FFXIV: Mrhappy Interview w/ Yoshida From Tokyo Fan Festival

Noct is useless in all but niche situations.

Here's something to consider: Unless shields adding to a party member's effective maximum HP prevents them from dying to damage they would have died to without the shield, then the shield was nothing but a normal heal paid in advance. That is the only time that shielding is genuinely important - and that situation is so incredibly rare, and nearly always comes down to prog or being undergeared.

The other situation in which shields are arguable is when healing is required within a certain window of time, because shielding potency happens faster than regen potency. However, that window of time is actually really short: A Diurnal Aspected Helios matches a Nocturnal Aspected Helios in only 15 seconds. There is extremely little damage in raids that goes out less than 15 seconds apart.

And in every other situation than those two very niche ones, regens are strictly better. They're simply a higher potency heal, costing less mana and less GCDs for more potency.

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