The information below is presented as a gathering of information designed to help WHMs on the intricacies of using Cure 2 over Cure 1.
FFXIV does not currently do a good job showcasing this, and it's easy to understand why a WHM might think Cure 1 is the right option.
However, for the various reasons below, Cure 2 is always better to use than Cure 1. This is a WHM problem that hopefully Squenix addresses someday. Until then...
TL;DR
Once you unlock Cure II at level 30, you should always use it instead of Cure I.
Cure II heals for 700 potency and is the better choice in almost every situation.
Use Cure II. Don’t use Cure I just to save MP or try for Freecure procs.
Simple Explanation
Cure 2 heals more per cast compared to Cure 1, which means you can restore health with fewer casts.
Cure 1 heals for 450 potency per cast.
Cure 2 heals for 700 potency per cast.
Because Cure 2 heals more per cast, you spend less time healing and more time dealing damage.
Using Cure 2 allows you to heal your party members quicker, giving you more opportunities to contribute to damage output.
Let’s break down the potency over a more realistic dungeon scenario to see why Cure 2 is more effective:
Example Scenario: Healing a Tank During Dungeon Pulls
When tanking in a dungeon, a common scenario is the tank pulling multiple groups of enemies Wall2Wall. During these pulls, the tank takes steady damage and needs to be kept alive while also dealing damage:
Cure 1: Heals for 450 potency per cast. You might need to cast Cure 1 multiple times to keep the tank's HP stable, spending more GCDs on healing.
Cure 2: Heals for 700 potency per cast. With fewer casts needed to stabilize the tank's HP, you have more time to cast offensive spells.
For example, if the tank takes damage that requires 1200 potency of healing to stabilize:
Cure 1: Requires three casts (7.5 seconds) to provide 1350 potency of healing.
Cure 2: Requires only two casts (5 seconds) to provide 1400 potency of healing, allowing you to switch back to dealing damage sooner.
By using Cure 2, you can reduce the time spent healing and increase your uptime on damage-dealing abilities, which is crucial in optimizing dungeon runs.
Example Scenario: Tanking a Dungeon Boss
In a dungeon boss fight, maintaining both tank and party member HP while also contributing to damage is essential:
Cure 1: Heals for 450 potency per cast. To keep the tank's HP stable, you might need to cast Cure 1 repeatedly, reducing your opportunity to deal damage.
Cure 2: Heals for 700 potency per cast. Fewer casts are needed to stabilize the tank, allowing you to use the extra GCDs for damage spells like Glare.
In a boss fight where every bit of damage counts, Cure 2 provides more efficient healing, enabling you to contribute more to the fight's overall DPS.
Cure 1 has a 15% chance to trigger the Freecure effect, making your next Cure 2 free. While this might seem like a great way to conserve MP, it’s actually a trap for several reasons:
Example Scenario: The Freecure Trap
Inconsistent Procs: The chance of triggering Freecure is only 15%. Statistically, this means you can expect a Freecure proc roughly once every 6-7 casts of Cure 1. Over 7 casts of Cure 1 (at 2.5 seconds per cast), you'll spend 17.5 seconds healing for 2800 potency, and you might get 1 free Cure 2 cast.
This comparison shows that using Cure 2 costs more MP but achieves the same amount of healing in 37.5% less time. In critical situations where healing efficiency matters, time and GCD efficiency are much more crucial than MP efficiency.
Impact on Damage Output:
Every time you cast Cure 1 hoping for a Freecure proc, you’re spending more GCDs on weaker heals instead of using those GCDs to contribute to your party's damage output. The time you save by using Cure 2 directly translates to more opportunities to cast damage-dealing spells like Glare or Dia.
In most situations, the guaranteed healing output and time savings of Cure 2 far outweigh the potential MP savings from Freecure. By focusing on Cure 2 and using Lucid Dreaming effectively, you’ll not only provide stronger and more reliable healing for your party but also maximize your contribution to overall damage output.
One concern might be the higher MP cost of Cure 2 (1000 MP compared to Cure 1's 400 MP). However, White Mages have access to Lucid Dreaming, an ability that regenerates MP over time.
Lucid Dreaming: Unlocked at level 14, this ability restores a significant amount of MP over 21 seconds, allowing you to sustain your healing output without running out of MP.
By using Lucid Dreaming effectively, you should never run out of MP. As a rule of thumb, pop Lucid Dreaming around 7000mp for best practice MP management.
This makes the higher MP cost of Cure 2 a non-issue.
Even though Cure 1 has a shorter cast time than Cure 2, it’s important to understand the difference between cast time and recast time:
Cast Time: This is the time it takes to cast the spell from the moment you start casting until the spell is completed. Cure 1 has a shorter cast time of 1.5 seconds compared to Cure 2, which has a cast time of 2 seconds. However, this isn't as important as...
Recast Time (Global Cooldown or GCD): This is the time before you can use another GCD after casting. Both Cure 1 and Cure 2 share the same recast time of 2.5 seconds, which means you cannot cast another GCD until this time has elapsed, regardless of the cast time of the individual spell.
While Cure 1 has a faster cast time, the recast time is the same as Cure 2. This means that even though Cure 1 finishes casting quicker, you still have to wait the full 2.5 seconds before casting again. Therefore, the total amount of healing you can output over time is significantly higher with Cure 2 due to its higher potency, making it the superior choice.
This is a WHM problem and not a user problem, as it's easy to intuit why, on paper, Cure 1 seems like the right choice.
The intent behind this guide isn’t to criticize or belittle anyone’s gameplay. This is a niche, overly detailed guide to be shared amongst the community to help everyone be better. This isn't meant to be taken hyper seriously, as in higher-level content you will have oGCDs and Lillies to compensate for healing and should rarely need to use Cure 2 at all. This is most relevant in late-ARR content where Cure 1 spam can lead to rocky Stone Vigils.
It’s not toxic or negative to want to help others improve; in fact, it’s a sign of respect and camaraderie. Taking a moment to learn and adjust can make a huge difference not just for you, but for your entire party. May our healers be optimal and our tanks and DPS sustained!