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So, first off, I'd like to say that I enjoy being a team player in Pathfinder society. Now, I recognize that a lot of people just play PFS for the powergaming stuff, but I really like to make fun characters that help other characters survive, and work well in teams.
That being said: almost no one in my local area makes healers. Now, I can understand why, most people want to be smashing faces or casting instant-death spells or whatever, and I certainly have more than a few of those kind of characters, but I'd also like to make a character that I can throw in when the group consists of all barbarians (which I've had happen before.)
Thing is: I want to make a character that is kind of different. A healer with a spin on it.
I know that the base cleric is awesome at healing
I know the life oracle is awesome at healing
I have a friend who has made a life shaman witch-doctor
I have a friend who has made a Life-bonded Spirit-whisperer Wizard
I have a friend who has a healing-bomb based alchemist
With that said, I was looking for another way to be an effective healer without using those ideas, because my friends did such good renditions of them, it would feel like copying them if I did the same thing.
The closest I have come up with is a cleric 1/Daring champion Cavalier (order of the star) which nets me a few channels, witch increase at a rate of 1d6 every 4 levels (and then eventually get a phylactery of positive channeling to increase my dice up to 5d6 at level 9)
I already have a (non-life) oracle, a warpriest, and a shaman (whose wandering spirit is almost always life), and I don't want to repeat those characters.
Any other suggestions for making a PFS healer?
skald with lesser celestial totem and the healing path spell.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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So, first off, I'd like to say that I enjoy being a team player in Pathfinder society. Now, I recognize that a lot of people just play PFS for the powergaming stuff, but I really like to make fun characters that help other characters survive, and work well in teams.
Wow.
Okay, so temporarily putting aside your deep-seated contempt for people who make characters differently than you, how serious are you about wanting to "help other characters survive, and work well in teams"?
Is that your primary goal?
If so, then scrap the "healer" idea, because (at least in Pathfinder) it's not a very reliable way of helping other characters survive or working well in teams.
If instead the "healer" is the more important thing to you, then I hear that Life Oracles tend to be exceptionally good at it, but I haven't played one myself.
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So, first off, I'd like to say that I enjoy being a team player in Pathfinder society. Now, I recognize that a lot of people just play PFS for the powergaming stuff, but I really like to make fun characters that help other characters survive, and work well in teams.Wow.
Okay, so temporarily putting aside your deep-seated contempt for people who make characters differently than you, are you serious about wanting to "help other characters survive, and work well in teams"?
Is that your goal?
If so, then scrap the "healer" idea, because (at least in Pathfinder) it's not a very reliable way of helping other characters survive or working well in teams.
If instead the "healer" is the more important thing to you, then I hear that Life Oracles tend to be exceptionally good at it, but I haven't played one myself.
I didn't mean to come off as holier-than-thou.
What I meant to say, really, is that generally, I've noticed most people have more fun when they get to crit for 65 damage at level five, instead of sitting back and channeling positive energy and then ending their turn. And that's understandable. It's more fun to be the big damn hero who ends the fight, not the guy in the back who stops the bleeding.
I'm just not built that way. Occasionally, I like being the 'reliable backup guy.'
Secondly: I know healing has a bad rap in pathfinder, but I've ALSO played in games where NO ONE had any healing, and one ended in a TPK, and the others went very poorly for us. I know healing has a bad rap, but saving the party so that they last one or two rounds longer sometimes is the deciding line between 'surviving' and 'TPK.'
Like I said, I have other characters. I have a shaman who can remove Debuffs, I have a Slayer who finds traps, I have a few big ol' beatsticks. But my big healer just leveled to 12, and I'd like to get started on another guy who can heal for a party that has no other means of healing.
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Paladin/Life Oracle I did not see on your list. I recommend more Paladin Levels than Oracle since you have another oracle. Heal people Via Channel Energy...heal yourself with Lay on Hands. Remove status effects with Mercies. Be really good at fighting very evil things.
You could also be holier than tho with that style build lol.
Another option is Evangelist Cleric. Tho it is not the full time healer. He is one of the Ultimate support classes. Bardic Performance is very good at keeping room in your spell list for other types of spells. It is one of my favorite Archetype/Classes in the game and it is super powerful.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I didn't mean to come off as holier-than-thou.
Well, that's what "I like to be a team player, even if those guys over there only care about powergaming" means.
Say what you mean, or else we'll all just have to assume you mean what you say.
I know healing has a bad rap in pathfinder, but I've ALSO played in games where NO ONE had any healing, and one ended in a TPK, and the others went very poorly for us. I know healing has a bad rap, but saving the party so that they last one or two rounds longer sometimes is the deciding line between 'surviving' and 'TPK.'
You are correct that shifting the math by a round or two can be the difference between a victory and a TPK. However, the vast majority of the time, there are far better ways to buy those extra rounds than by healing.
Like I've said elsewhere, casting Cure spells is kind of like a barbarian sheathing his greatsword and firing a bow: it's occasionally appropriate, but only in certain very specific circumstances, and doing it any more than that means you either misunderstand the fundamental structure of the game or you have some other goal besides trying to be as helpful to the party as possible.
And make no mistake: the latter (having a preference that supersedes effectiveness) is totally fine. If refilling people's HP is fun for you, then have at it! Nothin' wrong with that, alright? Just be sure to own up to your aesthetic preferences, instead of trying to frame it as being more of a team player than everyone else is.
So:
If your goal is to play a support character whose toolbox includes the possibility of the occasionally-useful emergency healing spell, then anyone who can spontaneously cast cure spells will fill that requirement just fine: good-aligned cleric, oracle, even bard.
If your goal is to be a healer, then you're already sacrificing some team-helping for your aesthetic preferences (which, again, is fine as long as you'll "own it") and I would therefore recommend investing heavily into your effectiveness, which probably means being a Life Oracle.
EDIT: Come to think of it, when you say you've had tables where nobody had any healing, do you mean nobody even had so much as a wand of CLW for between-combat healing? Or do you (as I originally presumed) just mean there was nobody casting cure spells in combat?
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I didn't mean to come off as holier-than-thou.Well, that's what "I like to be a team player, even if those guys over there only care about powergaming" means.
Say what you mean, or else we'll all just have to assume you mean what you say.
I know healing has a bad rap in pathfinder, but I've ALSO played in games where NO ONE had any healing, and one ended in a TPK, and the others went very poorly for us. I know healing has a bad rap, but saving the party so that they last one or two rounds longer sometimes is the deciding line between 'surviving' and 'TPK.'You are correct that shifting the math by a round or two can be the difference between a victory and a TPK. However, the vast majority of the time, there are far better ways to buy those extra rounds than by healing.
Like I've said elsewhere, casting Cure spells is kind of like a barbarian sheathing his greatsword and firing a bow: it's occasionally appropriate, but only in certain very specific circumstances, and doing it any more than that means you either misunderstand the fundamental structure of the game or you have some other goal besides trying to be as helpful to the party as possible.
And make no mistake: the latter (having a preference that supersedes effectiveness) is totally fine. If refilling people's HP is fun for you, then have at it! Nothin' wrong with that, alright? Just be sure to own up to your aesthetic preferences, instead of trying to frame it as being more of a team player than everyone else is.
So:
If your goal is to play a support character whose toolbox includes the possibility of the occasionally-useful emergency healing spell, then anyone who can spontaneously cast cure spells will fill that requirement just fine: good-aligned cleric, oracle, even bard.If your goal is to be a healer, then you're already sacrificing some team-helping for your aesthetic preferences (which, again, is fine as long as you'll "own it") and I would therefore recommend investing...
1) I'm sorry, but this is the internet, sometimes people post what sounds good in their heads but doesn't come out well. I didn't mean to offend, but sometimes you post something that can be taken the wrong way.
2) It's not really the cure spells I'm after, it's the channels/aoe healing. Really, the ability to heal at a distance is what I have found the most benificial, along with the ability to undo damage from AoE attacks like breath weapons to the entire party in between rounds.
3) No, I've had tables that consisted of NO ONE with the ability to cast cure spells, and only one character had UMD for our wands of CLW.
water kineticist - splash people in the face with your delicious healing
white mage arcanist - live the final fantasy dream
herald caller cleric - let the summons heal for you
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...I didn't mean to come off as holier-than-thou.Well, that's what "I like to be a team player, even if those guys over there only care about powergaming" means.
Say what you mean, or else we'll all just have to assume you mean what you say.
I know healing has a bad rap in pathfinder, but I've ALSO played in games where NO ONE had any healing, and one ended in a TPK, and the others went very poorly for us. I know healing has a bad rap, but saving the party so that they last one or two rounds longer sometimes is the deciding line between 'surviving' and 'TPK.'You are correct that shifting the math by a round or two can be the difference between a victory and a TPK. However, the vast majority of the time, there are far better ways to buy those extra rounds than by healing.
Like I've said elsewhere, casting Cure spells is kind of like a barbarian sheathing his greatsword and firing a bow: it's occasionally appropriate, but only in certain very specific circumstances, and doing it any more than that means you either misunderstand the fundamental structure of the game or you have some other goal besides trying to be as helpful to the party as possible.
And make no mistake: the latter (having a preference that supersedes effectiveness) is totally fine. If refilling people's HP is fun for you, then have at it! Nothin' wrong with that, alright? Just be sure to own up to your aesthetic preferences, instead of trying to frame it as being more of a team player than everyone else is.
So:
If your goal is to play a support character whose toolbox includes the possibility of the occasionally-useful emergency healing spell, then anyone who can spontaneously cast cure spells will fill that requirement just fine: good-aligned cleric, oracle, even bard.If your goal is to be a healer, then you're already sacrificing some team-helping for your aesthetic preferences (which, again, is fine as long as you'll "own it") and I would
1) This is a Daily Basis for me. I think I am current holder for most posts removed by an administrator for various reasons. One is people do not get sarcasm or jokes anymore. I also use a very non-PC vocabulary and I am a person who refuses to be PC.
2) Still recommending the Oradin style build. (Too bad PFS doesn't allow VMC or I'd recommend Bard on top of it)
3) I've played at tables similar and depending on your actual make up this could be a problem or not a problem. But at least you had 1 person able to do it. But most session give you a chance to buy potions if you need to shop.
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Jiggy, it really wasn't necessary take take his head off for one fairly innocent comment.
Personally I'm a fan of the all-round support cleric. The guy who can remove crippling conditions, give a healing spike if the barbarian looks like he won't live until his next full attack, but also carries Communal Align Weapon and Blessing of Fervor to switch the party into offensive mode.
There's a real kick in the GM describing what kind of horrible debuffs the BBEG is laying onto the players, the rest of them sagging in their chairs because it's going to be awful, and then having the silver bullet to make it all better.
For what it's worth, last Saturday I GMed a scenario where the presence of a life Oracle healer made the difference between a possible TPK and a win.
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(snip)
Personally I'm a fan of the all-round support cleric. The guy who can remove crippling conditions, give a healing spike if the barbarian looks like he won't live until his next full attack, but also carries Communal Align Weapon and Blessing of Fervor to switch the party into offensive mode.
(Snip)
Thing is, basically that was my lore oracle that recently hit 12. Communal align weapon, dispel magic, blessing of fervor, communal air walk. Just go to my tab, hit 'aliases' and look up grundersnutt, you'll see my stats.
I was just wondering if there were any fun, new ways of healing that I hadn't heard about.
Fruian: I forgot to mention: I do have a friend with that build, and like I said I am trying to shy away from builds my friends have already made if I can, just for diversity sake. If there isn't anything new, I'll look into ways of making it different.
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Then I am going to go with the Evangelist cleric as one of the best supports in the game. Dropping SM3 to drop aid on everyone and doing damage in combat is a very nice play. Carry a wand of Cure light and Prepare like 1 of each cure every level above that. Beyond that you do not need much more focus on healing or buffing lol.
Also just cause a friend has it does not mean that yours could not and would not be different. He might have went Oracle heavy or would pick different feats along the way. I play with guys on a regular who can take the same class or concept and deliver it differently than the others at the table.
Sadly there is not much new to the way of playing a character with heavier healing options/focus. It is a very limiting role both in material and in actual play.
If you want to be really unusual, you could go with an Onmyoji Spiritualist. The jealousy emotional focus would work reasonably well for this purpose.
A kineticist healer was mentioned in another thread. Could someone give a brief low-down on how to go about building that and let me know what level such a creature becomes viable? I would be most grateful!
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A kineticist healer was mentioned in another thread. Could someone give a brief low-down on how to go about building that and let me know what level such a creature becomes viable? I would be most grateful!
Kinetic healing is generally pretty poor, even the archetype that buffs it isn't good. It's nice to have as an 'oh crap' backup, but not something you want to build a character around.
A kineticist healer was mentioned in another thread. Could someone give a brief low-down on how to go about building that and let me know what level such a creature becomes viable? I would be most grateful!Kinetic healing is generally pretty poor, even the archetype that buffs it isn't good. It's nice to have as an 'oh crap' backup, but not something you want to build a character around.
This is the general consensus on virtually all healing around here and the same could be said for any of the other builds suggested in this thread. I guess I apologize for attempted thread hijacking even though my question is perfectly on point with yours. I'll ask in that other thread I referenced and continue fooling with builds on my own. Good luck to you finding a new and exciting way to heal that isn't generally considered pretty poor.
Skald 3 Oracle of life 4 Rage Prophet X
With the Lesser celestial rage power and take extra rage power (moment of clarity) Link every one and heal them 5+lvl-3
This is the general consensus on virtually all healing around here and the same could be said for any of the other builds suggested in this thread. I guess I apologize for attempted thread hijacking even though my question is perfectly on point with yours. I'll ask in that other thread I referenced and continue fooling with builds on my own. Good luck to you finding a new and exciting way to heal that isn't generally considered pretty poor.A kineticist healer was mentioned in another thread. Could someone give a brief low-down on how to go about building that and let me know what level such a creature becomes viable? I would be most grateful!Kinetic healing is generally pretty poor, even the archetype that buffs it isn't good. It's nice to have as an 'oh crap' backup, but not something you want to build a character around.
I think he means even as healing out of combat it's not the best of options.
cartomancer/hedge witch
throw cards to heal and hurt
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So, first off, I'd like to say that I enjoy being a team player in Pathfinder society. Now, I recognize that a lot of people just play PFS for the powergaming stuff, but I really like to make fun characters that help other characters survive, and work well in teams.Wow.
Okay, so temporarily putting aside your deep-seated contempt for people who make characters differently than you
For what it's worth I didn't read it that way at all and have no idea how he pulled that thought out of your post.
This is the general consensus on virtually all healing around here and the same could be said for any of the other builds suggested in this thread. I guess I apologize for attempted thread hijacking even though my question is perfectly on point with yours. I'll ask in that other thread I referenced and continue fooling with builds on my own. Good luck to you finding a new and exciting way to heal that isn't generally considered pretty poor.A kineticist healer was mentioned in another thread. Could someone give a brief low-down on how to go about building that and let me know what level such a creature becomes viable? I would be most grateful!Kinetic healing is generally pretty poor, even the archetype that buffs it isn't good. It's nice to have as an 'oh crap' backup, but not something you want to build a character around.
The best way to do the Kineticist healer is to take the Kinetic Chirurgeon archetype and go with Aether as your primary element. Water is a decent option as well, but in the grand scheme of things, Aether has much better utility options out there (including a few combat based ones). At-Will invisibility is great for in-combat healing. You'll want to boost your Con as high as you possibly can, because that will greatly aid your healing. At 1st level you can healing for 1d6+5 damage which is a far cry better than any other healing at 1st level. The downside... you or the target take Burn.
Halfling is a good option for this route, because of their racial FCB. (It increases their Buffer!)
Halfling is a good option for this route, because of their racial FCB. (It increases their Buffer!)
Yeah, 1 extra buffer at lv11!
Halfling is a good option for this route, because of their racial FCB. (It increases their Buffer!)Yeah, 1 extra buffer at lv11!
That's thanks to that awful and clunky FAQ regarding when you can start taking a FCB. I doubt a lot of tables use that rule, but unfortunately this is for PFS, where you basically have to.
That's thanks to that awful and clunky FAQ regarding when you can start taking a FCB. I doubt a lot of tables use that rule, but unfortunately this is for PFS, where you basically have to.Halfling is a good option for this route, because of their racial FCB. (It increases their Buffer!)Yeah, 1 extra buffer at lv11!
I forgot this was for PFS... Yeah, in that case I would go with Human so you can pick up Toughness and get that Con up to 18. Then put all your FCB directly into HP. You could even go with Fast Learner, that way you get bump HP and Skills each level to take full advantage of your "better than a rogue" options with Aether. You could start off 1st level with 16 HP, that's a lot of healing that you can put out. Kinetic Cover is great for giving you that extra little buffer for emergency healing. Force Ward is amazing for this option, because all your Temp HP will be that barrier between your healing resource (HP).