Newbie hoping for advice: Can I get help for an oracle build?

[Cpd676]

Hi all! Just picked up first two books (core and adv. Players Guide) and need a character in my group's campaign. Some familiarity with 3.5, but rusty.
Here's my criteria: 20 pt build, I am fond of Aasimir, and have the greenlight. I like being a team player and would love to be good at healing. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Choant]

Cpd676 wrote:

Hi all! Just picked up first two books (core and adv. Players Guide) and need a character in my group's campaign. Some familiarity with 3.5, but rusty.

Here's my criteria: 20 pt build, I am fond of Aasimir, and have the greenlight. I like being a team player and would love to be good at healing. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Well either cleric or oracle would be best, a life oracle would have tons of healing.

[calagnar]

In combat healing is only good if some one is hurt bad. Other then that it's more effective to do it after combat.

Humans get a realy nice favord class ability. They can add spells to your oracle list of spell known.

What type of Oracle did you want? Melee, Range, Casting ?
Melee or Range Oracle of Battle
Casting Oracle of Flame, Heavens, or Wind are all good.

[SciVo]

Well I don't want to get too specific, since I'm still figuring it out myself. Now I'm going to be bold and go against what I just said. Seems to me that Charisma would be most important; followed by Dex and Int (at least 13 for feat reqs, or better yet 14 for bonuses); then Str and Con; with Wis least, since a great Will save progression anyway. You could do something like Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 8+2, Cha 15+2, for example (with -1 Cha for +2 Str, Con, or Wis, as desired, up to twice).

As Choant said, a Life oracle would have lots of healing. All oracles get every cure spell as bonus spells known, but the Safe Curing revelation -- no AoO on casting healing spells -- looks to be worth a lot. As calagnar said, the human favored class option (p. 23 of the APG) has a lot going for it. Personally, I'm more attracted to the revelations that can turn into an elemental (Flame and Waves) for coolness reasons, but it's true that I'm making a human.

As healing-focused, you'll probably want to go 1h+shield. You can cast with a light shield because you can move your 1h weapon to your shield hand as a free action, cast, and move the weapon back as a free action, which isn't worth bookkeeping, so just don't hold anything else in your shield hand. And oracles don't need a DF. Morningstar looks like a good choice: cheap and light for its damage dice, with two damage types (and they'd have to resist both for it to matter).

I'd have to recommend against the Clouded Vision and Deaf curses. They're very cool ideas, but the range and communication hindrances (respectively) look to be more than they're worth. Tongues could be okay with a steady group willing to burn a skill point on your stress language. Haunted, it looks to me like the Quick Draw feat could help with not having to drop things as much -- due to being able to put them down or away as a move action, then draw as a free one -- and then wrist sheathes for wands, and so on, it would be a pain but that's the point.

I've considered the Lame curse carefully. As long as you don't wear heavy armor or carry a heavy load, a level of Barbarian could go a long way. A level of a cleric with the Travel domain (such as Desna) would work regardless, though without the benefit of martial weapons proficiency. Later, there's always the boots of striding and springing. And, a gnome or halfling can get a Medium mount (theoretically fitting in dungeons). None of those quite match my own character vision, but a healing-focused character might look at how the gnome alternate racial traits on pp.14-15 of the APG could mesh with the Tongues curse, and how the Halfling Outrider trait on p.21 would fit a Small dungeoneer.

[Darvon]

Unless you're playing a healer for flavour reasons, you should give it a skip during combat. Until you reach level 12 and gain the Heal spell, a monsters single attack is larger than the size of your heal, let alone when they full attack. Mechanically speaking you're better off using your spells to bring it down faster or just contributing damage with a 2h weapon and power attack.

[Deadmanwalking]

Darvon wrote:

Unless you're playing a healer for flavour reasons, you should give it a skip during combat. Until you reach level 12 and gain the Heal spell, a monsters single attack is larger than the size of your heal, let alone when they full attack. Mechanically speaking you're better off using your spells to bring it down faster or just contributing damage with a 2h weapon and power attack.

While this is true, it doesn't devalue healer as a character concept. Just make sure you've got various status-relief and buffing effects to use as needed in combat, and something mundane and effective (like the aforementioned melee attack) to do when you don't need to spellcast right now. And just Channel Energy alone can basically keep an entire party going out of combat.

Or go with more direct combat stuff, both are valid options.