Healer Tank Advice


Advice


I've been asked to help build a character for another player. He was making a high-AC Kval Paladin until he found out that armor bonuses for Tiny armor are cut in half. The main intent was to be a high AC, high saves, healer. The rest of the party kind of has DPS taken care of, but we've had some party casualties due to no healer and glass cannon syndrome.

Now I know that for Healer, being able to use a wand of Cure Light Wounds is normally all that is necessary for the most part. We have another Paladin in the party that can do that though. What we need is someone who can do combat medic-ing; saving a PCs life in the middle of combat if need be, and maybe preventing death if possible as well.

So, something with high AC and saves, and some ability to buff/heal. Damage dealing is less important. I think Paladin still fits the bill, though I think a dex-based Fighter could squeeze out more AC (but not as good of saves, and nothing to do with healing/buffing).

Basically he wants to make sure his character is extremely difficult to kill, and wants to expand that to the rest of the party as best as possible as well.

Any ideas welcome.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Tiefling (Kyton-spawn) Oradin with Fey Foundling

Fey Foundling + the Tiefling Paladin FCB and Hero's Defiance will make you nearly impossible to kill. Add in the Lifelink from Life Oracle and you have an effective means of in-combat and out of combat healing. If you care less about damage, then Hospitaller is a great archetype for Paladin, and you can get some great Channeling efficiency with levels into Holy Vindicator since it stacks with both Hospitallers channels, and the Oracle channels.

For even more cheese, consider a VMC into Cavalier Order of the Stars. You'll lose a ton of feats, but...
"In addition, the cavalier adds 1/2 his cavalier level to any levels of paladin or cleric he might possess for the purposes of determining the effects of channel energy or lay on hands."


Sounds interesting; I've seen Oradin mentioned a lot on the forums here, and just to ensure I understand, is that just an Oracle and Paladin multiclass? Is there a specific ratio that is recommended?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Tiefling straight Paladin is one of the hardest to kill. Their favored class bonus for paladins is crazy good. Pick a variant tielfing heritage that is +CHA, +STR/+CON and -WIS.

Paladins make pretty decent party healers, agreed. They don't need a high AC at all due to the excessive self-healing.

Feats:
Fey Foundling (1st)
Greater Mercy (3rd)
Quicken Channel (5th)

By level 2, you'll be able to self heal for 1d6+4 as a swift action.
By level 3, you'll be able to self heal for 2d6+7 as a swift action.
By level 4, you'll be able to self heal for 3d6+10 as a swift action.

Spells:
Hero's Defiance (level 1, immediate action, Lay On Hands self if you fall unconscious)

(I think there is an immediate action spell that let's you absorb the hit a party member takes, but I can't find it right now)

Get a couple of Pearls of Power and keep that spell up for every combat.

Later on, get the gauntlets that boost Lay On Hands by +4 paladin levels.


We are only currently level 6, so the Oracle would need to at least be enough levels to bond with all other party members correct? That would mean not enough levels of Paladin to even have spellcasting yet


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Rory wrote:

Tiefling straight Paladin is one of the hardest to kill. Their favored class bonus for paladins is crazy good. Pick a variant tielfing heritage that is +CHA, +STR/+CON and -WIS.

Paladins make pretty decent party healers, agreed. They don't need a high AC at all due to the excessive self-healing.

Agreed that going straight paladin is easily the hardest to kill, and if you're content with using wands for healing others, then it's the best option.

RaizielDragon wrote:
Sounds interesting; I've seen Oradin mentioned a lot on the forums here, and just to ensure I understand, is that just an Oracle and Paladin multiclass? Is there a specific ratio that is recommended?

Correct. Typically you go 3-4 levels of Life Oracle, and the rest in Paladin. There's some debate as to the best order to level in. Personally I like..

1 Oracle 1 Channel
2 Paladin 1
3 Paladin 2
4 Oracle 2
5 Oracle 3 Lifelink
6 Paladin X

RaizielDragon wrote:
We are only currently level 6, so the Oracle would need to at least be enough levels to bond with all other party members correct? That would mean not enough levels of Paladin to even have spellcasting yet

How many people are in your party? You only need 3 levels for a normal party of 4. Also if you're already level 6 then swap the above order with Paladin first so you get the extra max HP from level 1.

Grand Lodge

I tend to Like Spirit Guide Life Oracle 4/Hospitalier Paladin X.

If your a Person who Allows VMC and Regular Multiclassing (as it is up to the non-PFS GM) then throw on VMC Order of the stars to the Above for one hell of a Healer.

VMC wrote:
It is probably a good idea to use either this variant system or normal multiclassing, but it's possible for the two systems to be used together. In a game using both systems, a character can't take levels in the secondary class she gains from this variant.

There are other options like:

Spirit Guide Life Oracle (VMC Bard or Order of the Stars Cav.)

Hospitaliar Paladin (VMC Order of the stars or Bard)

Shaman

Quote:
Now I know that for Healer, being able to use a wand of Cure Light Wounds is normally all that is necessary for the most part. We have another Paladin in the party that can do that though. What we need is someone who can do combat medic-ing; saving a PCs life in the middle of combat if need be, and maybe preventing death if possible as well.

Typically most Status Removals and Resurrections come After combat as well. If a group is taking TONS of combat damage where healing is needed every single fight just to make it through most likely the group is unbalanced and they lack an "Anvil" (Battlefield Controller). Whose job it is to Mitigate damage and keep the group from being overwhelmed.

The Class I Recommend above all in this case is More Evangelist Cleric. Buff wise they bring the best in the Game. Bardic Performance. This allows them to prepare less Buffs and do more work with their Spells.

Also another part of the "Arms" (Supports) role is mitigation. A resist energy 20 shaving off 20 damage off a 30 damage fireball Means the group is only down 10 HP instead of 30. So this means instead of wasting a Standard action to heal the group...they can use another spell or action to end the combat faster and save resources better.


RaizielDragon wrote:
We are only currently level 6, so the Oracle would need to at least be enough levels to bond with all other party members correct? That would mean not enough levels of Paladin to even have spellcasting yet

Splitting levels vastly weakens the healing output in combat. At most just get 1 level of life oracle for life link to spread damage after combat and to heal the main damage taker in combat.

Since you are past the point of difficult oracle levels, I'd recommend the life oracle for more flexibility. It doesn't heal itself as well as a paladin, but you'll be far stronger in buffs and debuffs.

A Spirit Guide Life Oracle can heal a crazy amount of party damage (2+2xCHA channel uses at level 7). Although, I like the Ancestors spirit, which allows me to use CHA for INT skills. That is an amazing competency boost to skills for sure.


If you really want to in combat emergency healing like rory I suggest against multiclassing. Your ability get people back from the brink or keep them up is already completely outclassed by the damage foes do, splitting your levels, no matter what nifty abilities you get is just going to make that worse.

I think a straight life oracle is a good path. The ability to swift action heal (even at the cost of 2 spell slots) is fantastic in an emergency. A few channel energy feats and you have about the best healer pathfinder has to offer. You already have medium armor and shields and its possible to take heavy armor with a feat if that makes sense for the character to get it nice and tanky. A Spirit guide life oracle with some descent armor and a shield sounds like precisely what your player is looking for to me.

Dark Archive

As a side note, condition removal is ALSO the purview of the "healer". Things like disease and curse removal, healing ability damage, and removing temporary levels.
The paladin can manage the first one at level 6, but can't do the second until level 13 (6 levels behind a cleric), and can't do the last one at all.

I'd personally recommend either a cleric or a warpriest here. Clerics get spells faster and are better at channeling energy. Warpriests are somewhat more self-sufficient, get more feats, and are proficient in heavy armor.
That's a lot of things in the warpriest's favor, but getting spells faster can't be overstated in its usefulness. Both are good, but it depends more on what you're looking for.

Do you have a bard?
If not, and if you want to stick with paladin, maybe check out the Martyr archetype from Horror Adventures. Lets the paladin inspire courage like a bard, though it DOES lose divine grace, so no good reflex saves.
What's nice, though, is that you can use lay on hands at up to 30 feet. Very good for a combat healer.


Step 1: Pick a Dex/Cha Race (theres a million of them)
Step 2: Combat Reflexes(1)/Bodyguard(3)
Step 3: Radiant Charge(5)
Step 3.5: Divine Mount (Wield a lance)
Step 4: Ride around being a badass paladin with a huge movement speed on your horse while defending your allies with Bodyguard and healing them with Lay on Hands/Mercy.

Once per day you can turn your healing potential into a deadly charge of 2d8+2xstrength+1d6 per use of lay on hands and explode someone. Especially if you've smited them already.

From there just take extra uses of lay on hands if you ever decide to you don't know what feat to get. Consider Oath of Vengeance for converting healing into smiting.


I think the intent of including a tanky Paladin side to the build was because we don't have many front-liners currently. We have an Archer Paladin, a Pyrokineticist, and an Unchained Rogue.

Scarab Sages

I've actually had a lot of success as a "Healer-Tank" with a heavy armor/tower shield Cleric, or as I call them Combat Medics... nearly un-hittable and with the spells watchful eye (1st level) and shield other I am often able to syphon off half the damage the Glass Cannon is taking and then Channel to heal us both (sort of doubling Channel output). Or just slap some heavy Cure spells on whoever needs it in the middle of combat.


So how does a Tiefling (Div-Spawn) Paladin 3/ Oracle 3 with Tower Shield Proficiency and Armor of The Pit sound?

That leaves 1 feat open and also the potential for archetypes; I'm thinking either Hospitaler or Sacred Servant due to the recommendations in the Paladin guide, leaning toward Sacred Servant since Hospitaler reduces Channeling, but open to suggestions. For Oracle, why is Spirit Guide recommended? What does it offer that a normal Oracle doesn't have?

I chose Div-Spawn because of the +2 Dex which will equate to +1 AC. I know Con would give more HP and Fort, but Ref will be the low save, so some extra Dex couldn't hurt anyway.

Any suggestions for feats, or comments on the two choices mentioned above? The player wants a high AC, especially after I mentioned they would be giving away health to other players via Life Link, so Tower Shield Proficiency and Armor of the Pit both giving +2 AC seemed an efficient way to get it. Most of 6th level wealth will likely be spent on Magic armor, shield, Ring of Protection, AoNA, and maybe Dusty Rose Ioun Stone, unless anything super vital for the build is recommended.

Grand Lodge

Quote:
For Oracle, why is Spirit Guide recommended? What does it offer that a normal Oracle doesn't have?
Spirit Guide wrote:

At 3rd level, a spirit guide can form a temporary bond with a spirit, as the shaman's wandering spirit class feature. She must make this selection each day when she refreshes her spells. A spirit guide cannot bond with a spirit that is incompatible with her alignment, ethos, or mystery (GM's discretion).

A spirit guide gains one hex of her choice from the list of hexes available from that spirit. She uses her oracle level as her shaman level, and she switches Wisdom for Charisma and vice versa for the purpose of determining the hex's effects.

At 4th level, she adds the bonded spirit's spirit magic spells to her oracle spells known for that day, but only of spell levels she can cast. At 7th level, she gains the spirit ability of her current bonded spirit. At 15th level, she gains the greater spirit ability of her current bonded spirit.

This ability replaces the revelations gained at 3rd, 7th, and 15th levels.

3 Levels Gives you a Hex...The 4th Level can give you more options of Spells (Even if you can only cast 1st and 2nd level spells).

Since you have a revelation at 1st level you still qualify for Extra Revelation Feat.

To me the Extra spells and Hex gives me more options that can be changed every day.


Spirit guide also offers versatility. Your wandering spirit allows you to access a different hex and spell list every day, which is obviously huge as far as adaptability go.

And in the case of Life, Spirit Guide allows you to double dip channel and have twice as many channels a day at full power. Although after having played one of these, I can say that this level of healing is almost always overkill. My Oracle started dropping the wandering Life for Flame, so I could DPS in the times when the healing wasn't needed, which just goes to show the greatness of the versatility of the Spirit Guide.

And it's not a big deal, but Spirit Guide works pretty well with the Wrecking Mysticism Curse for Kitsune, because you can regain access to lost mystery spells through your spirit.


RaizielDragon wrote:
I think the intent of including a tanky Paladin side to the build was because we don't have many front-liners currently. We have an Archer Paladin, a Pyrokineticist, and an Unchained Rogue.

Thing is an oracle can be just as 'tanky' as a paladin with one feat. Since you are not concerned with dealing out damage you don't need a paladin for defense. In addition it will be far superior at the 'emergency healing' aspect of the goal. And he'll have access to all the requisite condition removal spells which is super important for the divine caster of the party to carry with them in any normal adventure.


I won't likely be getting the 4th level, so really all I'm getting then is the Hex, which I have 5 to choose from: Curse of Suffering, Deny Succor, Enhanced Cures, Life Link and Life Sight. And this is in exchange for a Revelation, which is fairly similar in function. The difference being that, as pointed out, I can change which of the 5 I have each day. Fair enough. I also lose Handle Animal and Survival as class skills, and gain all Knowledge skills I didn't already have instead.

However, bringing up "double dipping" in Channel isn't a thing, because you don't get Channel as a Spirit Guide until 7th level.

With all of that being said, is there any reason (other than Wis vs Cha) to use Oracle over a Shaman, if I can gain access to the main abilities I'm interested in (Life Link) with the Shaman AND get Channel? I ask because we have a pretty generous ability score rolling system, so I won't likely need to tank Wis, and if I only need a 12 to make 3 levels of Shaman work, that may be doable.

What is the "one feat" for a tanky Oracle? Also, I think a d8 HD vs a d10 means the Paladin can be a little more tanky than an Oracle.


RaizielDragon wrote:

So how does a Tiefling (Div-Spawn) Paladin 3/ Oracle 3 with Tower Shield Proficiency and Armor of The Pit sound?

The character will be a GREAT turtle.

Now ask yourself, what else can it do in combat? If you can't come up with something else, then the build isn't that good.

RaizielDragon wrote:
I chose Div-Spawn because of the +2 Dex which will equate to +1 AC. I know Con would give more HP and Fort, but Ref will be the low save, so some extra Dex couldn't hurt anyway.

Taking +2 DEX and using a Tower Shield is self defeating. They don't match. You'll only need 12 DEX to max full plate AC, or 14 DEX to max Tower Shield AC. Getting +2 DEX from racial bonus will be largely wasted.

Life Link needs a high hitpoint pool to work, not a high AC.


Unfortunately, I may have already sold the player on a Div-Spawn. I explained that it is the result of a corrupted genie, and the player liked it since we are playing Legacy of Fire, and he likes the idea of a genie being part of his bloodline in order to tie him to the setting.

Grand Lodge

RaizielDragon wrote:

I won't likely be getting the 4th level, so really all I'm getting then is the Hex, which I have 5 to choose from: Curse of Suffering, Deny Succor, Enhanced Cures, Life Link and Life Sight. And this is in exchange for a Revelation, which is fairly similar in function. The difference being that, as pointed out, I can change which of the 5 I have each day. Fair enough. I also lose Handle Animal and Survival as class skills, and gain all Knowledge skills I didn't already have instead.

However, bringing up "double dipping" in Channel isn't a thing, because you don't get Channel as a Spirit Guide until 7th level.

With all of that being said, is there any reason (other than Wis vs Cha) to use Oracle over a Shaman, if I can gain access to the main abilities I'm interested in (Life Link) with the Shaman AND get Channel? I ask because we have a pretty generous ability score rolling system, so I won't likely need to tank Wis, and if I only need a 12 to make 3 levels of Shaman work, that may be doable.

First you can pick the Spirit every day and access the Hexes available to that spirit...so you could go with Flame, Heavens, Ext, Ext and have many choices of Hexes. This allows you to be a Life Oracle and Gain Versatility.

As for Being a Shaman. Channel Energy is a CHA based SU Ability. The Oracle will always get the most out of Channel Energy.
When it comes to raw Healing the Life Oracle is best. But It is a very very subpar way of playing. At least with the Spirit guide archetype a life Oracle can play with different abilities instead of feeling like a Band aid running around and healing every round.

If the player wants more options than just fix every bump and bruise then perhaps they should try out a different style of supporting other than retroactive healing. Proactive strategies are always better anyways.


RaizielDragon wrote:

I won't likely be getting the 4th level, so really all I'm getting then is the Hex, which I have 5 to choose from: Curse of Suffering, Deny Succor, Enhanced Cures, Life Link and Life Sight. And this is in exchange for a Revelation, which is fairly similar in function. The difference being that, as pointed out, I can change which of the 5 I have each day. Fair enough. I also lose Handle Animal and Survival as class skills, and gain all Knowledge skills I didn't already have instead.

You get way more choices then that. You can choose which SPIRIT you want each day. You can in theory take ANY shaman hex you qualify for each day. Its actually more flexible then the normal wandering spirit ability of the shaman which doesn't give you a choice of hexes until 6th level.

Quote:

However, bringing up "double dipping" in Channel isn't a thing, because you don't get Channel as a Spirit Guide until 7th level.

The Spirit Guide Oracle only makes sense if you single class. If you are multiclassing it isnt the best combination. Personally I think with very few exceptions, long term multiclass characters are inferior to single class characters. And since you are 6th level now, presumably it wouldn't be too long before you got to 7th level.

Quote:

With all of that being said, is there any reason (other than Wis vs Cha) to use Oracle over a Shaman, if I can gain access to the main abilities I'm interested in (Life Link) with the Shaman AND get Channel? I ask because we have a pretty generous ability score rolling system, so I won't likely need to tank Wis, and if I only need a 12 to make 3 levels of Shaman work, that may be doable.

I would have to really sit down and look at it but my instinct is the cleric/oracle list is better for your purposes then the shaman list. I don't have concrete examples to back up that impression. In addition one of the big class abilities that I think is ideal for your stated goal is the combat healer revelation.

Also the presumption is that only needing charisma will give you better spells, more spells and more channels. Again the recommendation comes primarily from being single classed, not from a multiclass concept. And obviously what stats you have modifies how good the single ability score focus of an oracle is or isnt. But I still think for your stated purpose its superior.

Quote:

What is the "one feat" for a tanky Oracle? Also, I think a d8 HD vs a d10 means the Paladin can be a little more tanky than an Oracle.

I meant heavy armor proficiency. They can already wear medium armor, which depending on your stats may be sufficient, but you can take heavy armor prof to clunk around in full plate with a shield of that suits your needs. In terms of HD I promise being a full oracle with all of its healing and buff abilities VASTLY out weights an average of 3-5 hit points extra at 6th level (depending on how you split the multiclass). Remember having more healing is practically like having extra hit points if your focus is being the combat medic. Having a sift action cure serious wounds (life oracle with combat healer) is FAR superior to having 3d10s instead of d8s for HD.

A paladin is a better idea if you want to make a true frontliner who hits as hard as he is well defended/tough. If as you stated you are only concerned with being able to take hits and heal/buff, a full oracle (or shaman for that matter) is vastly superior.


RaizielDragon wrote:
Unfortunately, I may have already sold the player on a Div-Spawn. I explained that it is the result of a corrupted genie, and the player liked it since we are playing Legacy of Fire, and he likes the idea of a genie being part of his bloodline in order to tie him to the setting.

The feat Fey Foundling is one of the best tanking feats of a paladin. That will serve your friend far better than Tower Shield Proficiency.

Besides, a Tower Shield prevents Lay On Hands when you are also wielding a weapon.


Fey Foundling is probably too good. But it has a weird "prerequisite" of having a fey based background. So, you end up with a surprisingly large number of paladins and life oracles who were raised by Fey.


So Lay on Hands heals for 2 extra HP thanks to Fey Foundling, which is the main intent there?


A notable option many oradins take is going into the Holy Vindicator prc, selecting oracle as their casting class. This ends up giving you decent casting on top of a strong Frontline ability set.

VMC Cavalier Order of the Stars is definitely something I'd recommend if going this route in order to make up for the massive hit to lay on hands.


RaizielDragon wrote:
So Lay on Hands heals for 2 extra HP thanks to Fey Foundling, which is the main intent there?

2 extra hp *per die*.

So +14 hp heal at 7d6, as an example - it really adds up. Applies to your channels, too (for yourself only, of course.)


Ah, I missed the "per die" part. That is a lot of extra healing


I don't think I'm seeing what's so great about VMC Cavalier Order of the Star; could someone explain the primary benefit I would be going for there?


RaizielDragon wrote:
I don't think I'm seeing what's so great about VMC Cavalier Order of the Star; could someone explain the primary benefit I would be going for there?

I said why in my first post:

"In addition, the cavalier adds 1/2 his cavalier level to any levels of paladin or cleric he might possess for the purposes of determining the effects of channel energy or lay on hands."


Heretek wrote:
RaizielDragon wrote:
I don't think I'm seeing what's so great about VMC Cavalier Order of the Star; could someone explain the primary benefit I would be going for there?

I said why in my first post:

"In addition, the cavalier adds 1/2 his cavalier level to any levels of paladin or cleric he might possess for the purposes of determining the effects of channel energy or lay on hands."

And currently "levels" don't count as a "source" for stacking purposes, though that could likely change in the future.


Ah, you're right, I missed that. So, basically, at 7th level, as a Paladin 4/Oracle 3, it makes 1/2 my character level [3] (since character level is my effective Cavalier level) add into my levels of Paladin/Oracle for Lay on Hands and Channel Energy? And I get both as a Paladin and can get Channel from Oracle as well? So I would effectively be a Level 6 Oracle for one Channel, and a Level 7 Paladin for the other Channel and Lay on Hands? Sounds pretty good. Then from there, I get essentially an extra levels worth of Paladin Channel and Lay on Hands every 2 levels, even when I switch over to Holy Vindicator?


RaizielDragon wrote:
Ah, you're right, I missed that. So, basically, at 7th level, as a Paladin 4/Oracle 3, it makes 1/2 my character level [3] (since character level is my effective Cavalier level) add into my levels of Paladin/Oracle for Lay on Hands and Channel Energy? And I get both as a Paladin and can get Channel from Oracle as well? So I would effectively be a Level 6 Oracle for one Channel, and a Level 7 Paladin for the other Channel and Lay on Hands? Sounds pretty good. Then from there, I get essentially an extra levels worth of Paladin Channel and Lay on Hands every 2 levels, even when I switch over to Holy Vindicator?

By Jove, I think you've got it!

Yep, it's really quite nice. There's a really good Oradin guide on Giant in the Playground if you Google it right quick (I'd normally link, but I'm on mobile atm) if you'd like some additional suggestions, including gearing advice (nom nom Bracers of the Merciful Knight nom nom nom.)


I will have to check that out later; I'm limited by what pages my work lets through the firewall. For some reason paizo.com is fine, as is d20pfsrd (which I use as reference when I'm not at home, or just too lazy to break out a book), but I'm pretty sure GITP gets blocked.

So Spirit Guide is highly suggested for the Oracle side, which is fine, due to the increased flexibility. Is there a suggestion for the archetype for the Paladin side? If suggestions for it are in the referenced Oradin guide, I can check it out later.


RaizielDragon wrote:
So Spirit Guide is highly suggested for the Oracle side, which is fine, due to the increased flexibility. Is there a suggestion for the archetype for the Paladin side? If suggestions for it are in the referenced Oradin guide, I can check it out later.

For the Paladin side it depends on what you're looking for. If you really want to play up the healing aspect, then Hospitaler. You get a weaker channel, but a whole separate pool, which once again will stack with Holy Vindicator and the Cavalier VMC. The base class works as well, and if you want to help out more in the damage department, Oath of Vengeance is always a solid pick. Sacred Servant could work, and on the flipside if you don't care so much about Paladin casting, then Warrior of the Holy Light could also work.


Kolokotroni wrote:
RaizielDragon wrote:
I think the intent of including a tanky Paladin side to the build was because we don't have many front-liners currently. We have an Archer Paladin, a Pyrokineticist, and an Unchained Rogue.
Thing is an oracle can be just as 'tanky' as a paladin with one feat. Since you are not concerned with dealing out damage you don't need a paladin for defense. In addition it will be far superior at the 'emergency healing' aspect of the goal. And he'll have access to all the requisite condition removal spells which is super important for the divine caster of the party to carry with them in any normal adventure.

Oracles suffer badly being in front line (as d Shaman's) due to their poor base Fort Save compared with Paladins, and that's before Divine Grace.


The life oracle has a lot of reason to stack constitution though. You take your ally's damage unto yourself with life link and then you heal it super efficiently with Fey Foundling. Being a Life tank is a very different type of tanking. Basically, you "grab aggro" by healing the damage dealt to everyone else, so doing actual melee damage is something you just won't get to do much of. The playstyle is not for everyone, but it's probably the most effective tanking style available in Pathfinder.


Hospitaler, Sacred Servant, and Warrior of the Holy Light are the 3 main ones I was considering. I've also been eye-balling this one a bit: Purifier. It is 3rd party, but our GM would allow it, and it seems to really pump up Lay on Hands and Channel, with loss of Smite Evil being the main drawback, though likely acceptable for this type of character.

Grand Lodge

Melkiador wrote:
The life oracle has a lot of reason to stack constitution though. You take your ally's damage unto yourself with life link and then you heal it super efficiently with Fey Foundling. Being a Life tank is a very different type of tanking. Basically, you "grab aggro" by healing the damage dealt to everyone else, so doing actual melee damage is something you just won't get to do much of. The playstyle is not for everyone, but it's probably the most effective tanking style available in Pathfinder.

My current Life Oracle has a 16 Con and Toughness. 124 HP at level 12 with a 37 AC (buffed) in MEDIUM armor + Shield.

Typically 20+Level is optimal AC levels. So I'm sitting 5 over the optimal number for that Level. Heavy Armor is nice to have but not a necessity.


Fruian Thistlefoot wrote:

My current Life Oracle has a 16 Con and Toughness. 124 HP at level 12 with a 37 AC (buffed) in MEDIUM armor + Shield.

Typically 20+Level is optimal AC levels. So I'm sitting 5 over the optimal number for that Level. Heavy Armor is nice to have but not a necessity.

Another example...

My PFS level 12 life oracle has 104 hitpoints and AC: 21. He buffs and debuffs from the back row while hand waving damage away from the entire party while casting spells.

Heavy Armor is not a necessity. I concur!


This character won't likely be back row though; he will likely be up front, trying to flank with the party Rogue, taking hits off the party, doing his best prevent mobs from getting to the Archer and Kineticist and applying healing where needed.

Grand Lodge

RaizielDragon wrote:
This character won't likely be back row though; he will likely be up front, trying to flank with the party Rogue, taking hits off the party, doing his best prevent mobs from getting to the Archer and Kineticist and applying healing where needed.

Use a reach weapon and stand infront of the Archer and Kineticist.

The rogue can either:
A) Learn to Flank off him using reach. Or Flank off the Paladin in the group.
or
B) should roll a class that is not Dependent on Flanking.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Healer Tank Advice All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.