Patch 6.3 of Final Fantasy XIV added a lot of new content to the game, including some tweaks and changes to the battle jobs as a whole. This includes the healers, who are currently composed of two regen healers and two barrier healers.
Tier lists do not always imply that lower-tier healer jobs are unplayable while higher-tier healer jobs are required in every raid scenario. This tier list only serves to show which healers perform the best in the current raid tier based on their kit.
Because there are currently only four healers available in the game, this article will only include two tier lists. This is due to the limited number of healer jobs available, as well as the fact that there is little to no power creep between healers. Without further ado, let's get started with the tier lists and the jobs that go with them.
S Tier
The S Tier Healers are the best healers available right now. Healers in the S Rank tier have insane MP regeneration value, allowing them to cast more heals and spells and making them ideal for progging end-game content, where mistakes are common and deaths are common. Because of their excellent MP management and powerful oGCD heals that do not require them to spend MP, healers in this tier have an easier time resurrecting players or recovering from deaths.
Astrologian: 95/100
Sage: 92/100
A Tier
The A Tier healers are the second tier healers that are currently available in this game. While still very good healers with regeneration or shields, these healers have much more difficult MP management, making recovering from deaths or mistakes that much more difficult.
White Mage: 88/100
Scholar: 85/100
1. Astrologian ( S - Tier )
The seeker of the stars, Astrologian.
The first regen healer to appear on this list is Astrologian. Before the arrival of Sage, they were introduced in the Heavensward expansion as a healer who could regenerate as well as shield heal.
Astrologian is currently the best regen healer a player can use. Prior to the arrival of Sage, they were introduced as a healer who could regenerate as well as shield heal in the Heavensward expansion. less about running out of MP to heal. Astrologians are also excellent support healers who can boost the stats of their teammates.
Astrologian is an S-tier healer for the following reasons:
- First and foremost, Astrologians are well-known for their MP management system. This is because, in addition to the Lucid Dreaming ability that all healers and casters have, Astrologian have their own abilities and skills that can aid in MP recovery.
- Astrologians can recover their MP by drawing their cards. They will restore 5% of their maximum MP, which is always 10,000, every time they use the normal draw ability.
- Astrologians can use Astrodyne after collecting three cards. The Astrologian will receive more buffs based on how many different seals they have. One of the buffs that only requires one different seal will gradually restore the Astrologian's own MP with 50 potency.
- Furthermore, Astrologians have a variety of abilities that can help buff up their teammates and speed up the fight. This is due to the fact that Astrologian's buffs can help boost their teammate's damage output and stats.
- Divination is one of these abilities, which increases damage dealt by the Astrologian and nearby party members by 6% for 15 seconds.
- Astrologians can also deal cards to boost the stats of their party members. The Balance, Arrow, and Spear will increase melee DPS and tank damage by 6% and physical and magical ranged DPS and healers by 3%. Meanwhile, The Bole, The Ewer, and The Spire will increase Physical & Magical ranged DPS and healers' damage by 6%, and Melee DPS and Tanks' damage by 3%.
2. Sage ( S - Tier )
Sages can easily deal damage while healing at the same time!
Sage may have less barrier strength than Scholar, the original barrier healer, but Sage has much more to offer than shields. Sage, despite being a barrier healer, also has a lot of regeneration heals. This means that sage can also significantly aid in healing. Sages are also very good at managing MP, which makes it easier for their party members to stay alive.
Sage is an S-tier healer for the following reasons:
- To begin with, Sages has excellent MP management. This allows a Sage to cast more offensive spells as well as more heals, allowing the Sage to increase the health and shields of their party members.
- Sages can recover MP through Lucid Dreaming and have some abilities that only Sages have. Healing abilities such as Ixochole, Druochole, Kerachole, and Taurochole will all restore 7% of the Sage's maximum HP.
- Furthermore, Sage is known as a healer who can heal while dealing damage. Sage can use Kardia on a specific party member, usually the Main Tank. Kardia on the Tank will heal the Tank from Dosis, Pneuma, Phlegma, Dyskrasia, and Toxikon every time the Sage casts an offensive spell.
- Sage will be able to deal a lot of damage while also healing as a result of this. This is especially important because Main Tanks typically take a lot of damage from taking aggro from enemies, whether in dungeons or raids.
- Sages have a lot of oGCD heals as well. oGCD heals can be used when Sage is off-cooldown without using any MP, improving Sage's MP management even more. Not to mention that these oGCD heals are extremely powerful and can quickly shield and heal their allies. Panhaima, Holos, Physis II, Haima, Ixochole, Kerachole, and many others are among them.
3. White Mage ( A - Tier )
White Mage are also known as "pure healers" due to the simplicity of their rotations.
In Final Fantasy XIV, the White Mage is known as the OG Regen healer. It is also the only healer class available to players at the start of FFXIV.
Some of the most powerful regen healing comes from the White Mage. This can help their party members' HP a lot. The White Mage's main weakness is that they have fewer oGCD heals than other healers, forcing them to sacrifice damage when they need to heal a lot.
White Mage is an A-Tier healer for the following reasons:
- White Mage is a regen healer who can significantly increase the HP of their party members in a short period of time. This will help a lot in the end-game tier, when mistakes are bound to happen and players will take more damage with less gear, requiring healers to do a lot more healing.
- Some of the White Mage's most powerful healing spells and abilities demonstrate this. Benediction is a healing ability that can instantly restore a selected party member's HP to full, which is especially useful for Tankbusters and dying party members.
- Medica II is also a very powerful AoE healing spell that restores the White Mage's and their party members' HP by 250 cure potency and adds a 15-second regen with 150 cure potency.
- White Mage is still on A-Tier despite having lower MP management than Sage and Astrologian because their MP management has improved significantly since the Endwalker expansion.
- To begin with, the MP cost of casting certain healing and offensive spells such as Glare and Dia has been reduced. White Mages will now only need 400 MP to cast Holy and Glare, significantly reducing their MP usage.
- Also, they have made Thin Air better. It can now hold up to two charges and recharges every 60 seconds. This means that White Mages can cast free spells that heal or bring back the dead every minute.
4. Scholar ( A - Tier )
Scholars can summon their fairies, who can help heal their allies.
While White Mages are the original Regen healer in FFXIV, Scholar will be the original Shield healer. These two healer jobs, along with White Mages, have been available since the beginning of A Realm Reborn, though Scholars must first start as an Arcanist, a DPS battle job.
Scholars still have some of the strongest healing shields in the game, which makes them more deserving of being in the A - Tier rather than B or C tier because their shields alone can significantly increase the survivability of their teammates.
Scholar is an A - tier healer for the following reasons:
- Scholars have less MP management optimization than White Mages, despite having stronger shields than Sage. With the release of the Endwalker expansion, Scholar's only source of MP recovery other than Lucid Dreaming is Aetherflow, an ability that grants 3 stacks of Aetherflow Gauge and recovers 20% of maximum MP.
- While Aetherflow recovery sounds promising, it can only be used once every 60 seconds. And, with no other spells or abilities to help them recover their MP, it may become difficult to recover their MP, particularly for a beginner healer who tends to spam healing spells a lot, or a prog party where a lot of healing and resurrecting is required.
- However, because of the number of shields they have under their belt, they are still an excellent shield healer. Summon Seraph and Consolation by themselves can heal and shield the party members twice.
- Furthermore, with the release of the Endwalker expansion, they gain a new ability called Expedient, which reduces damage taken by 10% and increases movement speed by 10%. This ability alone is extremely useful because it allows party members to move quickly to their positions without having to sprint, which is essential for high-end raids.
- Scholar is also the only healer with the ability to debuff the raid's enemy or boss. This ability is known as Chain Stratagem, and it increases the target's critical hit rate by 10%. This increases the Scholar's and their party members' chances of landing a critical hit on the boss, allowing them to deal even more damage in the raid.
