Healing in FF14 can be a jarring experience for new players. If you’re coming from another MMO, you might be under the impression that you can just stand around until your teammates need support.
But that definitely isn’t what healing is like in FF14.
Between keeping your teammates alive, adjusting to boss mechanics, and contributing DPS, you have a ton of responsibility when playing a healer.
And this is to say nothing of what you’ll be expected to do when mistakes happen. (Because they will happen, and they’ll be your responsibility to fix).
As you can imagine, players expect a lot from healers in FF14. But if you’re up to the challenge, a little research can go a long way toward helping you succeed.
So we’ve taken the time to compile a healer tier list so you can better understand what each job offers and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Here’s a look at our tier list at a glance:
S Tier: This job has the best tools for recovering health, supporting the group’s DPS, adjusting for boss mechanics, and mitigating against party mistakes.
Astrologian: 93.4/100
A Tier: This job has powerful tools for recovery, DPS, and movement but can really struggle if too many things go wrong.
Scholar: 84.5/100
B Tier: This job has great options to support the group, but they’re just not as good when compared to the competition.
Sage: 71.5/100
C Tier: This job is viable for all content but has major weaknesses that can make endgame content harder than it needs to be.
White Mage: 60.5/100
1. Astrologian (S Tier)
Success is written in the Stars.
Introduced in Heavensward, Astrologian has seen many evolutions over the years. The defining feature of this job is probably the card system, which revolves around drawing from a deck of cards and buffing a single player’s DPS. This happens many times over the course of a fight and definitely adds up - especially in the hands of a skilled player.
As pure healers, Astrologians specialize in burst healing and recovery. While the card system is something of a mess, the job’s tools for handling incoming damage and improving defense are impressive. In addition to being able to buff a group’s DPS, their game-changing heals and fantastic mana regen make for a job that has everything you need to recover from a sticky situation.
What exactly makes Astrologian shine?
- Macrocosmos restores 50% of incoming damage for the entire party, trivializing a number of challenging mechanics
- Many of the Astrologian heals also shield their targets from additional harm, a talent typically reserved for only barrier healers
- Astrologians buff party DPS through their cards and their groupwide buff, Divination
- Astrodyne is a personal buff that has many effects, but most importantly, it gives Astrologians another tool to restore mana
- Lightspeed is a versatile buff that significantly reduces casting time for both offensive and defensive abilities
2. Scholar (A Tier)
Don't be fooled. The fairy is your real healer.
Scholars depend on a combination of intricate battle strategems and their fairy pet in order to keep their teammates safe from harm. These healers tend to require a lot of practice to get the most out of them. But once done, players will find themselves in the driver's seat of one of the strongest and most flexible healing jobs in the game.
Scholars are powerful barrier healers, specializing in stabilizing health rather than restoring it. The biggest challenge with the kit is the design of one of its core features, Aetherflow. When used, Aetherflow gives Scholars three charges they can use for healing or damage.
Healing abilities barred behind this resource are some of the best in the Scholar’s kit. Ideally, you’ll want to use this resource for damage whenever possible. Most of the time, you can, since you never want to overcap this resource.
But it still means that pushing DPS as a Scholar can be riskier than it is for healers who don’t have to choose.
Despite these struggles, Scholar is still an A Tier healer, and here’s why:
- Expedient increases group mitigation and movement speed, making it a fantastic and versatile tool for accommodating mechanics
- Scholars have access to the strongest shield spell in the game
- Scholars can heal over larger distances thanks to their fairy pet
- Scholars can increase group critical chance on a single target using their debuff, Chain Stratagem
- Ruin 2 is an instant cast attack that makes it much easier for Scholars to maintain DPS while moving
3. Sage (B Tier)
The powerhouse healer with all those funny ability names.
Sage is the newest healer introduced to FF14, and as a barrier healer, similar to Scholar.They use special weapons called nouliths in order to channel energy for their magic.
While Sage is unable to buff group DPS, it does boast the highest personal DPS out of all the healers. In addition, most of the Sage’s heals cast instantly, making it easier for them to maintain DPS while healing effectively.
Similar to Scholars, Sages begin to struggle once their bag of tricks has been depleted. What’s worse is that Sages have the weakest basic heals, making it particularly challenging for them to recover from bad mistakes.
Despite this, Sages still make fantastic healers, and here’s why:
- Kardia is a unique Sage buff that will continue to heal its target so long as the Sage maintains DPS
- Eukrasia augments the Sage’s basic heals, causing them to shield their targets and cast instantly
- Icarus allows the Sage to fly to another teammate, making movement slightly easier
- Sages can buff healing potency, recovery, or defense, allowing the Sage to boost the effectiveness of its healing
- Sages are great for healing new tanks since their abilities can compensate for most mistakes
4. White Mage (C Tier)
The Final Fantasy healer that started it all.
White Mages are the classic healers in the Final Fantasy franchise, and in FF14, they effortlessly defend this title by boasting the widest variety of burst healing in the game.
White Mages are powerful healers, but they struggle to compete in raid settings due to being unable to buff party DPS and having the least amount of instant healing options in FF14.
The saving grace has always been their ability to fall back on the strongest basic heals in the game, so long as they have mana. Unfortunately, their mana economy in Endwalker is the worst it’s been in a long time. So while they can still pull a group out of the fire with powerful heals, they begin to struggle much faster than they did in previous expansions.
White Mages are still fantastic healers and perfectly viable for all content. Consider these reasons for picking up White Mage if you’re interested in healing:
- White Mage is the easiest job to pick up and learn
- It can be easier to recover from mistakes since your basic heals are extremely effective
- White Mages are great in dungeons since their AoE spell, Holy, can stun targets
- Presence of Mind is a great buff for offense and defense since it causes the White Mage to cast much faster
- Benediction is one of White Mage’s signature abilities, allowing them to instantly heal a single party member to full
