Help For A Nooby WHM!

theres your problem, stop kissing your gf

The times have changed a bit since that era and 'tanks' aren't really used in the traditionally sense of tanking back in EXP party days before the advent of Abyssea, so unfortunately, your tank is also the DD that's hammering the biggest numbers they can possibly do against the baddie.

With that in mind, Legion is its own can of worms entirely. When I was in Legion groups, there was usually enough people /WHM who could haste the DDs before they engage. I would usually have one DD to Haste before they hit the mob and then it was focus on cures.

In Legion, chances are the damage is spiking so high that Curaga won't pull hate anyway. I don't run in -enmity gear and find that my -enmity from Tranquil Heart keeps me away from danger easily enough.

As mentioned earlier, know what the mobs TP moves can and cannot do. Some Legion mobs become pushovers once you get the application of Divine Caress + Accession + AF3+2 hands + -correct na on them (Nerve Gas becomes a joke, for example, Cerb who can't Paralyze you is just wasting their TP for useless moves. Fights in Legion tend to be short enough where you only need a single application of buffs to keep the DDs going till the next mob.

The stress WHMs feel is the fact that everything right now is zerg fest and that feeds a lot of TP, which generally means a lot of either high damaging attacks coming out or a lot of AoE enfeebles afflicting your party. For example, T4 Foret Delve NM can AoE silence, sleep, paralyze, and plague. In this case, I would mitigate either Plague or Paralyze with Divine Caress and do my best to remove the rest with Divine Seal, Accession, etc.

It's not that you're doing anything wrong, it's just the fact that there are so many high powered moves being unleashed in chains that WHMs are stressed just to keep people alive (let alone un-afflicted with status effects). Macroing in Accession, Penury, and Celerity will help with your "JA searching" immensely and learn to expand your keyboard (either by using multiple pages or binding specific keys to specific spells, as you have thought of doing). I personally use FIVE pages of macros in my WHM book while playing and I can safely say I either use them all frequently enough or my "redundant" macros see enough use to warrant keeping them on the table.

As you play more, you'll get a feel for your group and understand their dynamic better. Once you understand their dynamic, you can compensate for their styles of play and know when and how to cure. If people don't know how to swap into PDT properly at the right times, you'll know who to work on first (or let die first if they're just being a total MP sponge). Sometimes, it's not just the WHM, but it's the people they're with too if they aren't using their defensive tools properly.

I have to admit, I need to skill up my healing magic. It's still very low. Perhaps I should just do that before going to another event (the LS seems to do events anytime we are online, and they always want me WHM). That will help in enmity situations with Tranquil Heart.

How do you set up your five macro pages? Do you have macros on each page to go to another page, set to say, alt commands, then use your CTRL commands to control the actual macros?

Thanks everyone for your input! WHM community is fantastic!

In terms of macro pages, generally speaking, I have the following dedicated to page changes for quick changes.

CTRL 0
CTRL 9
CTRL 8
ALT 9

I use ALT 0 as my dedicated "OH HELL PUT ON -DT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW" macro on every page.

It takes a little to get used to, but once you're used to it, getting to where you need to go quickly naturally enough (go go muscle memory!)

You can sorta see how I setup my macros in this Legion video.



[EDIT] As long as you're in the 350+ healing skill, you're not too badly off. But yes, work on capping out that skill! ^_^ Merits are useful in that category too if you're a career WHM.

If you have any gear sets to post, we might be able to help you figure out what kind of gear improvements you can get too. ^^

[EDIT2] As an aside, a lot of strategy presented in the above video for the fights don't apply anymore due to Embrava nerf and buff locking nerf >>;

Oooo I will have to watch that and post gear sets when I get home! Thank you very much!! I'll catch you guys probably in an hour or two. I'll post my gear setup and macros on here to see what you guys think.

I really appreciate all of your help!

It's funny, my LS leader said I was an awesome WHM (this is when I main heal his party in Delve), but, when I healed in Legion... Oh man.. His party died the most >_<; Completely different experience!

My tip to you as a life long WHM

Keep your pt alive :) doesnt mean you have to keep everyone alive. In an exp pt I rarely used curaga.

[+] for MM2 - Dr Wily stage track

Different events call for different responsibilities. Delve plasm farm would call for the WHM to erase haste heal and remove debuffs while keeping pro and shell up (geist wall spam in morimar) whereas for Legion or Delve Mega Boss fights (as was mentioned before) the BRDs and CORs assist with the more mundane hasting and -na spell spam while the WHM focuses more on their cure spells. I'm sure your LS lead meant what he said and you shouldn't take one bad run in a intensive event as a knock against you.

WHM is a hell of a demanding job and part is knowing what's expected of you and when you can push yourself beyond even that, but no way can you push yourself like that all of the time.

I think I need to do some talking with my BRDs and CORs then. I did /tell my BRD if I ever got stoned due to using a close casting JA.

Bolded for emphasis ^^ It's a hell of a job to play now a days, but it's incredibly rewarding as well. Don't get discouraged!

Essentially the division of labor changes as you go from event to event. What killed RDM was WHM and SCH being able to heal and do their duties of hasting erasing and whatnot (plus tons of idle refresh gear) so for the longest time WHMs and SCHs have in fact for the sake of expediency been pulling double and for anything up to Delve plasm farm this is a reasonable expectation to be held to. However on harder content I don't think I could keep up with all that mostly due to the hard cap delay between actions. Ex: Unable to cast spells at this time

ftfy, lel

use curaga when you need to heal more than one person, use cure if you only need to heal one person. i spam curaga 2 and 3, and use 4 if they're low (i do have a -50 enmity set, which helps a lot). on fights where people take damage fast (raptor) i prefer brds and cors hasting.

sometimes you can't help this because DD will run towards you during breakga and sleepga etc (for example if there's a ga on pull and they run too close), but you shouldn't be getting hit with -ga most of the time (and if i'm telling you what you already know i'm sorry). sometimes your dd will be positioned such that you can't be out of -ga range, and in this case you need to tell them to move. like if you need to be 15' from the closest dd to be 20' from the one on the other side, that will get you hit with -ga if centered around that 15' dd.

Is Sacrosanctity a 20' casting range? That's usually the only time I ever get hit by these things. I always run in and use it and run back out.

I've noticed the majority of WHM self target JAs / spells are 10 yalms, but I haven't actually tested the rane on Sacrosanctity myself, honestly.

Anyone able to point me in the right direction for learning how to bind keys in spell cast. Probably a noob question but I always played whm on xbox and am trying to get it back up to snuff on PC. Thanks for any help you can offer.

This is how I setup my macro book for WHM, I know everyone plays their game differently but I have taught a few newb WHMs with this macro book setup and all are fond of it, gonna be assuming you're full time /SCH though, hope you like it, and would like some input for improvement:

all Ctrl 1~10 for all set = SCH and WHM JAs, haste and erase, and set swap, so even when you're on a different page you can always access those without page change

alt set 1 = index from 1~9(single(set2), GA(set3), Buff(set4), -na(set5), bar-stat(set6), bar-ele(set7), boost spell(set8), atk spells(set9), raise+reraise(set10), last button idle
alt set 2 = single cure 2~6 + regen IV, alt 0 serves as back to index

alt set 3 = curaga 3~5, cura II~III, sacrifice, esuna, aff. mis, back to index

alt set 4 = Protect V, Shell V, Protectra V, Shellra V, Stoneskin, blink, aquaveil, auspice, phalanx just in case you /RDM, index

alt set 5 = the 7 na spells, erase, dispel, index

alt set 6 = the 8-ra barspells, index

alt set 7 = the 6 bar elements, index

alt set 8 = boost 7 stats, assorted odd spells, index

alt set 9 = Dias, banishes, holys, wouldn't fit all so I did prioritize VW procs, with holy set on assorted slots, index

alt set 10 = all 3 raise + reraise + arise, assorted spells, index

I found this setup to be well beyond functional, give it a go :3

small edit: on the odd chance you are the only sub SCH in VW, manually do those with your magic list target to the helice first :/

devotion is 10.5 or so.
sacrosanctity and benediction are 14.0
boost spells, pro/shell are 10.0, i'd assume the same for barspells.

edit: also, in my last post, the important part was the last couple of sentences-- there are things you can't do as a whm without cooperation from your melees.

Had a date night last night, I will update gear this weekend! Thanks for those macros, that seems pretty nice! Beats trying to find them in the magic spell book (list)!

Edit:

I've noticed people talking about Accession Cure IV. Is this the preferred method assuming you have a Yagrush or don't have any debilitating effects? (IE, Kurma)

i'd think the main reason to use accession cure 4 on whm would be for the cureskin.

To add to Lorzy's comment, the other reason you may want to use it is to pseudo-Curaga another party in your alliance (or just another party in general).

Random bits of macro reasoning:

Alt-1 = Haste on all my whm (and rdm) macro palettes. It's your primary buff spell, and you'll be using it constantly. Make it convenient to use.

Ctrl-Shift-# (eg: Ctrl-Shift-1, Ctrl-Shift-2, etc) = Change to that macro palette number. I used to have a switchboard palette, and one macro on all palettes to change to the switchboard and then go to the various specialized palettes, but this made life a ton easier, both in getting where I wanted to go, and freeing up a macro slot on every palette. It's not perfect, and isn't always easy to tell if you slipped up -- either not hitting the key right, or being locked in targeting mode (blue cursor is active) or whatever -- but it works the majority of the time. Overall, changing modes is a lot faster.

Sometimes you want <stal>, sometimes you want <stpt>. It's annoying that macros are fixed in one mode when you want to use the other. I ended up doing it this way: Palette 1 has all my curagas on Alt-keys, and Cure 3/4/5/6 on <stal> on Ctrl-keys. Palette 2 has all my -na spells on Alt-keys, and Cure 3/4/5/Regen 4 on <stpt> on Ctrl-keys in the same positions. So if I'm dealing with alliance cures, I do Ctrl-Shift-1 to get to curing mode. If I'm doing just party cures, I use Ctrl-Shift-2. It can get awkward when trying to mix in -nas and curagas in different settings, though. Alternatively, just adjust the macros for your needs each time.

For -na spells, make the most critical ones the easiest to get to. I have Stona on Alt-2, Erase (def down, etc) on Alt-3, Paralyna on Alt-4. Those are keys I can reliably hit with the left hand while I work the targeting arrows with the right hand. Anything else gets spread out along the remaining keys.

After that, I put debuffs on palette 3, and all AOE buffs (bars, boosts, Auspice, Protectra/Shellra) on palette 4.



On the curaga question, I go by this:

If one person is likely to get killed in the next hit or two, cure them first, as single-target cures are significantly faster.

If more than two people are injured enough that I can see a notable gap in their HP bar (white to upper orange range), use Curaga. I can follow that with single cures for those who were more injured than the others.

If two people are heavily injured and damage is coming in fast, spam single-target cures, with a preference for the one who's currently taking damage. If more than two people are heavily injured, use Curaga. If the curaga doesn't hit them in time, most of them would be dead anyway by the time I got to them with single-target cures.


You also note that you use Cure III a lot. As a mnk, I will complain. Cure III is for topping off people's HP bar; it is not for real curing. If your DD is taking real damage, use Cure IV first, and Cure V as a backup (given that Cure IV is significantly more MP efficient). Don't use Cure III until they are out of immediate danger. Even if you're over-curing, that just means a stronger cureskin effect to keep people safe.

I've died multiple times from one particular whm who seems to hate using cures higher than Cure III. If I'm a thf at 1000 HP, a Cure III is fine for topping me off. If I'm a mnk with 1000 HP it means I've taken quite a bit of damage (and probably will continue to take damage), and I need a real cure, please.

If you have time to cast Cure III, but not enough time to cast Haste, you'd be better off with Cure IV + Haste, with a bit more time of them taking damage in between cures.


On Regen: I don't use Regen on Whm anymore except for extremely casual fights, or if I have extended periods of not much to do, and DDs are taking fairly light damage. It doesn't take forever to cast anymore, but single target cures are -vastly- more MP efficient (eg: Cure IV at about 24 HP per MP using Orison+2 legs and Light Arts (not even counting cureskin); Regen IV at about 15 HP per MP using Orison+2 hands, Cleric+2 body, Light Arts and merits (12 without Cleric+2 body or merits)), so it doesn't really make sense to waste time on it.

what did i tell you about having a GF?

i actually prefer using <st> with blinkmenot. that way i can also heal out of party with the same macros, although i realize not everyone plays on pc.

on if two people are heavily injured, i usually toss a curaga. i used to prefer single target cures, but there were too many times that the second dd died due to aoe or hate switching.

i use accession regen 4 for the eft in morimar, that's about it.

I play on 360 and for delve generally run WHM/SCH.

I was actually just told by someone i was in party with during plasma farming "Either you have crazy conserve MP gear, or you are really good at managing your MP."

My gear is mostly WHM AF+3. So it's probably not as much my gear... and at the time i did have a very good Bard helping me with ballad... but i also will start charging sublimation as SOON as i know i am going to whm for delve as the sooner that gets a full charge the better.

I generally alternate cure iv and cure v, and then i also have other macros for curaga 1, 3 and 5. 1 is mostly to cap a tiny bit of hp plus wake from sleep, 3 is general multi heal, and 5 is if the party is well... humped via AOE humpage.

Lot of good advice from the other WHM's in this thread. Especially divine caress and accession.

Also dont forget that you do have Benediction if everything goes to hell 1 time an hour.

what kind of gear are you using? Including staff that is...
Just curious as i am sure there are way better whm's who have already posted, and i'd like to get their opinion on what works and doesnt work for them as well.

You get better by practice, and taking tips and incorporating them into your style... and more practice. Everyone has their off days. Just have fun.

Just Accession CureIV. get a nice stoneskin too.

If you have a good mp idle set you dont need ballad or sublimation really. They're nice but with 7mp per tic the only thing in fracture that really wears on my mp as a whm is if we try to kill the eft or peiste. Then maybe. But seriously, whm's need idle sets and you can get it all done in like a day minus wotg earring. "I'm out of mp" is so lvl 75 and lazy.

My idle set is absolutely horrible. It's an earth staff, twilight neck, and a noble's tunic.

Every single day I log on, (which isn't too much nowadays, with a new family and all), I farm for WHM gear. Recently got my +1 Orison body. My current plan of attack is: Boots/gloves -> owleyes -> hairpin -> ???. I'll probably grab body +2 sometime in there. My % cured bonus is not high enough yet to warrant using +2 full time.

ItemSet 303192

Orvail robe is a +2 Refresh, if I recall, so it's easy enough to get a hold of for your idle set. I personally prefer running with an Idle + PDT set, so you may want to bump the Hairpin ahead of the Owleyes (even though I know Owleyes is very easy to get) just so you can farm up Dark Rings as well for your set ^^