Melkire

To be honest, I think that depends on a great many factors. 1. How new are they to MMORPGs? 2. Have they ever played a healing class in a MMORPG before? 2a. If so, what archetype? 3. How's their situational awareness? 4. How confident are they in their ability to multitask under pressure? 5. How do they approach, handle, accept, and/or refute concerns or criticisms regarding their performance? ...but then, this thread hasn't really been about up and coming healers, so I'm not entirely sure why they should be concerned with or by this thread. EDIT: When I started healing as CNJ/WHM in FFXIV, my only previous experience with a healer class had been SWTOR's Medicine Operative. I knew from playing through FFXIV as WAR and MNK -- and from reading these forums -- that I'd need to learn how to Cleric Stance and DPS... not to fulfill expectations but to contribute my best. It was intimidating as hell at first, because Med Op had been mostly instant heals and instant HoTs coupled with low-cost attacks. But you know what? I had sixty levels in which to learn how to do so, how to stance-dance. And I did, with my fair share of mistakes along the way. EDIT 2: [video=youtube]

Coincidentally, Square-Enix devs posted this today: "Dark knight is still lacking in the support department when compared to the other tank jobs, so we're planning to make some adjustments." Source: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/302058-Japan-Adrealine-TV-3.4-PvP-Update?p=3820790#post3820790

Unpopular opinion, comin' through. If we're in a leveling dungeon together, and you - as a healer - are not popping CS, or perhaps not even DPSing at all, I won't mind. Maybe you're still learning the class/job. Maybe you're not comfortable with this instance yet. Maybe this is your first time through, and you're a newbie to the game. But if you're in Expert Roulette with me -- and we're running a level 60 dungeon that has been out for weeks or months by now -- and it's obvious that you are not putting forth your best effort? That you're still so uncomfortable that you can't be bothered to try and tap at least most of your job's potential? That you could be helping to make the run go by faster, but instead you're playing it way, wayyyyy too safe? Then hell yes, you're goddamned right I am going to mind. I probably won't say anything to you. I probably won't air my grievances out of a desire to keep the peace and provide a safe, entertaining environment rather than a stressful one. I'll probably keep my gob shut and just get it over with. But you can rest assured that I'm as livid with your minimal-effort healing as you are with eating-all-the-avoidable-AoEs DPS and with the tanks who don't seem to know that they have defensive cooldowns.

Generally speaking, if you can get away with less AoE enmity skills and more Butcher's Block combos, do so. I only threw in the AoE as conditionals for when DPS are making your life difficult.

You'd still need the Enhanced Raise trait to actually rez someone while mid-combat, unless they were ACN/SCH/SMN (since Resurrection can rez mid-combat without a trait). Cross-classing Raise on any other class but CNJ/WHM results in being unable tor rez at all unless you leave combat. Under level 28, only ACN/SCH/SMN can battle rez. Sounds like the THM/BLM/CNJ, what have you, didn't want to risk losing credit for the FATE just to rez you in time.

No amount of extra healer DPS from a few more seconds of Cleric Stance is ever going to outweigh a Warrior in Deliverance. Fell Cleave crits are just that large a burst (pre-VIT change, a FC from a i210 Warrior back during Gordias Savage would rival Fire IV from a BLM for biggest single burst from a crit - approximately 11k, iirc, outside of Ravana Vuln Up scenarios). This is still the case post-VIT changes. I can't speak for DRK or for PLD, but I know this to be the case for WAR.

I can think of only three scenarios in which to not burn Wrath/Abandon stacks. 1. A tank-buster is on the way and you're going to need to time IB for it. 2. Unchained is about to come off cooldown. 3. You're waiting for cooldown timers to line up for triple FC. Otherwise, burn stacks as soon as you hit five of them depending on what you need: Mitigation (Inner Beast) AoE Enmity (Steel Cyclone) Single-Target Burst (Fell Cleave) AoE Burst (Decimate)

Omit all AoE enmity generators on a single-target pull, of course. P.S. There's no enmity multiplier on IB, don't rely on it to generate hate even if it does have a decently-high potency. It's more for mitigation; you can lead with Foresight or Raw Intuition or Vengeance at the start of a pull and transition into IB later. Steel Cyclone is amazing on groups, though. With the multiplier, it's stronger than Overpower.

/winces at the above posts WAR generally doesn't need to lead most pulls with Unchained or Berserk. Sure, it helps a lot and if you can then by all means, but it's not as vital as, say, Fight or Flight to a PLD's pull. Tomahawk (skip if facepulling, depending on positioning) -> Overpower x2 (modify quantity and/or supplement with Flash as needed) -> Storm's Eye Combo (skip if heavily outgeared) -> Butcher's Block Combo (distribute SS and BB evenly across mobs, always land Heavy Swing on a mob with Eye, land SS and BB preferably on mobs with Eye unless aggro is building fast on those without) -> Overpower/Flash (as needed) -> Gradually Distribute Eye to All Mobs -> Overpower/Flash (as needed) -> "Rotation"

For practice, you say? Sketches, you say? /throws chin-fuzz at

They're only recent arrivals in Eorzea compared to four of the other races that comprise the Sons of Man (Elezen, Lalafell, Roegadyn, Hyur). They've still been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. The exact figure/approximarion escapes me. Au Ra are now the most recent arrivals, if you discount the warrior from which Odin originated. And the above statement re: Miqo'te doesn't take into account any of the other Spoken (Qiqirn, Moogles, beast tribes, etc.).

Was never said that a good villain has to be overpowered. Was said that an overpowered character might make for a good villain.

Actually, most NPCs refer to Hydaelyn as the name of the world. The Scions are among a select few (e.g. the Ascians, the primals, and Midgardsormr) who seem aware that there's an intellect behind said world. The Echo -- or the Blessing of Light -- seems to be the sole means by which one becomes aware of her. After all, the Scions aren't running around singing Hydaelyn's praises in any sort of paradoxical contradiction to the Twelve (save to the leaders of the city-states). It's only once the Warrior of Light recounts his experience that Minfilia and the other Scions go out of their way to explain who and what Hydaelyn is. ...of course, I could be entirely wrong. It's been a long time since I paid attention to the 2.0 MSQ text.

The Sea Wolves are confirmed to have an ancient language from which they draw their names. The dragons have their tongue (which mostly gets translated for us courtesy the Echo). The people of Doma (and Raen, by extension) are known to have their own. So here are plenty out there, and lots of room to explorate which races and clans and tribes might possess their own languages. Given how Jalzahn talks about the Zodiac Braves and sacred texts which refer to them, there's probably a Thavnairian equivalent of One Thousand and One Nights. P.S. Mirza means "prince," or going back to the original roots, "commander-offspring."

Persian (technically Iranian-American) chiming in! Radz-at-Han, when Romanized from the original Japanese, comes out as "Razahan". Raz-i-Han in Persian/Farsi actually translates as "Secret of Han," or to throw a poetic spin on it, "Secret of the Hannish". EDIT: I've found a single, somewhat unreliable source that claims that Rahzima/Rahziman translates from Arabic into "my flower" or "flower of mine," which would make Radz-at-Han into "Flower of Han"... but I can't find another source to corraborate. Google gives an entirely different Arabic word for "flower," too, so I'll have to wait and consult with family to confirm or deny. EDIT 2: My suspicion is that the intent was for Radz-at-Han to derive its name from Arabic roots. It would've been either Raz-min-Han or Raz al'Han, they went with the latter but left out the L due to Japanese linguistic difficulties, and someone decided to throw in a T for the English to make it sound more exotic. ...that, or the short "i" sound becomes an "a" when transliterated to JP and the origin was Persian. Curiously enough, there is in fact a Persian character for "dz" which produces a hard "z" sound, but the character in use is just the usual ze ( ز ), not ẕāl ( ذ ).

Nald'thal, as written, is considered the "single manifestation of deific twins". When referring to Nald'thal, the Traders, singular pronouns are used because the two units are taken as a whole. But then we also have Nald and Thal in use regularly by Eorzean denizens to refer to the twins individually. Nald is associated with the mercantile and commercial aspects of the deity, whereas Thal is more commonly associated with death and the underworld. They each have their own statues dedicated to them, even, in Southern Thanalan and Eastern Thanalan, respectively: Nald's Reflection and Thal's Respite. The first depicts Nald holding an urn of some kind, and the second depicts Thal with a rather wicked curved blade (whether it's a sword or a stylized dagger is unclear).

Have an alt or two that'd suit as bouncers! Edit: Just realized I'm out of town that Friday evening. Ah well.

Nefzen being awesome again. Holy shit, that volunteer ethic. Would love an invite, it'd be so helpful for keeping my FC, LS's, and myself informed. I'll keep an eye out for you in-game via Player Search. Thank you so much for everything that you do; you're awesome, keep it up!

A Qestir seated on the bench next to Ul'dah's chocobo stable smiled at me. I repeat. A Qestir -- Xaela tribesmen who do not speak or vocalize by choice -- caught my attention and invited a walk-up with a mere targeted /smile emote. I don't need much, personally. Just an acknowledgement that you're IC and available to RP at that given moment. Hell, I was OoC, running for the MB, when I caught sight of that emote. I immediately put on the brakes and went IC (helps that my PvE gear is glamoured to my main RP set).

This more or less sums it up. You could probably, in most people's cases, take it a step further and read it as "I want more than slice-of-life scenes." It's a contrast seen more often in anime than anywhere else: on one hand you have dramatic storylines that involve conflict and struggle, and on the other hand you have a bunch of friends sitting around sharing a drink and some funny stories.

The purpose of Fracture isn't so much the miniscule increase in overall encounter DPS as it is to delay Demolish so that you don't clip the previous application before you get every tic of damage in. If you're at 5s left on your last Demo and you're back to Coeurl, your options are to a) Demo and lose a tic, b) Snap Punch and lose Demo on target for at least a single tic, c) delay by reapplying Touch of Death. Option C is a winner... unless you'd be clipping ToD short too. Fracture gets you around that. You delay Demo by approx. 2s with Fracture and that lets the last tick of the previous Demo occur at exactly 3s left on the DoT. Then you hit Demo to reapply. ...of course, you can do the EXACT SAME THING with Meditation in place of Fracture, which leads you reach Purification faster to restore some TP and solve all TP issues. "But muh Forbidden Chakra!" FC is appropriate in some cases, not all. Read: openers and when you're sitting pretty TP-wise. tl;dr: Fracture is optimal but not worth the drain outside of hardcore Savage raiding, and MNK has no TP issues courtesy of alternating between Invig and Purif. Oh, and any MNK who keeps Fracture up 100% of the time in a 7+ min fight is bad. P.S. Let Ninjas Goad Themselves 2016.

I'm actually surprised they're not adding both. I thought they were going to. In fact, I thought they were prioritizing adding the apartments. >.< They mentioned months ago (in a Live Letter I think?) that they were going to be adding additional wards, manor apartments, and Ishgardian wards in that order.

Top DPS parses for MNK (read: optimal output) involve slapping a target with Demolish, Touch of Death, and Fracture while Dragon Kick and Twin Snakes are both running. You perform even better if someone pads your DPS (the way they do on ffxivlogs) by applying DK for you as a slave so you can Critshine 100% of the time. Critshines, True Strikes, Snap Punch, offensive GCDs like Blood for Blood and Internal Release, all of that is par for the course but really when you look at MNK what you're looking at is "(de)buffs are up, DoTs are up" which amounts to the aforementioned. Of the DoTs, Demo takes priority, then ToD, then Fracture. And Fracture is such a minuscule addition to DPS in exchange for increased difficulty in TP management that it's not recommended unless you're progression raiding and you REALLY need to eke out every hit point of damage you can. ToD is a total potency of 270 if the DoT ticks to completion. If you ignore criticals on Bootshine and True Strike, that's more potency than every single-target weaponskill a MNK has with the exceptions of Demolish (420 from rear; 380 otherwise), Tornado Kick (330), and Forbidden Chakra (320). So unless you can guarantee a crit (which only really happens with Bootshine-from-rear) or are otherwise anticipating crits from IR, ToD delivers more potency than everything in the standard rotation. tl;dr: ToD is standard for optimal MNK DPS on a high-HP target. Fracture is the optional weaponskill, not ToD. If you're just burning trash, you're hitting Rockbreaker, Howling Fist, and Elixir Field while spreading DK and Demo with upkeep on Twin... there's barely enough room in there for ToD unless party DPS is really low. Citation: the DPS class/job that I main and make it my business to know.

"Osric." "...Mikh'a?" "It's done." "It's...? Oh. Oh! It's done. Good. Aye. Definitely good." "Yes." A long moment of silence passed between them. "....what's next?" "I'm meeting with Rotunda." "That, uh. That sounds like a change o' plans." "He needs to stop recruiting. I'm not leaving Mor Dhona until he's gone. Have you found a place to detonate the bomb?" "I've only been out that way once, mind, but there's a spot or two that seemed suitable. What they call the Singin' Shards, for one. That damned tower for another." "I want to cross the threshold of the Crystal Gate. There’ll be no risk of anyone else getting hurt that way, in case something goes wrong." "We'll need t'scout the place, then. Ain't sure there's anywhere t'hide two or more bodies. We're bein' followed, Sei isn't." "We'll find somewhere. He's killed us for the last time." "He…." A grunt. "Let me know what y'need, 'n' when." "He's really dead this time." There came a sharp intake of breath. "I saw it." “...let me know.” "So... what's this private talk about, eh?" Osric glanced down at Kanaria as she rested against his shoulder, and then he looked back up at the horizon. He’d brought her to this small little corner of Ishgard -- a quaint balcony, hidden away behind the manse of House Haillenarte -- for some much-deserved peace and quiet. They’d spent the past half-bell or so speaking in low, hushed tones… talking, laughing, fooling around as they watched the men and women bustling about, far below, in the Crozier. "I've a lot to tell you. Been waitin' on a good time for it... didn't want you worryin' any more than you already were, what with expectin' and everythin' else we've got on our plates." "I understand, but I still need to be let in now and again, love." "I know. First thing's first, then, and I think you might already know this bit: I want you t'meet Thomys. Properly, I mean, not in passin'. Mirke's gettin' close. Should be able t'return to Limsa soon, the two of us together." Kanaria bit down into her lower lip. "You mean...." She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "I hope she can do it! I wouldn't have to rule out a beach house for us, then." He laughed. "I thought you wanted somethin' in the Beds?" Kanaria shrugged. "Maybe... but think... the beach…." "Heh. Aye, not a bad thought. I'd like that." His eyes gleamed as he smiled and nodded. "Second item o' concern: might have found someone who can help us with shippin' and receivin' out of and back into the Goblet." She lofted an eyebrow, and Osric waved a hand. "You know, for the less legal shite." Kanaria leaned in and pressed a loving kiss to his cheek. Her lavender eyes shifted to the side and back. "Do we really want to get into things like that?" “We're sort of already into things like that. I'd like t'keep us out o' trouble, at the least." Osric tossed his head this way and that. "Would you like to meet the man handlin' the details for us? I need t'speak with him within the next sennight or so." She chuckled. "I know... still. And yes, I'd love to." She took his hand and pulled it closer to rest over her stomach. He grinned… then eyed her warily. "That's the good news,” he went on to say. “The rest is bad. Bad, 'n' worse, but we can pull through. Just need you to trust me, alright?" "Always love... I know what you are speaking of... and I doubt I have to tell you that I had a run-in with your Master." "...you did?" He blinked and stared at her. "Yes.." Her hand squeezed his gently. "It's alright... nothing bad happened, and nothing will." “....alright." He shook his head and let that topic pass. "What's next has t'do mostly with the runt... and partly with you. With what you've got up here." He reached up and tapped her temple with a finger. She looked down at her lap. "I've had a feeling about that…." "Mm. Let me finish?" She nodded. "Might recall, moons back, I told you I had t'go with Nahare 'n' Mikh'a. Askier was missin', and word was the runt had him. This ringin' any bells, or...? Was a bit rushed at the time, I might not've gotten all the words out right." "Yes, I remember…." "We lucked out. Had the... ain't goin' t'call him good... had the sane one on our hands. We spoke. At length. About his other half, the half that's posin' as some sort o' avatar o' the void hellsbent on destroying everyone and everything." Osric shrugged. "He had a very interestin' theory about his other half that terrifies me even now." Kanaria licked over her lips. "You know that darkness I mentioned in my letter to you…?" "Aye, that'd be what he was tellin' us about." He sighed. "Said that the reason Epinoch seems t'defy all sense 'n' rules is because he's half here 'n' half not. Caught between our world 'n' the void. That there's a piece of him that's tetherin' him to our reality." She looked away, went pale. He reached up, his hand leaving her stomach to cradle her chin. "Listen. We're going t'deal with this. We'll handle it. And I'll tell you how, right now." She closed her eyes. "By being strong." Osric smiled. "That, for starters. But you're goin' t'need to trust me 'n' the rest of the company for a short while. Not long. A sennight or two. Because, as far as we can guess, we don't know what he can and can't know if you're the one who knows it first." He lifted her chin, turned her eyes back to his. "Can you do that for us? Just for a little while?" Kanaria looked up at him. "I understand, and I trust you, all of you…." He kissed her, soft and swift, his hand running through her hair. She shivered and, after what seemed like an eternity, he pulled back a touch, caught his breath, and whispered. "One sun soon, one of us'll come to you. Might be me. Might be Mikh'a. Might even be Adin, damn him. That's when you'll have to act. That's when you'll need to end him. Bait him, flush him out, throw him out the doors, make him leave you in peace. Understand? Not yet. But soon. When we come t'you." Osric looked into her eyes. There was a brief moment in which he thought he could make out his emerald eyes in her lavender… and then the moment passed as she set her jaw and nodded to him. "Of course... but for now... will you stay with me tonight?" "Aye. I'm plannin' on stayin' for a few suns, at least. Spriggan missed her mother… hells, I missed her mother.". "I've missed all of you." She hugged him close. "Mind if we go now? I'd love to cuddle up with the both of you… fall asleep in a warm, comfy bed…." He barked a laugh as he offered her a hand. "Course! Up you go, then." "Mm. Thank you love." He rose to his own feet after her, and there came that familiar brush of warmth, that voice inside his head…. "I love you." "I love you, too." A dull ache, intruding upon his thoughts. The stones slipped out from beneath his feet as the world twisted and turned over onto itself. Sharp pain. Red… then black. An image… a scene, unbidden… Mikh'a, atop a table in a dim-lit room. Osric's voice drifting in from just out of sight.... "You're askin' me to hide this from Kanaria, if I even can. She might forgive me for tryin' t'keep her safe... but she'll rip into you for this." He fell silent. Of course he fell silent. This was Korofi’s turn to speak. Mikh'a's expression.... sour. Mikh’a’s voice… serious. "If the price to pay to protect all of us from Jin'li is her hating me, then so be it. But this is just as much for her as it is everyone else. There is too much at stake. If this works, then it will be worth any anger anyone might theoretically have. The benefits of this going off without any issue far outweigh what should be a brief bout of anger over secret keeping.” The calico’s eyes… narrowed. “He. Lives. In. Her. Head.” Forceful enunciation… frustrated tone. "We cannot risk this!" The hard press of solid stonework against his back… he clutched at his forehead, at his temples, teeth grinding against one another until the red receded. When he could see again…. What he saw took his breath away, though not in the usual way. This was less the vision of strength and beauty he’d grown accustomed to, and more a vision of fear, pain, and loss. Kanaria stood before him, her hands holding him steady. Confusion was in her eyes… as were tears, welled up, yet to be shed. Her lips were somewhat parted, and whatever question had been weighing her down and gracing the tip of her tongue vanished into thin air, and what came out instead was-- “Ossy…?” He experienced a moment of panic… then he drove out each and every thought. A new slate. Fresh. Warm. Blank. “I’m fine, I’m fine… I think… what…?” He blinked. “...to the Knight, right? Don’t know why I just lost m’footing there.” He smiled for her, and she returned the gesture, stepping to his side to take him by the arm. “N-no….” Damnation. She still sounded concerned. “Em has a room for us at his place.” “Oh… oh, right! Thought I was goin’ to have t’fetch Spriggan. Alright, then. Onward!” He tried to look as jovial and confident and carefree as he ought to have been. Difficult. He tried to think of anything but his half-hearted deception. Impossible. He knew… for certain, he knew… that she hadn’t intended to look. That what may or may not have passed between them just now had been an accident, a mishap. That didn’t keep him from wondering whether or not the Spinner might have had a hand in tonight’s affairs. That was a minor concern, though. The thought that ran through his head over and over and over again was.... I hate this.

Oh, yes, please and thank you for the chance! References below.