Non-cleric, oracle, bard, or witch with decent healing and support ability. Suggestions?


Advice


Set to be a player in an upcoming home game in one of my players' new homebrew settings. I'm the experienced one in this upcoming group, and the new GM'd requested I play someone capable of healing and helping the others, to help it go more smoothly.

My usual go-to choices for such a character have seen a lot of use lately, though. I think playing another bard, oracle, or witch would bore me right now, and I'm all for helping out, but I'd like to have fun too. Cleric seems like a no-brainer, but I prefer to avoid playing a heavily faith-based class in a new setting when I don't know the pantheon very well yet.

So... I've ruled out all the good options that have come to mind. Or at least to my mind. Anyone else have suggestions?


Well i was going to say Paladin (Oath of the People's Council is my new favourite) but it looks like that's out too.

I'd say Alchemist or Investigator. Healing HP can be done by any clads with wands/potions, but alchemy gets you those status removal extracts as well.

Investigator is better at the skill monkey aspect of support, alchemist tends to be better at crowd-controll/debuffing, though either is versatile enough to do whatever you want really.

Shadow Lodge

MrCharisma wrote:

Well i was going to say Paladin (Oath of the People's Council is my new favourite) but it looks like that's out too.

I'd say Alchemist or Investigator. Healing HP can be done by any clads with wands/potions, but alchemy gets you those status removal extracts as well.

Investigator is better at the skill monkey aspect of support, alchemist tends to be better at crowd-controll/debuffing, though either is versatile enough to do whatever you want really.

Note that Investigators' version of Alchemy does not allow the use of wands (Alchemists have a specific rule allowing this, but Investigators deliberately do not), and alchemy itself is not particularly good for healing/support:
  • You have a very limited number of prepared extracts,
  • you can't use them on allies without a specific discovery, and
  • even then they are all 'single target' effects (even if the original spell was a group or communal buff).
You can probably make it work, but you'll need to put a fair amount of effort into it.


Honestly, just dip one level into cleric, take the Freedom subdomain and buy a wand of CLW.

That's it. Healing and condition removal. Now you can play a bloodrager or rogue or whatever.

I'd probably go Zen Archer just so I could pump my wisdom, and convert my uses of Channel Energy into ki points with a Meditation Crystal.


Taja the Barbarian wrote:
MrCharisma wrote:
I'd say Alchemist or Investigator.
Note that Investigators' version of Alchemy does not allow the use of wands (Alchemists have a specific rule allowing this, but Investigators deliberately do not)

This is true, but Investigators get enough bonuses that you can trivialise the UMD check by level 5.

Taja the Barbarian wrote:
... and alchemy itself is not particularly good for healing/support:

This is subjective, I disagree.

Taja the Barbarian wrote:
  • You have a very limited number of prepared extracts,
  • you can't use them on allies without a specific discovery, and
  • even then they are all 'single target' effects (even if the original spell was a group or communal buff).
You can probably make it work, but you'll need to put a fair amount of effort into it.

- You have the same number of extracts as any 6th level caster has spells.

- Infusion is a discovery tax, but it's only 1 discovery.
- Extracts/Infusions are single target, but they don't take your action. Hand them out before they're needed and people can use them as they see fit. They're also always a standard action to activate, so some actually have better action economy than spells. Leave the group buffs to another "caster", and you can give everyone their favourite personal buff.
- ALCHEMICAL ALLOCATION is the best.


Shaman! They are by far the most efficient healers in the game. Basically, you turn your character into a passive hit point battery for the party.

Here's how it works-

Take Life Spirit. Right from the start you'll have full Channel progression and Life Link. You'll also have a Familiar and Share Spells. Make sure you have a decent Con. The only feat you need to take is Toughness.

Now, when the party takes damage, you'll take some of it too. Distributing the damage make Channels more efficient.

When you get 2nd level spells, use Share Spells to have your familiar use Shield Other on you. Now, every time Life Link kicks in and auto-heals your party, 3 of the damage goes to you, and 2 goes to your familiar. This makes the distributed damage trick for your channels even more efficient.

At 7th level, take Improved Familiar. Take Faerie Dragon. They cast as Sorcerers and have high charisma. Trick it out as a wand user. Give it a Cure wand. Let it heal you (or itself) as you absorb the party's damage.

Everything I just listed is stuff that happens automatically, or as your Familiar's actions, which frees you up to be an effective Support caster. The Shaman list us full of fun spells, and they get Hexes. If you want your party to love you to pieces, take Fortune hex and Chant. Your rounds will be spent healing them automatically, giving them Fortune as a move action, and tossing around support spells with your Standard.

The best thing about this build is that if requires very few character resources invested to pull off, giving you the freedom to take the character in any direction you want.


Hmm. I've only ever played a Shaman once, and only for three levels of stone shaman. Might be fun to give it another try and maybe play one for a bit longer this time, if the game lasts.

Shadow Lodge

MrCharisma wrote:
Taja the Barbarian wrote:
MrCharisma wrote:
I'd say Alchemist or Investigator.
Note that Investigators' version of Alchemy does not allow the use of wands (Alchemists have a specific rule allowing this, but Investigators deliberately do not)

This is true, but Investigators get enough bonuses that you can trivialise the UMD check by level 5.

Taja the Barbarian wrote:
... and alchemy itself is not particularly good for healing/support:

This is subjective, I disagree.

Taja the Barbarian wrote:
  • You have a very limited number of prepared extracts,
  • you can't use them on allies without a specific discovery, and
  • even then they are all 'single target' effects (even if the original spell was a group or communal buff).
You can probably make it work, but you'll need to put a fair amount of effort into it.

- You have the same number of extracts as any 6th level caster has spells.

- Infusion is a discovery tax, but it's only 1 discovery.
- Extracts/Infusions are single target, but they don't take your action. Hand them out before they're needed and people can use them as they see fit. They're also always a standard action to activate, so some actually have better action economy than spells. Leave the group buffs to another "caster", and you can give everyone their favourite personal buff.
- ALCHEMICAL ALLOCATION is the best.

As I said, you can probably make it work, but you will have to put a fair amount of effort into it and you'll still probably end up with things you can't deal with (No AoE dispels, incapacitated allies are difficult to heal/cleanse, no Magic Circles, etc.).


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Going to link the Anyone Can Heal thread because its kind of amazing.

but a more focused suggestion would be Herbalist divine bond Druid. No pet, but you make free potions. Drawback: only what you can cast. But FREE. For every downtime day the GM gives you that is 4 cure light potions, or 1 potion a day over 250gp value. Well, 4 free cure light potions assumes you have a wis mod of 4+. You can also make potions while adventuring, every 2 days lets you get in 500gp worth of crafting.

At 7th level it gets nuts because you can make potions in minutes. Make potions of Channel the Gift to let you hand out 3rd level spell slots. Oh, and make sure you take the trait that lets you drink potions as a move action.

If you combine this with Healer's Hand/skill unlock heal you'll heal as well or better than a cleric. Druids usually fall behind because they don't get the spell selection for straight heals. Your battle healing will still fall behind, but your overall spell selection will be more interesting.


Heh. I played a ridiculous Unchained Phantom Thief Rogue with Healer's Hands and requisite other things in my last campaign, so while I agree it's an awesome direction to go in, it's not the one I'm taking this time.

The Shaman suggestion is really resonating with me. Have told the GM that I'm going that route.


Could try a Gnome with Vivacious, and Magical Lineage - Infernal Healing as a trait.

high Con, 17 after racial

lvl 1 Start as an Oracle, lifelink, extend metamagic

lvl 2 then Razmiran Priest sorceror, destined bloodline.

You can now cast use lifelink to cure the party, and cast an extended Infernal Healing on yourself to cure 20 damage.

lvl 3. Endurance
lvl 4. +1 Con
lvl 5. Exotic Heritage - Diplomacy
lvl 6.
lvl 7. Eldritch Heritage - Pit-Touched
lvl 8. +1 Chr, Diehard
lvl 9. Fast Healer

Now Infernal Healing cures 60 damage. Not bad for a lvl 1 arcane spell.

And as your Con increases, so does the the amount of damage it heals


MrCharisma wrote:
Taja the Barbarian wrote:
MrCharisma wrote:
I'd say Alchemist or Investigator.
Note that Investigators' version of Alchemy does not allow the use of wands (Alchemists have a specific rule allowing this, but Investigators deliberately do not)

This is true, but Investigators get enough bonuses that you can trivialise the UMD check by level 5.

Taja the Barbarian wrote:
... and alchemy itself is not particularly good for healing/support:

This is subjective, I disagree.

I'll go farther than disagree and just say its wrong. The ability to put polymorphs, specifically polymorphs that allow gear useage (monstrous physique and giant form) on your fighter or barbarian is freaking insane.


Ryan Freire wrote:
I'll go farther than disagree and just say its wrong.

Let's not derail the thread any further.

LittleMissNaga wrote:
The Shaman suggestion is really resonating with me. Have told the GM that I'm going that route.

I didn't even think of Shaman. I only read up on it recently and my thoughts were: "How is this balanced?" ... I haven't actually seen one in play yet though, so let me know how it goes.

Since I'm not an expert on the Shaman I'll let others do most of the suggesting, but you should be able to build pretty much however you want and have healing/support covered as far as I can see.


I played with one in a zeitgeist campaign...life shaman is legit, though not as powerful as the oracle


Puppetmaster Magus gets access to bard spells. Stack on Hexcrafter and grab healing and slumber when you can.


a druid can work really well.
take craft wands and make some CLW wands.

Shadow Lodge

Have to agree that Druidic Herbalism is a strong one. Free Potions of Cure Moderate(3rd level for Druids for so,e reason) can be a life saver. Not to mention all the other potions you could make and hand out! With gorilla tactics(not misspelled, just a Druid pun) you could drink a bunch of potions to buff(no chance of being heard since there are no Verbal Components to it) and rush your target fully prepared.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

Shaman would be my suggestion as well. A feat that is crucial to the life battery build is fay foundling.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/fey-foundling/


As others have said, druidic herbalism is a strong choice. This can be augmented with the following.

Wasp Familiar+Adept Channel = Now you can channel energy like a cleric
Throw Anything+Vaporous Potion = Now you can throw your free potions at people to have them work.
Healing Potion = Two spells for the price of one per potion.

I also agree that a Paladin with the hospitaler archetype can be a powerful healer. This combines nicely with the lucky halfling feat since it lets you grant your awesome save to other party members.

Below are some other options and their associated archetypes if you want something that's fairly unconventional.

Alchemist: Chirurgeon & Sacrament Alchemist
Magus: Nature-bonded
Rogue: Counterfeit Mage
Sorcerer/Pathfinder Savant: False Priest & Cross blooded(Impossible) & Wildblooded (Empyreal)
Wizard: Arcane Physician or Specialist: Necromancy(Life) or Hallowed Necromancer

If any of these don't make sense I can go into more detail but for the most part I think they are self-explanatory.

If you don't mind being lawful good any character can get the paladin's lay on hands ability via the Believer's Hands feat. Also, eldritch heritage can be used to pick up the solar bloodline powers in order to pick up an ability that is like lay on hands and channel energy.

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