White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

[Melody]

Throughout my XI experience I've hated Mage jobs, but I've finally come to the conclusion that I am going to need one later on in the game. So I've been thinking of WHM. Is it a good job to take up? What are the Pros/Cons of being the all healing epitaph of XI? Since I dislike these following jobs.

Black Mage - Squishy, Not enough De-Buffs, Elemental Nukes tire out until about 50. Only good thing I like are the warps this job gets. Warp I Warp II Retrace Tractor Escape.
Blue Mage - Test your patience to the maximum, takes nearly seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months to learn a few BLU spells. AF is annoying as well. JP Midnights.
Red Mage - It gets annoying managing both melee gear and spells, not something I like doing.
Scholar - Alright Mix, but it gets irritating having to manage both magics and in the heat of combat it becomes either the nuker or the healer, it's a good combo but only if you're skilled in BLM and BLM is as I described a job I do not like due to how squishy it is. The quest for this is fun though. Never did the AF .
White Mage - Fun job, keeps me alive and healthy, many buffs and skills that thwart death, only job with good teleports other than BLM. Has potential to be accepted into many parties for healing aide.

Something I'd enjoy doing as well to a BLM. :D

Clicky Here

[Squiggs]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

WHM is a terrific job to take up. The Pros are that it is in demand at almost all levels and that it is the best healer in the game. The Cons are that it is still quite squishy, though not as much as BLM, and can be tough to get things done on your own (unless you are completely geared for melee).

---------- Post added at 01:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:06 PM ----------

Another thing is that, inside Abyssea, it is tough to tell the good ones from the bad ones. The second you get into a situation outside of Abyssea, it becomes readily apparent though.

[cidbahamut]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

If you level white mage there is a good chance you'll get stuck on it. So don't level it if you don't enjoy it, although that could be said of any job really.

Red Mage can actually be played as a pure mage without issues. I only really need my swords if I feel like dicking around and stabbing squishy things. Everything tougher seems to respond better to nukes and me not getting hit in the face the whole time. Red Mage is kind of in a hole at the moment. The level cap increase wasn't terribly kind to the job.

[Melody]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

Yeah but you need about Rank 4 for the RDM AF which is a wee bit annoying.

[Squiggs]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

If you level white mage there is a good chance you'll get stuck on it. So don't level it if you don't enjoy it

Quoted for truth.

---------- Post added at 01:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 PM ----------

Also, since they uncapped the 2-3 Dragon Fight, Rank 4 can be easily and quickly obtained.

[Melody]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

I understand WHM isn't godly powerful in the terms of melee but it can hold its own quite well in the right situations. It's better than BLM in my opinion, considering I'd rather have a long lasting debuff than a one shot nuke. That being said the one shot nuke could put the beast down for the count while I struggle to get the last few hits in on the debuffed mob.

[Truece]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

I'm not sure I understand the point of this thread. You mentioned that you'll probably need a mage job later in the game, but you don't say what you'll need it for. Then, you mention why you dislike every other mage job except for WHM (SMN isn't present in your list). Sounds to me like you've already figured out which mage job you're going to level.

As a rule, don't level a job because it's needed, level a job because you like playing it. Then, no matter which job you're asked to gear upn, it's a pleasure instead of a chore.

[Melody]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

I'm not sure I understand the point of this thread. You mentioned that you'll probably need a mage job later in the game, but you don't say what you'll need it for. Then, you mention why you dislike every other mage job except for WHM (SMN isn't present in your list). Sounds to me like you've already figured out which mage job you're going to level.

As a rule, don't level a job because it's needed, level a job because you like playing it. Then, no matter which job you're asked to gear upn, it's a pleasure instead of a chore.

I never looked at it like that. I've always seen it as a "job" since it's ya know a game job. It has a role and stuff. Thanks for that insight. I'm looking for a mage job that will stay alive and is also helpful in the field. I would to Red Mage but the AF is sticky and I need rank 4 to do it, I'll do my ranks later but I don't know much about WHM to begin with, so that's why I asked about it, since I've seen a lot of WHM's around and I've always liked healing jobs.

[cidbahamut]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

Red Mage is still a brick wall. I don't know why you're so hung up on rank 4. I wasn't even aware rank 4 was required to complete the AF. You get access to the chateau when you reach the dragon fight and that's what, rank 2?

[Raydeus]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

That's not something you should be normally proud of.

[Truece]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

WHM is by far the most fun healing that I've had in the game. It was my first job to cap, and is still my favorite job to play. It has access to the highest tier of cure and curaga spells. It has a fairly high MND skill so sticking spells like paralyze and slow aren't completely out of the question. It (used to) have the most potent Regen spells (I'm pretty sure it will still beat out Regen V with the right gear/merits, but I'm not positive). Access to the highest tiers of Protect/Shell and one of the highest enhancing magic skills in the game make for some pretty powerful bar- and boost- spells. Note that RDM and SCH also have access to the highest tiers of Protect/Shell and also have extremely high enhancing skill for high-powered bar-spells, they both lack what really sets WHM apart (imho): afflatus solace (aka cureskins).

A WHM saves so much MP over time just by the nature of their cureskins that it makes the gap between it and other healing jobs (which only have up to Cure IV) huge. Sure, RDMs and SCHs can be great healers, but if you take a great RDM or SCH healer and give them all of the tools that are available to a WHM, I think you'd see a night-and-day difference. The trade-off would then be the lack of nuking damage, which you do get from RDM and SCH. Holy and Holy II can both be pretty impressive (especially after you've got afflatus solace fully 'charged)', but they can't compete with tier 4/5 nukes.

Melee-wise, it really gets tough to optimally gear any mage jobs for all of their mage-ly duties and the possibility of melee. Having a mog sack or mog satchel certainly helps as all of the melee gear can stay there and be pulled out on demand. I've found that while meleeing on mage jobs can be fun, it isn't nearly as rewarding as just gearing up a melee job. If you do decide to try WHM melee, I'd suggest you give /DNC a try. I'm pretty sure you'll love it! If you are looking to seriously consider WHM melee, I would recommend that you take the time to unlock the mythic WS Mystic Boon (and it wouldn't hurt to pick up some of the goliard pieces while you're in there; they're all very nice).

It really is a very self-sufficient healing job. I don't ever remember being satisfied main healing as a RDM at an event. I always felt that my job would have been a lot easier if I had been on WHM!

Also, leveling a job that is needed but not enjoyed makes for frequent visits to the pet peeves thread!

[Janay]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

From my personal (and opinionated) experiences playing as the jobs:

WHM - I enjoy the fact of collecting the spells, and being able to provide health to the group. I'm patient and VERY focused on casting (I'd use Regen IV~ rather than spamming low-level cures on those who are hardly taking excessive damage, and because I have Regen fully merited).

BLM - I like the firepower it brings to the table. I'm just not a fan of being having to compete for the spot.

SCH - I'd only set up this job for healing magic only.

RDM - *SEE SCH ABOVE*

SMN - I understand some of the things this job is SUPPOSED to do. I just can't seem to keep a hold of it. Sadly, I'd ultimately ended up turning it into a healing job. So I disbanded this job entirely.

BLU - Originally, I wanted a mage that could DD. I also thought that is what RDM was for. But I wasn't fond of "learning" my spells.

In many other games, I seem to almost play alone. And in those games, it kinda attached itself unto me to be able to heal myself rather than spending countless in-game currency on healing items.
- In "Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, I play as Charlotte, who is the only person who can learn the "Heal" ability.
- In DC Universe Online, I adapted the Healer Role as my primary role.
- In FFXI, I play more on WHM.

Hell, I'm a Security Officer, so there's also that sense of real life protection lol...

[Truece]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

I always felt that WHM melee was stronger than RDM melee. It's just that RDM can be a bit tougher if going solo against mobs (much more crowd control options if/when shit hits the fan). If I were going to pick a mage for melee, it would be club-chucks over sword-chucks!

[cidbahamut]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

SCH - I'd only set up this job for healing magic only.

RDM - *SEE SCH ABOVE*

You keep giving me new reasons to dislike you...

[Mezlo]

Re: White Mage Questions - Can I Get A Medic?!

I always felt that WHM melee was stronger than RDM melee.

orly?

rdm + joyeuse + EN spells = better than whm for melee in my book