Why Stoneskin?

This is rather funny and yet is a serious business at the same time, so after thinking about it, I’d like to share my thoughts here.

Today I went out with real life friends who happen to play FFXIV on Tonberry. One of them mentioned playing WHM in a DF with stranger tank and getting asked (or more like criticized on) how she’s using Stoneskin too often, and getting told that it is a WASTE OF MP.

EXCUSE ME!

The question instantly made me frown and be ready to flip.

If one is just curious and asks why we, some WHM, if not most, like to use Stoneskin THAT much, I wouldn’t mind, and would gladly explain. But when it comes with negative notion, or saying it’s a waste, I’m ready to fume.

But I’ll try to stay civil here.

First off, Stoneskin, unlike Regen or Medica II, does not create any enmity when pre-applied. That is, if we use Stoneskin on a tank, then, when tank runs into a group of enemies, an enemy yet unclaimed by the tank won’t glare at us like “Oh this healer had already put a buff on this guy, I better kill her first.” So Stoneskin is a nice buff to have on the tank, or everyone, before the fight starts. Why? It absorbs a chunk of HP damage, equals to 10% of HP of the person whom we cast it on. So, let’s say if a tank has 30,000 HP, this Stoneskin will shield the tank for 3,000 HP damage.

Secondly, that 10% HP shield will buy us some time, at least for a few seconds. It is very useful when tank is making a long (large) pull, where the party doesn’t stop to deal with one group of enemies, but keeps moving forward for the 2nd or 3rd group of enemies before gathering them for AoE kill. While running, ideally, a healer MUST NOT Regen and shouldn’t cure the tank, because Regen will instantly pull enmity to the healer when they link or see the tank and aggro tank without claiming. And since the party is still running forward, casting Cure is kind of out of practice. Landing a Cure can also pull enmity if the tank hasn’t secured enmity on all of the enemies yet. Pulling aggro off the tank while running for a long pull can mess up the battle and may cause death. In this scenario, pre-cast Stoneskin is the best option for the healer. Sometimes if the Stoneskin wears off mid-pull, and if I see that the tank had already claimed all the current mobs, I will even Swiftcast Stoneskin before we reach the next enemy to refill the shield. This way I can start the fight with (Cleric Stance) Aero III or Holy instead of cure bombing the tank when we arrive at the destination.

Thirdly, although Stoneskin, at level 60, consumes 884 MP, while Cure only consumes 442 MP yet can heal about 3800 HP (testing at 1168 Cure Potency) non-critical. This may make Stoneskin inferior to Cure in term of MP efficiency in mid-battle situation. However, there are circumstances when spending 884 MP on Stoneskin is far more favorable. One of those circumstances is when we are on Cleric Stance mode. In Cleric Stance, my Cure (442 MP) can only do about 600 HP. Whereas Stoneskin still shields the same amount of HP (10% of max HP of the target person). Yes, Stoneskin isn’t affected by the Cure Potency penalty (switch) from Cleric Stance. If we’re nuking, on Cleric Stance, using Stoneskin is not just more proficient, but also more sensible and natural, as it does not require the WHM to switch off Cleric Stance to maximize the MP-efficiency of spell.

As for my own application of Stoneskin, I like to cast Stoneskin on tank (or myself, depending on the situation) in between my Holies, especially after first Holy, because spamming 2nd Holy immediately after the 1st will just nullify the Stun effect (yet still chips down the number of Stun we can do before fully resisted, if I’m, not mistaken). Sneaking Stoneskin (or Aero III instead, if applicable) will help me delay my casting long enough to finish 2nd Holy right after the first stun effect on enemies wear off.

Also, alongside Medica II and Regen (and perhaps an Asylum, if needed), a Stoneskin will usually make the tank recover HP in the middle of the horde of enemies, instead of losing it, which allows the WHM to leave the tank unattended even longer. We can use that duration to take care of other shit, be it a debuff that needs Esuna, or a DPS needing a Cure (I usually just throw them a Regen if thay aren’t taking more/continuous damage), or someone needs a Raise, or for me to run out of AoE range, etc. This, mind you, can be done without the hassle of switching Cleric Stance off, whereas utilizing Cure or Cure II will require us to do so.

My static tank used to tell me sorry for not standing still or stopping before running out of range when I cast Stoneskin. I said it’s fine. Then he said he’s glad I’m not mad at him, but he has a reason. If he stopped or stayed for every Stoneskin I cast on him, we could waste about 5 minutes through out the dungeon. XD So, I started to time my Stoneskin better. I aim to cast it right before the last enemy of the group die, so that the party can immediately go on for next pull. He never questioned me why I use Stoneskin that much, nor did he tell me it’s a waste of MP. And tell you what, to me, Stoneskin is something special. When I cast it on my tank, it is the collaboration between the healer and the tank (spell target) because it does not rely on MY stats, but the tank’s stat – Max HP. It is the reflection of the tank’s HP pool, not my MND or my Cure Potency. So when I cast it on a tank with 38k HP, that’s a WOW. 3800 HP free damage shield where I won’t have to cast a cure for!

And no, that does not mean we do spam Stoneskin all the time during battle in place of Cure. As I said, we are aware that it uses double the amount of MP required for Cure, so it has different application and is used in specific circumstances.