Would a Merciful Healer be well recieved in a PFS game or is such a focused healer not necessary? I understand all i would be able to do is heal, thats the point. Most games I play I take the role of healer because its fun to me.
You will be welcomed at every table with joy and elation!
Just make sure that when healing is not necessary that you have other ways to contribute (buffs, summons, etc).
I take it I accomplish this by varying the prayers I have on hand and not just heals 24/7?
So far trait wise Devoted healer is the only thing that has jumped out at me. Are there other traits I should consider? I am building him capable in combat (Aasimar race and not dumping any of his stats) but gearing him for defense with his only weapon being as a in case it is necessary piece of equipment. He will be roleplayed as a healer who does whatever is necessary as per his gods calling.
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The nice thing about clerics is that they can convert a spell into a cure spell for free. So, load up a full set of spells you'd prefer casting (buffs, debuffs, summons), but be ready to swap them out for cure spells at a moment's notice.
Also, as a GM: be careful with in combat healing. If someone is unconscious, and you heal them up to just above 0, the next hit may take them to negative constitution. Also, the vast majority of GM's will leave unconscious characters alone. But if a cleric is constantly bringing them back into the fight, the GM may become a bit more willing to finish off the fallen characters. So, healing is good, but might not always be the best option for every fight.
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You will be welcomed at every table with joy and elation!
Just make sure that when healing is not necessary that you have other ways to contribute (buffs, summons, etc).
I take it I accomplish this by varying the prayers I have on hand and not just heals 24/7?
So far trait wise Devoted healer is the only thing that has jumped out at me. Are there other traits I should consider? I am building him capable in combat (Aasimar race and not dumping any of his stats) but gearing him for defense with his only weapon being as a in case it is necessary piece of equipment. He will be roleplayed as a healer who does whatever is necessary as per his gods calling.
Blessed Touch conflicts with devoted healer as a Faith Trait, as does Exalted of the Society, but additional healing can be very good.
Faith Healer as an Aasimar race trait might work well for you, to make day jobs pay more.
I'm a big fan of Purity of Faith as a religion trait.
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A focused healer is very welcome.
Highest stat Cha, with a Headband +2d6 & Quicken Channel and in one round you can get most everybody from unconscious to full.
Clerics are powerful, but half of their versatility comes through their domains, of which you have only one now. You will definitely help in combat, but think about other mission goals and how you can help those.
Pathfinder should be versatile, especially as you get into later seasons.
Look at spells to use outside of combat: skill boosts, divinations, and other utility spells that tackle specific types of obstacles. Communal buffs are great, too, but don't worry too much about overkill with other buffs.
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I have played my Merciful Healer to level 11. He's a half-orc, and his stats have been geared heavily towards defense.
Because of this, there have been times in easier scenarios where I have occasionally felt useless. I mean, if no one gets hurt, healing isn't really needed. Usually I start combats by casting some party buff (Bless, Prayer, Blessing of Fervor) choosing the spell by how easy the combat look like it'd be. It's no use for the character to try and do damage or buff himself as he has STR 10. But there have also been times when he has saved other characters from death, and those make up for the useless times quite nicely.
The biggest annoyance is the "cannot channel to hurt undead" It hurts the character's damage potential as well, especially, when rest of the party thinks the character should be able to do it, and you reveal they're actually quite useless in that combat.
Learning to use Summon Monster spells is a valid option, it just takes some effort to do smoothly.
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Yeah, Summon Monster would be a good add on, especially with the versatility of Mephits at SM IV.
Lantern Archons & Hound Archons are popular and can cast a bit, such as Aid for everyone, or even just Aid behind your frontline warrior every round after they get hit. With Sacred Summons you could get them out and attacking right off the bat.
You can even tap the knowledge skills of the critters too.
Wow thanks for all the great information! Definitely a boon to hear from other players of Merciful Healers and it just makes me want to play him more as what you are describing I already envisioned, including the times when I will feel not so useful, but I will fill those times with roleplaying and developing the character (If all goes to plan!).
Here is a question I am struggling with. The Gods so far are not grabbing me and saying, "HEY, You want to worship me and dedicate your life to my causes!". The only one I have seen as interesting is Milani because as a Merciful Healer you have to pick a god who has the healing domain. Can some of the more knowledgeable here suggest other gods who have the healing domain and are PFS legal?
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Yeah, Sarenrae is probably the archetypical one, my healer has her as his deity. It also works nicely for those times when he gets a bit angry (usually when you insult his goddess), as Sarenrae has her fiery side.
With an aasimar I probably wouldn't choose a racial deity, though one of the Empyreal Lords could be a nice fit, what with them being kind of angel-y as well. There's just so little info on them, it might be a bit difficult to find a catchy one.
Yeah, Sarenrae is probably the archetypical one, my healer has her as his deity. It also works nicely for those times when he gets a bit angry (usually when you insult his goddess), as Sarenrae has her fiery side.
With an aasimar I probably wouldn't choose a racial deity, though one of the Empyreal Lords could be a nice fit, what with them being kind of angel-y as well. There's just so little info on them, it might be a bit difficult to find a catchy one.
Where can I find information on the Empyreal Lords and are they PFS legal as a diety choice?
Venture-Agent, Virginia—Newport News
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Where can I find information on the Empyreal Lords and are they PFS legal as a diety choice?Yeah, Sarenrae is probably the archetypical one, my healer has her as his deity. It also works nicely for those times when he gets a bit angry (usually when you insult his goddess), as Sarenrae has her fiery side.
With an aasimar I probably wouldn't choose a racial deity, though one of the Empyreal Lords could be a nice fit, what with them being kind of angel-y as well. There's just so little info on them, it might be a bit difficult to find a catchy one.
Chronicles of the Righteous is the best source for them, and all of them are legal except Irez.
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There is also the possibility of using a paladin and working up to Ultimate Mercy. Who wouldn't want free* raise deads?Its a crazy amount of fun. Get there right after an important NPC got killed? Give me a moment, I'll fix that...
My paladin doesn't have any concept of what death is. He just thinks things go to sleep and that he needs to wake people up now and then.
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My paladin doesn't have any concept of what death is. He just thinks things go to sleep and that he needs to wake people up now and then.There is also the possibility of using a paladin and working up to Ultimate Mercy. Who wouldn't want free* raise deads?Its a crazy amount of fun. Get there right after an important NPC got killed? Give me a moment, I'll fix that...
Vati is the nest mother of every expedition. As such, she'll put sneaky souls back where they belong, like naughty run away children. Because the Boneyard is scary and lonely, and no one should be left there.
NPCs, its usually because something jacked up has happened. Like a certain scenario that involved dead parents and the children are now orphaned. Vati took a few days to sort the bones (Int 5 has its draw backs...), but fixed them in the end. Happy family reunions!
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Healers (dedicated or otherwise) will be always welcome, though having more than one in a group can slow the game down considerably. The Life Oracle probably is the mechanically superior option, but if you enjoy the cleric lifestyle, have fun :)
Do remember to have some combat preparedness aside from just healing, though. Longspears are 5 gold.
I am making two characters in case a healer is already in a group I plan to join to avoid the two healers problem. All the information I have read is helping immensely and I feel when I step foot into Golarion I will be well prepared to handle whatever my Cleric will face.
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Would a Merciful Healer be well recieved in a PFS game or is such a focused healer not necessary? I understand all i would be able to do is heal, thats the point. Most games I play I take the role of healer because its fun to me.
I'd advise not going down that road and going down the life oracle path. where your casting stat and channelling stat is the same and the revelations can making you are truly amazing healers. I saw one build where a life oracle took damage for characters and basically healed himself a lot.
I have one that I stopped playing for a lot of reasons, including GMs making sure unconscious PCs were dead so I couldn't heal them (or being prime target myself) - but the inability to use channelling to affect undead really hurts in PFS games, and you don't get lay on hands so you can use none of the Mercy feats (where lay on hands is a requirement); plus since my casting stat was not as good when I needed to do damage, things made saving throws. In year 4 games, he became a liability because he did not do damage very well.
I didn't use the ability to cast cure spells without provoking until very late and perhaps only once or twice in 9 levels.
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you don't get lay on hands so you can use none of the Mercy feats (where lay on hands is a requirement)? "Feats and effects that affect a paladin's mercy also affect this ability."
Doesn't that explicitly make those feats available?
Those feats also require the "Lay on Hands class feature." There have been a couple of questions on the boards about if the Merciful Healer class feature satisfies all the prerequisites or not, but it doesn't appear to have been definitively answered beyond "table variation."
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Those feats also require the "Lay on Hands class feature." There have been a couple of questions on the boards about if the Merciful Healer class feature satisfies all the prerequisites or not, but it doesn't appear to have been definitively answered beyond "table variation."you don't get lay on hands so you can use none of the Mercy feats (where lay on hands is a requirement)? "Feats and effects that affect a paladin's mercy also affect this ability."
Doesn't that explicitly make those feats available?
Naturally.
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you don't get lay on hands so you can use none of the Mercy feats (where lay on hands is a requirement)? "Feats and effects that affect a paladin's mercy also affect this ability."
Doesn't that explicitly make those feats available?
If a class allows people to take feats without meeting prerequisites, it says so in the class. There is no such Language for merciful healer. If a mercy feat got created that did not require Lay on Hands, then the Merciful Healer could take it.
So if you were a Paladin who got lay on hands, and a merciful healer, your merciful channels could apply the feats. However without explicit permission to take feats without meeting prerequisites, one is out of luck.
I've even had GMs tell me that I can't use Alignment Channel because RAI the merciful healer does not channel to attack. Though the majority seem to be OK with it.
you don't get lay on hands so you can use none of the Mercy feats (where lay on hands is a requirement)? "Feats and effects that affect a paladin's mercy also affect this ability."
Doesn't that explicitly make those feats available?
If a class allows people to take feats without meeting prerequisites, it says so in the class. There is no such Language for merciful healer. If a mercy feat got created that did not require Lay on Hands, then the Merciful Healer could take it.
So if you were a Paladin who got lay on hands, and a merciful healer, your merciful channels could apply the feats. However without explicit permission to take feats without meeting prerequisites, one is out of luck.
I've even had GMs tell me that I can't use Alignment Channel because RAI the merciful healer does not channel to attack. Though the majority seem to be OK with it.
That last part makes no sense on the party of the GM. Merciful Healer specifically states you can't target undead. That's it. Alignment Channel even says "instead of its usual user"
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Would a Merciful Healer be well recieved in a PFS game or is such a focused healer not necessary? I understand all i would be able to do is heal, thats the point. Most games I play I take the role of healer because its fun to me.
I have one that I stopped playing because too often I (or my table) was punished for me healing too well. [like enemies shooting the unconscious ones if I approached them even to get in range for stabilize)].
Also, undead are common enough in PFS that it can be frustrating that your positive channelling cannot be used in that way and you may find people get angry with you for not channelling to harm undead (unreasonable because you cannot do it - but I have seen plenty of it).
Still, from 1-7, I had a lot of fun in the class - it was just high level play that was an issue.
As for traits - consider getting a trait that makes perception a class skill - there is one in the Varisian book, and two in the organized play guide for factions.
Alternatively, get magical lineage on one of your clerical spells - I have cure moderate wounds and the reach metamagic on a cleric so I can cast close ranged cure mod that cures an average 27 (with the 6th level healing domain power). I also now memorize a reach stabilize as well so I can stabilize at over 100 feet away.
Yes you can get reach rods, but memorizing the spell that way creates a lot of flexibility. Plus if you have the feat, you can expand range for levels - so a cure moderate wounds with 100+10 per level range, would be (with ML) a 3rd level spell.
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It's always a wonderful feeling when you sit down with your dedicated healer/support character, and you proceed to buff and heal your allies to victory!
People are so grateful when their characters don't die because of exemplary support characters!
I LOOOVE Playing support, and have been eyeing up the Merciful Healer Archetype myself. I say go for it!