I have a some pathfinder experience but this will be the first time I've attempted playing a character that is not pure physical DPS...
I volunteered to take on the role of healer for this campaign, but not wanting to just be a 'heal bot', I've read up a lot on the Oradin build and it looks appealing. However, I'm a bit lost on what direction I should go in regards to armor, weapons, etc.
We rolled for stats and i got a spread of: 17, 17, 16, 15, 15, 10
I really want to play a Kitsune so with the bonuses/penalties so far my stats are:
STR: 13
DEX: 19
CON: 16
INT: 15
WIS: 10
CHA: 19
We are starting out at level 3 so I went:
Paladin
Oracle
Oracle
Figuring one more level of Oracle then pure paladin after that.
Mystery: Life
Revelation: Channel, picking up Life Link next level
Feats: Fey Foundling, Selective Channeling
My party consists of: Myself, Investigator, Psychic, and a shaman "of some kind" (Player hasn't decided yet)
So, besides being a healer, what should i go for? Melee? Ranged? Wands? I was hoping to be a debuffer, but I'm unsure how efficient that is with wands, plus I think the Psychic mostly does that? Should I go with heavy armor or armor that lets me keep my dex bonus?
We are starting with:
300 gold
1 weapon/armor of +2 or lower, OR one wonderous/wand of 8k gold value or lower
2 items of +1 value, OR wonderous items/wands of 3k gold value or lower
I was thinking of a Headband of Alluring Charisma +2, but I'm open to suggestions. In fact the only thing I really wish to keep set in stone is the Kitsune race!
Extremely nice rolls for attributes!
If you are going mostly Paladin, I would suggest starting with two levels of Paladin (for the saves and lay on hands), then going four levels of Oracle (getting you second level spells faster than a Paladin), and then continuing as a Paladin.
Life link plus lay on hands is how the Oradin is able to keep in the fight and combat heal. Taking the second level of Paladin and then Life Link as your first revelation will allow you to do that as a swift action.
I have played a cleric that uses Selective Channel, it really isn't that great for in combat healing.
I would choose two items, +1 weapon and +1 armor. Boring, but they will keep you in the fight better than the Charisma item and one more channel for 1d6 group healing.
Since your Dex is enough higher than your strength, you should consider if your primary mode of combat is going to be archery, finesse melee, or something else. Going archery is rather feat intensive and paladins tend to be feat starved.
Extremely nice rolls for attributes!
If you are going mostly Paladin, I would suggest starting with two levels of Paladin (for the saves and lay on hands), then going four levels of Oracle (getting you second level spells faster than a Paladin), and then continuing as a Paladin.
Life link plus lay on hands is how the Oradin is able to keep in the fight and combat heal. Taking the second level of Paladin and then Life Link as your first revelation will allow you to do that as a swift action.
I have played a cleric that uses Selective Channel, it really isn't that great for in combat healing.
I would choose two items, +1 weapon and +1 armor. Boring, but they will keep you in the fight better than the Charisma item and one more channel for 1d6 group healing.
Since your Dex is enough higher than your strength, you should consider if your primary mode of combat is going to be archery, finesse melee, or something else. Going archery is rather feat intensive and paladins tend to be feat starved.
Thanks for the reply! I can definitely start with more levels in pally if that would help.
What do you suggest for the +2 item then, since you only listed the two +1s I'm allowed.
Kitunes get a +2 to dex and a -2 to strength, thats why I'm going a dex route. I'm just not sure if I should be in melee combat if I'm trying to heal others.
Also, medium or heavy armor?
I neglected to mention my curse, I haven't decided on it yet. I was thinking Lame, but that would seriously hinder melee combat. I'm open to suggestions.. Since I won't be getting 5 levels in oracle I will only have the penalty and any starting bonus from a curse.. Maybe Powerless Prophecy? Or Wrecking Mysticism..
If you aren't going archer, think about Clouded Vision. Remember that other classes count as 1/2 towards a curse so Pal 2 / Oracle 4 is Oracle 5 for curse.
An oracle’s curse is based on her oracle level plus one for every two levels or Hit Dice other than oracle. Each oracle must choose one of the following curses.
The beauty of the Oradin build is that you can be in combat and healing at the same time. Life link at the start of the day. In combat you use the Lay on Hands on yourself for swift healing while still getting full attack capability. Build it right and you can be in melee while keeping others healed.
With a Dex bonus of +4 that can go to +5 easily with leveling, you are going to want either Mithral Agile Breastplate or Mithral Chain Shirt. You can't take full advantage of the Dex bonus to AC in heavier armor. If you want heavier armor, shift your numbers around to give yourself a better Con for the hit points.
I misunderstood on equipment. Rereading it, I see that you get both the single item of +2 value and two of +1 value. Choice here would depend on how special materials are figured in. If a Mithral Agile Breastplate is equivalent to +2 item (cost is close), you may want to do that and +1 weapon, along with a miscellaneous magic item such as Buffering Cap, Swarmbane Clasp, Ring of Protection, Eyes of the Eagle or something like that. If material cost isn't figured in then go for the Charisma item, +1 on both weapon and armor.
I did indeed forget about the 1/2 other class levels counting, sorry!
If i'm not taking channel I suppose that frees up my second feat as well, for something like Finesse. Kinda leaning towards spiked chain just for the coolness factor, plus the ability to do trips and disarms..
Why not simply go for a STR build. STR 15, DEX 12, CON 16, INT 15, WIS 15, CHA 19. With rolled stats the efficiency of placing your racial bonuses is not the same as with a point buy. Since you don’t have to dump anything you don’t need to worry about maximizing your effort to get your preferred high stat.
Put your 4th level bonus into STR and then the rest into CHA. Not only will you have better damage but you will also be able to carry a decent load. Having only a 13 STR for a martial character is often quite limiting as to armor and weapons as well as other gear.
If you are going to go for DEX over STR figure out some way to get DEX to damage. Smite evil is good, but you are not a full paladin so will have less uses and less of a bonus. Also if the creatures are not evil you damage will really be limited.
Consider adding Variant Multiclassing Cavalier - Order of the Stars and the Hospitaler Paladin archetype.
VMC Order of the Stars will add half your character level to your effective channeling *and* lay on hands.
Hospitaler gives you a genuine channel energy pool on your paladin side (and remember, they're tracked independently.)
Mid-game, you're looking to pick up a Phylactery of Positive Channeling and Bracers of the Merciful Knight to boost your channeling and lay on hands even further.
I'd also echo going melee as a strong choice - as a frontliner, you'll be soaking damage by eating up attacks as well as absorbing damage from your allies, and healing it all away with a swift.
If you're going the archer route, however, Lame is not too crippling (pun not intended), though I'm personally a fan of Tongues (Celestial) or Legalistic for the pally.
EDIT: feel free to poach some ideas from my similar thread on the topic, I got some great advice there.
I've actually had some success with a variant on the Oradin utilizing a Life Shaman as the base instead. The con is that it's less stat-synergistic, but given the fact the Shaman is only there for a dip anyways, just grab a few spells that aren't terribly dependent on caster level or DC.
In exchange, you get a familiar (whose HP scale off your total HP and could stack with a Chosen One paladin), a witch hex (because you can grab Life Link with your first hex and the Channel Energy is baked into the Life spirit), and you don't have to worry about a curse.
Given the racial stat bonuses, archery is solid and good for making sure you aren't being overloaded with damage from too many sources, but taking Fey Foundling ends up delaying the required archery feats a fair bit, whereas melee only really needs a decent Strength and Power Attack for relevance, so it might be the better option. You got really good rolls, so stats shouldn't be an issue regardless.
If you go archery, a +1 Seeking composite longbow is the way to go, and maybe some +1 mithril armor. If you're going melee, something to beef up your Strength and/or Charisma might be good.
I've actually had some success with a variant on the Oradin utilizing a Life Shaman as the base instead. The con is that it's less stat-synergistic, but given the fact the Shaman is only there for a dip anyways, just grab a few spells that aren't terribly dependent on caster level or DC.
In exchange, you get a familiar (whose HP scale off your total HP and could stack with a Chosen One paladin), a witch hex (because you can grab Life Link with your first hex and the Channel Energy is baked into the Life spirit), and you don't have to worry about a curse.
Given the racial stat bonuses, archery is solid and good for making sure you aren't being overloaded with damage from too many sources, but taking Fey Foundling ends up delaying the required archery feats a fair bit, whereas melee only really needs a decent Strength and Power Attack for relevance, so it might be the better option. You got really good rolls, so stats shouldn't be an issue regardless.
If you go archery, a +1 Seeking composite longbow is the way to go, and maybe some +1 mithril armor. If you're going melee, something to beef up your Strength and/or Charisma might be good.
Thanks for the post, after reading it I did go ahead and go that route!
Personal recommendations based on my own experiences with an Oradin:
1. Do not go archery. It's not worth it. The feat tax is just too high, especially since your level 1 feat is Fey Foundling, which means you're looking at not getting Precise Shot until level 5.
2. You want 2 levels of Paladin quickly for Divine Grace and Lay on Hands. Since you're starting at level 3, definitely start like that. If you were leveling up from 1 then I'd recommend 1 Oracle, 2 Paladin to make the healing experience a bit more manageable, but you're not, so I'd look at 1 Paladin, 2 Paladin, 3 Oracle, 4 Oracle, 5 Oracle with the rest in Paladin, and maybe one other Oracle level if you really want the extra casting.
3. If you really want to focus on Channeling, then Hospitaler is a solid choice of archetype for Paladin. If you want to sweeten your channeling deal even more, then consider the Holy Vindicator PrC which will not only beef up your Paladin channels, but also beef up your Oracle channels together. You'll ultimately have weaker channels but you'll have a ton of them thanks to having 2 entire pools. Tack on a Phylactery of Positive Channeling and you're looking pretty good since it'll buff both pools as well.
4. As mentioned, Selective Channeling and in-combat channeling is typically a poor choice, as you more often than not are going to want to finish the encounter than waste your turn healing during it. Your out of combat healing will be pretty nice though certainly.