Intermediate Guide To White Mages

[Shampoo]

This guide mainly covers the what you should be doing at intermediate content such as Dungeons. This is backed by my view and experience of the White Mages of eras past.

First Off: The Lily System
It does not matter. You don't have to care for it. You don't need to look at it. You don't need to remember this system exists.

What it does: It offers cooldown reduction whenever you cast Cure 2 or Cure 1 (50% chance). But following it may require you to heal when someone doesn't need healing. This goes against this guide. Don't get me wrong, the cooldown reduction is nice, but it is not worth wasting time healing when someone doesn't need healing.

This guide focuses on Healing (you are a healer) and DPS (you are the White Mage so you are expected to do your part of the DPS, plus it makes dungeon runs go faster if you DPS).

Rules of Healing

1) Do NOT heal when nobody needs healing. Generally I allow my allies to reach below 70% HP before I consider them as "need healing".

2) Use Tetragrammation first, if it is off cooldown, it will be a good idea to use it when needed. Tetragrammation is a instant cast, good for when your tank took some damage from the boss but doesn't really need extensive healing. 60 seconds cooldown is not that long.

3) Do NOT use Cure 1. Yes, Cure 1 has a chance to give you free Cure 2s but using Cure 1 is just time wasted. Time wasted on using Cure 1 means time not doing DPS. Instead of using Cure 1 use Cure 2, it heals with a 700 potency and can heal the one who needs healing fast enough so you would waste the least amount of time healing so you could DPS more. DPS more means the run goes faster.

4) Aslyum is almost useless, but if there is a situation where you are running low of MP and Thin Air, Lucid Dreaming is unavailable, Asylum can be used to help but is generally unused.

5) Lucid Dreaming and Thin Air is very important. When pulling large groups you would often have to nonstop Cure 2s after the Tetragrammation, and it would often leave you very MP hungry. Use Lucid Dreaming when you have like 30% MP left. And Thin Air when you run out of MP.

6) Indulgence and Shields and Regen. You should Regen your tank after Cure 2 if he is not suffering near fatal damage every second (if that is the case, just keep using Cure 2, and of course Tetragrammation and Assize). Don't waste time using Regen if your tank is not below 70% HP because time wasted using Regen when your tank doesn't need it is time wasted not doing DPS. Use Shields after Cure 2 since it is a free cast as long as you have lilies, and you are going to have at least one after using Cure 2.

7) Benediction. Do not hold onto it like a It Must Not Be Used Spell. It is there to be used. A spell not used is the same as not having it at all. Use Benediction when your Tank hits below 20% HP or you believe your Tank will die if you do not use it. This might happen when pulling large groups. You can use Benediction on yourself or DPS on boss fights if you think you would not have enough time to heal them or simply they are on the verge of dying. Yes, I know the lives of DPS does not matter, but a DPS dead is useless to you as they can not contribute DPS to the fight.

8) Swift Cast, Raise and Thin Air. Raising can be MP heavy, so when you need to raise someone in a boss fight, Use Thin Air, Swift Cast then Raise. If the DPS dies and the boss is defeated, tell them to respawn so they don't get ressurection sickness (weakness).

9) Cure 3 and Medica 1 and 2. If everyone is close to each other, run up to them and cast Cure 3. Cure 3 is a 550 Potency Group Heal. If Cure 3 can get the job done, then it means less time wasted healing and more time doing DPS. If everyone is spread out, use Medica 1 if they suffered minor damage, or Medica 1 and Medica 2 if they suffered significant damage.

10) Heal the Red Mage! Red Mages are afraid of getting hurt. They will always waste time using Vercure on themselves if they get hurt so if you spot a Red Mage, be sure to lend them a hand because the time they spend casting Vercure means they are not doing DPS and that means the run is going to go slower.


Rules of DPS

Yes you are a healer, yes the devs don't expect healers to DPS, but if you DPS you can make the run go faster, and that makes everyone happy.

1) Assize. Have it? Use it. Assize is mainly used for DPS and not really for healing but of course if someone needs to be healed, Assize can help. If it is off cooldown, it is time to use Assize. It would be best if there are more than 1 enemy when you use it but you can use it on one enemy, because even if it is one enemy, you are making the run go faster.

2) Boss fights? Use the ability that reduces your recast and casing times by 20%. Use it. Then spam Stone IV. You would be doing a lot more DPS. Depending on the boss, you might need to wait until there is a good opportunity to use it.

3) Pulling groups that is more than 1 enemy? Holy! Then Aero 3 or Cure 2 (if your tank is below 70% HP), Holy! Aero 3 (If you didn't before) or Stone IV (If you used Aero 3 before) or Cure 2 (If your tank is below 70% HP), Holy! Remember you can Holy up to 3 times before enemies become immune to Stun. Always use another skill that requires casting in between Holy, otherwise the stun may not work. Contrary to the itch that you have with Thin Air and Holy Spam, I reserve Thin Air for emergency situations.

4) Use Holy only up to a maximum of 3 times, Holy is MP hungy, using it more than 3 times is not good for your MP.

5) Aero 2 and Aero 3! Boss Fights, or even single target fights, make sure they are suffering from Aero 2 and Aero 3 at all times.

6) Fluid Aura, don't use. This is a ability that just upsets your Tank. It is the Tank's job to make sure nobody is attacking you. Expect the Tank to do their job and just do yours.

Favored Role Actions

Esuna (If the dungeon requires it), Protect, Largesse (Can be used when pulling large groups and that you anticipate that you will need to cast Cure 2 nonstop), Lucid Dreaming (for MP Regeneration).

Golden Rule: Never Heal when someone does not need to be healed. Time wasted healing when someone doesn't need healing is time not doing DPS. Not doing DPS means the run goes slower and that makes everyone unhappy.

This Intermediate Guide only applies to Dungeons and not Raids/Alliances/Trials/High End Trials.

[redleif]

I disagree on almost every point and suspect this is actually a troll guide.

[Oberon]

The fact that you call Asylum useless (It's basically a free regen) and say to waste Tetragrammaton first (You use it after Regen, that's what it was designed specifically for) really makes me question this entire guide. About how much time do you have playing?

[Oberon]

Originally posted by redleif:

I disagree on almost every point and suspect this is actually a troll guide.

Oh good, I didn't see this here until after I posted and I thought I might be the only one.

[Shampoo]

There is no such thing as wasting Tetragrammation.

If you use Tetragrammation:

1) The target needs healing

2) If the target only needs a touch of healing to get above 70% HP, this will get them up there and you waste the least amount of time needed to heal him and get back to doing DPS.

Remember, time wasted on healing someone who doesn't need healing is time not doing DPS.

And

If you do have to heal, you need to spend as little time as possible to do it because time spent healing is also time not doing DPS.

I'm not sure if you guys are experienced White Mages if you do not understand that concept.

As for Asylum being near useless, yes it is. As in, you don't really need it. Plus it eats up lillies which could be used on Assize for more DPS or for Tetragrammation, but Assize is preferred.

[dannyj147]

Have to disagree about not using Cure 1. I mainly only use cure 1 on DPS a lot of the time since their HP is lower than the tanks. A crit Cure 1 can sometimes fully heal a DPS.

[Oberon]

Originally posted by Shampoo:

As for Asylum being near useless, yes it is. As in, you don't really need it. Plus it eats up lillies which could be used on Assize for more DPS or for Tetragrammation, but Assize is preferred.

You're talking as if using Asylum locks you out of using Assize, and that is incredibly wrong. Do you even play White Mage? You don't need Lillies to use Assize or Asylum, it just speeds up their cooldown by a few seconds. If you don't have any Lillies, then there's no problem.

[Shampoo]

Do you even play the White Mage?

Why, yes I do.

I'm not saying Asylum locks you out of Assize, don't put words in my mouth.

What I am saying is that if there are lillies, it would be best to use it for Assize and not for Asylum. And you are bound to have some lillies here and there.

The priority list goes from Assize, Tetragrammation, Asylum in terms of lillies usage. Lilies wasted on Asylum could had been used for Assize or Tetragrammation.

Asylum is not useless, but it is near useless. You don't really need to use it (you don't need to intergrate it into your core rotation), that is what I am saying.

[Oberon]

Originally posted by Shampoo:

Do you even play the White Mage?

Why, yes I do.

I'm not saying Asylum locks you out of Assize, don't put words in my mouth.

What I am saying is that if there are lillies, it would be best to use it for Assize and not for Asylum. And you are bound to have some lillies here and there.

The priority list goes from Assize, Tetragrammation, Asylum in terms of lillies usage. Lilies wasted on Asylum could had been used for Assize or Tetragrammation.

Except you can use those abilities while having no Lillies at all so saying that Lillies are "wasted" on using Asylum is just bad information. I'm really starting to doubt you play White Mage at all. Lilly "usage" is totally irrelevant to an ability's actual effectiveness.

Originally posted by Shampoo:

Asylum is not useless, but it is near useless. You don't really need to use it (you don't need to intergrate it into your core rotation), that is what I am saying.

No it really isn't and the more you insist that it is the more I agree with the first reponse that this is just a troll thread.

[Shampoo]

Lilies wasted on Asylum is indeed quite a waste.

While I do not care much for the lily system, cooldown reduction is still cooldown reduction. A reduced cooldown Assize means more DPS in the long run.

Every skill has its uses, even Asylum, it is not useless, it is just not every useful.

[Gabby]

Disagree on almost every point, especially trollish telling people not to use Cure 1. Stating you need your MP to Spam Cure 2, the spell you should never spam, is just signs of a terrible newbie at this class.

[Oberon]

Originally posted by Shampoo:

Lilies wasted on Asylum is indeed quite a waste.

While I do not care much for the lily system, cooldown reduction is still cooldown reduction. A reduced cooldown Assize means more DPS in the long run.

Every skill has its uses, even Asylum, it is not useless, it is just not every useful.

It's an OGCD regen with zero MP cost, how in the hell is that "not very useful"? And don't say "Duh it uses lillies" because it can be used even if you don't have any so that is entirely irrelevant.

[Gabby]

And Lilies does nothing to actually enhance it besides lessen the cool down. I use it all the time, even solo. Who gives up a free area regen?

[Concerned Citizen]

If this was an actual guide it would be placed in the guide section
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[redleif]

I dare op to post his lodestone and screenshot playtime with proof