[FFXIV] A Proper Introduction to Healing

Welcome to an introductory video to healing in Final Fantasy XIV. This is not a "guide" per say, but instead goes over basic theory with use of practical examples. All parts of this video are intended to give you a foundation to build your experience going forward off of, while simultaneously giving you the freedom to learn on your own. There is no rotation nor is there a priority system which you can latch onto like damage and tank classes can. Instead, you must think on your feet, and use your spells and abilities with intention every step of the way.
0:00 Introduction
0:49 Pure vs Shield Healers
1:44 Universal Abilities
2:33 Inherent costs of all actions
4:40 Pure Healer's strongest GCD
6:02 oGCDs & Weaving
7:24 Practical example
9:11 Homework =)
9:35 Triage Healing
10:35 "Danger" example
13:03 "Priority" in Triage
16:32 Autopsy Analysis in Triage
19:22 Final thoughts
If you'd like to see more content similar to this, or this helped you out, consider liking and subscribing.
Thank you to: Robin, Saru, and Daar for looking over the script and providing feedback to help improve the video's accuracy, brevity, and consistency.

[@therealdoc]

Like the music you heard? Well, here's the list of songs used for your convenience! 0:00 Interdimensional Rift (Deltascape) 2:15 Unwound (The Qitana Ravel) 6:02 A Tonberry's Tears (Wanderer's Palace 7:04 Descent (Dusk Vigil) 10:32 Fortress of Lies (The Puppet's Bunker) 12:06 Aftermath (Amdapor Keep Hard) 17:09 Dark Vows (Tam-Tara Deepcroft Hard) 19:15 Abomination (Cutter's Cry) 19:43 Parting Ways (StB MSQ)

[@servantofchaos9635]

im a scholar main whos done 4 savage tiers and 3 ultimates, and i think this video is fantastic. prioritizing heals is such a huge part of prog. its easily the most fun part of healing

[@DarkClassicGamer]

How do you handle raidwides?

[@therealdoc]

​@DarkClassicGamer Sad to see that KZbin doesn't alert me for replies to comments. The main thing is knowing how much healing you'll need to survive and coordinating heals/cooldowns with your cohealer. There's also party mits that the other 6 players you're with have, which you can coordinate with as well!

[@MackenzieAdalaide]

Thanks for the excellent info. This makes me realize that I don't understand really how healing works. I've just been assuming what they do this whole time.

[@therealdoc]

All part of the learning process! You'll meet better healers along your journey and is how I improved gradually over time. Additionally, part of my learning process is teaching others. As I've helped a lot of people through my time playing the game, concepts like the ones displayed in this video have become more refined. Not to mention, I have people to help make sure everything said here is correct!

[@A_Wzone]

Remember Healers are there to keep you alive not at full HP also remember a Healer that feels neglected or abused will let you die

[@setojurai]

as a certain wiggly youtuber once said... "as long as your HP is above zero, the healer is doing their job right"

[@A_Wzone]

hehe if i remember correctly that same youtuber was quoted as saying "SUCK IT BLACK MAGE" XD@@setojurai

[@iPlayOnSpica]

I'll add to this, if a dps has too many vuln stacks, I will usually let them die. If each hit takes them from full to near death, I can't afford to babysit them over tanks for tb's and the whole party for raidwides. I'd rather spend 2400mp reviving than supplement aoe healing with additional single target healing on every single raidwide for the next 60-90s. I'm talking strictly about medium damage raidwides that could one-shot them from 90% hp (which means I need to single heal them to full, aoe heal the team from 50% hp to near full, then go back and single heal them AGAIN because they were special and their hp went under 10%). Of course, if a specific mech brings a dps to low hp, I will heal them without hesitation, and if there's an incoming bodycheck or dps check where I'd rather have a vuln stacked dps alive, I would babysit as long as the tanks will survive.

[@user-wl3qp3qn8t]

Wow. Just when you thought you've seen enough class videos.....This was a fantastic refresh and new perspective. I see you are new! Liked and subscribed. Keep them up!

[@therealdoc]

It means a lot seeing this

[@anqied]

Woah, a content creator focused on synced mine and even blind fights? Insta subbed! So much stuff focuses on max level content that has limited utility to me when I'm not going to get there likely for years yet.

[@zackprince5081]

As someone who's been playing healer, this is a great introductory video! Knowing the triage is definitely an important skill to get hang on early.

[@Anolaana]

Yeah, this absolutely covers the fundamental theory of healing. Absolutely phenomal.

[@Anolaana]

That soundbyte from the wow streamer at 12:30 was too real lmfao. Anyway, fantastic job covering the fundamental theory behind healing!

[@therealdoc]

I love that clip hahaha Thank you!

[@fairlyenjoyable]

Phenomenal video! Thank you for sharing.

[@Cerviel]

Funny thing. I’m a tank main, wanted to get into doing other roles. Always struggled with healing (i’m a controller player and scrolling through targets takes more bandwidth than I can offer sometimes.) So I started playing BLM for DPS a few months ago. Did pretty decent with it. First healer I went for was SGE (this’ll be important in a moment). So the whole time I played BLM, lucid dreaming and manafont was kind of an afterthought button. Only pressed it when I remembered to press it. Might have cost me a fire cast, but it allowed me to sync ice phase with movement in most cases (because it put me in ice a little more often). Yes, inefficient, but more movement and lower-level content (i havent really gotten into EX and savage yet) So when I got into healing, suddenly that lucid dreaming button became a constant friend that pretty much stood on CD because…well, running out of mana just isn’t okay.

[@Awo000ga]

Outstanding vid

[@henami552]

Funny triage moment i had the other day on Zeromus as SCH. Both tanks and the WHM got eaten by the black hole. Managed to resolve it by swift ressing one tank. Then shield up a DPS to buy time for the Tank to revive and get back to full health. Mitigate raidwide with seraph while hard ressing the WHM.

[@therealdoc]

Hell yeah, good stuff!

[@ProfessM]

Going to share this with a friend who got confused why I never use cure 1 anymore.

[@existentialstew9710]

really well done!

[@setojurai]

I'm a Sage Main here and... honestly? I prefer to just tell the bosses and mob pulls "No" with stacked shields, regens and light healing, popping a targeted triple threat on the tank when needed as the DPS should be doing this thing called "not standing in the orange fanta" or if you're on Lv50 Crystal Tower, not standing in the damn magma. Slapping down staggered shields that overlap is just... fun, especially when watching the yellow bar become as long as the health bar. And since I've got all these shields on everyone, I can concentrate more on slapping the boss with a DOT and as much laser spam as I can to feed that tank's health like a grandma feeds her family at thanksgiving. Oh and for the "not standing in the orange fanta" comment... I'm looking at you Black Mage Mains. I'm looking at your health drop and vuln stacks rise. And I'm still prioritizing the tank.

[@iPlayOnSpica]

If a healer is running into mp issues despite using mp recovery actions, they've either just revived 3 teammates, or they're using too many gcd heals while the party is healthy. If the whole party is at 90% hp and not expecting a heavy raidwide, I am not wasting time and mp on a Medica, Succor, etc. In my experience, the only times I've actually run out of mp (even after using an ether) were fairly hopeless scenarios where we might as well wipe and retry. If a tank in a dungeon is doing a big pull where I'll be spamming Cure 2, Adlo, etc., I'll still usually walk away with 4-6k mp at the end of battle, dipping only to 1-2k if the dps are slacking (but I'd sooner run out of mp than let the tank die).

[@therealdoc]

Not necessarily. Fights like T13, A8S, O4S, and O8S are pretty intense and require a LOT of gcd heals. For our O8S, for example, we had a RezMage and a WHM, so mana was rarely wasted on raising, but our healers were still strapped for mana. Regardless, knowing how to be more MP and GCD efficient is important for those moments!

[@iPlayOnSpica]

@@therealdoc I hope brand new healers don't walk into T13, A8S, O4S, O8S, etc. I didn't clarify, but I meant casual content for the most part. I have played T13 as BLU healer (without stotram) and A8S as BLU dps, so I'm aware how heal heavy those fights can be.

[@therealdoc]

​@@iPlayOnSpicaFair enough. Context does matter!

[@heniac8349]

Fantastic guide 🫶🏻

[@therealdoc]

Thanks! Means a lot hearing you say that!

[@bouldersmashing]

the girls are not ready for this convo

[@ottootteist]

Excellent music choices :D

[@therealdoc]

Thanks ^^

[@clarityvee]

this is super helpful for a baby sprout, thank you for this guide ^__^

[@onestar9513]

Thanks I play healers but I still wanted to watch something about them so❤

[@kajacx]

Very nice explanation, but it requires to know what abilities come next, which is the difficult part. I cannot say how many times I have cast regen on a tank with full hp, only for them to die before I could cast the next cure 2, because the damage was so high during those 2 GCDs.

[@Lost_01]

It feels odd to focus so much on GCD heals when the end goal is to not use them nearly ever except lilies which get refunded. I guess this comes from mostly a coils healing perspective. Also if people are too spread to be hit by medica II they really should be grouped together. No reason a healer can’t demand the party stack for heals.

[@Lost_01]

Overall great video comments above are really just nitpicks.

[@therealdoc]

Thanks! And, well, it is an introduction to healing after all. Being able to fall back on GCD heals and focusing on them from the start is ideal for getting comfortable with it. Once you're comfortable with a fight, you start dialing back the heals naturally. My main issue with putting a heavy emphasis on optimizing damage from the get go is it's unnecessary in almost every avenue of content. It very much feels like gatekeeping at that point. Better to overheal from the start than to underheal.

[@Yalah_]

I needed this so bad

[@therealdoc]

Awesome to hear! Hope this gives you a good jump start on your journey!

[@sasukeuchiha998]

Yeah but what if the tank is a warrior and is bloodwhetting themselves to 100% right when you spent your gcd and ogcd on them? What if they use Holmgang? Surviving through the heavy tankbuster then heals up with bloodwhetting as it's used whenever off gcd.

[@therealdoc]

That would be something you would discuss with your tank specifically. As this goes over basic theory, not every scenario is accounted for. Basics involve less spells and abilities, which is involved in level 50 content. As you get farther into the game and everyone unlocks more tools in their kits, your options exponentially increase and, consequently, give you more options for every scenario. Instead of going over complicated concepts and scenarios in a video involving introductions to healing, I opted to condense it into its most basic form. Additionally, there is a phenomenon called "choice paralysis" which can greatly affect your efficacy when it comes to making a decision. Personally, I believe starting harder content at level 90, as opposed to 50/60, easily overwhelms the player with options.

[@DaikyAdarkym]

English is not my native language but I will try to explain it to you. To be honest, tanks, especially from level 90 onwards, do not need to be specifically healed (unitarget), normally Kardia/fairy is enough, they have their own tools to stay alive (Bloodwhetting/ Corundum/Holy Sheltron/TBN). In case you need to cure them with OGCD cures it is usually enough (I am always speaking in optimized scenarios) The case that you mention about Homlgang, I suppose you are referring to all invuls in general, Holmgand you should cure him when there is little time left. Superbolide, it doesn't matter when, just upload it (this should be done by the WHM or the star with benediction or Essential dignity) The living dead, you don't need to raise the DRK, it should be able to raise itself with the healing of the skill, if you need help an OGCD should be enough. Let's remember that in optimized scenarios what matters most is your own DPS, so you must find a way to always keep casting damage. This is achieved using your gauge or your OGCD, you also have to understand that regens are very powerful tools (Asylum, kerachole, Collective Unconscious or Sacred soil) using them at the right time allows you to raise the entire party without your DPS being seen. affected or without spending more important resources. Also remember that a full party are 2 healers, u don't need to do all the healing for ur own.

[@therealdoc]

Well said!

[@crowdemon_archives]

As WAR, usually topping off will be required it you're in savage/ultimate scenario (where every auto attack can hit 20~30K). In dungeons, you can just ignore them lol As DRK, if you see Living Dead being casted, just ignore the DRK. We'll take care of ourselves within that 10 seconds lol (mostly).

[@elgatochurro]

WTF was that at 12:30 lol

[@therealdoc]

Most considerate WoW player :^) But really, it's a clip from a wow streamer who was flaming his healers

[@HyouVizer]

love how you mention Cure 1 still being useful after getting Cure 2 in ARR content. Been playing WHM for 8 years and keep hearing Cure 1 is useless when having Cure 2, and free cure is a sprout trap. I admit after getting Solace at LV52 yes Cure 1 is pretty much useless compared _but_ before that level, Cure 1 can still thrive LV50 content and under. Was healing W2W pulls in LV28 dungeon, me and tank max LV but LV synced. ST heal using only Cure 2 was slow and very costly on MP 1k per heal. LV30 sync WHM at that level doesnt have any free heals. Cure 1 spam for those W2W pulls with Presence of Mind and Lucid Dreaming made a makeshift Regen saving my MP. Free Cure tho, later levels creates bad habits for WHM. I'll still see Cure 1 used for it LV60+ and beyond, when Regen, Solace, Asylum being far more useful. I hope 7.0 makes Cure 1 become Cure 2 with a 1.5 cast and reduce MP from 1k to 700MP or so.

[@iPlayOnSpica]

WHM happens to be special as the single worst healer in ARR. All the other healers receive mp recovery abilities in addition to lucid dreaming. Meanwhile, both assize and thin air for WHM are HW unlocks. I argue they should remove freecure and instead grant the first charge of thin air in its stead, then grant the second charge at its current HW level (58 I think?). Regardless of any justification you may attempt to give to cure 1, if I foresee that I *might* need to resort to it, I'd much rather ditch the job entirely and pick AST, which never wants or needs benefic 1 spam. Not an issue in HW+.

[@therealdoc]

​@iPlayOnSpica For MP sustain, I'd agree. Though, WHM has the highest damage of all the healers by quite a large margin in this level bracket. Beyond that, it is a bit worse than ast. It depends a lot on if you need more MP for the fight or not.

[@zarith87]

for content above level 80 WHM. for normal content always try heals using lilies charges and ogcd only, medica2 are only for heavy party wide dmg, and regen is for when out of lily charges and/or as filler spell while moving evading mechanics, other GCD heals only to be used as an emergency where every oGCD and Lilies are on cooldown.. DPS death dmg penalty is worst than your healer lost GCD.. dont waste lilies on full hp allies just to obtained blood lily for extra DPS because u dont, this is due to Glare has much higher chance to proc critcal hit then blood lily, although in theory as in potency calculation 3 glares = 1 blood lily, forced blood lily may only be usefull when on party Burst Window, but u will lose your lily charges that can be used on your next heal and you ended up using GCD heal anyway if required. blood lilies are actually meant as GCD refund as it refunded back of your 3 used GCD lilies, if you counted Blood Lily as another GCD, u only used 1 GCD for 3 heals.. also bare in mind 2 normal hit glare + 1 crit glare are better then 1 normal hit blood lily.. even though 3 glares = 1 blood lily in term of potency.. blood lily are rarely critical hit.. the best time to cast lilies spells is when moving while evade mechanics to keep your ABC as much as possible.. if you can timed it right glare when standing still and lilies (heal/blood)while moving unless required an immediate heal..