I have problems trying to have enough mp in a party, help. Follow

Sometimes in a party people just keep going and going and I start to run out of mp..I sit and rest, but I can't for long, in some parties, then i run out of mp and have to wait to I am half way full of mp, is this how it's done, or do I keep healing on little mp, until I run low again?
I could eat a cookie to help with mp, but sometimes that is not enough. I might have to take poison, off, or something. And what about healing, what cure spells are best to use, so I don't get hate on the party. I know I was told sometimes to quit spamming cure spells, but people seemed to look like they needed a cure. Do I wait to their hp is half way down, before I use a cure spell? I have to do this job, because I need to sub it for blackmage, and to help me solo as beast, so I'm going to have to level up whm, and don't want to do it myself, as that could take a long time to get to level 50. lol

Edited, Sep 21st 2011 2:34pm by pettygil

There's not really 1 answer to your question. It's situational, you just have to use your best judgment. Sometimes you'll be able to rest almost to full MP, sometimes only a few ticks. You'll get good at finding lulls in the battle to rest in.

As far as which Cures to use and enmity management... Regen is the best alternative. Regen is simply awesome. Aside from that, Cure spamming is your only option, especially early in the game. People may berate you for pulling hate, but as a healer you're the last line of defense and sometimes there is just no way to win. If they are taking too much damage, they are taking too much damage. Keep that in mind, it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders as a healer, but you can only do so much and it's not always your fault.

Lastly, as you get new Cure spells, test them from time to time. You'll generally find that Cure II is never more efficient than Cure. So stick to Cure where possible. As you gain levels, Cure III will start to overtake the first two and you should look for opportunities to use it. Easy way to decide which Cure is most efficient is to divide the amount it cures by the amount of MP it costs. For example, if Cure gives 30 HP for 8 MP that's 3.75 HP per MP spent. If Cure II gives 85 HP for 24 MP, that's 3.54 HP per MP spent. In this case, you're better off casting Cure1 over Cure2 unless you absolutely cannot keep up with the damage. Use Cure II as a last resort.

Ok, thanks for your help people. I'm gonna have to level whm soon, as my clases as sum and blackmage are 30, smn 20, whm 20. I know I have to level whm. I know it's not wise to do this myself, so I have to get into parties. I been in parties before, but I am not good at looking at the screen, so when people get poison, they have to tell me about it. I tend to be off curing and not paying to much attention to has what on them, or if they are asleep and I have to cure to take it off, oh your sleeping, let me know, then I will take it off. I know I have to pay more attention to what is going on, esp with white mage..and redmage was worse because I never knew when to dispel..i hate that class. At least with whm I don't have to worry about all that. I am way better at the fighting and pet classes, but for blackmage and sum I have to level whm I have no choice. So i will go with my sucky whm self into parties. lol..

i think using wizard cookies as food will help your mp generation even if you aren't able to rest for longer times. aside from tha try to allways have a brd and rdm in your pt.

That wont be hard to do in my case. lol..Hey, all my mp is gone, you mp spongers, time to die..
That will teach them, to party more slowly and let me rest mp. Serious though.. I've had to work on very little mp at times, and it was hard, esp when people are getting major damage. Well, say you're all dead now. I sometimes would have have to say low mp a lot..but I read the refresh and cookies, so I will use that next time..I usually don't do either, so i am sure that will help, some.

Getting up after two resting ticks of mp to cure a poison isnt effecient. Let the person be poisoned and cure them after.

Only get up if you see they are about to die.

One other thing I can add in. Never turn down a moment to rest. Even if you only think you can get a tic or 2, thats a tic or 2 you didn't have before. Also make sure you are keeping your HMP set as up to date as you can. There are a lot of places you can get the second best HMP piece for the slot for 10k, instead of the "new hottness" for several million.

In addition to managing your own MP, the party can help you out as well. Are the melees holding TP moves until hate is set on the tank, or using it right at the start? Are they eating appropriate food? Is there another job who can heal, that can coordinate resting with you?

Also, do you have /sch open? Light Arts (SCH 10) is amazing for improving a WHM's MP efficiency.

Finally, the hMP ratings on cookies are deceptive compared with longer-duration foods. Unless you can sync the duration exactly with your rest periods, your effective hMP boost will be less than face value, due to the times where the cookie wears off before you are finished recovering (On the other hand, you are a relatively new player, and there is nothing quite so cheap as a cookie).

I've found enfeebling the mob helps a lot. If you can land paralyze, blind, slow, the little mp spent should save you mp in the long run.