10%) > Adloquium (Your basic shield), and finally Deployment Tactics. What does it do? Simple: this skill distributes the giant shield you placed on one target to the entire party. You basically give the party a whole new HP bar; it's a beautiful sight. It gets even better when the boss unleashes their ultimate attack and deals a measly 0 damage.

Use Chain Stratagem whenever available. The exception would be if the fight is about to end.

Use Aetherflow whenever possible, but remember to spend your charges first. For example, if you still have 1 charge and Aetherflow has recharged, use Energy Drain and then recharge your resources.

Be careful when using Adloquium, as it's easy to burn through all your mana just by using it. Always keep an eye on your expenditure!

Astrologian - Regen Healer - Free Trial - LV 50

The Power of the Cosmos on the palm of a hand

Let's face it, Astrologian is a peculiar case when it comes to unlocking. To access the class, you'll need to have progressed through the game's main quest until you reach Heavensward.

In Ishgard, just go to the Astrologian guild at The Pillars, which is at the top of the city. You can't go wrong; there, you'll find the quest "Stairway to the Heavens," which will unlock the class, starting at level 30.

Main Mechanics

The Astrologian's main mechanic is its card draw through Umbral Draw and Astral Draw. Whenever one of these is used, three cards will appear for use, and these will always be the same depending on your draw. Astral Draw will always draw the same cards, just like Umbral Draw. It may seem complex, but breaking it down into three different card types makes it easier:

Play I will always have a card that provides an offensive buff. This slot can include The Balance, good for Melee DPS, and The Spear, which is for Ranged DPS, including casters. If you play the right card on the right DPS, they gain a 6% damage bonus, or 3% if the target is the wrong one.

Play II is where the defensive buffs are located. Here you can find The Arrow, which causes an ally to receive 10% more healing for 15 seconds, and The Bole, which provides 10% mitigation for 15 seconds.

Play III cards are single-target healing cards, including The Spire, which serves as a temporary shield for 30 seconds, and The Ewer, which offers an HP regeneration effect for 15 seconds.

Much later, at level 70, when you draw cards, you'll also receive a Minor Arcana card. These cards will depend on the draw you're going to make. For Astral Draw, you'll get Lord of Crowns, an AoE attack, and for Umbral Draw, you'll get Lady of Crowns, an AoE heal.

Finally, it's important to note that unused cards will be overwritten when a new draw is made, so there's no way to save cards or mix "decks," so to speak.

Support and Utilities

Yes, there's more to it than just the card kit. Divination is a party buff you get at level 50 that gives an extra 6% to your entire team, which can be added to the bonuses offered by offensive cards.

Collective Unconscious provides a 10% mitigation for everyone in your party near you, but it's worth noting that it only lasts 5 seconds. This ability can be channeled, and its effect extended as long as you're not moving or taking actions. Additionally, this ability provides an area-of-effect regeneration buff for 15 seconds.

General Tips

Essential Dignity heals more the lower the target's HP. It may not seem like it, but the healing from this spell scales very well, with maximum healing being reached when the target is at or below 30% HP. For reference, the potency of this spell doubles when it reaches this threshold, and it's instantaneous to use!

Synastry is a strange ability. Its concept is that your single-target healing spells could heal a second target, with a reduced effect. But ideally, the best use for it is to place it on the tanker, or whoever else needs healing, and use single-target spells on them. Synastry's effect will heal them again, but with a reduced effect.

Going back to the card tip there, note that each Play will always give the same type of "buff", so one tip is to create muscle memory about each Play instead of having to read what you have in hand in the middle of combat, for example: I know that Play 1 is always a damage buff, so I put it on a key that I will always use when I want to buff someone's damage. The same goes for Play 2, which can be an emergency button to save someone, and Play 3 to complement a heal.

Sage - Endwalker - LV 70

Garlean technology is the best in the world!

Sage may seem intimidating, starting at level 70 and having uncountable abilities written in Greek whose names aren't very intuitive at first glance, but let's break it down.

To unlock Sage, you need to have Endwalker, which at the time of writing this article is part of Dawntrail, have at least one combat class at level 70, and complete the quest Sage's Path

in the Lower Decks of Limsa Lominsa.

Main Mechanics

As a Shield Healer, just as the Scholar has a fairy to help with healing, it has a way to constantly heal without necessarily stopping to use a heal in the form of Kardia.

How does Kardia work?

In addition, it has a skill called "Eukrasia," which is basically an upgrade of several other skills. For example: Diagnosis is a heal that needs to be channeled and heals for 450 potency. Eukrasia Diagnosis heals for 300 potency and adds a shield to the target equivalent to 180% of the heal. It is also instantaneous to use, in exchange for using significantly more mana than its base version.

Eukrasia can also alter its base attack, turning it into a DoT, which is also instantaneous.

Addersgail

Addersgail works like the Scholar's Aetherflow stacks, essentially, the difference being that they automatically recharge at 1 every 20 seconds. They can be used to deliver larger heals and more powerful mitigations to your team, such as Druochole and Ixochole.

It's also worth mentioning that whenever a stack of Addersgail is used up, you regain 700 mana!

Addersting

Addersting is your reward for protecting the party with your shields. Congratulations, my friend!

Okay, but how does it work?

Support and Utilities

Sage is the class with the easiest access to mitigations among healers, and when I refer to mitigations, I mean abilities that directly reduce damage, such as Kerachole and Taurachole. Therefore, it's always good to be aware of when major damage will hit your team.

Icarus is your go-to dash. Unlike White Mage, you need a target to use it, but this target can be either an enemy or an ally, which gives you considerable flexibility in its use.

Haima is one of the best abilities in the Sage's kit. When you use it on someone, the target gains 5 stacks of a buff and a shield. Whenever the shield goes down, a new shield is summoned and 1 stack is consumed. This ability is great for protecting tanks during big pulls and multiple instances of damage. At level 80, Panhaima is basically an AoE version of this ability, and they don't share a cooldown!

General Tips

Avoid accumulating 3 Addersgail charges; always keep at least 1 recharging. This helps cycle your abilities, and because you're constantly using them, you'll always be getting mana back.

Before the tanker starts his big pull, it's ideal to do the Zoe combo (Increases the potency of the next heal by 50%) + Eukrasian Diagnosis. If this crits, you'll essentially give your buddy a whole new HP bar.

Never stop hitting. Remember that you heal by hitting, and if you're not hitting, you're not healing.

Physis and Soteria can be used whenever possible. Both offer more healing without spending resources or mana. As you adapt to the class, you'll learn how and when to get the most out of these two.

Conclusion

No matter which healer you choose, they can all do the job very well; you just need to find the healer that best fits your playstyle. But now that you've learned how to play as a healer, I highly recommend you take a look at our Tanker Guide

. It's good to know what each one does so you can better understand how to adjust your skills!

Final Fantasy XIV: Live Letter Summary - Patch 7.4

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Luiz Otávio

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Final Fantasy XIV - Guide: How to Play as Healer

General concepts and mechanics of Healers

Slidecast

Swiftcast and Rezz

Positioning

Weaving and GCD usage

Role Actions

Esuna

Lucid Dreaming

Surecast

Repose

Rescue

Resurrection Spells

Which Healer is best for you? Shield Healer or Regen Healer?

Conjurer/White Mage - Regen Healer - Free Trial - Starter

Main Mechanics

Lilys and You

Blood for the Blood Lily!

Support and Utilities

General Tips

Arcanist/Scholar - Shield Healer - Free trial - Starter

Eos and You

Main mechanics

Support and Utilities

General Tips

Astrologian - Regen Healer - Free Trial - LV 50

Main Mechanics

Support and Utilities

General Tips

Sage - Endwalker - LV 70

Main Mechanics

Addersgail

Addersting

Support and Utilities

General Tips

Conclusion

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