S Tier Healers
Even in the rapid fire world of Magicite and Mote dungeons, healing plays a broad role in how people construct their teams. While healing is necessary for many teams for a great deal of players, the speedy nature of FFRK’s current challenges ask us to expect more from our healers.
There are many healers that provide a sufficient amount of heals to tackle all levels of content in the game and those are featured heavily in the A and B tiers, but for the S Tier I ask for more than just healing, because I know there are healers out there that can benefit the party in other ways while they keep the party alive. These characters allow you to squeeze extra value out of a slot that you may be bringing to almost all, if not every, group for the hardest content in the game.
Sarah (FFI)
Ability Schools: White Magic 6, Bard 6
Estimated Date Activated: Jan. or Feb., 2018
Record Spheres: WHT Healing +12%
Legend Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, Minor+Moderate Silence Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Kind-Hearted Princess”
WHT abilities restore 15% more HP, LM2“Beloved Princess”
35% chance to dualcast White Magic abilities, LMR“Song for Those Who Fight”
25% chance to cast a group heal (25) after using a Bard ability
Notable Abilities: Ultra Cure, Curada, Allegro con Moto
Miscellaneous Notes: BSB +Holy Robe
Signature Soul Breaks
BSB “Age-old Hymn”
Restores HP (55) and grants Magical Blink 1 to all allies, RES and MND +30% to the user for 25 seconds, grants Haste and Burst Mode to the user
USB “Warrior’s Song”
ATK and MAG +30% to all allies for 25 seconds, grants Haste, Shell and HP Stock (2000) to all allies
This bit character from FFI is one of the two bard healers on this list. Having access to Bard 6 gives her access to one of the more powerful utility abilities in the game, Allegro con Moto“Allegro con Moto”
Grants Magical Quick Cast 3
“Magical Quick Cast 3”
Cast speed x2,00 for BLK, WHT, BLU, SUM or NAT attacks that deal magical damage, lasts for 3 turns. From here, Sarah would only need to be a competent enough healer to allow her to assist mage teams in a huge way. As it turns out, she’s up to the task and throws in a powerful buffing USB while she’s at it. Thanks to her top-of-the-class Legend Dive, she mixes potent healing and buffing into one of the best value packages that a healer can offer.
Relm (FFVI)
Ability Schools: Black Magic 3, White Magic 6, Summoning 4
Estimated Date Activated: Current
Record Spheres: WHT Healing +9%
Legend Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, Minor+Moderate Silence Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Divine Pictomancer”
WHT abilities restore 15% more HP, LM2“Cat-eared Pictomancer”
Reduces damage taken by Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Wind, Water, Holy, Dark and Poison attacks by 15%, LMR“Wondrous Hues”
27% chance to grant Magical Blink 1 to the target after using a single-target White Magic ability that restores HP on an ally
Notable Abilities: Ultra Cure, Curada
Miscellaneous Notes: No Light Armor
Signature Soul Breaks:
BSB “Star Prism”
Three group Holy/NE attacks (3,13 each), restores HP (55) and grants Last Stand“Last Stand [ID:261]”
Prevents KO once, restoring HP for 1% maximum HP to all allies, grants Haste and Burst Mode to the user
Command 1: Instant, Restores HP (105)
Command 2: Restores HP (25) to all allies
USB “Divine Portrait”
Instant, Restores HP (85), grants Stoneskin 30%“Stoneskin 30%” [ID:265]
Reduces damage taken to 0, up to an amount of damage equal to 30% of the character’s maximum HP, and Instant Cast 1 to all allies
The sassy painter from Thamasa is a different breed of healer from the bards. Relm’s primary boon to a party lay in her provision of Instant Cast to the party with her USB. This immensely powerful effect makes everything better. Anything characters do benefit from more speed, even if you don’t subscribe to the speed clearing high end content.
Some healers can struggle to keep a team maintained without a BSB for on-demend medicas. Where Sarah uses her 35% dualcasting LM2 to overcome that issue, Relm instead uses the Stoneskin 30% from the USB and the instant action she grants herself.
As a side benefit, Relm is one of two healers in the game with a BSB that provides Last Stand, a great status that defeats many mechanics in single player fights, and more often, multi-player raiding.
Relm’s lack of a good Legend Dive is viewed by some as an advantage since they’re not tempted to spend Legend Motes they would rather save for damage dealing mages. Personally, I’ll take a good one rather than bad, but it speaks to Relm’s strength with her USB that I consider her worthy of this tier with a bad one.
Eiko (FFIX)
Ability Schools: White Magic 6, Summoning 6, Bard 5
Estimated Date Activated: Current
Record Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, SUM Damage +9%, (Record Link: +3% WHT Healing)
Legend Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, Minor+Moderate Silence Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Aspiring Lady”
WHT abilities restore 15% more HP, LM2“Ward of Madain Sari”
Restores HP for 100% of the user’s maximum HP and grants Eiko Trance when HP fall below 20%
“Eiko Trance”
MAG and MND +30%, cast speed x2,00 for 25 seconds, LMR“Homesick Summoner”
25% chance to dualcast White Magic abilities
Notable Abilities: Ultra Cure, Curada
Miscellaneous Notes: None
Signature Soul Breaks
BSB “Prayer of the Lost”
Restores HP (85) and grants Critical Chance 50% to all allies for 25 seconds, grants Haste and Burst Mode to the user
Command 1: Restores HP (105), grants Physical Blink 1
Command 2: Restores HP (25) to all allies
USB “Guardian Mog”
Instant, Restores HP (85), grants Last Stand“Last Stand [ID:261]”
Prevents KO once, restoring HP for 1% maximum HP, and Haste to all allies
Eiko is another mini person that ends up on this list despite being the oddball of the group, having neither access to Bard 6 nor bestowing Instant Cast 1 upon the party with her USB. What she does have is a couple uniquely useful Soul Breaks as well as a potent healing Legend Dive.
Eiko’s USB allows her to promptly clear Slow statuses or recover from a mass Dispel, as well as provide the always useful Last Stand to let you play riskier without being punished for it. Nothing else provides this specific cocktail of benefits and it happens to be quite useful in the approaching 4* Magicite dungeons.
When not providing the utility from her USB, Eiko’s BSB gives her the option of providing a buff unique among healers in Critical Chance 50%. Though the value of this is reduced once we gain access to Onion Knight’s Ninja Mode USB, this can still find a home on teams either without that, or in combination with other physical buffing SBs like Red XIII’s USB.
Tying the room together is Eiko’s LM2 and potentially her LMR which give her the ability to create all the healing throughput needed for the game’s toughest content.
Aphmau (FFXI)
Ability Schools: White Magic 6, Summoning 6, Monk 3
Estimated Date Activated: Current
Record Spheres: WHT Healing +9%
Legend Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, Minor+Moderate Silence Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Caring Puppetmaster”
WHT abilities restore 15% more HP, LM2“Empress of Peace”
Grants Reraise: 80% at the beginning of the battle, grants Dual Blink 1 to the user when Reraise is triggered, LMR“Court Secrets”
25% chance to grant HP Stock (2000) to the target after using a single-target White Magic ability that restores HP on an ally
Notable Abilities: Ultra Cure, Curada
Miscellaneous Notes: None
Signature Soul Breaks
BSB “Realignment”
Restores HP (55) to all allies, MAG and MND +30% to all allies for 25 seconds, grants Haste and Burst Mode to the user
Command 1: Restores HP (60), grants Summon Activate to the user
Command 1 (S): Four single Lightning/NE attacks (2,62 each), restores HP (60) to the lowest HP% ally, removes Summon Activate to the user
Command 2: Restores HP (25) to all allies
Command 2 (S): Two single Lightning/NE attacks (5,14 each), restores HP (25) to all allies
USB “Overdrive”
Instant, Restores HP (85), grants Haste, and Instant Cast 1 to all allies
Aphmau, like Relm, is notable for her poor Legend Dive and party Instant Cast USB. Where she differs elsewhere is with a stat buffing BSB and a subjectively better LMR.
There is a slight, but significant, difference between Aphmau and Relm’s USBs which almost convinced me to leave her off this list. Rather than Stoneskin 30%, Aphmau’s USB provides Haste instead. Were it not for the presence of party Slows and Dispels in the 4* Magicite dungeons, Aphmau’s version would likely be too inferior to allow her to stick around in the highest tier. Those afflictions are real, and so Aphmau earns her spot.
Deuce (FFT0)
Ability Schools: Black Magic 6, White Magic 6, Bard 6
Estimated Date Activated: Current
Record Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, Minor Silence Resist
Legend Spheres: WHT Healing +9%, Minor+Moderate Silence Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Kindred Spirit”
WHT abilities restore 15% more HP, LM2“Dutiful Dynamo”
35% chance to dualcast White Magic abilities, LMR“Eye for Detail”
Increases the duration of stat buffs by 30%
Notable Abilities: Ultra Cure, Curada, Allegro con Moto
Miscellaneous Notes: None
Signature Soul Breaks
BSB “Concerto”
Restores HP (55) to all allies, ATK and MAG +30% to all allies for 25 seconds, grants Haste and Burst Mode to the user
Command 1: Instant, Restores HP (105)
Command 2: Restores HP (25) to all allies
What’s this? A single signature SB? Unfortunately, Deuce got saddled with one of those generic USBs that does some healing but little else of note. She’s still on this list though and that BSB is the reason.
As the only healer in the game with a BSB that provides an offensive buff beneficial to both physical and magical teams, Deuce is a remarkably useful party buffer and with a dualcasting LM2 she doesn’t lag in her healing throughput.
Add in access to Allegro con Moto“Allegro con Moto”
Grants Magical Quick Cast 3
“Magical Quick Cast 3”
Cast speed x2,00 for BLK, WHT, BLU, SUM or NAT attacks that deal magical damage, lasts for 3 turns through Bard 6 and Black Magic 6 for extra versatility, and Deuce is able to specialize in being a mage team healer if needed.
Honorable Mentions
Rosa (FFIV)
Though Rosa doesn’t provide anything but protection and healing to a party, she does so in a special way, by rapid firing Magic Blinks alongside her heals with her USB. In doing so, she can allow the team to skip debilitating mechanics. This can benefit the party’s damage output in its own way, but is easier to reproduce through other means than the ones displayed by the highest tier.
Larsa (FFXII)
Larsa’s Astra“Astra” [ID:594]
Prevents Poison, Silence, Paralyze, Confuse, Slow, Stop, Blind, Sleep, Petrify, Berserk, Sap, Stun and Frozen once. Lasts 25 seconds BSB coupled with his Support 5 access makes him the best healer against negative statuses. The existence of the Unicorn Magicite is essentially the only thing that keeps me from adding Larsa to the S Tier.