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any advice for a WHM?Follow

#1 Jan 26 2004 at 11:23 AM Rating: Decent
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I could prolly find a thread on this.. but I don;t have time to search and I like Fresh views.

I am just reaching that Level when it is time to start joining Parties... 9-10.. Any advice would be highly appreciated...
..any thing about "healer ettiqute".. ot useful Macros.... should I debuff at all?.. should I PWN the party since WHMs RULE? and just tell them to do waht I say?? hehe

I have played the Healer before, but only as a RDM... so any mistakes I may have made could have been overlooked... but NOw I am donning this great mantle of responsiblity of being the Main Healer.. it's kind of intimidating.. I'm nervous.. the last thing I want to do is ***** over fellow players by letting them perish and soil my name forever...

advanced thanks <^^>
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#2 Jan 26 2004 at 11:38 AM Rating: Good
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While I can't speak from a WHM point of view, I can certainly speak on what a WHM does that makes me nod my head in an affirmative manner.

-Don't chain cast and continually cause a lot of hate to be aimed at yourself

-Don't use Cure II as your standard healing magic until Cure I just doesn't cut it anymore.

-Use simple healing macro's:

/p Casting (Cure) on <t>
/ma "Cure" <t>

-Focus on healing and don't waste magic on debuffs unless you A) have 2 healers or B) are confident that you can mix debuffs with healing and not endanger the party.

-Don't melee ^^

This last one is just my personal preference. I'm sure every WHM is going to yell at me, but, here goes:

When you do take aggro, don't run around like a headless chicken. You're still taking damage and achieve nothing but chaos while the rest of the party has to reform around your erratic movements. Having to chase down a fleeing WHM and seeing "Unable to see Monster" round after round after round only to return to scoring successful attacks because the WHM is DEAD causes massive headaches.

A WHM friend of mine is my personal hero because of the manner in which he handles aggro. If a mob turns it's attention to him, he runs up to meet the mob to keep it in everyone's range, and STANDS STILL while the Tanks work on provoking/aggro'ing the mob off of him. Once the mob loses interest, he slips off to the back of the battlefield to heal from out of AOE range. I love him with all my heart for this.

I'm sure you will get more helpful responses from actual WHM's out there. I just hope this helps in its own way. ^^
#3 Jan 26 2004 at 11:44 AM Rating: Decent
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1,102 posts
I tend to, though others don't, have a macro for each party position. My main job is healing, so I don't mind spending six macro spots to /ma "Cure" <p0>, <p1>, etc. It isn't like I have any nuke spells to cast (other than Banish. Joy!)

As for debuffing, if you're in a group with a black mage, or red mage, and they want to do it, let them unless you're aiming to up your enfeeblement spells. Otherwise, I usually debuff with dia and paralyze. Once you get silence, that's useful for soloing worms and helping with spellcaster mobs. I also use slow. Naturally, the amount of debuff spells I cast depends on how quickly I may need to chain-spell Cure spells on my party. Since you've played a red mage already, I doubt you need to up your enfeeblement any, but don't let them try to talk you out of casting enfeeblement spells. Despite what some may think, they do help you out. The less often you have to cast cure, the better able you will be to save your party members when "Aaaah, a gobbie popped behind me!" happens. :)

The only other thing I can think of - you can have some of the status effect cures on hand. Paralyna, blindna and poisona are both good ones. And, if you have a hard time keeping track of who is poisoned or paralyzed, make sure once you see a monster cast that spell, or before you start fighting, to say something if they get a status effect you can cure. :)

Hope that helps! Good luck! Go White Mages!
#4 Jan 26 2004 at 11:54 AM Rating: Decent
I think I could answer this post best. I have a level 30RDM and decided to level up my WHM. However, I loved WHM so much that I have decided to stick with it. I have the following advice for you to level up to 20
1) Party. Don't party with Noobs (oh GOD NO) or if you do, make sure you have atleast a few members have ??/?? for jobs. Basically when i leveled my WHM, it took forever until I found experienced party members. We recieved 2k exp by the hour.
2) If you don't have any warriors DONT PARTY. Many times you will find that since your a WHM, EVERYONE will want to pt with u. Now if you are just farming for gil or something u don't need a warrior to much but for serious leveling I would recommend it.
3) Tell the ****** to shut up if they ask you why you don't have ALL the WHM spells. RDM is expensive! Besides, tell them u are saving gil for the most important spell of them all "RAISE"
4) Kick back and heal :) Cast some enfeeb and enhance spells to raise status.
5) Smile, Its easier the second or third time arround :)



#5 Jan 26 2004 at 11:55 AM Rating: Decent
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Vlishgnath wrote:

When you do take aggro, don't run around like a headless chicken. You're still taking damage and achieve nothing but chaos while the rest of the party has to reform around your erratic movements. Having to chase down a fleeing WHM and seeing "Unable to see Monster" round after round after round only to return to scoring successful attacks because the WHM is DEAD causes massive headaches.

A WHM friend of mine is my personal hero because of the manner in which he handles aggro. If a mob turns it's attention to him, he runs up to meet the mob to keep it in everyone's range, and STANDS STILL while the Tanks work on provoking/aggro'ing the mob off of him. Once the mob loses interest, he slips off to the back of the battlefield to heal from out of AOE range.


I agree with the first paragraph, not so much with the second. The white mage should just be able to stay still. Running interrupts any spells you may be casting. And running to meet the monster just means it gets a chance to hit you. For the most part (except Benediction, in which case, the WHM is dead anyway :P) a simple provoke from the main warrior/tank, or a subclassed warrior, should handle the aggression problem readily enough.

.. what gets me is when a group does provoke off the mage, who is standing back in the lil' mages corner.. but they run after the monster, as they are provoking, and bring it ever closer to the mages, until the point comes when the mob just needs to spin around to whack on the mages. :) That's irksome!
#6 Jan 26 2004 at 12:11 PM Rating: Good
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216 posts
Cure1 will cut it until level 20. At 20, when (if) you go to Qufim, you'll start using Cure2 more and more.

These tips are designed for level 12-20 WHM. After that, well, I don't know, yet. ;)

At around level 13 or 14, you'll need to pretty much chaincast Cure1. It's ok - it doesn't generate enough Hate, by then, as long as the Tanks are voking consistently. Hold that Cure2 until the Tank is about to Provoke - time your Cure2 to go at the same time (or a couple of seconds after, if you're late on it, is ok).

Stay *back* out of AoE range. Make sure your party knows to stay the Hell away from you. Make sure your party also knows that if the mob aggros on you, they are NOT to chase it back to you. They are to stand where they are (far away from you) and Provoke it back to them.

If the mob creeps up on you, run out of range again. If this means running past your WARs to get to the other side, do it.

When other party members get hurt, ignore them. Concentrate on keeping your main tank fresh. The exceptions to this are: if your tanks are rotating (i.e. no WAR or PLD, so the SAM is tanking some, the DRK is tanking some, and the MNK is tanking some), if someone (the THF, or whoever is not tanking) drops to orange, or if they drop low enough that the mob's special attack would kill them (this is why WHM's hate fighting Pugils), or if the WAR just Provoked and the mob didn't flinch (which means someone, usually a RNG, just over-aggro'd and is now the tank until the WAR's provoke refreshes). If someone else gets aggro and gets slapped once, and then the WAR provokes it and has the mob's attention again, ignore the cries of pain from that THF. You can cap em off in downtime - but in the heat of battle, the tank is more important.

When you get Curaga, you'll also have Divine Seal. Use it for party downtime, after several Gobbie Bombs have taken everyone down to yellow. Do NOT cast Curaga in combat. It will get you gatted.

Do not fear teh aggro! If it comes for you, take the hit like a man (or a woman, if that is, in fact, what you are. Women have a higher pain tolerance - that's scientific fact. So eat the hit). Give your tanks a chance to get it back. If they do their job, you'll live. If they don't, no amount of running and screaming will save you. However, if you run and scream, you could very well be impeding the tanks from doing their job.

If you do get hit, DO NOT CURE YOURSELF. If there's another healer in the group (an RDM, a BLM with WHM sub), tell them before the pull that they need to heal you if you get hit. If you heal yourself, you'll just generate more Hate, which means the mob will keep hitting you. If there isn't another healer, I suggest sitting in yellow hp and continuing to use your Cures on the tanks.

If Protect drops in the middle of combat, your priority is to get it back up ASAP. Shellra can (usually) wait, but once you see Protect drop, dive into the melee, Protectra, and run back out.

If you're debuffing at all, debuff on the pull, as the mob is incoming. Don't wait til people are getting slapped around and need your Cures.

If things get bad, learn the Bene-bail. That's when you stand just outside of melee range, but in range of all your mad massive Melees, turn your back to the mob, use Benediction, and then run like you're chasing the ice cream truck. Just run.

If you run out of MP, do not stand there peeing your pants and crying "OOM! OOM!" Sit your *** down and med. Med med med. If you get 2 ticks back, that's 2 (or 3) more Cures. If there's no chance you'll get MP back before everyone dies, Bene-bail.

And above all, stay cool. Cool under fire. WHM is a pressure-cooker job. If you're tense, your group will be, too. And then everyone starts to mess up. It goes downhill from there. Remember also that you've got the easiest time making back any lost XP from deaths. You'll always have a group. So if you die, well, better you than the THF, who may or may not get a group tomorrow night.

Edited, Mon Jan 26 12:28:02 2004 by Sprits
#7 Jan 26 2004 at 12:25 PM Rating: Decent
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Stand as far from battle as you can, and when you get the mob coming towards u stay where you are.

I was levelling my WHM as sub to my BRD in qufim, and all my party members took the **** out of me for standing miles from battle, if your standing next to the mob curing and it aggros you you'll get hit straigh away, if your at MAX distance then the other members have time to provoke, those 3-6 seconds it takes for a mob to actually hit you becuase you are away from battle can save your life.

i always laugh when other mages in my party die because they have to stand in the mobs mouth in order to cast.

and also on a personal note, if you are in a party with a bard, please stand away from battle.
#8 Jan 26 2004 at 12:26 PM Rating: Decent
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Stand as far from battle as you can, and when you get the mob coming towards u stay where you are.

I was levelling my WHM as sub to my BRD in qufim, and all my party members took the **** out of me for standing miles from battle, if your standing next to the mob curing and it aggros you you'll get hit straigh away, if your at MAX distance then the other members have time to provoke, those 3-6 seconds it takes for a mob to actually hit you becuase you are away from battle can save your life.

i always laugh when other mages in my party die because they have to stand in the mobs mouth in order to cast.

and also on a personal note, if you are in a party with a bard, please stand away from battle.
#9 Jan 26 2004 at 12:37 PM Rating: Decent
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278 posts
Quote:
3) Tell the ****** to shut up if they ask you why you don't have ALL the WHM spells. RDM is expensive! Besides, tell them u are saving gil for the most important spell of them all "RAISE"


get all the WHM spells.

i play a BLM / WHM, and, when leveling my sub, i thought, "bah, i'm really a BLM and this is just my sub, i don't need ***** like blindna and silena.. and i'll just get Protectra and not bother with the single Protect spell. save gil!!" every single time i've played my WHM, i've wished i'd bought a spell i skipped to save gil. someone gets paralyzed, or blinded (real danger there) or needs a single Shell or Protect, etc. a really good mage will have all of his/her spells.. so even if you're only planning to sub WHM, my advice is get the spells. you will need them at some point, and it sucks to have to tell the group, "uh, sorry.. i can't cast Barsleepra because i don't have it" because you look (and feel) like a halfass. at least i did. i've bought them all now, and am prepared for anything ;D

my only other advice is to listen to your party and take their advice/criticism to heart, especially if they're leveling advanced jobs.. they've been there before and know what they're talking about. of course, all that goes out the window if the advice/criticism comes in the form of "DO THIS NOW NOOB" or something akin, heh. most of the good casting lessons i've learned have been from watching others or advice from more experienced party members along the way.

and please don't "pwn" the party :( there are enough rude, obnoxious WHM out there who know the party needs them and behave hideously because they know they can. why do that.

atherisch
40 blm / 28 whm
12 pal / 6 war
7 thf / 5 mnk / 5 rng
#10 Jan 26 2004 at 12:55 PM Rating: Decent
48 posts
Stand as far from battle as you can, and when you get the mob coming towards u stay where you are.

I was levelling my WHM as sub to my BRD in qufim, and all my party members took the **** out of me for standing miles from battle, if your standing next to the mob curing and it aggros you you'll get hit straigh away, if your at MAX distance then the other members have time to provoke, those 3-6 seconds it takes for a mob to actually hit you becuase you are away from battle can save your life.

i always laugh when other mages in my party die because they have to stand in the mobs mouth in order to cast.

and also on a personal note, if you are in a party with a bard, please stand away from battle.
#11 Jan 26 2004 at 12:58 PM Rating: Decent
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216 posts
Quote:
and please don't "pwn" the party :( there are enough rude, obnoxious WHM out there who know the party needs them and behave hideously because they know they can. why do that.


Too true. Remember that, in a group, you rely on your groupmates just as much as they rely on you. While it might be easy for you to just jump to another group, you joined *this* one, and in doing so you committed yourself to them. Play nice, and if you aren't able or willing, don't play a WHM. Simple as that.

And, yeah. Get all the spells with the exception of most of the Bar spells. They're worthless. Three exceptions to this, IMO, are Barfira, Barwatera, and Barsleep. Barsleep you can toss on yourself off-hand if you're fighting Sheep - it doesn't do much, but might as well, and it's cheap as dirt. Barsleepra isn't worth it, IMO, because a) it costs more, b) it still doesn't do much, and c) you have to run into melee to cast it. Don't bother. Barfira will save you a fair amount of heartache fighting gobbies, while Barwatera will save you a fair amount of heartache while fighting Snippers or Pugils (especially when you start fighting them in Qufim).
#12 Jan 26 2004 at 1:04 PM Rating: Decent
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smoe very solid advice given here

I'd like to re-inforce get all spells

If you find you're out of Gil:
- Take a week off and start fishing, the time you take off and level fishing will make it easier in th future to make money off of it faster
- Take time off and go to Bastok and mine!
- Take time off and work the guilds/AH
#13 Jan 26 2004 at 1:04 PM Rating: Decent
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Yeah, for benediction, as hard as this may sound, the best thing you can do is save it for as long as possible and then actually run towards the melees and take your punishment well. There's a slim chance you may live if the mob stays close to the melees and they can finish it off. If you run around like a chicken with its head cut off, the melees can't hit it, but you can be sure the mob will still hit you. And a Paladin's Invinsibility skill can pull mobs off benediction, FYI. One or two provokes generally aren't enough.

Binsa, Taru LV31WHM/LV19BRD,Bastok, Alexander
#14 Jan 26 2004 at 1:12 PM Rating: Decent
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WOW,

i just got back form lunch.. and waht a treasure trove of info that has grown here..

Thanks You all You rock!. I hope I can get my work crap done soon and go over all of this info....

Thanks again <^^>
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#15 Jan 26 2004 at 1:46 PM Rating: Decent
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try using the <st> amd <lastst> tags in ur macros to see if you prefer them over the <t>s.

/ma "Cure" <st>
/p Curing <lastst>

after selecting the macro a cursor will appear, use f1-f6 to select your grp members, and then hit enter to start the spell and print the text to party chat. this saves space over the <p0> <p1> tags etc. It also allows you to easily cure members of the party while target locked on the monster should you be meleeing (more applicable for a rdm).

#16 Jan 26 2004 at 1:47 PM Rating: Decent
Lots of good advice here. I just wanted to second the "Bene-bail" tactic. If I have to use Benediction, I do so and let my group know I'm headed for the zone. I use DS + curaga the same way if Benediction is down AND I have the mana (like an IT add that we are clearly losing to). I play with a regular group, so they have the routine down now, and we rarely die.
#17 Jan 26 2004 at 4:39 PM Rating: Good
Sprits post says just about everything I wanted to say, except a few minor points.

1) It's often better to split up the debuffs a little. An RDM should be the primary enfeebler, so make sure you give him/her the important debuffs. However, if you've got 3 mages who can all debuff (WHM, RDM, BLM), it's best to have each of them cast one or two debuffs, then have the RDM recast any that don't stick. This piles on the debuffs more quickly, which means less damage is taken by the tanks, which means less cures you have to dish out.

2) Bring Food and Drinks. It's expensive at lower levels, and you're already probably feeling poor after buying all your spells, but it's worth it to buy some Pineapple Juice or Apple Pie. Even if you just save them for emergencies. The Apple Pie will increase your MP pool and raise your INT. More useful for BLMs, but still helpful for WHMs. The Juice will let you recover your MP while standing. If you get low on MP and the enemy is far from being killed, drink a juice. It'll really help keep the Cure's coming without having to sit, or resort to Benediction.

3) If you use Benediction or Curaga in a fight, DON'T RUN. If you run, the rest of the party will be trailing after you and will not be able to attack effectively. Unless you're very close to a zone, your best bet for survival is to kill the enemy before it kills you. Pull out your staff and start hitting it if you have to. Just don't move, and let the rest of the party try to save you. If you die, you die. That's the life of a WHM, and the party will love you for it.

4) If you get aggro and the party doesn't provoke the enemy right away, RUN TOWARDS THEM. This will bring the enemy back into melee range, and will help the party regain aggro. It will also keep the enemy away from the BLM and the "mage's corner", so once you have lost aggro you will have a safe corner to return to. Standing still just brings the mob and the rest of the party into the mage's corner, which endangers you and the BLM.

5) If you have multiple tanks, be sure to heal the backup tank. Ideally, you want the enemy to "bounce" between tanks. The primary tank gets it until he's in the yellow. You cure as best you can. The secondary tank should provoke, at this point, you need to get the primary tank up to white as quickly as possible. The primary will provoke off the secondary, which is when you shift your focus to the backup. Don't neglect the guy who's taking damamge, but don't forget that if the second tank is healthy, you've basically got 2X as many HP worth of damage that can be done before the situation becomes dire.

Edited, Mon Jan 26 16:41:36 2004 by Seryn
#18 Jan 26 2004 at 5:11 PM Rating: Decent
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Ignore damage dealers/melee's if the tank's can take back aggro ... only heal them if they go far into orange or red

I'm a melee myself and if i take a few smacks i'd rather be at half than see the tank get taken past 1/2 while i get med' up (i do get a bit worried if the mob uses a AOE spell and i go to critical) ... on this though there's no replacement for experience.

I take at most a hit or 2 if i'm pulling ... otherwise the tanks should be able to take back aggro (with a THF this should be easy when Trick attack get's factored in)

Quote:

5) If you have multiple tanks, be sure to heal the backup tank. Ideally, you want the enemy to "bounce" between tanks. The primary tank gets it until he's in the yellow. You cure as best you can. The secondary tank should provoke, at this point, you need to get the primary tank up to white as quickly as possible. The primary will provoke off the secondary, which is when you shift your focus to the backup. Don't neglect the guy who's taking damamge, but don't forget that if the second tank is healthy, you've basically got 2X as many HP worth of damage that can be done before the situation becomes dire.


you don't need to top them off, just get them to a safe level and focus on the main tank if the mob is back to him, you can get the backup tank back to normal with a curaga after the mob is done.
#19 Jan 26 2004 at 5:37 PM Rating: Decent
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Heh, this is the great "WHM's pat each other on the back" thread. ;) Seryn added just about everything I missed, but I do have one point to clarify.

Quote:
3) If you use Benediction or Curaga in a fight, DON'T RUN. If you run, the rest of the party will be trailing after you and will not be able to attack effectively. Unless you're very close to a zone, your best bet for survival is to kill the enemy before it kills you.


Meanwhile, I've advocated running like a ****** after Bene. ;) I agree with both of us - if you think your party can kill the mob quickly, then stand there and eat dirt. Take one for the team! However, if there's a good chance that someone else will die along with you, before the rest of the party cleans up the mob, you have to think about. If you think *two* other people will die, you run one way and scream for the party to run in another.

It's just xp lost / gained ratio. If you're the only one who dies, at level 10-20, you lose about 400-500 xp, and five other people gain 200xp each (assuming it's an IT++). That's a fair trade. If two people die, that's 800-1000xp lost, while four people gain 200xp (total 800xp). Now you have to think about it. If three people die, 1200-1500xp lost vs. 600 gained. RUN!

How do you know if your party is going to make it? As Levish says, "there's no replacement for experience." I'm naturally risk-averse, so if I'm not sure, I just Bene-bail. I can almost always make it to zone well ahead of the mob, and this way I ensure that no one dies.

:)

Edited, Mon Jan 26 17:39:08 2004 by Sprits
#20 Jan 26 2004 at 5:58 PM Rating: Decent
Quick advice... remember always, if someone dies its always the whm fault. [sarcasm] I'm currently a 25whm and thats usually the case (even if they get hit with a ***** driver). So just ignore all the, "WHY THE F*CK DIDNT YOU HEAL ME" messages and you'll be fine.
#21 Jan 26 2004 at 6:03 PM Rating: Decent
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A long time ago, I had a group where we agreed that if someone died, we'd all lot on an item in the Loot Queue. Whoever won the lot took the blame. (Of course, we all knew each other and knew each other to be competent, but no matter how good you are, sometimes crap just happens)
#22 Jan 26 2004 at 6:31 PM Rating: Decent
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Maybe by the end off the thread we'll have a complete and perfect, trimmed around the edges White Magus Manuel. <^^>

That Pinapple Juice thing is Killer.. i'm on it like a fat kid on a ham!

For the record I'm an Elvaan.. which I think may play to my advantage,aside from the heinious MP shortage, I should be able to withstand a few good hits.

I was wondering about that Benediction Bailing.. it seems each situation is probably unique..I'll just make a judgement call on whether to run or not.. depending on zone proximity, danger factors, and damage factors....n' all that jazz.

Quote:
remember always, if someone dies its always the whm fault. [sarcasm]


sarcasm or not.. I shall play as such.

THanks AGain!!



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#23 Jan 26 2004 at 8:59 PM Rating: Good
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Alot of good post here, I'll just toss in my two gil:

1. Your going to make mistakes, everyone does...heal the critter, debuff the paladin, hit the wrong mob, pull a whole chain of thread leeches on you. Accept that no one is perfect and learn from your mistakes. As long as you learn, and don't repeat the same mistakes, it's all good. That said, one with the basics.

2. Make healing macros. Tons of post about them, test out different types, stick with the ones that your most comfortable with and lets you heal the fastest.

3. Keep hate off you. Meaning, use regen to help you heal and use heal 1. When it's not enough alternate heal 1 and 2. At later levels, you'll have to alternate heal 2 and 3. You'll notice that spells have wait times for recasting. If you alternate cures, you don't have to wait. Don't heal on the first hit. If they get hit for 10...wait, your regen will probably heal them. Don't waste heals, learn to make each heal count. Sometimes, though, you have to break this rule. Here's an example. Critter is about to kill your tank...He's in the red and you can't heal him fast enough. You have blink and stoneskin on, meaning you can probably take 2 or more hits without taking damage. In those cases, I'll spam as much cure 3 as I can to get the hate off the tank and pull the aggro unto me. It'll hit my blinks, giving the damage dealer enough time to kill the mob. This technique is to be used ONLY in extreme cases and when NO other option is available, cuz if they can't get the hate off you and you can't zone...you die. And the whm should be the last to die, cuz your the only one who can raise, unless there's a high level pally or rdm around.

4. Be firm but gentle and humorous with your party. One of the first things I do, when I put together a party for the first time is I assign everyone their duties. I find the person with the highest defense and HP with provoke and assign them tank. The second as backup tank. Find who can deal the most damage and assign them DD. Find a good debuffer and back-up healer and assign them their duties and then the puller. I've learned that if everyone knows what their doing, less people die. I'm a taru, so I can usually be funny about it with a 'tanky-****** and they'll usually laugh and go along. If someone does take my suggestion but still does a good job, that's fine. But if someone is a snot about it and starts pulling right and left and won't listen to advice that will keep us from getting killed, I'll either boot them if I'm the leader, or leave if I'm not. At 29, there is no reason to die cuz someone doesn't know their job, no one is a 'newbie' anymore, but there are still plenty of 'noobs'.

5. Start slow. Have the party pull toughs at first to see if they can fight as a team. If they can, move on to VT's. IF that's good, move on to IT's. That's just basics. Find a good camp...another basic. Use 2 hours if it will save the group and you guys can win the battle. If there is NO hope of winning, BIND the mob and run. There is no shame in running when the fight is hopeless. There is shame when you run when there was a chance of winning. When the critters at 10% hp, and so is your party, Benny and stick it out, heck either med to get mp or pull out that stick you call a hammer and wack the thing. But if your parties at 10%hp and the things at 90%. Bind the sucker and run. There's Courage...and then there's suicide.

6. Be flexible. If you have no rdm or blm to debuff, then debuff. The two most useful in my book, paralyze and dia. Paralyze makes them not attack. Iv'e had fights where paralyze stopped them from attacking 3 times in a row. And when mobs are hitting for over 200 a pop, every attack they DONT make is a wound you DON"T have to heal. Dia, lowers their defense, and last for a while. It helps our your meleers soo much, it will make the difference in long battles. When party sizes are large, 5 or 6, hang back out of AOE and heal and debuff from a distance. That way if a group sleep hits or groupo damage or drain, you won't be effected and can rescue the group. In small groups of 3 or less, go in and fight. Your damage will contribute to the pool and you'll be fighting smaller critters, and battles are one and lost by 1 hp, so that little rabit stick of yours will tip the scales. Oh and for large parties, use wands, small parties use hammers. Heck, learn to renkei chain too in small parties. I have a linkshell partner who's a RDM and it's great fun to Renkei Fusion and do a double magic burst, me with Banish, him with Fire, stuns the warriors to silence who are watching. As a former RDM you should know how to combat cast and heal.

7. Finally play a whm cuz you love the job and not cuz people need you. Nothing in the world more aweful then a resentful whm or one who doesn't want to be one, but needs a party. They don't have their hearts sent on it and won't care about the people they heal. If your one of those...LEAVE, go play a drk or something else. But if you love helping others and healing and being a tactian and bringing people back from the edge of doom and death, then welcome to WHM. It's a party and were the CAKE.

-M&M

#24 Jan 26 2004 at 9:26 PM Rating: Decent
A lot of good advice here. I have a couple things to add.

Heal Macro Spam
First, I don't like the "Whammo> casting Cure Wario" in party. You cure so much, it becomes spam. It's semi OK if there are two healers. I prefer to rig a macro to send a "/t otherguy healing <lastst>".

I do like to announce my debuffs. They don't get thrown often and it's important information if you have other mages in the group.

You might make 2 sets of macros. Spammy and non-spammy. Ask your party what they prefer.

I always use the autotranslate to translate the spell names in my macros. I don't get many Japanese players in my party, but when I do, I like to know they can understand what I am up to.


Good macros
Quote:

try using the <st> amd <lastst> tags in ur macros to see if you prefer them over the <t>s.

/ma "Cure" <st>
/p Curing <lastst>

after selecting the macro a cursor will appear, use f1-f6 to select your grp members, and then hit enter to start the spell and print the text to party chat. this saves space over the <p0> <p1> tags etc. It also allows you to easily cure members of the party while target locked on the monster should you be meleeing (more applicable for a rdm).


This macro is great. Combine it with the <bt> command in your debuff and banish macro's and you will really reduce the amount of fumbled heals. <st> allows you to pick a target and works for your party and for alliances. Only takes up one spot and you don't have to learn to count to use it.

Here is how a typical fight goes for me with these macros. Mob comes running in. I hit the "paralyze" macro that looks like this:
 
  /p <bt> you are getting sleepy! (paralyze) 
  /ma Paralyze <bt> 
  /wait 3 
  /a <bt>  
 
 


The <bt> automatically targets the creature my party is locked on. (It's failed me when we had multiple mobs, but that's rare. )
That last line is just to get my target locked on the mob. And if it agros me, who knows, I might hit it once. I never melee the MOB as a rule. I stand out of AoE range. However, I do stay locked onto the mob so I can gauge how the fight is going. Knowing how much HP the mob has versus your MP can really make a difference in your strategy.

Next, I follow up with my slow macro. which is basically /ma Slow <bt>.

About now it's time to start cureing. I hit my Cure macro and the cursor pops up. I select the party member and hit them with the cure. Now, you have a good 3 seconds while you are casting, where you can't cast again, but you can PLAN to. In most cases you are going to be hitting the same person again. So while I am casting, I hit the cure Macro again and park it over the main tank. As soon as the animation hits the point where my arm goes down, I know I can cast again, and I do so. However, if things changed while you were curing (BLM took agro and is suddenly in the red for example) you can just move the cursor and fire the heal.

If you decide you don't want to fire the spell, just hit Escape or the cancel button on your controller.

This macro really pays with a controller, since up and down on the D-pad scroll through the party and the alliance members.

On the fly macroing

Remember you can type macro stuff right into the chat bar. For example, just type:

 
   /ma "Cure III" <t> 
 


remember this, it can come in handy.

By the time you hit level 30, you have a ton of spells in your list. They will be sorted by memorization order. (oh! for the autosort to work on the spell list!)

There are spells you don't cast a lot. You could make macros for them all, but then you would just have a ton of macros to go through.

My favorite examples are the -na series. When you need them, you need them, but you cast them pretty rarely. When someone in my group is poisoned, I just type:

 
   /ma Poisona Bob 
 


Presto! Bob is unpoisoned, and I didn't need to find the "Cure ailments" macro bar I may or may not have set up. I also didn't need to cruise through the list of spells looking for that one.

It can also come in handy when the <bt> macro won't work. For example, the party has 2 mobs and you need to debuff the second one. Just lock on it and type out the spell.

Then, hit the up arrow, and edit the line again for the next spell.


Being an Elvaan WHM
I have seen in many posts that Elvaan is the second best choice for a WHM. I play an elvaan whm, and it's probably a distant second. By level 12-15 the mana difference between you and a Taru will make you cry.

I am not saying it's a bad plan, you still make a great WHM and people will still beg you to party. =)

You can close the gap a little with equipment. You can close it a little more with skill, and juice.

Elvaan have a very high MND, so adding +MND items won't help you much. I have found that after about +3, I can't detect a difference and the only difference is on my biggest heal, which I don't use much normally.

Go for the +MP gear. The bad news is that it costs a lot more than the +Mind. If you are rich you can get the Astral ring which is -25hp and +25 mana. Cost 180K on titan. Otherwise you can add a good 20 mana for less than 50K gil at level 27.

The good news, is that with the +MP gear you can narrow the gap between you and a Taru. In theory a Taru could also add all the +MP gear, but they need a little more +Mind gear to get the most out of thier heals. I have never seen a Taru bother with +MP gear beyond a staff.

Be prepared to take a litte heat for choosing the "wrong" job. I just ignore it or "/em plays punt the Taru with <t>.". =)

Even with all those extra HP and the best gear, your ability to solo anything that gives XP pretty much ends around level 30. (Undead and some mages excepted). This probably isn't a big deal to you if you are choosing WHM.
#25 Jan 26 2004 at 9:57 PM Rating: Decent
**
543 posts
Great posts all. I'm on my second WHM (diff server) so I'll put in a few as well.


MACROS=Try different ones and see what works best for you. I USED to have a Cure macro for each person in party. By the time I got Cure2, well, I started running out of space. I highly recommend the..
/ma "Cure" <stpc>
/p Curing <lastst>

This allows you to target them after with your F1-F6 buttons (and works even better with controllers) and only takes up one space. Now I have Cure1 and Cure2 macros right next to each other and if someone goes orange I can throw in that quick Cure2 if I need it.


Running after Benediction is a judgement call. If the monsters almost dead you may wanna stay so they can finish it off. If there is no way then run for the zone. ALWAYS try to fight close to a zone if you can.

Learn the cooking skills. If you're not in Windurst (like me) then get your butt there ASAP and learn it. Applepies add +10 to both HP and MP (as in you get 10 more MP to your bar for about an hour). Hard Boiled eggs give you a +8 to both. Juices ROCK, however they don't last long and don't stack, but the ingredients do. Learn the cooking skill well and synth a couple bottles during in between battles. Food does incredible things. You can make those mithkabobs to give to your fighters for a +5 on their strength.

If you get in a bad group that refuses to take any (kind) advice...leave. Taking death for a good group is cool. Dying because your party is bad is a waste. Make sure your warriors provoke mobs off you. Make sure only ONE person pulls in the party. Make sure you and all casters stand as far back as possible. There's nothing worse than having to keep throwing cures at a mage who stands to close and gets hit by AOE things oevr and over.


And finally (if you are under lvl 25)...always keep at least one reraise scroll or potion on you. Have the item set on a macro ready to go. There's nothing quite like using one of those scrolls when you're close to dying, they raise you when you do, and then getting right back up and curing the party again all in the middle of one fight. I've done that twice now, lol. You can get the scrolls frm conquest points from teh guard at the gate under common items :)
#26 Jan 26 2004 at 10:22 PM Rating: Decent
***
1,031 posts
Sprits wrote:
If someone else gets aggro and gets slapped once, and then the WAR provokes it and has the mob's attention again, ignore the cries of pain from that THF. You can cap em off in downtime - but in the heat of battle, the tank is more important.

Remember also that you've got the easiest time making back any lost XP from deaths. You'll always have a group. So if you die, well, better you than the THF, who may or may not get a group tomorrow night.

As a thief, I have to remind many WHM during battle to not cure me until I'm at 50% or in danger of being a one-hit K.O. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't; the best thing a WHM can do is listen to their PT members. And thieves, among other melee jobs, get shafted when it comes to finding parties (see "Need to rant" and you'll get the point) so be nice to us, because we're usually the last people to get into a party.
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