I want to start building my first healer for the Society. I already know the level progression I want to take. Cleric 3/Paladin 3/Holy Vindicator 6. I want to have a character the is both decent at healing and defending themself. My main focus is healing when picking domains. But I am thinking Sword & Sheild with Wands as secondary, w/ Medium Armor. I also would like Diplomacy to be good cause someo.e needs to past those checks. I'm thinking I'll play a Human, unless I'm allowed to play as a Aasimar yet. :P
Im open for helpful suggestions regarding stats, alternate classes for Cleric or Paladin levels and feats. I've played both clerics and paladins in homebrewed games but never i was the Society yet.
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I want to start building my first healer for the Society.
Welcome to the Society! Now, I assume that when you say "healer", you mean more than just being able to tap people with a happy stick after combat? I would say my biggest advice is to make sure you can heal a lot in a single action, and be very careful about deciding whether or not to heal someone. Failure in these two things can kill your allies instead of helping them.
Pay close attention to how much damage the enemy is dealing per turn, and how frequently they're hitting. This will affect the decision of whether or not to heal someone.
If someone drops, don't heal them unless (A) they're extremely close to dying, or (B) you can heal them for so much HP that they'll almost certainly last at least one more round. In fact, in the case of (A), you should probably just use the stabilize cantrip instead. If neither (A) nor (B) is the case, focus on finishing the fight, and heal them up afterwards.
Being a competent "healer" is an interesting thing. For out of combat healing, all you really need is the ability to activate wands of CLW. For effective in-combat healing, you have to be powerful enough to bring people way up. If you're anything in between, you're no more effective than the ranger with a happystick.
So basically, how devoted are you to the role of "healer"?
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Hospitaler Paladins can be very good healers if you want to stray a bit from your original planned progression. The feat Greater Mercy is amazing at increasing your healing with LoH. Ultimate Mercy is a bonus too, but I dont think you are taking enough levels of Paladin to get it.
Life oracles are indeed healing machines.
I think I've seen one healing witch locally as well, but don't quote me on that.
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Yeah, he should have brought her to the game after helping her make a character.He got a girlfriend and we haven't seen him since :)Pfft, what a loser. Needs to get his priorities straight! ;)
This happened with mine. Then she GM'd and killed me >.<
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I want to start building my first healer for the Society. I already know the level progression I want to take. Cleric 3/Paladin 3/Holy Vindicator 6. I want to have a character the is both decent at healing and defending themself. My main focus is healing when picking domains. But I am thinking Sword & Sheild with Wands as secondary, w/ Medium Armor. I also would like Diplomacy to be good cause someo.e needs to past those checks. I'm thinking I'll play a Human, unless I'm allowed to play as a Aasimar yet. :P
Im open for helpful suggestions regarding stats, alternate classes for Cleric or Paladin levels and feats. I've played both clerics and paladins in homebrewed games but never i was the Society yet.
Take a look at the Oracle of Life (instead of the Cleric). You can be a ridiculous healer that way. Paladins no longer need WIS for any class features either, so the stats will stack very nicely. I would also recommend investing in the "Quick Channel" feat once you can; it lets you fight and heal in the same round.
I've seen a Paladin 2/Oracle of Life X in Society that is very good at tanking and healing...
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Something I have used to good effect is the spell Shield Other (and the 1st level version Watchful Eye) when linked with channel healing.
Shield other lets me split half the damage off the tank (to my cleric) and then the channel will heal both (almost like getting twice the channel effect. (And at low levels the +1 deflection bonus to AC and +1 resistance to saves also helps)
For example, Max Damage takes 32 HP in a round, but 16 transfer to my cleric, who then channels for 12 HP and both Max and the cleric have a net loss of 4 hp - which I'll be able to channel again and heal up next turn.
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For
a healer i would recommend don't: a dedicated healer usually isn't
necessary. Most folks have enough wands of Cure Light Wounds to heal up
to full in between fights.
How min maxy are you willing to get with your stats?
Is very helpful.
Ok, so it looks like you want to bash things in the face and still heal
You need a boon to play an assimar so I'll assume human.
STR: 17 (15+2) DEX: 12 CON: 14 INT: 7 WIS: 14 CHA: 14
Str to hit and damage
12 dex lets you get the max dex in full plate
14 con, don't leave absolom without it
7 int: you can loose a point of strength and pump it to 8, but
mechanically you're not gaining anything: you're still getting 1 skill
point per level (for diplomacy)
Wis 14: If you're concentrating on bashing and healing you don't need an
uber wisdom to affect the spell DCs.
Cha : for channeling (which is a nice way to heal up the party or at
range) and the diplomacy
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Wand of CLW looses its effectiveness at midlevels though. You can run through dozens of charges trying to heal a whole party after a single combat.
Which is why it's polite for the party members to bring their OWN wands, and just have you activate them. Although a few people somehow think that's unfair, it's a fairly standard practice. My 9th level fighter is on his second wand, all my other PCs are on their first.
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Oh I agree. Every single one of my characters has a CLW wand.
Just saying higher levels if you don't have ANY other form of healing each person's wand is going to take 10-11 charges after any single difficult fight. (More for barbarians/fighters, less for wizards, sorcs., etc...)
Which means that you're spending another 750gp about every what, 2-3 scenarios at the fastest? Spending 750gp per level (if that - like I said, my fighter doesn't go through them anywhere NEAR that fast) once you're getting 3-4k per scenario is far from "inefficient".
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Spending 750gp per level (if that - like I said, my fighter doesn't go through them anywhere NEAR that fast) once you're getting 3-4k per scenario is far from "inefficient".
But not AS efficient as a dedicated healer in the party. I was only trying to argue BNW's comment to NOT play a dedicated healer in PFS. I think they are worth more than he gives them credit for. I for one would probably not dare attempt Eyes of the Ten without one.
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Spending 750gp per level (if that - like I said, my fighter doesn't go through them anywhere NEAR that fast) once you're getting 3-4k per scenario is far from "inefficient".But not AS efficient as a dedicated healer in the party. I was only trying to argue BNW's comment to NOT play a dedicated healer in PFS. I think they are worth more than he gives them credit for. I for one would probably not dare attempt Eyes of the Ten without one.
Remember that we're not talking about removing a healer from the equation, we're talking about replacing it with another PC (because they played something other than a healer).
So if you say "I wouldn't dare attempt EoT without a healer", you actually mean "I wouldn't dare attempt EoT with an exta X, Y or Z instead of a healer". This implies that having someone there to heal lost HP is going to keep you safer than having someone there to help end the fight sooner before you have a chance to lose as much HP in the first place.
Now, don't get me wrong: healers are great, they're welcome anywhere they sit down, and they can (if done right) be a very strong addition to any party. But the idea that the harder the fight, the more you need a dedicated healer? In PFS, that's simply incorrect.
Another option could possibly be playing a neutral Cleric of a neutral deity which will give you access to Versatile Channel and channel negative energy and go to level 4, grab 3 levels in Oracle of Life for positive energy. You are going to be channeling a little lighter with both classes, and be taking levels 4/3/vindicator5. It says Vindicator level stacks with ANY class that grants Channeling, so it would stack with both.
At the end of the day you can channel negative for 5d6, and positive for 4d6, and positive instead of negative for 3d6, and cast 4th level Cleric spells...
Dunno if it's any good, really, but you are able to toss out healing, and damage while you aren't buffing the party, and messing with the battle-field/polluting it with summons. No sacred summons tho...
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I've seen several of the Cleric/Healer trope I call a Combat Medic.
The Classic is a High AC (24+ at lvl 2 or 3, 30+ at lvl 5 or 6, over 40 at level 10+), with fast movement (40' or more, with fly after 5th level), and no fear of casting healing spells in melee, or channeling, or even attack spells (Murderous Command anyone).
I've seen several different players with this Medic - and at higher levels he gets real aggressive with the spells (often a Dismissal ends a major fight).
Just something to think about...
Oh! and I haven't (yet) seen the same guy as a negitive channeller... picture someone the NPCs can't hit, but who channels 3d6 (or more) damage a round... and excludes his friends.
Working on one of those ATM
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I've seen several of the Cleric/Healer trope I call a Combat Medic.
The Classic is a High AC (24+ at lvl 2 or 3, 30+ at lvl 5 or 6, over 40 at level 10+), with fast movement (40' or more, with fly after 5th level), and no fear of casting healing spells in melee, or channeling, or even attack spells (Murderous Command anyone).
I've seen several different players with this Medic - and at higher levels he gets real aggressive with the spells (often a Dismissal ends a major fight).
Just something to think about...
Oh! and I haven't (yet) seen the same guy as a negitive channeller... picture someone the NPCs can't hit, but who channels 3d6 (or more) damage a round... and excludes his friends.
I tried that...Father Forthill turned out to be more Space Marine that Combat Medic...but when playing with a bunch of lvl 1 characters as a lvl 3, "pre-emptive" healing does wonders.
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Full Plate/Tower shield (first two feats for a cleric, or a dip in fighter). Dex of 12 (don't need more that that) and you get an AC of 24 at 2nd level (or 3rd, depending on access to money and feats).
(A dip in fighter does give an extra combat feat for Shield focus...)
things just take off after that. Most people concentrate on offence, not realizing that defence cost half as much.
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Full Plate/Tower shield (first two feats for a cleric, or a dip in fighter). Dex of 12 (don't need more that that) and you get an AC of 24 at 2nd level (or 3rd, depending on access to money and feats).
(A dip in fighter does give an extra combat feat for Shield focus...)things just take off after that. Most people concentrate on offence, not realizing that defence cost half as much.
Yea, but if you have a small attack bonus to hit your enemy and he can only hit you on like 17+ it is going to make for a long combat. AC is great for longevity but you need to be able to put down some damage eventually.
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pfft.
AC is cheap and easy in the early levels, but don't spend your character build on it (feats, ability points, etc).
Later in your career AC stops mattering. The best defense is a miss chance and high hit points.
A cleric with 28 or 30 CON and access to mirror image, displacement, blink, or blur (in that order) is nigh unkillable. As long as you're alive, the party's alive.
Throw in things like improved iron will, a ring of delayed doom, and any other way to re-roll natural ones and you've really got a PitA for a blood-thirsty monster.
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pfft.
AC is cheap and easy in the early levels, but don't spend your character build on it (feats, ability points, etc).
Later in your career AC stops mattering. The best defense is a miss chance and high hit points.
A cleric with 28 or 30 CON and access to mirror image, displacement, blink, or blur (in that order) is nigh unkillable. As long as you're alive, the party's alive.
Throw in things like improved iron will, a ring of delayed doom, and any other way to re-roll natural ones and you've really got a PitA for a blood-thirsty monster.
I've heard tales that you play a mean cleric, glad to see they weren't all smoke and mirrors ;)
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pfft.
AC is cheap and easy in the early levels, but don't spend your character build on it (feats, ability points, etc).
Later in your career AC stops mattering. The best defense is a miss chance and high hit points.
A cleric with 28 or 30 CON and access to mirror image, displacement, blink, or blur (in that order) is nigh unkillable. As long as you're alive, the party's alive.
Throw in things like improved iron will, a ring of delayed doom, and any other way to re-roll natural ones and you've really got a PitA for a blood-thirsty monster.
So, what domains give access to Mirror Image, Displacement, Blink and or Blur? I can't seem to find any.
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Mirror Image from Deception (or the Trickery 1st-level power), Displacement from Protean.
I don't know about blink but you can get Blur from a mephit via SMIV.
Unfortunately, even with domain access those abilities are still severely restricted for divine casters. Not all domains fit with all characters. What if you want to play an Oracle, or a Lawful Cleric? I would kill for Mirror Image on my Oracle, because my build naturally limits my AC and I don't want to invest a ton of resources for survivability.
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I think people take "healer" too literally.
My life oracle (level 6 currently) is a what I would consider a healer. He took Extra Channeling, Selective Channeling, and Quick Channeling...three feats dedicated to healing (and occasionally harming undead). He took the Life Link and Channeling revelations.
But when he's not healing, he's sound bursting. He's casting prayer. He's commanding. He uses his immediate action to liberating command when need be. He's using Oracle's Burden to increase damage potential (Consumed Curse, seems rough, but in practice I don't find it so bad, especially with my mystery and just channeling all the nonlethal away). If he's good on channels, he may even quick channel AND cast in the same round.
On paper, he doesn't seem too impressive, but in practice he has been immensely useful in every battle. The only people to have ever fallen with him have gotten downed in 1-hit from max HP. And then, he gets them right back up and near full back into battle.
And you don't need to know (or prepare, for a cleric) the spells that are situational. My oracle has scrolls of Remove Paralysis, Suppress Charms and Compulsions, Remove Blindness/Deafness, and some others.
A character can be easily be a great healer and a great caster at the same time. As long as you have a decent spellcasting stat, and you choose good spells, your spellcasting will take care of itself. Or you can be a great healer and a great front line. You have to look at your character as a whole rather than having them fill a specific role.
My life oracle is easily my favorite character mechanically I've played in PFS.
I await his higher levels when he'll be able to cast a quickened reach breath of life and then channeling twice in the same round (or using a reach heal).
(The most amusing thing I find with my character mechanically is when people refuse his wand of infernal healing. Then, he just life links them and taps the wand on himself, LOL)