Don't be afraid of Mystics in FF.

Namari - Dreamweaver

I don't trust myself to be sole healer in a squad (although I have done it on a bh79 at level 85, and it went well despite me not realizing initially that I'd be playing cleric -.-;). I naturally have a horrible reaction time, so if aggro switches, I'm left scrambling, then I feel guilty when someone dies.

Is it possible for a mystic to be sole healer? Sure, just depends on their own skill. And even if I felt confident about my own skill, I'd still wait up for a cleric. Because their buffs are just too damn sexy to give up.

RosangeIa - Heavens Tear

Heh wow, didn't really expect this to generate so much conversation. I think it's good to put all of it out there, though.

Anyway I just wanted to clarify that I would never dream of replacing a cleric. I already played one for 2 years and I switch things up to do something different. lol... I have a veno too and I don't feel a Mystic could replace them, either.

Just, in some situations a Mystic can do the job. But yes, it does depend a lot on the entire squad's competency. I'm sorry there are so many fail Mystics out there, I hadn't quite realized it. I don't usually find another Mystic in squads for FF, and the very few times I did, they also knew what they were doing (and we had no cleric then either).

Also to whomever was complaining about the res buff experience loss difference, if a Mystic has Sage Resurrect, the exp loss is reduced by 95% which is better than a cleric's level 10, and only slightly worse than Sage/Demon Cleric Res. But I said that earlier. I just need people to get their damn facts straight before they go on to say we can't do certain things. Also, there's a 25% chance on Sage Break in the Clouds for a purify so to say we don't have purify at our disposal isn't quite true. Problem is I see so many Mystics going Demon (probably for DD reasons?), so they don't quite have the exact same skills. They do have a purify on AOE healing, I remember that much. Their Resurrect however still has the 80% exp reduction far as I know, you are just revived with 100% HP/MP. I went Sage primarily because I've always been more a support type player, I like taking care of people, and the skills I liked best were on Sage. So I don't want to turn this into a Demon/Sage war, because I'm sure both are good. I just have my reasons for going Sage is all.

I'm also starting to realize that actually taking the time to play the class and learn it plays a big part. You might laugh and think "well duh", but look at how many usually don't. So many toons are plvl'd now, even long-time players sometimes **** up but I would hope I could trust them behind a new character more than a newbie who just plvl'd by way of friends or some such. Granted I did plvl Rosa here from 70+ until I could do FF in squads at 80. I don't think it's a problem as long as you are completely comfortable with all the skills given to you and you know where to use them. Granted if I went to Mystic from playing a BM or something I might not get it but I think the experience playing a Cleric for a few years really does help in the long run.

Anyway guess all I'm saying overall is, no Mystic can ever completely replace a Cleric in a squad. I'm talking here specifically for FF runs. I honestly don't think I could keep up in Nirvana for instance using a Mystic (mostly due to the fact that I think they changed things in Nirvana since I last ran..). Also, I had to live with countless QQ'ing when I'd run Nirvy on my cleric because people would do stupid **** and get killed. I'd res them and have to listen to QQ about my level 10 res. Back then Revive was expensive as hell in AH, 20mil was considered a lot to me. and I think the price was even higher back then. Now, if I returned to my cleric I could afford Revive quite easily but I have no desire to go back. I love the class, but it gets way too stressful when people blame YOU for their stupidity. You can't fix stupid. Anyway my point is, of course Mystics can't replace Clerics, but don't be completely closed minded to the idea. There are too many fail clerics out there for the same reasons there are more and more fail of every class right now, it's mostly due to too people not taking the time to learn what they're capable of.

I don't just blame the insane EXP rate BH provides through the lower levels but also Power Leveling to a point. Even BHs aren't completely up to the squad as I noticed when I was working on Rosa. More often than not, a high level main of one of the characters in squad ends up solo'ing the entire dungeon lol... So inexperienced players who are perhaps new to the game or new to the type of class they're playing wont get that teamwork experience they need which is a shame. All your quests which you can pretty much ignore these days are also out the window. I don't even see people running TT that much anymore. Where exactly are they getting the experience as a player that they need? Not everyone can pick up the class in the snap of their fingers.

Anyway, long post. Sorry. >.>;

ReMakaBo - Archosaur

Most people post 90, could pretty much charm/crab tank FC, so why would people actually fear a mystic's heals?

JanusZeal - Heavens Tear

I've done FF's with Mystics being the only healer on my Barb (18K HP at 98), lowbie BM, and 2nd veno (92), quite a few hundred without Mystics, and I don't really see the point of a Mystic being the only healer overall. The main reason to bring a Mystic is if you don't need the special type of healing and constant purifying that a Cleric has. The other factors vary quite substantially.

The only squads I was in where we had a Mystic and didn't die often, it was mainly 4+ APS characters sparking so much on Fragrance the Mystic heals kept them alive. I've done "ok" on Fragrance with my barb having only a Mystic since Fragrance's armor break does not completely wipe out my barb's physical defense, unlike sin/archer and in some cases BM depending on marrows or selection of armor/ornaments or human form barb, and the Mystic's magic attack made their heals quite strong, not so strong in the 80s.

Having a Mystic as an only healer is NOT a good idea for most squads, especially given most squads are random and random = (rightfully) assume most players are morons and go the safer route.

In the high 70s/low 80s/high 80s, Cleric buffs are vital for decently large pulls especially on magic mobs and Shocktrooper for barbs/bm/seekers/archers/sins. Secondly, Cleric buffs are also vital for the same level range on physical defense, for AOE's, Dragoons, Big Room, Fragrance, Dreadindra+bishops for squishies, and also BB for the sake of Holeen and reduced damage from follow-up damage to initial "Reign of Frost" AOE+ BB heal.

So to reiterate, while it's possible to run Mystics as the sole healer, whether or not it's a good idea is something else entirely. I have yet to run into a case where I was purified by a Mystic (despite supposed skill that do so), since it's been mentioned a few times.

Chickpea - Lost City

Healing on a Mystic needs more skill than doing it on a Cleric, so i can understand if people are hesitating to invite one. Or thats what i noticed when i tried the class, only got to 8X tho and got bored.

Mystics are over all way more complicated to play inside instances compared to a nub Clerics that can get by and keep everyone alive using 2 heals and BB.

I would not invite a Mystics as healer in FCC unless i knew that the player was decent at supporting. Biggest issue in FCC with a Mystic is the lack of BB in exp room. To replace the Cleric as a Mystics you need to have those healing plants and AOE heals maxed out. Sadly to many Mystics thinks they're replacing the Veno or something stupid and haven't even bothered to explore their healing potential.

The class can definitely solo heal pretty much any instance, but its to worth the risk when its played by a FCC-nub.

Selvyn - Raging Tide

Just a few pointers as to whether a mystic is going to be competent in a FC squad..

An early sign of a competent mystic would be the magic pull before Shocktrooper, Since it requires good timing on the mystic's part with salvation, vital herb and BitC (possibly healing herb too if its maxed), If this goes well then this should also be an indicator. Obviously on any pull you may or may not have someone who miss-times something and they can potentially die, but you can't really blame the mystic for that because that can happen with a cleric BBing.

The semi big pull (the one between bishop boss and slasher involving the sin/rock pull, blah blah) is actually harder to do than the final EXP room pull, so if you do find yourself with a competent mystic who can keep the squad alive on this semi big pull, then there should be no problems on the final pull either.


This is just from my experience in solo healing on FCs, those pulls are particularly hard to do so if you're in a squad with a mystic only just look out for this sorta thing. Also in my experience if a Seeker is pulling and a I'm healing it tends to run more smoothly then it would with a barb, though it does depend on the barb/seeker.

Hope this helps and its not just me babbling and just pointing out the obvious...

Xarathox - Dreamweaver

I learned first hand the power of mystics, when during a full Delta run a few weeks ago our cleric D/C'd from wave 5 to wave 9, and we didn't miss a beat. No Deaths. No problems. Just pure epicness.

Also, that one summon that ignores a lvl [?] mob's defense modifier? ****ing win. Old school squads used to take nearly the full 3 hours to finish a Delta, but mystics literally shave that time down to 2.15 hours.

I won't do a full Delta without a mystic ever again.