#cuttlebooper

The first thing to keep in mind is that a hardcore raid group is a very time intensive dedication. Regardless of whether it’s going to be an attempt for World First kills or First Week kills or even just pummeling all as quickly as possible, you can expect to spend a dozen hours or far more per week progressing through content (we did about 17-20 hours the fourth week just for Titan Progression) - that means you’re going to be stuck with seven other people for a very, very long time. These people should be people you get along with well and trust in their abilities. It takes some getting to know, of course, but if your gut tells you this isn’t going to work, then consider that feeling. If you can’t trust your DPS to do their job, if some of them are insufferably greedy and just look for the blame in others and not themselves, or if your tanks wipe perfectly fine clears just because they died and their parse is bad, I suggest not bothering. People will be annoyed at each other, it’s only human, but the difference is how they handle it. And especially as a healer, the synergy with the other healer in your team is essential. If you two don’t work well together, not only will it become a chore, but you both won’t play at the best of your abilities.

The second point which is incredibly important, especially as a healer, is communication. Healers which work well together, speak with each other and comment important points during a pull. I’m a Black Mage main who used to raid as White Mage in Second Coil, and the lack of communication and understanding from my cohealer on what needs to be done when was incredibly maddening. Similarly, we had to replace our White Mage two weeks into raiding this expansion because he refused to communicate with our Scholar (straight out ignored any commentary from her) and put his personal DPS over the survival of the raid (when tanks die to auto attacks, something is terribly wrong). Our current healers are both raiding on their alts and have week 1 and week 2 kills on Titan Savage and are always reaffirming if one needs help with a mechanic or if the Tumults can be solo healed by one of them. The other person won’t know what you want them to do unless you suggest it to them - but always in a respectful manner, of course. Similarly if some Black Mage parks their behind somewhere in Narnia, remind them to move their ass in for stacks and heals, because while DPS is important, without the gear benefit of clearing later, they will die. Communication is key.

The third point I can think of is to challenge youself with daily content and trust your abilities. A chance to solo heal Eden NM for clears for friends who have never done it before? Go for it. Solo healing an extreme Primal? Smack it (Innocence should be a good start since he doesn’t have healer specific mechanics). I personally am a big fan of joining learning PFs because I know these people are still getting used to the mechanics and things can go terribly wrong - and I thrive on surviving it anyway. Or if I don’t, maybe I learned, maybe I didn’t, but at least I had fun. ヽ(〃･ω･)ﾉ

Coming back to the first point, we’re all just people playing a game together. Hardcore raiding or progression is a lot of pressure, but we all make mistakes. If you fuck it up, you fuck it up - it will happen. One big difference between someone suited to hardcore raid and someone more fit for a casual or midcore approach, is how quickly you can get used to mechanics and learn from mistakes. If you haven’t understood a mechanic after dying 4 times to it, an explanation, and still don’t ask for help, then hardcore raiding isn’t for you. However, people always deserve to be treated with respect, and if someone flat out tells you to stop sucking so much or uninstall, then they don’t deserve your time. That’s not a hardcore raid attitude, that’s being a massive asshole - and with this kind of treating each other, the group is bound to break as soon as it hits the first plateau. 

As for where to find these groups, party finder has a lot of recruitments up for spots in statics. Similarly, people put up their profile - I’m sure you’ve seen it around. Alternatively there is FFXIV Recruitment on Reddit. This is where we found a good part of our current static. Apparently there is Discord groups too, but I’d have to ask our Warrior for that information, if you want it. He usually handles that end of recruitment.

If you are patient, open to try out and devise new strategies, learn quickly, are communicative, and have the time for it, then there’s nothing to stop you from raiding hardcore if you want to! Remember, it’s a team effort, and these people are there to help optimizing, not degrading you. So don’t be shy~ ♥