Being a Healer in Final Fantasy XIV means more than just keeping everyone alive; it’s about contributing to the party’s success in every way possible. While your primary role is to ensure the party doesn’t wipe, effective healers also understand the importance of dealing damage. In fact, healers are often jokingly called “green DPS” due to this expectation.
The core gameplay of a healer revolves around balancing healing and damage output. A skilled healer is often judged by their DPS, not because high DPS is the sole measure of skill, but because it reflects a deep understanding of encounters, raid awareness, risk assessment, and efficient cooldown and mitigation usage.
Ultimately, a healer’s purpose is to maximize their contribution to the group’s success. FFXIV’s meticulously designed encounters encourage healers to discern when healing is necessary and when it’s not. Focusing on dealing damage becomes the most impactful way to support the party when healing isn’t immediately required. After all, defeating enemies faster is the most effective form of damage mitigation, and shorter battles reduce the chances of party members making mistakes.
Other Essential Healer Responsibilities
Beyond healing and damage, healers have other crucial responsibilities. Esuna, a role action available to all healers, is vital for removing certain detrimental debuffs from allies. You can identify cleansable debuffs by a small white line above their icon. Debuffs lacking this indicator cannot be removed by Esuna or similar abilities. It’s crucial to monitor the party frame closely, as many cleansable debuffs can severely hinder party performance and are intended to be removed promptly. The image depicts the Esuna icon, a crucial skill for healers to cleanse harmful debuffs in FFXIV.
Another key responsibility is reviving fallen party members using Raise (or its equivalents, depending on the healer job). Just as preventing damage is better than healing it, preventing deaths is crucial for maintaining DPS and ensuring mechanics are handled correctly. Raising defeated allies swiftly, when safe, minimizes damage loss and helps maintain party stability. The image shows the Raise icon, a fundamental healer ability to revive fallen allies during combat in FFXIV.
While Summoners and Red Mages also possess resurrection spells, healers are generally the primary resuscitators. Caster raises incur a greater DPS loss compared to healers, making healer raises more efficient. However, in situations where healers lack Swiftcast or the MP for an immediate raise, a caster raise is preferable to delaying the resurrection. Raise priority is highly situational and should ideally be discussed and planned beforehand within the party or raid group.
Understanding Healer Role Actions
All healers in FFXIV share access to six common Role Actions, ranging from essential core abilities to more specialized utility skills. To fully master healing, understanding and effectively utilizing these Role Actions is paramount.
Exploring the Healer Jobs in FFXIV
There are four distinct healer jobs in Final Fantasy XIV, categorized into two sub-roles: pure healers and barrier healers. This distinction becomes particularly relevant in challenging content like Extreme or Unreal trials and Savage or Ultimate raids, where the synergy between these sub-roles is amplified.
Pure healers excel at direct, potent healing, rapidly restoring HP with burst heals and heal-over-time effects. However, their access to damage mitigation and shields is limited. White Mage and Astrologian fall under the pure healer category.
Barrier healers, conversely, focus on damage prevention. They utilize mitigation tools and on-demand shields to protect the party. They possess less direct HP restoration and sustained healing capabilities compared to pure healers. Scholar and Sage are classified as barrier healers.
White Mage: The Pure Healing Powerhouse
The White Mage job, an evolution of the Conjurer class, becomes available upon completing the level 30 Conjurer job quest. Conjurer/White Mage is unique as the only healer available right from character creation. White Mage prioritizes high personal DPS and exceptional on-demand healing, with less emphasis on party utility. Its straightforward and accessible toolkit makes it both powerful and beginner-friendly. The image displays the White Mage job icon, symbolizing its pure healing focus and accessibility in FFXIV.
Astrologian: The Strategic Support Healer
Astrologian stands out as a support-oriented healer with a dynamic and engaging playstyle. While it may have the lowest personal damage output among healers, its raid buffs can significantly boost the party’s overall DPS, especially in coordinated groups. Astrologian’s kit rewards strategic planning and precise execution, with its core mechanic centered around aligning with raid burst windows for maximum effectiveness. The image represents the Astrologian job icon, highlighting its strategic and support-focused healing style in FFXIV.
Scholar: The Shielding Strategist with a Faerie Companion
Scholar, originating from the Arcanist class, is the original barrier healer. Arcanist, a magical DPS class, branches into both Scholar and Summoner. This unique branching means that Scholar and Summoner share the same level progression if you play either job. Switching between them only requires completing the respective job quests. Arcanist is the only base class associated with multiple advanced jobs. The image showcases the Scholar job icon, representing its strategic shielding and pet-based healing in FFXIV.
The Scholar’s gameplay is deeply intertwined with its faerie companion, who provides consistent single-target heals and can be commanded to use additional healing abilities. A key aspect of Scholar is the Aetherflow Gauge, a resource used for both healing and damage abilities. Efficient healing and resource management are rewarded by allowing Scholars to convert excess Aetherflow into damage.
Sage: The High-Tech Barrier Specialist
Sage, the newest healer job introduced in the Endwalker expansion, excels at proactive healing and damage prevention. It boasts abundant mitigation and shielding tools, coupled with a consistent stream of passive healing. Sage’s signature mechanic is Kardia, which automatically heals a designated ally whenever the Sage casts offensive spells. Combining high damage potential with Kardia, Sage is strongly incentivized to maintain high DPS uptime. The image presents the Sage job icon, symbolizing its modern, tech-focused barrier healing in FFXIV.
Unlike Scholar’s Aetherflow Gauge, Sage’s Addersgall stacks are solely for healing purposes. Using Addersgall heals also regenerates MP, encouraging regular expenditure of these stacks to avoid wasting resources. Sage’s resource management revolves around strategically using enough stacks to avoid overcapping, rather than conserving them.
Choosing the Right Healer Job for You
Ultimately, the most effective healer is the one you enjoy playing. Healer balance in FFXIV is generally well-maintained, and minor discrepancies rarely impact your ability to clear content. Your personal comfort, familiarity, and enthusiasm for a job will significantly influence your performance far more than any inherent differences between healer jobs.
Each healer offers compelling reasons to play them. The most important step is identifying which job resonates with you.
Essential Tips and Tricks for Aspiring Healers
Optimizing Your UI, Keybinds, and Game Settings
FFXIV offers extensive customization options for the User Interface (UI), keybinds, camera settings, and more. Leverage these options to create a setup that enhances your gameplay and sets you up for success as a healer. Customizing your UI and controls to suit your preferences is crucial for efficient healing and reaction times.
Mastering Combat Mechanics
FFXIV’s combat system has many nuanced mechanics that apply to all roles, but are particularly relevant for healers. Techniques like slidecasting, understanding GCD clipping, damage snapshotting, and recognizing regen/DoT ticks are all essential for effective healing. Understanding these mechanics will significantly improve your healing efficiency and overall gameplay.
Changelog
- June 6th, 2023: Updated for Patch 6.4.
- April 20th, 2022: Guide added.
