WHM basic.

[Brennon]

Hey, I've recently started leveling some of my other jobs, WHM among them, I'd like to play and exp with WHM alot more, as an alternate job to my "main" job of monk. However, I've never played as any mage class before, in parties, let alone WHM, so it's pretty new to me.

As a monk I stand up on the front lines and do my thing, and I *usually* get healed on time , and that's about all I notice. I *do* notice when whm's remove status effects, or use other enhancing effects (ie haste) because it affects how I play. The WHM's that do this without me having to ask, *those* are the WHM that i generally think of as the really good WHM's.

Having said all that. . . i'm sure there's alot more to the class, and there are definate do's and don'ts to playing it well. It is for this reason I'm coming to you.

Please, oh wise ones, teach me about being a WHM. I'm sure I'll develop my own personal preferences and ways of doing things once I start PTing more as a WHM, but get me started on the right track.

[Meier]

Generally White Mage is fairly easy to play, and often you will do nothing but watch a party attack, waiting for someone to get a bad status effect or for their hit points to drop.
Mostly, you will just use your cure macro while standing out of range of any AoE attacks, and you MUST keep an eye on the log for any status effects. It's a very easy job, really, there aren't any tricks to it. If you haste a character, make sure it's going to be a useful haste, be aware that hasting a Dark Knight who already draws a lot of hate is a bad thing.
Mostly it's just basic logic like this.

By the way - you lucky thing. I have killed Jaggedy-Eared Jack 11 times and still have not obtained a Rabbit Charm.

[Balgas]

Basically what Meier said, although I hate just waiting for peoples HP to drop, especially when there is a blink tank. If it's like that then I usually cast a couple banish spells, or if it's a weaker monster without an area attack I pull out my staff/club and start beating on it.

[Gryff]

turn off party attacks etc I just see status effects and damage taken, makes it much easier.

[efDisk]

My 2 gil:

Yes, watch hps. Learn how hard things hit, balance your heals. If you are fighting pugs in Valkurm, that corkscrew attack is the bane of your existance. Keep them alive and near full, but also watch aggro. Just because someone is hurt doesn't mean they need healed.

Once you get regen, you should get better at recognizing what heal is needed when. When a regen is better than a heal. Even at low levels, recognizing when to use Cure and Cure II is a good skill. Not just based on how much it heals, but how much aggro you will get.

Know your party set up. If you have a Redmage, you may not need to debuff. If you don't, but you have alternate healing consider paralyze or slow (or both).

When asked, I never recommend meleeing in a party. Occasionally I've had to, but overall, you can get the skill up when you are doing quests. Time you are meleeing is time you can be resting. The more mana you have is the longer the chain.

If you intend to play WHM for a good long while get your enhancing skill up early. God it sucked when I got Regen and it was low.

Oh yeah, and communicate between pulls. Don't demand, but an open conversation about what is working while playing helps the group. Don't be a dick about it, but ask when someone does something you don't understand. I remember when I was with a PLD for the first time and he kept healing, and I was all angry, until he explained it was for aggro, not because he thought he could replace me. (Hey I was a n00b once...)

[Stixxx]

my whm experience

your job in a nutshell..

Cure, cure 2 ... etc etc

slow

regen

banish

Devine seal

in a group there should be one tanker.. if you cant keep him/her alive then yeah you shouldnt be fighting it

i hate groups that rely on the health of all 6 members to kill a MOB ..

if your in a group w/ more than 1 whm swap off durring battles

if yer in a group with a red.. they can back you up if you get low

if yer in a group with a black.. dont expect them to heal just cause they have /whm .. nukin is their job

tell yer main tank to voke every 30 or dump um

know that bennidiction will kill you.. use it wiesly ( iv yet to see somone pull a mob off me after iv used it.. tho i did use it on the dragon for mission 2/3 was it?? yeah i survived with 12 hp but it wasnt cause they pulled it off me LOL)

know when to not cast (HELLO ELEMENTAL DEATH!!)

know when to go all out..

know when to benni and run for the zone line

.know when to take one for the team (your death vs a wipe of the party)

theres a fine line that is aggro.. and thru patience you will learn

i think thats it.. more if i think on it

[Icemage]

The above poster has much to learn about playing WHM.

Things you need to know about playing WHM:

- Banish I/II/Holy do not magically transform you into a BLM. Not against undead, not against demons. Save these for Magic Bursts, and only if you have spare mana (very rare).

- Benediction is very easy to survive if you know what you are doing. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Blink and Stoneskin will let you avoid at least 6-7 hits of damage before the monster can touch you if you know what you are doing.

- Regen spells are your friend. They heal about twice as much HP per point of MP as Cures do. Make sure you use them as often as is practical (don't cast Regen on a tank when he's red...)

- Know when to remove status effects. Regular poison can wait until the end of a battle (most monsters like to spam their special WS attacks right before they die anyway). Removing Paralyze is important. Removing Blind isn't as important.

- Dia and Bio are mutually exclusive. If the enemy has high defense, remind the BLM or RDM not to use Bio, and drop Dia on it. If the enemy has very strong attacks instead, let them cast Bio and don't cast Dia. Bio II > Dia II > Bio > Dia. Bio II will erase all the others, Dia II will erase Bio and Dia, etc.

- Make use of your defensive magic. Cast Blink before you cast Curaga if you have to use it in battle. Remember, healing yourself is bad - it makes it harder for tanks to get control of aggro levels.

- Stay out of melee if you're having problems with enmity. Attacking with your weapon deals minimal damage, gives the monster more TP to use for special attacks, and generates extra enmity for you.

There's lots of common (and not so common) sense things which are necessary to learn as a WHM. Some players learn them early... others never learn them. Be one of the smart ones. :spin:


Icemage

[Stixxx]

eek

hope i wasnt the above poster LOL

i didnt say anythin about melee so im thinkin it was the person above me..

I know whm.. and i know benni can be survived.. but early b4 you got blink and stoneskin yeah yer eff'd

mah to each their own

good luck with it anyway

[Rhayn]

Just a little bit to add, but it's not uncommon for a good tank to keep hate even after a Benediction, so if you have a great tank, Benediction is not the assured death that it is often portrayed as. Also, if you do get hate from a Benediction and have a paladin in your party, Invincible will almost always gain more hate than Benediction, so make sure they know they might have to use it to gain back hate if you use Benediction. Also, if you see them use Invincible in a pinch, be confident you'll most likely be safe to use Benediction.

Also, as efDisk mentioned, if you have a paladin tank, it is in general best to leave us a moderate amount below our max HPs, assuming we have MP. Our ability to heal ourselves is a huge part of how we get hate and keeping us constantly at max HPs actually cripples our function in a party. I'm not saying you shouldn't heal us unless we're in red HPs or something, but perhaps just within the range of the highest Cure that the paladin can currently use. That being said, against certain enemies with "tank-killer" moves (Pugil's Screwdriver, Spider's Sickle Slash, Manticore's Death Hold anyone?), it might be best to play it safe.

I don't have much experience as a white mage yet myself, but it is a job I am one day considering. I hope my comments were helpful and with you good luck. ^^

[Feenicks]

- Dia and Bio are mutually exclusive. If the enemy has high defense, remind the BLM or RDM not to use Bio, and drop Dia on it. If the enemy has very strong attacks instead, let them cast Bio and don't cast Dia. Bio II > Dia II > Bio > Dia. Bio II will erase all the others, Dia II will erase Bio and Dia, etc.

Can we have some proof of this? I've had any number of JP players tell me it's garbage. I think this may be an urban myth exclusive to these forums.

[Arturo-B]

I found this link to be pretty convincing. People have also confirmed the non stacking while playing in ballista however.

http://derekloffin.anifics.com/DiaBio/diabio.html

[efDisk]

Quick addendum to partying with a PLD. If they are silenced, they have a priority on Silena.

Likewise, I typically give Rangers blindna priority (then THF), and paralyna to the main tank, caster if they were hit, and then main melee damage dealer. Slow I'm a little more careful about, Haste can be devistating to a poor melee. (*cough* points at a dead thief he hasted once *cough*) Anyway, just little things I keep in my head.

[Stixxx]

benni <-- if your using it to cure the whole party yer tank sucks and your outta mana from having to heal everyone that the mobs been bouncin to.. and yer gunna die

benni <-- if yer usin it to cure the main tank caus you ran outta mana and the mob is just a lil to big for the party.. he may get it off you.. or kill it

i dont know about you all but i only use benni as a last ditch effort.. when fan n the brown stuff are meeting and its not lookin good..


for palys thees nothing asside from an IT+++++++ that will wipe the party.. i only heal paly's once they are OOM... have yet to see a pally do invinc so no comment there.. every party iv been in with a paly has went so smooth that no benni was ever needed

point being if your a whm thats starting out at lvl 1.. you will die after benni.. if you gotta use it its bad and your gunna go down unless yer able to zone ..

if yer 29 and have stoneskin n blink and etc etc etc yeah thats a different tale.. by 29 most people know their role and benni is a few n far between issue

[Dulcea]

benni <-- if your using it to cure the whole party yer tank sucks and your outta mana from having to heal everyone that the mobs been bouncin to.. and yer gunna die

Actually, you'll find when you use Benediction, it will often be in a situation where you're out of MP, and your Parties HP is quickly dropping. Perhaps the reason your parites HP is all dropping is from a nasty AOE that the mob is spamming, not because your tank sucks. I have been one of the lucky WHMs I guess, and have never died from using Benedition. I also find out before hand, if I'm partying with Pally, whether or not he has his two hour available. If you use Benediction, it's most likely not going to go unnoticed by the party, and the Pally should have ample time to burn his two hour to save you, however, it's still a good idea to give your party a bit of heads up that your usuing Bene.

In a situation where I run out of MP, if only my tank is taking damage, assuming that the other mages in group have enough MP to keep Pally alive, I'll rest up until I have enough MP for Cure II, or even Cure III + Divine Seal, then I will go back to resting again. This usually will keep everyone alive, because if you've run out of MP, I'm assuming you're pretty close to end of fight anyhow.