So, you decided to play a healer.
Congratulations. You have officially volunteered to watch everyone's HP, keep an eye on debuffs, dodge mechanics, manage your own cooldowns, and somehow still find time to attack the enemies.
Healing can look intimidating when you're new. You have a responsibility that the other roles don't quite have in the same way: you are responsible for maintaining the party's survival.
But don't panic.
You don't have to keep everyone at 100% HP. You don't have to heal every missing HP point immediately. And you absolutely should not spend the entire dungeon standing there doing nothing because you're afraid to press a damage spell.
You just need to learn when to heal, when to attack, and when to wait.
After enough time healing through dungeons, trials, and far too many Mentor Roulettes, here is what I think every new healer should know.
1. Watch HP—and Watch the Debuffs
The party list is going to become your best friend.
Obviously, watch everyone's HP. But watch their debuffs, too.
This is especially important because not every debuff works the same way.
Some debuffs can be removed with Esuna. Some cannot. Some effects require you to heal the affected player rather than cleanse them. And some mechanics will give you a very clear window to deal with the debuff before it becomes a problem.
If you see a debuff that can be cleansed, use Esuna.
If Esuna doesn't work, don't keep pressing Esuna and hoping for a miracle. Look at what the debuff actually does and figure out how you're supposed to deal with it.
There are also specific dungeons where knowing when to use Esuna is extremely important. Ignore the mechanic and you can end up dead.
I've seen players receive a Doom debuff with more than enough time to Esuna it. I even told both DPS to cleanse themselves.
They didn't.
So what happened?
I soloed the boss.
Sometimes the healer really does have to become the entire party.
2. Your First Priority Is Survival
When something goes wrong, my first priority is myself.
Because if the healer dies, everyone else has a much bigger problem.
After that, the tank is generally my next priority.
That doesn't mean DPS are unimportant. It means you need to consider the situation.
Is the tank taking heavy damage?
Is a raid-wide attack coming?
Is a DPS standing in an AoE?
Do I have enough MP and healing abilities available?
Are they actually in danger?
Healing isn't about following a rigid HP percentage rule. It's about making decisions based on what is happening right now.
3. Tanks Have More HP Than You Think
This is something that takes time to learn as a new healer.
A tank sitting at 40% HP can look terrifying.
It isn't necessarily terrifying.
Watch how quickly their HP is dropping, not just the percentage.
If the tank is at 40% and barely losing HP, they're probably fine.
If they're at 70% and their HP is disappearing rapidly, you should probably start healing.
DPS generally have smaller HP pools, so topping them off is much easier.
A tank may require several heals during a large pull. That's completely normal.
Don't panic just because their HP bar looks huge and mostly empty.
4. Check for Invulnerability Before You Heal
Sometimes the tank is intentionally letting their HP drop.
If you see a tank's HP getting dangerously low, check whether they're using an invulnerability ability.
If they are, wait for the skill to actually activate before dumping your healing resources into them.
And yes, there is a difference between:
“I'm using my invulnerability!”
and actually pressing the button.
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I once had a tank announce that they were about to use theirs. I waited.
They didn't press it.
They died.
At that point, there wasn't much I could do except stare at the screen.
So learn what your tanks' invulnerability skills do, but also remember:
You can only react to the ability if the ability is actually used.
5. You Are Not a Green DPS
This is probably the most important thing I want new healers to understand.
Yes, you should DPS.
If nobody needs healing, attack.
Put your DoT on the boss.
Use your AoE attacks on groups of mobs.
Keep contributing damage.
But don't get so focused on your damage that you forget what role you're playing.
You are a healer.
If the tank is dying because you are busy casting another damage spell, that's not good healing.
My internal reaction when I see a healer repeatedly DPS while the tank is desperately waiting for a heal is usually something along the lines of:
OMG. HEAL!! LIKE SERIOUSLY?! THAT'S YOUR JOB!! YOU'RE NOT A GREEN DPS!!
What I actually say in chat is considerably more polite:
“Can you please heal? I don't have self-heal skills.”
The point isn't that healers shouldn't attack.
The point is that healing comes first.
You are a healer who can DPS, not a DPS who happens to have healing spells.
6. Learn Your DoT Attacks and DoT Heals
DoTs are useful because they let you contribute damage without constantly casting your damage spell.
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Your healing-over-time abilities are just as important.
If you have a HoT available for the tank, use it when appropriate and let it do some of the work for you.
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One of the things I see new healers struggle with is not using these abilities effectively.
They see the tank lose HP and immediately start panic-casting direct heals.
Meanwhile, they have an ability sitting on their hotbar that could have been helping them the entire time.
Learn what your toolkit actually does.
Your abilities exist to make your job easier.
7. Know Your Level and Your Dungeon
Your healing strategy changes depending on your level.
A level 30 healer doesn't have the same tools as a level 100 healer.
Sometimes you simply don't have the HoT, shield, oGCD, or emergency heal that you normally rely on.
That's okay.
You need to learn how to work with the abilities you actually have.
The same goes for the dungeon.
A high-level dungeon may have tanks with powerful self-healing and defensive abilities that make sustained pulls much easier to manage.
That doesn't mean you should stop watching them.
Still watch their HP.
Knowing that your tank can heal themselves doesn't mean you can completely ignore them.
It simply means you can take their abilities into account when deciding how much healing they actually need.
8. Learn When to Heal DPS
DPS don't need to be at 100% HP all the time.
If a DPS loses some HP because of unavoidable damage, I will generally heal them if I'm not busy keeping the tank alive and I have the resources available.
But if they intentionally stand in an AoE?
Well...
They have discovered the consequences of their actions. 😂
If I'm already busy healing the tank, I'm not going to abandon the tank just because someone decided to personally inspect the orange circle on the floor.
This doesn't mean you should never heal them.
It means you need to consider why they lost HP, what else is happening, and whether you can safely spend a healing resource on them.
If I have the time, MP, and healing ability available, I'll heal them.
If I don't?
They may have to wait.
9. Don't Obsess Over Overhealing
You don't need to keep everyone at 100% HP.
If someone is sitting at 50% HP and there is no immediate danger, you don't necessarily need to dump a huge heal on them.
I generally don't worry too much about a little overhealing as long as everyone is alive and doing fine.
In a new dungeon, or a particularly difficult dungeon, I may heal more aggressively because I'm still learning the damage patterns or because the party is taking heavier damage.
But don't turn healing into a game of:
“Nobody is allowed to have missing HP.”
Missing HP is normal.
Dangerous HP is what matters.
10. Know When to Use Barriers
Barriers are preventative healing.
You're not waiting for the party to get hit and then trying to recover the damage.
You're preparing for the damage before it happens.
If you know a raid-wide attack is coming, that can be a great time to use a barrier.
If a tankbuster is coming, prepare accordingly.
If a difficult mechanic is about to happen, think about whether mitigation or a barrier can make it easier to survive.
And remember:
A full HP bar can actually be the perfect time to use a barrier.
The question isn't whether everyone currently has full HP.
The question is:
“What damage is coming, and do I want to prevent some of it?”
Reactive healing is:
“Everyone got hit. Now I'll heal them.”
Preventative healing is:
“I know they're about to get hit. Let me prepare.”
Learn to do both.
11. Don't Burn Every Cooldown at Once
One of the easiest ways to make healing harder is to panic and use everything.
Tank drops?
Use everything.
Party gets hit?
Use everything again.
Thirty seconds later:
“Why don't I have any healing abilities?”
Because you used everything. 😂
Learn to spread your cooldowns out.
You don't need three different healing abilities to recover from a small amount of damage.
Sometimes one ability is enough.
Sometimes a HoT is enough.
Sometimes the tank's own defensive ability is enough.
And sometimes the correct answer is simply:
Wait.
12. Learn to Watch the Whole Battlefield
You can't spend the entire dungeon staring at the party list.
Watch:
- HP
- Debuffs
- Boss cast bars
- AoEs
- Your own positioning
- Your healing range
- Your cooldowns
- The tank's defensive abilities
- What the rest of the party is doing
If something feels wrong, check.
Is the tank suddenly taking an unusual amount of damage?
Look at their buffs.
Are they using a defensive skill?
Did they miss one?
Is there a mechanic happening?
Is there an AoE coming?
Don't just react.
Figure out why something is happening.
That's how healing becomes much easier.
13. Don't Forget Your Own Positioning
You are not immune to mechanics just because you're the healer.
You still have to dodge AoEs.
You still have to handle stack mechanics.
You still have to spread when you're supposed to.
And you still need to stay within healing range of the people you're trying to heal.
Sometimes a new healer presses an AoE heal and wonders why it didn't heal the party.
The answer is:
Because you were standing halfway across the arena.
You can't heal people you can't reach.
And you can't heal anyone if you're dead.
14. Raise When It's Safe
Someone died?
Yes, you should raise them.
But not necessarily immediately.
Look at the situation first.
Is the boss about to use a huge attack?
Are you standing in an AoE?
Are there multiple people dead?
Do you have enough MP?
Is it actually safe to stop what you're doing and cast Raise?
Wait until it is safe.
And if you don't have enough MP to raise someone right now, they may have to wait.
I know you died.
I know you want to come back.
But I'm not going to bankrupt my MP bar because you would like to be alive immediately. 😂
15. A Good Healer Does Their Job. A Great Healer Does More.
This is probably how I would describe the difference.
A good healer does their job.
They heal the party.
They keep themselves alive.
They handle mechanics.
They cleanse important debuffs.
They use their abilities properly.
They contribute damage when they can.
A great healer does more than the minimum.
They anticipate incoming damage.
They understand the tank's abilities.
They recognize dangerous debuffs.
They use preventative healing.
They manage their cooldowns.
They know when not to heal.
They know when they can safely DPS.
They understand the dungeon they're in.
They don't just react to what happened.
They understand what is about to happen.
The Golden Rule of Healing
Being a healer isn't about how well you heal.
It's about how well you keep the party alive.
You don't need perfect healing numbers.
You don't need everyone at 100% HP.
You don't need to prevent every single death.
You need to understand what is happening and make good decisions.
Heal when you need to heal.
Attack when you don't.
Use your HoTs.
Use your barriers.
Cleanse what can be cleansed.
Watch the debuffs.
Watch the tank.
Watch yourself.
And most importantly:
Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Just try not to make the same mistake again.
Healing takes practice.
You're going to miss a heal.
You're going to panic.
You're going to forget a mechanic.
You're going to let someone die.
It happens.
Learn from it, adjust, and keep going.
Because eventually, you'll stop looking at a tank sitting at 40% HP and thinking:
“OH GOD, THEY'RE DYING!”
And instead you'll think:
“They're fine. I'll heal them in a second.”
And that's when you know you're starting to become a healer.
