Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Healers, DPS is Part of Your Job! - Final Fantasy XIV Columns
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Healers, DPS is Part of Your Job! - Final Fantasy XIV Columns
For the most part, playing how you want is fine. But there’s one area where I cannot stress enough that conventional knowledge is incorrect: the idea that healers shouldn’t DPS is preposterous, and anybody who says otherwise is wrong, wrong wrong.
Comments
In fact they might be, 4.0 is said to focus on allowing players to do the same things but with less button presses/hotbar space needed to do them. Kinda like the WoW button squish I heard they did a while back. I could see the removal of cleric stance and when in healer role the attack spells all being mind insted of int a thing.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
People need to find a balance between the two, but no DPS is not "part of their job" it is a throw it out when you can thing, but do not risk things to try and do damage. There are tricks here and there then too that healers need to start to pick up on. As an example in FFXIV many stand still the ENTIRE length of a cast (this goes for non healers too) when realistically you can move when there is a little under a half second left on the cast time (about .46 - .48 seconds) thus if a dodge attack is coming at you and your cast bar is at that point you can literally avoid it instead of standing there taking the damage just to attempt to get off that spell..
I think the problem stating "DPS is also your job" is that healers need to first learn to actually you know do their healing right before they start to throw DPS into the mix. Get your healing and resource management under control and THEN you can focus on tossing out some damage spells which again keep resource management in mind. Healers should not DPS long term in any sort of group content and it should be off the cuff stuff where they can do it and keep up resource management. In a prolonged more difficult fight telling a healer to DPS at all can be fool hardy even particularly if we bring any challenge back to the genre.
Honestly I'm really surprised that MMORPG would publish this article. They've always struck me as a site that embraces the fun of games, and understood people's different ability levels and play preferences. (And don't tell me that silly little line at the start counts. It's the equivalent of saying "I don't want to offend, but...")
Get off your high horse and let people do what they want. That goes for the people who kicked you for doing damage too. If it's going fine, who cares?
As for the need of healer dps, that's really a development flaw since they do not go with a typical raid number or even party number for that matter (5+ for parties, 10+ for raids). With those dps slots dropped, it just divides between the tank and healer. But if you dont want to healer dps, just run 7 WARs and Healer.
Even in games that don't have those types of healing classes I still like to mix in DPS when I heal. But it's highly situational depending on group make-up, instance and even specific bosses. If I'm in a group where everyone is good at avoiding damaging mechanics, that takes pressure off me and gives me enough time to mix in some nukes. Same situation with a group that's poor at avoiding damage and I might have to do nothing but heal to pick up their slack.
Adding damage is fun and a help to the group, but it should never be done at the expense of healing well - that's what you're there to do.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I'm so disappointed too.. I don't understand why people like the author wants to force their gameplay style on others. If he wants to dps and heal, no one is stopping him. If his raid group absolutely needs the healer dps and do not want pure healers, then they should pick those players...
But berating people, as "bad healer" for not wanting to dps... how arrogant. The game is catered not just to the hardcore raiders but also to casual, average players. This means that there is a wide variety of skill levels involved - not everyone can multi-task like a pro and they also have a right to play as healers.
no people, hardcore people using game mechanics and completing content without relying on drool to be their interface of choice isn't the problem here. people trying to play their own game within another game is the problem.
The obvious solution is to get rid of cleric's stance and just have their attacks be based of mind, but until then keep an eye on your healer's sanity meter.
I understand you don't want to DPS if you're a healer, but don't go saying you're not supposed to. This game's encounters are designed around GROUP DPS. Everyone contributes. That's why they design fights with dps checks taking into account group dps. This is why Stone, Sky, Sea exists, because DPS is a key component in this game, and that's what makes it so unique and fun: everyone should contribute with DPS.
Yes, it's possible not to. No, it doesn't really matter too much in most content.
Personally, I don't care if you do, go ahead, but I sure as hell don't want you in my group for any serious content.
You do you, I do me, but this is why I only run my roulettes up until the point I have all the BiS pieces I need. Roulettes are boring and take forever because people want to sit around and do nothing or limit their potential because "I wanna play how I want" "I'm a TANK! So it's logical I stay in my TANK stance" "I'm a healer, I'm supposed to heal occasionally and look at my toe for 75% of the fight".
Play how you want, that's fine, but if your "play style" is an hindrance to the group you'll probably never know.
As usual with this kind of 'you're not playing your class right unless you do.....' article, it didn't change anything.
I hate when mmos force me to play the role i dont like because the class i want to play only has that role.
One thing overlooked is that Summoners get a heal and rez that can be thrown around when a healer can't keep up, even a portatank for adds when the tank is having issues.
When I played wow a long long time ago, I liked shadow priest but god forbid you tried to join a dungeon run as one. You are a priest, you heal! Uhm, no? I have the option of dealing damage, and I want to deal damage.
The same thing happens on warrior roles that can be built as tanks but can also be built as dps. If there's an option, don't force people to play what you want them to.
Also, about the shadow priests joining dungeons. The problem is, they would join AS A HEALER, then refuse to heal. If you want to join your shadow priest, you join as dps, but they almost never did because of the queue times. Same went for warriors. Saw plenty of them join as dps, but also join as tank without being able to tank or get agro.