Final Fantasy 14: Healing Class Tier List

Updated July 12, 2021, by Andrea Shearon: With the reveal of Sage earlier this year, players that are newer to Final Fantasy 14 and healing may be a little conflicted on how to proceed since Endwalker is just on the horizon. We've made some minor adjustments to this guide to reflect how healers perform as of patch 5.5, including some general guidelines and tips that should prove handy regardless of the class you choose. If you're holding out for Sage, healing fundamentals still shouldn't change much, so now is a great time to prepare for the next new healing job.

Final Fantasy 14 is packed full of DPS jobs, but as of Shadowbringers, there are still only three healers. They've each had times to shine and low periods through years of buffs and nerfs, so we're going to establish the FF14 healing job tier list as of patch 5.5, Death Unto Dawn, to help you decide which playstyle is best for you.

Before diving in, it's important to understand that no healing class is unviable, even in the game's hardest content. It doesn't matter if you plan to work your way towards doing Ultimate Raids, Savage Raids, or just dungeons, every healer in FF14 will get the job done. The only important thing to understand is that going into eight-man content, like raids, will mean you need diversity in party composition. So, if you plan on playing with your best friend and you want to go Scholar, but they're also a Scholar, perhaps choose one of the other two.

#1 – Astrologian

If you're interested in mastering the undisputed best during Shadowbringers, then go Astrologian – our number one on this tier list. After a rocky launch way back in early Heavensward, Square Enix smoothed out the problems with the last healing class added and they've reigned supreme ever since.

Astrologians are so beloved mostly because the class isn't greedy in the slightest, as they carry raid-wide utility that gives your party big damage buffs in the form of cards. Those cards, if applied right, can result in competitive speed clears of formidable bosses in FF14. Their entire kit revolves around juggling those cards perfectly, healing their allies, and doing individual DPS themselves. This also leaves them in the hardest position of the three, and they're often regarded as requiring the highest skill to play.

They synergize well with any group, but Astrologians also have the unique ability to swap between two different stances – Diurnal Sect and Nocturnal Sect. Those stances give them the ability to either cast regens or shields with their skills, making them more like a White Mage or Scholar depending on your Sect. You can swap between these stances depending on what role your cohealer is playing, making Astrologians ready to fulfill whatever needs their party may have. Don't get too accustomed to this playstyle, though. In Endwalker, Astrologians will become a pure healing class and lose their shield abilities, bringing them more in tune with White Mage.

If you're up for a challenge, and you feel like you can engage in the additional micromanagement Astrologian requires, pick the globe-using healer. Even if they were useless, those neat weapons should earn them the top spot anyway.

#2 – White Mage

The cane-wielding, classic Final Fantasy role has had a rough journey to number two on the list. While they've always been viable, FF14 saw long periods of time where White Mage felt a little lost. Now, in Shadowbringers, White Mage is the king of personal healer DPS with intense burst that shames the other two while their regens tick away.

Right now, it doesn't matter that White Mage has no real utility in the form of buffs like Astrologian's cards or Scholar's Chain Strategem, they do so much personal DPS they make up for it. White Mage is straightforward and has no additional components to heavily micromanage like a fairy or cards, but that's also part of the fun in playing. As a White Mage, think of yourself as a DPS just masquerading around as a healer. They're a blast in dungeons, where their AOE attack, Holy, stuns and deals massive blows to enemy health that will take them out before your actual DPS party members have the chance.

White Mages rely on regens and a few instant casts to restore HP to their party. Benediction, the best instant, single target heal in the game, can single-handedly save any doomed tank faster than a Scholar or Astrologian. Have a silly Dark Knight about to die from Living Dead? Just cast Bene!

And again, while everything is viable, White Mages are still regarded as one of the more desired of the three classes. They don't contribute much in terms of buffs, but a good one means they're cranking out personal DPS that makes up for it. White Mages are the easiest to pick up of the three with straightforward abilities, simple rotations, and minimal extra worries. If you're interested in jumping into something you can quickly pick up and put down, try White Mage.

#3 – Scholar

Bringing in the rear is FF14's fairy healer, Scholar. The class certainly isn't a bad one, they just may not shine quite as easily as they used to. That's a good thing though! In patches prior, Scholar felt like an end-game must-have for most parties and left others in the dust. It could probably stand a little love, but it's in a much more fair position now than it has been in over the last few years.

Scholar is one of the two healing classes that launched with FF14. They rely heavily upon their fairies, Eos or Selene depending on your preference, to cast regens and provide additional buffs to healing magic potency. The class is also shield-focused, so they don't have as many regen options at their disposal, and instead cast abilities before boss damage goes out to make sure the party is protected.

There's also plenty of instant casts at a Scholar's disposal, and while all three classes do have instant abilities, Scholar's other gimmick before the others was always relying more heavily on instant-cast (OGCD) healing than the others. Mitigating damage through shields and proper management of their fairy on the field gives Scholar an additional layer of complexity like Astrologian, but still not quite as hard. They also bring a damage buff to fights in the form of Chain Strategem, making them a little more of a team player and less focused on individual DPS.

If you're not sure about trying something as hard as Astrologian, but feel you may need a little step up from White Mage, Scholar is a great place to begin. Their Fairy isn't as hard to manage as it was in previous patches, but keeping up with Eos on the field and making sure she's healing the right people is still important. They may not be on top, but they're still an excellent pick and do well in all content.

General Tips

Like mentioned earlier, every healer in FF14 is viable, and you shouldn't put too much weight into any tier list. There have been times in the past where some of these classes were wildly out of balance, but that largely hasn't been the case in Shadowbringers. Regardless of which you choose, there are still a few healing guidelines you should try to keep in mind while you learn, some of which include overlap with other jobs.

Remember your ABCs – And by ABCs, I mean Always Be Casting. That's one to keep in mind for whatever you're playing, but some new healers fall into the trap of only healing. In FF14, that's not your only job. A good healer will also maximize their DPS output, securing faster kills for the group. If you've cast a regen on the tank and they're fine, use your main DPS ability like Glare or Broil, while whatever damage over time (DOT) ability you have ticks.
Weave, weave, weave – What do we mean when we say weave? In FF14, you have something called global cooldowns (GCD) and off global cooldowns (OGCD). A GCD is anything with a timer and your OGCDs are instant. In the 2.5 seconds you have between GCDs, you should weave in your instants. If I'm a White Mage, I can cast Glare and use Benediction between casts. That means I'm making the best use of my time and making sure to keep dishing out damage to the boss.
Beware of overhealing – As you look to improve your persona DPS, it's time to stop backing off on the heals. If your tank is at 80% HP and there's no tank buster coming up, ignore them. Regens or instances like Excog from a Scholar are easy ways to drop heals on your tanks and forget them, there's no need to cast a GCD heal when they're not in any danger. That heal could've been another cast from your DPS kit, just don't get too greedy.
Watch your cooldowns – Some are quite long, so it's good to be cognizant of finite resources. For moves like Benediction, you have to watch three minutes before it's useful again, but make sure you are using it. If the fight is 12 minutes long and you only used Bene once at the very end, ignoring a use towards the beginning, that's a valuable, wasted OGCD that could have prevented someone else from wasting a heal.
Be mindful of positioning – This is for you and your party, but take care to watch for who is around when casting raid-wide heals. All of your healers have great AOE options, but Eos' Whispering Dawn isn't gonna do you any good if you've used it when half of the party is on the other side of the map. Make sure your entire team is within range, or you're wasting a cast.