Best build for a tanky healer for a newbie!


Advice


Hello everyone, sorry for intruding but I am almost completely new to the world of pathfinder and would like some advice!

After having played a game at our local Pathfinder Lodge, my friends and I are hooked and so have set about the task of creating our own characters. We wish to stay as a party of four, and so are trying to strike a good balance of skills between us.

Currently in the party we have a ranger, a sorcerer and a bard. I am looking to play the role of a tanky healer - Paladin is the obvious choice here, however I really don't like the idea of being tied to lawful good, and the character would also seem out of place with the other party members!

I was considering, therefore, picking a warpriest of either Pharasma (healing and death domain) or Milani (healing and liberation domain). Do either of these seem viable? Or would I be better served playing as a Cleric?

Final question! Pharasma is obviously completely against the undead, however our sorcerer quite likes the idea of necromancy! Would Milani also be against the undead? I fear necromancy may be considered soul enslavement!

Many thanks!


Life Shaman is a good choice, you get channeling and access to Life Link and Shell of Succor (variant spirit hex) which are very nice for tanky healers. Hexes are good for combat debuffs so you can save your spells for other things. Human/half-elf FCB help fills in gaps in your spell list.

Protector familiar allows you to transfer some of your damage to your familiar who will have fast healing 1 if your main spirit is Life.

Familiar Spell (feat or rod) and Imbue with Spell Ability are great ways to have your familiar heal you, itself or teammates in combat and save on action economy.


Clerics are both strong and pretty simple; the later classes are a lot more complicated then the core (which isn't a bad thing, if you've been playing the system for a while, but they can be confusing at first) but not typically stronger.

As far as the undead question goes, it'll partly depend on how your GM feels about the issue; you really don't want suprises during the game so ask them how Milani would feel. If I was your GM, though, I wouldn't see anything amiss. Unless the sorcerer is raising intelligent undead, it couldn't be considered soul enslavement because the soul isn't there! It's just a body made mobile with magic.

And even if the sorcerer was enslaving souls, if the bodies they're raising are the bodies of the bad guys you fight, the party's actually saving them from torment in the lower planes (hell and the abyss) until such a time as they're destroyed. And in the mean time, they're protecting innocents and stopping the bad guys, so it's really win-win.

EDIT

If you decide to play a tanky cleric, I'd recommend reading this guide. Or, if you'd rather use a different weapon or style, finding a guide that suits the character you want to play. The pathfinder community has written loads and loads of guides, for all manner of concepts. If you ever need help with anything, the internet has you covered.


Milani is a CG deity, so if you're using golarion lore (I assume you are) so tolerating undead would be a definite no. A cleric of Pharasma obviously wouldn't be down with that either. Gonna have to disagree with Asmodeus's Advocate's (fitting name) logic unless you're playing a custom home game. Necromancy is the business of evil deities almost exclusively. But lucky for you there's a host of more morally questionable deities (mostly evil) who wouldn't have the same reservations.

Also, what's the alignment of your party? Necromancy trends towards evil but some folks walk the line.

Btw are you set of the healing domain? It's pretty weak as domains go.


I was going to suggest the hunter..... and thought better of it so..


I don't think oracles are opposed to necromancy but clerics can take versatile channel and heal the undead when necessary.

I recommend Dhampir Cleric or Human Life Oracle.


Oh wow - thanks for all the replies everyone!

Asmodeus' Advocate wrote:
Clerics are both strong and pretty simple; the later classes are a lot more complicated then the core (which isn't a bad thing, if you've been playing the system for a while, but they can be confusing at first) but not typically stronger.

I must admit I was slightly concerned that warpriest might be too complicated, so maybe reach cleric would be a good way to go - thanks for pointing me towards the guide!

Artofregicide wrote:
Milani is a CG deity, so if you're using golarion lore (I assume you are) so tolerating undead would be a definite no.

Yes, it would be golarion lore, so I'll be sure to double check with the GM but I must admit I also fear that it might be a no! The alignment of my party is mostly Chaotic Neutral. EDIT: No, I'm not set on the healing domain - but being new to pathfinder and probably being the parties primary healer I just assumed the healing domain would be best! If that's not the case please let me know!

Gallant Armor wrote:
Life Shaman is a good choice, you get channeling and access to Life Link and Shell of Succor (variant spirit hex) which are very nice for tanky healers.

I hadn't thought of Shaman! I'll be sure to have a look.


IMHO, a cleric is probably your best bet, and as for domains, I recommend the animal domain, you get an animal companion at 4th level, which is always a boon! So your companion can still attack the baddies even if you’re busy healing the party.


Glad to be of assistance!

WereKat295 wrote:
Yes, it would be golarion lore, so I'll be sure to double check with the GM but I must admit I also fear that it might be a no! The alignment of my party is mostly Chaotic Neutral. EDIT: No, I'm not set on the healing domain - but being new to pathfinder and probably being the parties primary healer I just assumed the healing domain would be best! If that's not the case please let me know!

The strongest part of most domains are their domain spells; the strongest of them give you access to spells that aren't usually on the cleric list, and other domains, still considered strong, give you spells you would have prepared anyway. The weaker domains give you spells that you never would have prepared of you had the choice, and the weakest domain, healing, (at least in my opinion) mostly gives you spells from the cure wounds line, which clerics don't have to prepare since they can spontaneously cast those spells.


Try looking at subdomains of healing. You'll find they trade of some of the spells like cure spells so you can do some other stuff. Restoration is cool, for example.

Subdomains are like archtypes for domains. Some Gods have options.


Ok, I'm 5 years late to the discussion but,IMHO, a Warpriest is not a good healer. Slower spell progression than clerics and far fewer channels than a cleric. They make great tanks, especially if you save your healing spells for yourself.

Consider a cleric that worships Shelyn. Use her favored weapon (Glaive) because it has reach (10'). That means you get an Attack of Opportunity before a medium creature can hit you (unless your foe also uses a reach weapon).

As one of your domains, take Defense (Subdomain of Protection). Now you can cast Shield on yourself as a Domain spell! +4 to your AC helps since you use a 2 handed weapon.

If you really want to "score", take a dip into fighter (preferably at 1st level). You now have access (for free) to heavy armor. As a fighter you get 2 feats at 1st level (3 if human). Take Power Attack and Furious Focus. With heavy armor you have a better AC and those two feats allow you to dish out nasty damage.

A decent DRX coupled with Combat Reflexes means you get a LOT of Attacks of Opportunity. The bad guys won't want to get close to you.


as it is an Advice thread of a person seeking help with Class selection, time is of the essence.
While you may be correct in your opinions the topic is well past its expiration date... You might want to choose a more general topic in Advice like "What's the best party healer with good armor class" or some such thread...

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