At higher levels, don't overlook the power of the Reach Spell feat for Oracles. Being able to cast your heals from behind a rock 50 feet away from the combat is pretty nice. (Or for freedom of movement, say if your fighter is currently in the mouth of a monster, and is about ready to get swallowed next turn...)
Everyone keeps talking about Fey Foundling, but they don't say what it does.
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It makes you roll a d6 before you Channel, and depending on that roll augments the number of dice you roll for that Channel.
1 = -1d6 (min of 1d6)
2-4 = normal
5-6 = +1d6
You can not take Extra Channeling more than once, and that was intentional, with Paizo thinking that channeling was too powerful. Paladins can sort of, taking Extra Channel and Extra Lay on Hands.
Everyone keeps talking about Fey Foundling, but they don't say what it does.
Sorry, I didn't realize Google was down :P
Based on the response that I got from my thread, it looks like Devil's Advocate, et. al., were correct - Extra Channel is a one-time feat.
Or at least that's what I'd presume by having the thread marked "No reply required".
shield other(half damage, +1 AC, +1 reflex save)Careful here.
Any "tank" not having +1 deflection AC and +1 resistance save by the time you can safely use this spell... much less level 10... does that tank really deserve the Shield Other spell to start with?
Shield Other is dismissible as a standard action, not as a free action.
It requires a spell slot to use, multiple spell slots for multiple people. It must use a new spell slot if the two people move out of range from each other or if the spell expires. And most importantly, Shield Other does not allow the cleric/oracle to control the amount of damage taken whereas Life Link does.Shield Other is simply a different tool than Life Link.
I use it right off the bat at level 3, and it is still useful for making your AoE healing more effective. Standard or Free, either way, you have to wait for your turn, that is the downside. You don't really need to use it on more than the party tank though.
As for out of combat healing, a wand of cure light can do that job if it really comes down to it. If you are running a serious healer, then in combat healing is what it is all about.
Technically, humans get +3 hitpoints plus 7 more spells known (as an oracle) as that is the greater set of favored class bonuses for human.Aasimars get in addition...
...darkvision
...bonuses to key skills
...an extra +2 to a stat (+2 WIS -> 10 WIS, 12 INT on the 20 pt but = +1 skill pt per level, countering the +1 skill pt from humans)
...a nice set of defenses (I prefer the resistances to death magic)
...a pretty Daylight spell (kind of minor, but for posterity)Channeling 8d6 at level 10 is really good, especially with Quicken Channel for a double boost in emergencies.
It is 3d6 more than you would normally have at that level. That is an extra 10.5 hp healed to your channel at level 10. It is not really all that great. I think I would prefer to be human for the extra known spells and skill points.
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Life oracle in my experience. They can do some pretty ridiculous amounts of healing. Life Bond is the key in my opinion. It basically cuts damage to party members and causes it on the oracle instead. Since you're spreading the damage out more, their channels become much more effective.
Funny story about life bond...
My oracle was overcome with confusion, and didn't choose to stop the bond prior to rolling the first % on confusion. Ended up losing my turn, and by fluke dice my next 4-5 to gibbering mindlessly. It wasn't clear, but we agreed as a group that one can't take an immediate action that requires and act of volition, when one cannot act, so I gibbered away for a few rounds until I bled out from life bond. The party was able to kill the foe and heal me before I died, but it was a bloody close call..
As for the oracle of life, amazing healer. With Combat Healer, Spirit Surge and Channel Energy revelations, Extra channel, quickened channel and selective channel feats, I could nova healing like nobodies business. Round I rounded out my healing spells with classic cleric spells, like Magic Vestments, Shield of Faith, various spells to overcome afflictions, some good old fashion buffs, and force effects, spiritual weapon, spiritual ally, boneshatter (which by RAW is available to Clerics of Pharasma (book reference is Trial of the Beast I believe) but the DM allowed my Oracle to act as a cleric for the purposes of spell list expansion. I was Pharasmian to the bone.
What else, um, Eldritch Heritage to add a familiar to deliver my healing spells (and imbue with SLA to add a remove fear back up.)
A typical fight would have me opening round do something offensive, and subsequent rounds sit near the battle either attacking, or casting while using my move/swift for healing, and when things got ugly healing all out.
It is 3d6 more than you would normally have at that level. That is an extra 10.5 hp healed to your channel at level 10. It is not really all that great. I think I would prefer to be human for the extra...When you add in the synergy of Fey Foundling, which any life oracle should take, it's 3d6+6 extra healing. That +6 is only 1 less than the average of another 2d6. Also, 3d6+6 averages out to 16.5, which compeltely negates the 15 damage you take from Life Link every turn.
You can't just look at 1 piece of the puzzle. Life oracle synergizes so well with aasimar and the alternate favored class bonus. I've decided my PFS healer is going to be an aasimar life oracle. Just need to get 4 more scenarios of GM credit so I can start play at level 3 and have Fey Foundling and Selective Channeling.
Fey Foundling is already giving you +10 extra healing from the 5d6 your regular channel. That is enough to cover life link on 2 people.
You are seriously discounting the opportunity cost of going Aasimar. Human gives you 1 feat, which is basically means you could have channel, selective channel, AND Fey Foundling at level 1, plus you give up 1 skill point and an extra known spell per level.
Don't forget the outsider (native) type which let's you ignore some effects.
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I mixed up Fey Fondling, above, sorry.
The thing about Shield Other is that it requires the caster and recipients to stay really close, the whole time. If one goes out of the range, it end the spell, and does not come back on if they get closer later. A lot of people sort of forget/hand wave the part, but it really cuts down on it's usefulness as a long term buff.
Don't forget the outsider (native) type which let's you ignore some effects.
Unless Pathfinder changed things significantly, it also opens you up to some other headaches. I have found that it is usually a wash.
I mixed up Fey Fondling, above, sorry.
The thing about Shield Other is that it requires the caster and recipients to stay really close, the whole time. If one goes out of the range, it end the spell, and does not come back on if they get closer later. A lot of people sort of forget/hand wave the part, but it really cuts down on it's usefulness as a long term buff.
For either of the healer builds I posted that is a non-issue. You really want to stay withing 30 feet of the fighter for channel and reach spell.
Another thing about the Aasimar, is that if you went Agathion-Blooded (Idyllkin), you would get the +2 to CON instead of WIS (so +2 CON and +2 CHA) which adds to the HP you can absorb with Life Link and Shield Other.
Now if you could only find a way to get Unwilling Shield on your spell list, regardless of race, you'd be golden.
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The thing about Shield Other is that it requires the caster and recipients to stay really close, the whole time. If one goes out of the range, it end the spell, and does not come back on if they get closer later. A lot of people sort of forget/hand wave the part, but it really cuts down on it's usefulness as a long term buff.
Lesser Metamagic Rod of Reach solves that issue quite handily.
You are seriously discounting the opportunity cost of going Aasimar. Human gives you 1 feat, which is basically means you could have channel, selective channel, AND Fey Foundling at level 1, plus you give up 1 skill point and an extra known spell per level..
You may or may not be right (it's an opinion), but to be complete:Human:
- +2 to any one stat
- +1 skill point per levelAasimar:
- +2 CHA and +2 WIS (pt buy dump WIS to 8 and pump INT to 12, which equates to the human +1 skill pt per level plus a little, see below)This leaves you with the comparison:
Human:
- +1 feat
- Favored Class Bonuses: +3 hitpoints, +7 spells knownAasimar:
- +1 to all INT skills (from above)
- +1 language (from above)
- Darkvision: Aasimars can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Truespeaker: There are some aasimars whose language transcends all boundaries. They gain a +2 bonus on Linguistics and Sense Motive checks, and they learn two languages each time they gain a rank in Linguistics. This racial trait replaces skilled.
- Deathless Spirit: Particularly strong-willed aasimars possess celestial spirits capable of resisting the powers of death. They gain resistance 5 against negative energy damage. They do not lose hit points when they gain a negative level, and they gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against death effects, energy drain, negative energy, and spells or spell-like abilities of the necromancy school. This racial trait replaces celestial resistance.
- Spell-Like Ability: Aasimars can use daylight once per day as a spell-like ability (caster level equal to the aasimar's class level).
- Favored Class Bonus: +5 effective levels for Channel Energy (more healing and more save DC)
The problem with that list is that the majority of those bonuses can be acquired through other means.
Darkvision? Hmm, how does the blind curse work? If only there were a spell that let you give darkvision to your entire group like say a Communal version of the Darkvision spell.
Truespeaker? Tongues.
Deathless Sprit? Death Ward
Daylight? Daylight
+1 to int skills? Fox's Cunning
So with 4 spells, the level 10 human oracle matches the aasimar one's racial abilities, and I still have 3 known spells to spare, the Human Oracle has the option to give the same bonus to other party members.
So at level 10....
Human
- Bonus Feat
- 3 extra known
- +3 hit points
Aasimar
- 3d6 more Channeling
I am not saying Aasimar is a bad choice, but it is definately not hands down beats the pants off of every other possible choice better either, thus I stand by my earlier statement that your choice of race is not going to have a huge effect on the overall picture.
Further, I am not sure that channel is the smartest place to apply your aasimar bonus to.
If you applied the Aasimar Bonus to you Energy Body. At level 10, you could use it for 15 rounds a day, and it would deal 1d6 +15 each round. That increases your effective healing per day by 142.5 over using it 10 rounds for 1d6+10. This healing can be used as a move action, and thus may keep you from having to burn 2 channel attempts to make channeling a move action, especially if you are just healing damage soaked via Life Link. Energy Body is a supernatural ability just like channel so if you use this ability to heal yourself, you get +2 to the amount healed. That puts you at 152.5 hp of increased healing.
If you have fey foundling, you can channel 7 times a day, you don't use quick channel, and your channel hits 3 people who need healing every time you use it, then applying the Aasimar Bonus to the channel revelation nets you an increase of 262.5 in total healing. If you use quick channel 3 times, the difference drops to 150.
@Rory - how does a healer get life link?
Stuff.
Again, I'm not saying it's the best healer, but it's solid enough.
His point is that the amount of healing you can drop in one round is at least as important as the total amount of healing a healer can do in one day, probably more so because a ranger with a wand of cure light wounds is sufficient for out of combat healing for most groups. Maximum burst healing is going to require you to use spell resources, thus healing before using spells isn't really that big of a deal.
Your single target burst healing is important. Lets say your party fighter is gets jumped by 2 fire giants and loses initiative. Normally they would only do about 50 damage to a decent fighter, but they manage to flank, and one of them crits. Now your meatshield is down 80 hp. The rest of the party is in perfect health, but you need to heal the fighter enough so that he feels safe staying in melee and keeping the giants engaged...
You give him 5 hp via life link, quick channel gives him 28 hp, and heals you up to full, then you cast cure critical for 28 and a quickened cure light for 9.5. 70.5 hp on average, but it cost you 2 channel uses and a 4th and 5th level spell. Picking another race drops your healing by 10.5.
The healing cleric burns a quick channel for 17.5 hp. Cure critical for 42 hp + quickened cure critical 14.25. 73.75 hp healed for the same amount of resources used, and I don't have to be Aasimar to do it.
@Rory - how does a healer get life link?
It is a life oracle revelation.
The problem with that list is that the majority of those bonuses can be acquired through other means.
How can there be a problem with the list? It is what it is.
You said:
You are seriously discounting the opportunity cost of going AasimarI simply listed that opportunity cost.
No, you discounted the value of a bonus feat and 7 bonus spells, while laying a huge list of potential upsides to the Aasimar. I can list out 7 spells that the Aasimar oracle will not have and put each one on a separate line to make it seem like it is a bigger advantage than it really is(which is basically what I did in my response).
But mostly, the problem when comparing any race to humans is a bonus feat at level 1 is huge. Even if that was all a human got(no +1 to all skills, no +1 / level to known spells), and the Aasimar got all of the bonuses that you listed, the human would still be better.
Agreed, I always try to have at least 1 offensive spell of each level.
Command, murderous command, or forbid action (if you have lots of languages)
Ray of sickening (if you don't)
Are probably my favorites on the cleric/oracle list
... +1 to int skills? Fox's Cunning ...
Just a small correction that doesn't really take away from your points. Fox's Cunning is an ability buff that's not on the Cleric's list.
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I was looking at building a Life Oracle once the campaign I'm in ends and the GM starts another. Thinking on Aasimar Idyllkin for the +2 CON/CHA which helps with being an HP soaker with life link and shield other. Probably take the blackened curse for a few extra attack options, should active healing be unnecessary and any buffing is completed. Maybe go dual-cursed for the extra utility.
Healing Before Spells: Oracle in a Landslide
Maybe.
First, the problem of the Clerics Domain spells.
Take my Liberation/Healing Cleric. Look at the liberation domain spells, they all either overlap with the domain abilities, or they are situational "memorize this when you need it" spells.
There is not good reason for the cleric to memorize anything other than cures in their domain slots. These spell slots cannot really be used for anything other than healing.
Your "Healing before spells" bucket is really a "Healing from abilities that can only be used to heal" bucket, and thus the cleric's domain spells probably belong in that total. That brings the cleric up to 256 healing from abilities that can only be used to heal.
Second, the cost of a bonus feat.
You are using the combination of Aasimar and Extra Channel to inflate your totals, but unlike humans, Aasimar don't have b bonus feat to play with , especially if you are also taking Fey Foundling.
Aasimar Oracle
1 - Revelation(Channel), Fey Foundling
3 - Revelation(Life Link), Selective Channel
5 - (if dual cursed) Revelation(Misfortune), Extra Revelation(Safe Curing)
7 - Revelation(Energy Body), Extra Revelation(Combat Healing)
9 - Abundant Revelation(Combat Healing)
VS
Human Oracle
1 - Revelation(Channel), Fey Foundling, Extra Revelation(Life Link)
3 - Revelation(Safe Curing), Selective Channel
5 - (if dual cursed) Revelation(Misfortune), Extra Revelation(Energy Body)
7 - Revelation(Combat Healing), Abundant Revelation(Combat Healing)
9 - Extra Channel
IE everything you can do, I can do 2 levels earlier. Now exactly what are you willing to give up to fit Extra Channel in there?
For either of the healer builds I posted that is a non-issue. You really want to stay withing 30 feet of the fighter for channel and reach spell.So your Fighters and Barbarians never charge or walk into another room without the Caster? Sure, you want to stay by the Cleric/Oracle. Who doesn't?
Not if they want healing. Considering that most healing spells are touch range, if you want heals, you stay within a move action of the healer.
At higher levels, don't overlook the power of the Reach Spell feat for Oracles. Being able to cast your heals from behind a rock 50 feet away from the combat is pretty nice. (Or for freedom of movement, say if your fighter is currently in the mouth of a monster, and is about ready to get swallowed next turn...)
The only problem there is Oracles are spontaneous casters. That means to use reach spell, all their spells become full round actions.
That brings the cleric up to 256 healing from abilities that can only be used to heal.
I'm okay with that. Cleric gets 256 single target before spells. Oracle is still at 691. That was a major boost for the cleric, so the oracle is not as much of a landslide victory here, but still pretty far ahead.
No, it is only that much if you take extra channel.
22 charisma without extra channel is 7 channels per day
Aasimar is 8d6 per channel. That is 196 to your target, and 308 to yourself to heal life linked damage.
Your energy body heals 135 damage.
That is 639 damage healed IF you have absolute perfect usage of channel and life link. If you have to quick channel to burst heal a single party member who is hurt, you lose 64 points of total healing.
The outsider (native) type would be a problem for a physical brute who wanted to get enlarge person or something like that. For a stand in the back finger-wiggler, it has almost no drawbacks.
Double damage from anti-paladins + level 11 paladin using Aura of Vengence on Oracle = Antipaladin and all allies withing 30 feet get +22 damage on their first successful attack...
There are a few other abilities like this. Native Outsider makes you immune to some things(like hold person), but it does open you up to a few specific abilities that are meant to be really nasty to outsiders.
There is no question that a human is quicker to jump start the class. You would not want Life Link at level 1 though. Human dual-cursed oracle would want Misfortune. And there is MUCH to be said about having Misfortune at level 1. I agree with you completely that human is fantastic there.The aasimar makes up the ground at mid levels. That's when their sheer amount of healing (burst single, burst group, and amount healed prior to spells) really starts to hit home.
My point is that you are using Aasimar racial abilities with a Human's bonus vs the cleric.
Your build also doesn't include Quicken spell or Combat Healing, which a lot of my burst healing calculations assume you have. So you are giving up the ability to burst heal for more endurance. All of the builds discussed are way beyond the endurance needed by the average party, so that extra endurance really isn't buying you as much as you think it is.
Example, Fire Giant vs AC 24 Tank -> average damage dealt per round is about 55 accounting for crits. Just the clerics healing only abilities gets me almost 5 rounds of combat. Then I dip into my spells, with just half of my spells, I can go another 10 rounds. That is 15 round of combat, assuming that the fighter just sits there and takes it(IE we use stupid tactics, and have no battlefield controller).
Lets see, in 15 rounds of combat....
The fighter will have dealt 900 damage(IE enough damage to kill 6 fire giants)
The archer will have dealt about 1000 damage(another 6 dead fire giants)
The blaster sorcerer who used no spells to buff themselves will be completely out of 4th and 5th level spells, and they have 2 level 3 spells left. If the blaster is well built, the probably killed another 9-12 fire giants.
So we defeated the equivalent of 9-12 CR 12 encounters with the fighter just sitting there and taking the beating while I heal them and the archer and wizard blast them. The sorceer is begging to let us stop for the night, and I still have half of my spells left.
Played in a smart party that uses tactics, battlefield control, etc, either of these builds can go 40 or more rounds of combat and still have half their spells left.
Endurance is good, but if your endurance is 10 times greater than the rest of the party, 90% of it is going to waste.
You know I guess it is a minor point to some. But unless what happens with the Aasimar racial bonus is defined, it becomes less useful as you level, and is totally useless at level 20 (if you make it that far).
Assuming that nothing progresses past level 20, which I haven't seen much written about in print.
I'm not sure what you're going on about. Channeling doesn't cap.
Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the cleric. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two cleric levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on). Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the cleric's level + the cleric's Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by channeled energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A cleric may channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A cleric can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect. A cleric must be able to present her holy symbol to use this ability.
So yes, at level 20 your Oracle of Life Assimar will channel for 15d6.