Hi - I`m currently creating my Merciful healer myself.
I was also looking to maybe later on dip into paladin but Ncikademus42 is right. A paladin stands at the front fighting off the evil armies of doom while the merciful healer is specifically designed not to engage in combat - also why he can't channel negative energy or damage with positive energy.
I was wondering Macloud, what stats did you give your Merciful healer. I know that clerics in general have mainly make use wis, int and cha as but I`m on the fence between giving him more cha (better channeling) vs giving him more int (wider spell-selection per day).
I was thinking of going with something along the lines of STR 10, Dex 12, CON 11, WIS 14, INT 15, CHA 17.
Tell me what you think and what you did.
Thanks