[Phosho]

Any tips for becoming a top notch whm will be nice ^.^ From gears, to what spells you shold cast when, or even when you should rest (how you can tell it's a good time).

To start it off, I have a few questions, >:] <please assist.>

1. Is it better to sacrifice slow, paralyze, and dia II to try haste everyone in party? Cuz I've been doing that, Adding all of those up will add to more than 40 (Haste). And I rather have haste to help DD's kill faster. Or does Dia II pay off better than giving DD's haste? And please don't reply by saying "both," I don't have the money to do so, and i'm forever in debt because I just borrowed over 100k to buy a Noble's Tunic >.<;

2. I try to cast Flash as often as I can, especially when Ninja is casting shadows or the PLD's flash just recently worn off. But sometimes... most of the times, the tank starts yelling at me for casting it, cuz it "gives me alot of hate" (I know that, but the monster didn't even come after me after I casted Flash.. so why he complaining?). I want to cast Flash because it actually helps me conserves MP.. to me, it's either Flash (25 MP) or Cure III (46 MP). I'll go for Flash (I can even try rest a little too since it's blinded).

3. Now is my favorite-est. How do you know when to cast Benediction? I rarely use it, but I rarely get to the situation where EVERYONE is low on HP, it's usually just one guy low on HP, and when he dies, he yells at me for not using benediction... But when I do.. THEN that rare moment (where everyone is low on HP) arrives. I usually cast when the Tank is low on HP and I KNOW that I cant cast Cure III or IV fast enough to save his life.

Well, that's all for now, hopefully I"ll learn a lot from your comments

Thank you!~

[Carynaira]

Posting your current level and what gear you already possess would help some.

1. What do you mean don't say both? If you're the only mage in the party on not colibri, you should be enfeebling at the start of the battle and keeping up a haste cycle. Its not hard, its not expensive. If you want to half ass a job because it costs too much play something else please(And WHM isn't even very expensive at all spell wise.)

2. A WHM should cast Flash as well, and if tanks are yelling at you for that they aren't doing their job correctly. Flash will not give you enough time to rest even one tick of mp back though.

3. You have to judge for yourself when to use Benediction. Personally I'll only use it when everyone is covered in debuffs and low on hp.

[Phosho]

I didn't want this thread to focus mainly around me so I didn't include my equips, but it sounds like I should be wearing a lot of refresh gear, and eating/drnking stuff that helps out my mp often, cuz I've tried enfeebling and hasting at same time (and curing), but it's pretty difficult to keep my MP up when I do so. And I always cuz downtime in the party...

And to me, down time is a sign of a novice whm (since I've been told really gud whms have no down time at all).

But here's a list of my equips anyways:

1. Main: Light Staff (for healing) // Dark Staff (For resting)
2. Sub: Raptor Leather Strap +1
3. Ammo: Holy Ampulla
4. Head: Gold Hairpin +1 (Once I use up the extra MP it supplies, I switch to..) >> Healer's Cap
5. Neck: Beak Necklace
6. Earrings: Healing Earring & Antivenom earring
7. Body: Noble's Tunic
8. Hands: Healer's Mitts
9. Rings: Electrum Ring & Ether Ring (Once I use up the extra MP it supplies, I switch to..) >> Medicine Ring & Saintly Ring
10. Back: Red Cape
11. Mohbwa Sash +1
12. Healer's pantalons >> Baron's Slops (Once I switch to healing)
13. Healer's Ducbills

Well, thanks so far >:] , I look forward to learning a lot and becoming a good~pro whm one day.. and not a lolwhm >.>;

[Carynaira]

I use wizard cookies on WHM for the +HMP, ginger cookies are just as good and much cheaper, you should look into those if you haven't already. I'd also veer away from the Medicine ring unless you're macroing it in when you're low on HP or have a gear set that lowers your HP, otherwise its just a wasted slot.

[Hoshiku]

1. in xp you'd be better off to toss slow paralyze and dia 2 on your mobs than to haste everyone. if you can haste everyone that's great, but if not pick someone in the party who doesn't really need haste (anyone who isn't /nin is low priority for haste, otherwise just pick someone and don't haste them...). also be choosy about your parties, if you're in a party that doesn't have refresh or at least a second support job wait for another invite. and healing mp gear is important in xp and end game. a really good whm can balance resting for mp and standing at the right time to get things done.
2. casting flash is an awesome idea, try to pair it with a time when the enemy is using a strong physical tp move or when the ninja is casting utsusemi ichi. if your tank is complaining about your use of flash chances are they're a crappy tank.
3. i save bene for disasters and that depends on the party. there are some awful parties where i know a link is going to require me to benediction, and there are some awesome parties where i know that 3 adds will require bene. as far as NM fights, i save bene as the absolute last resort. it does generate a fair bit of hate and most of the time i can find some alternative to using my 2-hour.

[marzanna]

Firstly, if you're having mp issues, Nobles is a great piece too help with that however, having said that, there are other ways. Sub scholar if you don't already, the mp conserved from Light Arts is a guaranteed 10% ontop of that you'll have higher skills for landing debuffs etc (im sure all of this is covered elsewhere), max out your hmp gear, see this all the time.. whm's with "pimp" gear and then they go and rest in a dark staff and errant use mushroom stew, if you cant afford that look around for another hmp food, personally hate cookies (but each too their own), basically because if they wear when you're resting you either get up and disrupt hmp or go without.

I think the whole haste: debuffs thing is preferance, if i was struggling for mp, i would haste those that really need it, think tanks, or if most of the party is /SAM or /WAR but there is one WAR/NIN for eg that is pulling hate alot, haste them too help with shadows. I will always para and dia, and then the rest depending on mp. If youre casting para in a potent enough MND build its well worth it, every hit that is parad is saving you mp, just like flash, but costs less mp wise.

Speakling of, no tanks should be telling you off for casting it, unless you start the fight with it, thats just not a good idea, whms *should* have enough - ENM in gear not too be pulling hate off of any decent tank with that. Personally, i find debuffing fully, para/slow etc helps more. I'll cast flash if the tanks HP drops rly low, because thats 3 attack rounds its going too miss him now, and easily enough time for me too cure them back up, but i suppose it depends on your reaction time lol.

Bene if preferance also, i dont rly remember the last time i pulled hate with it, im not sure coz i have a stupidly high amount of -ENM of just good tanks, i wouldnt use it for a single person if you have mp tho, there should be plenty of time too get it off, unless of course the get one shotted, then well nothing you can do about it.

Make sure you use your barspells, barfira on mamools that are going too firespit etc etc. And regens always! Not quite so important now a days, but before /sch and all these sorts of things, regen was one way we could try too keep up with rdms, i mean, they had convert, there is no real way we were going too outlast them if we cure every hit of damage our party takes.. i will usually cycle haste and regen on the entire party, which regen depending on how much theyre sponging...

Lastly, Know your status effects, not everything will display itself in the log, if you have too at first, look up the mobs on which youre going too xp before you get too camp ^^;; A great whm will see the mob casting a debuff or a tp move with a negative status effect and know the na spell for it instantly (eg not waiting till it appaears in the log). A good whm will erase said status effect as soon as they see it. And a bad whm will wait for the tank too scream "OMG IM SILENCED.... HALP" etc lol.


Sorry wall of text...

[Banggugyangu]

Posted on a DSi so forgive typos and shorthand.

regarding haste. do you have a melee that deals 50 or more damage per hit? he needs haste. do you have a melee that doesn't? replace him with one that does.

regarding enfeebles. dia 2 definitely unless a rdm is casting 3. others are your preference, but slow is very useful. keep in mind a good nin will sustain enfeebles that are probably more effective.

regarding flash. use it.

benediction use is up to you. use it how you think you should.

[Blacmagi]

First off: I will be referring to everything from a 75's perspective view. I'm not claiming I know everything, only what I have experienced.
Second: Managing MP generally becomes easier as you progress in levels, especially with Refresh/pieces, except in Merit parties, IMO.

1. Haste everyone (excluding the back line jobs, except those that COULD benefit from it) and possibly yourself if you really want to. Remember that Haste has a 20 second recast time IIRC (16 or was it 17?, if you're Hasted yourself), this gives you enough time to toss out a couple of Enfeebles as a first cast or if they got resisted. No excuses, everyone knows Haste helps the party move along quickly, get used to it.

2. Although Flash accrues you a high amount of Enmity upon use, if you think your tank is competent and can hold hate well enough, use it, who's going to complain about dodging an enemy's attack? Experiment though, if the party is going smoothly, then just toss it whenever it's up, but if it isn't and the NIN needs to recast his/her Utsusemi or if the PLD is taking heavy damage, then hold off on using it until they really need them. Randomly tossing it out can actually save a tank or the whole party if the enemy decides to do a super single target attack or an AOE move.

3. Like what everyone else has said, but IMO, only YOU know when the time is right to use it.

I'm not going to say what gears I'm wearing because I forgot and/or I know it's really crappy.

Always recast Protectra/Shellra, keep Stoneskin up, always, Blink isn't necessary, though it is helpful, Aquaveil, only if you have the time, same thing as Blink, unnecessary though helpful. Keep Reraise III up, always, you never know when something will go wrong.

Regen III the tank and others regularly, though not to the point where it's on them all the time throughout the party, only use it on someone that has taken damage and there's another person that needs Healing too.

Stay alert, WHM is NOT a lazy job, you and the tank are the most important members of the party, if one of you goes down, the other will go down shortly after, followed by the rest of the party. Be attentive (stay alert? lol) and have Macros ready for use, though I personally don't use them unless the party is going smoothly. Silena the tank as soon as an Imp readies Deafening Tantara.

Blah blah, I've had tanks waste Echo Drops when I've removed Silence from them as soon as a Tantara goes off, though I haven't gotten TOO much compliments for doing my job as a WHM, the ones that I have received are very much appreciated.

Rest during fights if you have to, again, when the party is going smoothly, really important when conserving and maintaining MP.

I subbed SMN most of the time I partied Auto-Refresh was too good to pass up along with Sanction Refresh, probably because I don't own a Noble's... BLM sub is fine too, Conserve MP isn't noticeable at first, but you'll KNOW when it is as the party progresses. I prefer SMN though. I'm a pre-Repose WHM, and I don't play anymore.

Cast your spells intelligently, you'll know when the "time is right" through trial and error as your time being a WHM.

[lorzy]

i don't understand what you mean by not having enough money to cast both dia and haste.

i don't cast flash all the time, but i do try to cast it when someone's getting hit and casting ichi.

you might want to look into crow beret (enm -7) or HQ, and trooper's ring (enm -4). i was thinking you could replace medicine w/ troopers, unless you have a set to get you into yellow. could also look into the rest of the crow/raven set and evaluate if it'd benefit you more than what you already have.

[Banggugyangu]

2 minor things Blacmagi:

1: "perspective view" is redundant. Perspective means view. If you use one, you don't need to use the other.

2: "gears" refers to mechanical devices that generally are circular with teeth which move in tandem. Gear referring to equipment is the same word for both the singular and plural.

I agree with pretty much everything you said though. Especially what you said about debuff removal. To OP: Like the poster above my first post stated, learn which attacks do which debuffs. Practice to cast so that the debuff is removed as soon as possible. If someone gets paralyzed, you should remove the paralysis before it has a chance to proc.

[Magic Ace]

For You:
Gear-wise, when you can afford it - I'd spring for some of the Blessed JSE. The Blessed legs/feet are really nice as well as the hands. Generally, you don't "need" every staff as a WHM, but I would suggest carrying an Earth Staff (for the -20% Physical Damage in case of aggro/hate/whatever).


Meriting:
Birds:
As someone who has also played as a heavy-DD at bird camp, the only important debuff on those birds for you would be Dia II every fight (if possible). The damage taken by your DD here should be low, haste them all (I always start my haste rotation with myself). Auspice may also be a nice buff, I haven't tested it myself - try it out and see if you see a difference; If you do, go ahead and use it if you feel you have the mana to.

Mamool:
Mamool are a completely different story. Rushing Stab/Drub and Firespit can be a real pain, and can do a lot of damage. Here I would suggest hasting provokers and heavy DD that are /NIN, but again - if you find you have the mana, everyone should be getting haste. Dia II here is also nice, slow and paralyze would probably be a waste of mana. Same about Auspice from above.

End-Game:
Dynamis: In the tank party, your only real priority should be keeping haste on your tanks (if your RDM isn't) and curing them (spot cure other melee if they need it, of course).
If you're in a melee party, haste them when you can, cure them - but remember that you should also be curing outside your individual party.

Einherjar: I find Einherjar to be a real pain in the ass as WHM, unless you're in the tank party and your RDM is doing other things I wouldn't spend the mana on haste (unless you got really lucky and the mobs are something easy). Again, curing outside of the party is essential.

HNM: During any HNM, you're probably going to be in the tank party. Normally during these fights, the hastes will be left to a RDM. The most important aspect of WHM in these fights is the knowledge of all the debuffs these mobs individual TP moves can apply - knowing that you have to Stona your tanks when fighting Khim, or paralyna them when fighting Cerberus can mean the difference of a kill or a wipe. As for Benediction, it's actually very nice for Cerb/Khim and the like if GoH/Fulm get off - it will remove the debuff they cause, and cap out the party's health.

Overall, I'd say that what makes a good WHM is the ability to adapt. Each situation and each group calls for something different, it's your job to react to what you see happening (in a timely manner).

I started the game as a WHM with NA launch and was a career WHM for many years. These are just some tips to help you along, if you really need anything else feel free to PM me anytime.

[Blacmagi]

2 minor things Blacmagi:

1: "perspective view" is redundant. Perspective means view. If you use one, you don't need to use the other.

2: "gears" refers to mechanical devices that generally are circular with teeth which move in tandem. Gear referring to equipment is the same word for both the singular and plural.

I agree with pretty much everything you said though. Especially what you said about debuff removal. To OP: Like the poster above my first post stated, learn which attacks do which debuffs. Practice to cast so that the debuff is removed as soon as possible. If someone gets paralyzed, you should remove the paralysis before it has a chance to proc.

What!? Well, I apologize if I was being redundant, I admit it. Also, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN when I say words like those.
I just don't remember what I'm wearing, but I know I'm an AH WHM. Yes yes, removing debuffs is very important, the sooner it's removed, the less hassle it is for you, and for everyone.

[pathwriter]

(I always start my haste rotation with myself)

This confuses the hell out of me. I suspect it's something left over from people playing Red Mage, but even that makes minimal sense. Why do people spend ~40 MP (varying by use of Light Arts and Conserve MP procs) to slightly reduce the recast timer on Haste? Even pretending that I didn't have to cast it on 3-5 people (and, yes, I've maintained merit parties as the sole source of both Haste and healing with five melees), I'm rarely /healing to recover MP, certainly not long enough to justify shaving a few seconds off my Haste cycle by spending the same amount of MP I might recover while on my knees.

[Blacmagi]

I Haste myself, rarely, if I'm not doing anything beside idling around or just screwing around, it's unnecessary but helpful.

I've only been invited to a Merit party as a WHM once, and ohh, it was not nice, MP issues even with a BRD, I had to work with like 0-200 MP each time a Colibri came, Dia II and Haste + Cures were the only thing I did. Highest chain was 53 when the BRD died, I don't remember how, but I'm pretty sure it was my fault, I did get a compliment from the leader saying "Wow, we're functioning well even though you're at low MP". I don't even think I was 75 at that time... more like 73. I think.

[Banggugyangu]

I Haste myself, rarely, if I'm not doing anything beside idling around or just screwing around, it's unnecessary but helpful.

I've only been invited to a Merit party as a WHM once, and ohh, it was not nice, MP issues even with a BRD, I had to work with like 0-200 MP each time a Colibri came, Dia II and Haste + Cures were the only thing I did. Highest chain was 53 when the BRD died, I don't remember how, but I'm pretty sure it was my fault, I did get a compliment from the leader saying "Wow, we're functioning well even though you're at low MP". I don't even think I was 75 at that time... more like 73. I think.

on first meripo, I suppose that's a common experience. I had enough experience healing in non-stop situations long before ToAU came out that I was able to adjust pretty easily, but leveling my THF, SCH, and SMN I noticed that a lot of WHMs jumping into the meripo style had a big learning experience for their first one. It gets easier as you get used to it. The only problems you'll ever run into after a while are when a BRD fails hardcore @ sleeping or when melee's decide they can solo.

[pathwriter]

Yeah, my five melee party was at 74, I think, but /Scholar really makes MP efficiency go through the roof. I didn't bother with Dia II most of the time, though, that was MP I certainly could not afford to spend.

[Gyth]

And I always cuz downtime in the party...

If you're the only mage and not being refreshed then there isn't always a lot you can do to fix the situation, other than just leaving.

I'd try just healing during your haste cycle and resting as continuously between haste cycles as possible.
If the melee can't survive long enough for you to get back mp then they're to blame as well.

If your puller misses a sleep, don't be too quick to heal them.
They have shadows and you can get it off them a lot easier than they can get it off you.

Regen is mp efficient, but there is more than one type of efficiency.
It has a longer cast time which could lose you mp if it costs you a tick of resting.
Its great in the middle of a haste cycle, but heaven forbid you just stand there waiting on its recast.

P.S. Never cast cure 4

[Banggugyangu]

If you're the only mage and not being refreshed then there isn't always a lot you can do to fix the situation, other than just leaving.

I'd try just healing during your haste cycle and resting as continuously between haste cycles as possible.
If the melee can't survive long enough for you to get back mp then they're to blame as well.

If your puller misses a sleep, don't be too quick to heal them.
They have shadows and you can get it off them a lot easier than they can get it off you.

Regen is mp efficient, but there is more than one type of efficiency.
It has a longer cast time which could lose you mp if it costs you a tick of resting.
Its great in the middle of a haste cycle, but heaven forbid you just stand there waiting on its recast.

P.S. Never cast cure 4

I really disagree with a lot in this post. If you're the only mage and the melee's are intelligent, well-geared, and considerate, and your tank *if there is one* isn't taking damage like a 60 year old hooker's vagina when she needs her fix, yet you're having MP problems, then The blame falls on you. There are things you can do to be more efficient in a perfect 1 mage situation. In fact, I'll go so far to say that it takes a pretty crappy situation to cause any real MP problems if you're playing intelligently.

If you have stupid melees and/or a paper tank, then the blame most definitely falls on them.

Cure 4 is very effective when it's needed. If you have a good enmity build, it's not really that dangerous either. 2nd most efficient single target cure ftw. In a situation where waiting to C5 the tank is too dangerous, then you should C4 with C3 backups when needed.

[Hoshiku]

I have yet to be in a one mage situtaion with 4 well geared/intelligent melee and a real tank (FL assaults aside). Most of my one mage situations have gone something along the lines of: SAM/WAR who fulltimes hasso, WAR/SAM who does the same, DRK/NIN who never casts utsu, MNK/NIN who q.qs about wanting to be /war and also never casts utsu, WAR/NIN who is attempting to tank. Gear isn't the problem with melee for the most part but people never play smart. They spam their JAs all at once and then hold hate for the rest of the fight while the other melee hold back and watch them die. They don't come with (or USE) subjobs that mitigate their damage taken and then whine when you don't cure them to full fast enough. They do stupid things that they know will get them killed because it's just xp and they can rely on their mage to save them. I've seen that situation often in xp lately and that is the kind of party that I recommend you leave immediately.

[Banggugyangu]

I have yet to be in a one mage situtaion with 4 well geared/intelligent melee and a real tank (FL assaults aside). Most of my one mage situations have gone something along the lines of: SAM/WAR who fulltimes hasso, WAR/SAM who does the same, DRK/NIN who never casts utsu, MNK/NIN who q.qs about wanting to be /war and also never casts utsu, WAR/NIN who is attempting to tank. Gear isn't the problem with melee for the most part but people never play smart. They spam their JAs all at once and then hold hate for the rest of the fight while the other melee hold back and watch them die. They don't come with (or USE) subjobs that mitigate their damage taken and then whine when you don't cure them to full fast enough. They do stupid things that they know will get them killed because it's just xp and they can rely on their mage to save them. I've seen that situation often in xp lately and that is the kind of party that I recommend you leave immediately.

This is why whenever I meripo on my THF, I bring only melees that I know will go just as balls-to-the-wall as I will. No reason to do as much damage as possible, as long as hate is still bouncing, amirite?

For melees though, it comes down to a mixture of smarts and gear. A person with all the knowledge one could ever hold about this game, yet naked, will still be gimp. A person with the best gear that doesn't know how to form a macro to use his WS will still be retarded.