I don't know how to heal.

[DarkSim]

I came from played EverQuest, to FFXI. I had a lv58 Cleric. Basically, in EQ, Cleric's have one spell to use after level 39. "Complete Healing". CH did exactly what it's name was, you let the tank's HP go down and then cast this 10 second spell. You had to time it correctly so the tank doesn't die, and you get a very mana efficent spell. I spent most of my time as a Cleric >39, so I don't really remember the dynamic healing strategies that came before CH.

Now that I'm playing FFXI, I see there's no CH, and I'm lost.
...When do I heal? I'm only level 6 right now, but I'm very confused. I have a measly 15 or so point heal, what do I do with it?

[Frequency]

Okay, here is what you should do. Solo by yourself untill 10, in that time learn the basics of healing such as heal only when you need to. Make a macro like so,

/p Using (cure) on <t>
/ma "cure" <t>

Set that in your CTRL-1 slot. So when you get low give your self a cure. When you get into parties basicly stand back and keep the melee or tank healed.

[ruffrydasean]

Aye, you'll have many Cure spells among other status heals...

To add to frequency's macro

make sure you have all Spells Capitalized to make sure they work

/p Using (cure) on <t>
/ma "Cure" <t>


I've tried to help many people for hours on end, because they simply didn't understand that.

I believe Cure goes up to Cure V or something, somebody correct me:sweat:

[Arctyc]

You'll have Cure I - V, as well as the Regens (I & II), and Curagas (I - III) by the high levels.

The time it starts to get complicated is when you have higher tier spells that heal a chunk of HP, but don't do so as efficiently as your prior spells. Yet.

So at level 11, you'll have Cure II, but won't be using it too terribly often. At level 19 you'll be using it almost exclusively. Then 21 comes around and mixes everything up with Regen I & Cure III. Regen is your friend.

Useful macro: "/ma Cure <stpc>"
Hit it, then use your F# keys to select a party target.

In FFXI, you can't rely on the waiting game/mass heal strategy, for two reasons.
1) FFXI monsters have some very painful attacks. That tank could be dead before you blink if you start taking risks.
2) Big heals make big hate. You drop something like a Divine Seal + Curaga on your party while the monster's still got some fight in it, you're going to get beat down.

[ming]

Cure heals a max of 30HP, Cure II heals a max of 90HP, etc. Give or take, sometimes you break the soft cap and cure a few HP more on Lightdays. If you check your Status/Magic skill, you will notice where your Healing level are at. As you Cure more, it will skill up and you'll be closer to the spell's max HP cured cap. Cure II shouldn't be used as soon as you get it though, because the HP you cure with it at that level isn't mana efficient.

Just watch the tank's HP and generally keep it out of the yellow, because some mobs have a crazy attack that can knock that HP down to nothing in one shot.

[Tukka]

My cleric friends used a lot of heal spells besides Complete Heal in EQ... I remember there being in that game different healing spells for different situations, much as is the case in FF11 really.

For F11 though, Arctyc summarized it pretty well.

Keep using your measly Cure, and perhaps try to find some cheap MND+ equipment. As your Healing skill improves, Cure will heal more (up to 30), then later you'll get Cure II, ect.

Later when you get Regen, use it at or near the beginning of fights, as it's your most efficient healing spell and it makes sense to take advantage of it. 150 HP for 15 MP is hard to beat. It's a good spell to use to heal people in downtime.

As for which Cure to use, you shouldn't be using your highest level Cure as a WHM generally speaking (except in emergencies), because at the level at which you get them, your Healing skill isn't high enough to make them a very mana effiicent option (also they are typically overkill, and generate too much aggro).

Usually from level 10-23 or so you are using Cure as your main healing spell, from 24 up, Cure II begins to take over. I'm not sure when you start using Cure III more routinely, but I'm sure you'll figure it out by then.

The Curaga group heals aren't used very often because of the aggro they produce, and also they cost a lot of mana and take a while to cast... unless a few people are low on HP and you fear the monster may execute a powerful AE attack soon, it's better to make sure the person who's getting hit gets healed first, then mop up everybody else who's low on HP with single target heals, or wait until the battle is over to use Curaga (Divine Seal + Curaga is an efficient way to remove a chunk of downtime when you have a few people in the party are down 120+ HP or more). Divine Seal is a job ability with a 15 minute reuse timer that you learn at level 15 which will double the amount of HP your next spell cures for.

And of course you have Benediction (which heals everybody in the party instantly for quite a lot of HP), which you should avoid using unless someone's death is imminent, and even then using it could be unwise (due to the aggro it produces), as it could cause your premature death, which could doom the entire party.

[DarkSim]

Thank you very much! So, usually, I'll try to keep people's health out of yellow? Got it.

[EFigaro]

And learn when and where to change what Cure spell you use. Make sure you use plent of Regen when you get that spell as well. Even at level 29 with my Whm whenever we start a fight I use Regen on the main tank, then Cure I unless something bad happens. Until you hit Garliage, Cure I is a pretty efficient spell to use when in conjunction with Regen since what you fight doesn't really hit hard enough to worry yet. Garliage and Eldieme though...change that.

[CloudFFVII]

Originally posted by Arctyc

2) Big heals make big hate. You drop something like a Divine Seal + Curaga on your party while the monster's still got some fight in it, you're going to get beat down. [/B]

HeHe try dropping benediction in the middle of BCNM 40 because your palaind makes a small mistake of leaving his sowrd in MH. It was his first time and we had to have the RDM and BLM tank as well as me a WHM, cause we were already in the fight. We almost won 2 with only the loss of the BRD for a second.

We ended up down to the last of the NM monsters when time ran out uber pissed were we, but we came back a second time and won. God what fun that was!

[DarkSim]

Also, another question.

In EQ, you were able to cast healing spells, sit down and meditate (heal MP), then stand up and cast again. I'm getting the feeling that I'm not going to be sit, heal, sitting anymore. Am I just suppoed to burn my MP out and then the whole group sits and heals, or should I try to sneak in a tick of healing while their fighting?

[Jaggywaggy]

Mage isnt' my main but my WM is lvl 26 and IMO to answer your question, no you won't be resting much mid-battle to get a tick of healing. There are exceptions but generally no. Never against mobs with special hard hitting attacks, it's plain dumb when that pugil, those bats, the spiders, or whatever can in one special take 1/2 or more the main tank's hp away(sometimes a well equipped taru pld can be one shotted in just xp fights).

Of course there is exceptions, Lets take the jungles by kazham for example(25-32). Any smart party would hunt mainly mandragonas for xp there because they are just extermely easy, even 200 xp ones are nothing to a decent-good party.

If you have a backup healer or a few tanks to switch hits to share damage, you could get 100 mp worth of tips with no trouble sometimes(keep in mind WM gets clear mind at lvl 20 to improve mp recovery rate) while resting for a little. Although if you're going to make the battle with mp left, it's sometimes good to get ahead and start resting. Throw on the regen or 2 to the tanks, and then catch up a little.

Again though, you shouldn't be resting and throwing a huge cure spell for your current level unless it's absolutely needed which to me is if the tank gets orange or worse. Like this statement make a point

As far as hate goes Cure III generates more hate than 2 Cure IIs, that in itself should explain why in terms of hate.

[Tukka]

In EQ, you were able to cast healing spells, sit down and meditate (heal MP), then stand up and cast again. I'm getting the feeling that I'm not going to be sit, heal, sitting anymore. Am I just suppoed to burn my MP out and then the whole group sits and heals, or should I try to sneak in a tick of healing while their fighting?

Unfornately, it takes 20 seconds from the moment you start to /heal until you actually recover any HP/MP from your first tick... then you recover some HP/MP every 6 seconds thereafter. However there's also some extremely irritating lag time (of about 1-3 seconds) between the moment you issue the command to /heal or stop /healing and when those commands are actually executed. It's one of those things I really wish they'd get rid of.

So yeah, it's really hard to sneak in a useful amount of /healing during fights, but it's still possible and something that you should try to do depending on the situation.

If you notice that your MP is lagging behind the MP of the other mages in your party with healing capability (the RDM, the BLM/WHM, or SUM/WHM, or the other WHM... doubling up on WHMs is more popular in FF11 than having two clerics was in EQ) then you may want to say to tell your party that you're going to sit to /heal and ask the other mage to cover your heals for a bit. It also may be possible to grab a tick here depending on the quality of your tank, especially with debuffs like Paralyze, Slow, Bio, Blind, Absorb-DEX, Absorb-STR, Rasp, Drown ect. stacked on your enemy.

Just be careful, because there is that lag between when you send the command to stand up and when your character actually stands, so don't wait too long before you stand up and start healing again if someone's HP is dropping fast.

[Zafron]

Originally posted by Arctyc
use your F# keys to select a party target.

I just want to emphasize this. WHMs that don't know how to use the F keys are a nightmare at lower levels when aggro shifts alot. Later on it isn't such a big deal, but you should know about it for emergencies.

[DarkSim]

Originally posted by Zafron


I just want to emphasize this. WHMs that don't know how to use the F keys are a nightmare at lower levels when aggro shifts alot. Later on it isn't such a big deal, but you should know about it for emergencies.

I think I'm one of them...

*gets manual*

[Rico]

As everyone says use The Function Keys... f1 to f6 and I use this macros when I ever cure

/ma Cure <st>

You don't need the quotes just like that. =P