I used to be a whitemage...

[Keiro]

I have not played this game in a very long time.
But all my fondest memories were being a whitemage. I loved healing. This is the only game that I enjoyed it as much as I did. It was crack to me.
My friend who is getting me back into the game says that whitemages are no longer sought after. He recommends I pick redmage up till I can pick another healing class.
I am sad to hear this, so I come to the best source for guidance. What should I do?

[TheGrandMom]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

White mage is still a viable part of the game. There are other jobs that can do a whm's job (sch, rdm, etc) but there just aren't enough people that love healing so there aren't enough healers to go around. In merit parties, people prefer rdms and I think thats what your friend is hinting at. In exp parties and end game, whm's are still in demand.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

If you liked WHM, there's no reason not to go back to being a WHM, however there are some other attractive alternatives these days, such as Dancer and Scholar, which also are capable healers.

SCH also gets to enjoy the nuking side of things and can AoE various buffs such as Stoneskin, Phalanx, Blink along with Cures and other spells. They can also AoE various enfeebling spells and have some other nifty tricks they can perform.

DNC is a melee-oriented healer. Instead of using MP, they use the TP they gain via melee to cure thier allies and debuff mobs. Its also a pretty good soloist job.

So you don't just have to be a WHM, but absolutely no one will complain about having you as a WHM, either.

[Gentoo]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

My friend who is getting me back into the game says that whitemages are no longer sought after.

Your friend would be wrong. Like The Grand Mom says, there are plenty of situations where White Mage is the healer of choice, and you'll get plenty of action in standard XP parties.

That said, White Mage isn't the darling it used to be. Like o-kitten says, there are alternatives. The random White Mage is no longer guaranteed an instant invite just for logging on. So if your attraction to White Mage was the ability to get a party anytime you put up your flag, you'll be disappointed.

He recommends I pick redmage up till I can pick another healing class.

This isn't an entirely bad option. There will be plenty of cases where you'll be asked to perform the same role. However, to parrot o-kitten, you should give Scholar a long hard look. Chances are you need to anyway, since /sch is considered a perfectly viable subjob for a White Mage to have.

Really, if you enjoy White Mage, pick it up again. If nothing else it will a fun path to take in order to see what the new healing capable jobs are all about.

[Lunaryn]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Yeah, basically RDM has been pushed into the main healer role at meripo, because meleeburns want a single backliner who can heal without any downtime, and RDM's Refresh and Convert allowed it to keep up with a pace WHM couldn't approach.

That problem has been alleviated to a certain extent by Sublimation, a Scholar ability available at sub levels, which acts as a sort of Convert-over-Time effect, as well as a number of potential auto-refresh sources, though WHM still doesn't have RDM's perpetual MP capabilities and would probably need a backup healer to function in a no-downtime party.

At any rate, while either BLM or RDM will do for a WHM sub up to 30 on a new character, once you can unlock extra jobs you will need to unlock SCH. This has basically displaced BLM as the WHM subjob of choice: you'll get more mileage out of even just Light Arts than the offerings of the other subs in most cases, and Dark Arts helps get more bang out of the black magic offerings of /SCH than you'd get from /BLM. Penury and Celerity are quite handy especially for things like Raise and Reraise.

[Saren]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

WHM still doesn't have RDM's perpetual MP capabilities and would probably need a backup healer to function in a no-downtime party.

We don't have rdms close to unlimited mp but whm can heal no downtime parties with /sch because I've been doing it fine.

Grudgingly, I have to admit that a good rdm probably beats a good whm in merit parties, especially if you have mp using frontliners but I don't think saying that whm can't heal merit parties without downtime is true anymore

[Mog]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Your friend must not do endgame at all.

Whitemages are a necessity for the majority of endgame activities: dynamis, HNM's, Limbus, etc..

Maybe for meripos they get shunned, but I don't really count that as not needed.

[Keiro]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Sorry, a bit of a newbie stll. What is meripo?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Its a merit party. High level PT that earns merit points instead of EXP to get stat upgrades and new job abilitys or buffs to those abilities or spells. Basically, its just a glorified EXP PT for high level players.

Think WoWs Talent point system and stick all of it at 75 instead of interspersing it over the course of your levels.

[Lunaryn]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Basically, meripo in this context is referring less to the distinction between getting xp and getting merits, and more to the various phenomena that occur in xp-type parties as the party level approaches 75. In general you could still be xping at level 74 and be subject to meripo-style partying. As a mage, maybe even at 73, but melees don't start seeing this until 74 when /NIN gives Utsusemi: Ni.

The biggest factor in what makes a meripo a meripo, even beyond things like meleeburn which is the dominant meripo tactic post-ToAU, is that level 75s make up a majority of players, so the dynamics that go into making a party tend to shift dramatically once you have level 75s to choose from.

That said, the 'no downtime' bit I refer to is about the meleeburn dominance, where the party is stuffed full of top-tier DD jobs with as few support characters as possible. All DDs sub NIN (except perhaps SAM?) and use shadows to avoid taking damage. General strategy is to mow down weak mobs fast for long chains.

And I just wanted to be careful not to overstate WHM/SCH's ability, though it's certainly very capable. From what I've observed, WHM/SCH does need to rest, so the party is going to have to have some awareness of their situation. Too many of these kinds of parties tend to lack even basic understanding of support and its limitations; I've heard RDMs gripe about parties pulling too fast and having a fit over the Convert timer not being ready yet when the RDM runs out of MP.

[Keiro]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Oh so I shouldn't worry about that till I actually get through all the end content and such huh?
So to me it makes a little more sense to go Whm/blm, then scholar if I choose. Then take RDM up for those parties?

I am still not sure if I should be a WHM or a RDM. I do intend to do healing primarily but do not know which is the best choice

[WishMaster3K]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Level them both. If you don't like one, you can always switch back. Most of the time, they share gear.

[Lunaryn]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

I'll note that WHM/SCH is useful from 20 on, and gets more useful the higher in level your WHM is. I had WHM50 when I got SCH, and after getting SCH leveled (which is mostly soloing at that point), I found it too useful to even consider subbing anything else for xp. (/BLM is still useful for transportation purposes when running around)

SCH isn't very good at soloing, but it doesn't have much choice since it's fairly useless to parties until level 17 at the earliest. Basically, you'll be hitting mobs with a club, staff, or pole for a while. At around 10, you can start nuking Tunnel Worms in North Gustaberg [S] (at this point, Banish from /WHM will be your best nuke, until you get Aero). After Tunnel Worms, there's Rock Eaters in King Ranperre's Tomb (fight during the day, log out during night to avoid bat aggro), Maze Makers in Maze of Shakrami, and Stone Eaters in North Gustaberg [S]. That was enough to get me to SCH20, anyway. From 20 onward parties are more feasible. Of course, if you can get together a small party of mages, those worms can make quite juicy party targets too; it's a lot easier to duo or trio than solo, if you can manage it.

[Karinya]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

If you can unlock SCH, then you're level 30, which means you can unlock your NPC. It's very helpful for soloing, especially with jobs that don't naturally solo that well.

Although really, I wouldn't say SCH is not that useful to a party - they're almost as good as a BLM, and BLM are gold at low levels. They're not that useful to a party *as a healer*. But that doesn't mean they're not that useful to a party.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: I used to be a whitemage...

Had a SCH in the merit pt last night.

Good lord, he was the shit and a half. Lol..

As it turns out, Sublimation is in the event a Refresh isn't necessary. He told me he'd much rather have good ol Refresh. I hit him with it, and watched him do his thing.

SCH seems like a LOT of shit to juggle at that level, but he had no problem main healing and switching macros to nuke the Diamond Hide off and switching back.

On the last mob, I did CS Blizzard III about 6 times, and he was nice enough to give me a Raise II. Fancy that..