Hello everyone, this is my first post in the forum (and of course it had to be about me asking for help), so I hope I'm not making any mistake.
So, in my group we started playing the Rise of the Runelords campaign (we're near the end of the first book) , and looking online I found an interesting way to be the main healer (sort of) with the Paladin.
Basically it consists of mixing three archetypes (Hospitaler, Oathbound with the Charity Oath, Warrior of the Holy Light)
Here are my stats (using the 4d6 discard the lowest method):
Half-orc 4th level Paladin of Sarenrae:
STR: 16
DEX: 15
COS: 16
INT: 12
WIS: 8
CHA: 19 (16+2 from Half-Orc + 1 from 4th level)
(Yeah, I know, got a s**t ton of luck rolling this character)
Alt racial traits:
City Raised
Skilled
Traits:
Flame of the Dawn
Armor Expert
Feats:
-Two-weapon Fighting (going to retrain that with any other feat I can get as soon as my character will have time and resources)
-Greater Mercy
Feats to be taken (NOT in order):
Reward of Life
Word of Healing
Channel Surge
Selective Channel
Quick Channel
Reactive Channel
Protective Channel
Channeled Revival
Ultimate Mercy
So, this is where I need a couple of advices:
1)Discarding a feat: GM told us that the Campaign will take our characters all the way to level 17 (maybe 18), so I have to discard a feat.
I initally thought of Channel Surge, but then i found out that Ornament of Healing Light basically does the same thing as Word of Healing with half the reach but without losing healing; still, if I were to go that way, I would need to depend on an Magic item, the moment I lose it of it gets taken from me (for any reason), i'm back to square one.
So, which feat should I discard of any on the list?
2) Alternate channel: With the Hospitaler I get my own pool of Channel Energy at the cost of making it less powerful (actually cleric level= Paladin lv-3), that's fine by me. The thing is, my GM kindly told to me that if I wanted to took one alternative channel, i could choose one by the end of this book of the campaign (my fault for not checking them beforehand), and he would allow me to change it.
So I looked them up and the Bravery/Valor channel cought my attention (Try again on an ongoing Fear effect, if not under fear effect, nice buff on AC and attack rolls on charge for 1 turn, also goes well with the character).
The thing is, if I choose that, my overall heal with Channel (not that good to begin with) will be halved, and in late game not having a chance to heal a good chunk of health to the party alltogheter might be dangerous.
Should I go for the Alt Channel or stay with Standard Channel?
NOTE:
1)About equipment: the Wizard in the group will take Craft Woundrous Item soon, and, given time and resources, will make some item for the party so I'm just assuming some of the specific equipment we want will get in our hands.
2)We have a cleric in the group, but he focuses on battle (CHA 8 to give you an idea), so, while we will still need him for some of the more complex heal (Restoration on so forth), he will focus mostly about buffing himself and others and striking heavily.
Also if anyone have suggestions about equipment (got my eyes on Bracers of the Merciful Knight and Phylactery of Positive Channeling) they are more then welcome.
Sorry for the long post and thanks to everyone in advance for any answers!
P.S.:Sorry for any grammar mistake, both morphologically and syntactically, English is not my first language.
Flame of dawn looks like a really weak trait. I would recommend not trying to twf with scimitars or at all. Your str is good enough to use a greatsword which does more damage than than two scimitars. You can also take power attack instead. Armor expert is alright but traits like light sleeper or steel skin are cooler for the armored healer/ protector. Either way, you cannot lay on hands with a weapon in each hand but you can with a greatsword. Whether your second weapon is a scimitar, shield or gauntlet, a two hander is better. I'd leave out the channeling feats except for selective channel. You won't have enough channels and you have a cleric. You could instead take combat feats or extra lay on hands which gets you closer to ultimate mercy.
Flame of dawn looks like a really weak trait. I would recommend not trying to twf with scimitars or at all. Your str is good enough to use a greatsword which does more damage than than two scimitars. You can also take power attack instead. Armor expert is alright but traits like light sleeper or steel skin are cooler for the armored healer/ protector. Either way, you cannot lay on hands with a weapon in each hand but you can with a greatsword. Whether your second weapon is a scimitar, shield or gauntlet, a two hander is better. I'd leave out the channeling feats except for selective channel. You won't have enough channels and you have a cleric. You could instead take combat feats or extra lay on hands which gets you closer to ultimate mercy.
Thanks for the quick response!
I should've mention that the reason for TWF was that I wanted to try the Shield Bash chain, but ultimately dumped it since it would've took a lot of feats while I was also focusing on healing, it wouldn't have worked (I'm using a single scimitar and shield by now).
As far as Channels go, our Cleric got only 2 Channels per day (CHA 8), while i get 7 (weaker though), I don't know how much I can rely oh him for focusing on channels. My main point is that I don't really want to do damage, then again, maybe getting at least Power Attack could help overcoming DR.
As for traits, I was doubious about armor expert from the beginning, I actually took it just 'cause, while Flame of Dawn was in line with the character.
I would second taking power attack and using a two handed weapon. It's a very light investment that can very easily pay itself back, as being able to defend yourself well as a healer is great. (Nothing worse than being a small party with a dedicated healer who does 1d4-1 damage)
As for Bravery/Valor, I don't think you need the buff. If I remember correctly, Warrior of the Holy Light has buffing ability, ontop of your auras and you should be fine on that front. (Also you've got both a cleric AND a wizard, so you should be fine on that front).
I would recommend Channel Smite and Alignment Channel, but...
Spoiler:
I don't remember ever hearing about a wide variety of evil outsiders in the AP
. If you really want to focus on healing via channel, your build looks good. Just make sure to cover the rest of your basics along the way.
If you're planning on spending so many feats augmenting your channel, you should keep the normal channel and not go for the alternative channel. I would also suggest the feat Battlefield surgeon, you're probably going to get more use out of it than flame of the dawn. Especially, if you combine it with a Vest of surgery, so you aren't having to constantly replace healing kits.
If your GM lets you variant multiclass (from Unchained), I would suggest you grab Oracle. Life Oracle is a really fantastic healer, and might be worth your time over Channel Energy.
Also remember: On-the-battlefield healing is not all that useful. You can use it to stop your buddy from dying, but if they aren't in critical condition, I would suggest focusing on condition removal with your Mercies instead.
One of the advantages of Two Handed Fighting is that you can wield a one-handed weapon if you want. Just swing your longsword (frex) with both hands. It doesn't do as much damage as pole-arm/greatsword, but you don't have to pull out a different weapon when you get entangled/grappled and can only use one hand.
I'd probably go a little different. It seems that you are effectively the face of the party while also being the healer. As a Half-Orc I might focus on the Diplomacy aspect in this way:
Spoiler:
Male Desert Half-Orc (Sandkin)
Burning Assurance: Sandkin lack the chip on their shoulder that many half-orcs acquire as a result of prejudice, and their self- confidence puts others at ease. Desert half-orcs with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks. This racial trait replaces the intimidating racial trait.
Ease of Faith (Faith): You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks, and Diplomacy is always a class skill for you.
Irritable Diplomat (half-orc): Most people expect half-orcs to be savage and violent, and you're used to working a little harder to overcome their assumptions. Unfortunately, you're still working on keeping patient when they ignore your efforts. Once per day, you may choose to gain a +5 trait bonus on any Diplomacy check, but if it fails, you take a -2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks for the next 10 minutes.
City-Raised: Half-orcs with this trait know little of their orc ancestry and were raised among humans and other half-orcs in a large city. City-raised half-orcs are proficient with whips and longswords, and receive a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (local) checks. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
War-Leader: Some orcs seek out human mates in hopes of birthing intelligent leaders for their interminable war efforts. When nature and luck smile upon this endeavor and a half-orc child shows cunning, that child is raised with many harrowing opportunities to learn how to best lead on the battlefield. Such half-orcs gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Profession (soldier) checks as well as to their Leadership score (for the purpose of the Leadership feat). Armies they control in mass combat gain a +1 bonus to Morale. This racial trait replaces darkvision and orc ferocity.
Diplomacy Skill @ Level 4:
+21 (3 class skill+4 rank+4 Cha+2 Burning Assurance+1 Ease of Faith+5 Irritable Diplomat+2 War-Leader) 1/day
otherwise +16 Diplomacy
At Level 1 you would already have a 50-55% chance to influencing somebody with a hostile attitude, so it is only going to go up from there.
Otherwise, if you want to focus on your healing abilities there are better traits:
Spoiler:
Envoy of healing [Religion-Sarenrae]
Whenever you use channel energy, fervor, or lay on hands to heal a living creature, you can reroll any healing die roll that results in a natural 1 (you must use the new result).
Blessed Touch [Faith]
You heal 1 additional point of damage when using lay on hands, channeling energy, or casting a cure spell.
Take a Drawback for extra Trait of your choice.
In regards to feats most people like Fey Foundling for obvious reasons...
Spoiler:
Feat: Fey Foundling:
gives +2 HP per die rolled to heal yourself. Must be taken at level 1 and doesn't count for healing others. But you can stack it nicely with Greater Mercy to get a little back due to nerfing yourself through Oath of Charity.
Feat: Greater Mercy:
for an extra 1d6 when your Mercy doesn't cure anything.
For healing yourself at Level 1 that's 1d6 (average 3) + 1 (Blessed Touch) - 50% (Charity) = 2 + 2 (Fey Foundling) = 4 HP per use.
For healing yourself at Level 4 that's 2d6 (average 6) + 1 (Blessed Touch) - 50% = 3 (always round down) + 8 = 11 HP per use.
For healing others @ Level 4:
(2d6 HP LoH + 1d6 Greater Mercy + 1 (Blessed Touch)) + 50% (Charity) 7/day [Half Paladin Lvl (2) + 4 (Cha. mod.) + 1 (Warrior of Light)] ~ 15 HP per use, so that's roughly 105 HP per day. Remember that 1s will be re-rolled which can slightly increase this value.
But as an Oath of Charity Paladin you have to take a different feat at Level 1:
Spoiler:
Reward of Life
Each time you use your lay on hands ability to heal a creature other than yourself, you heal a number of hit points equal to your Charisma bonus. This ability has no effect if you use lay on hands to harm undead.
Still taking Greater Mercy at Level 3, and given that you get 7 Lay on Hands per day, you end up healing yourself 35 HP over the day.
To put this in MMO terms your Oath of Charity Paladin fighting strategy changes from a Scrapper to a Tanker. By healing others you keep yourself in the game, while also getting in a couple hits yourself. So you need to play your Paladin as the self-sacrificing and unselfish guy rather than the crusader.
Consequently, I'd ask your GM for the following items from D&D 3.5 instead to increase the viability of this build at your current level:
Spoiler:
Healing Belt (750 gp, Magic Item Compendium, page 110)
Gain a +2 competence bonus to Heal checks. It has 3 charges which heal 2d8 (1 charge), 3d8, (2 charges), or 4d8 points of damage (3 charges), thus allowing [u]anyone[/u] to heal up to 6d8 points of damage on themselves or 3d8 as a standard action touch, which doesn't provoke AoO. Thus, this is a great way to keep everyone alive at low levels and yourself if the others need to heal you.
Amulet of Retributive Healing (2000 gp, Magic Item Compendium, page 69)
Quite handy when combined with any other healing items or even when you Treat Deadly Wounds using the Heal skill (it says any effect, doesn't necessarily need to be magical). 3/day, when activated (as a swift action). this amulet allows you to cure yourself of an equal amount of damage you heal as long as you "could" be healed by the same effect (that's the only downside, which could potentially create problems).
"My dear girl, I'm a doctor. When I peek, it is in the line of duty."
Since you are playing Rise of the Runelords:
Spoiler:
Sandpoint Faithful (Varisia: Birthplace of Legends, p.28)
As a faithful adherent of Abadar, Desna, Erastil, Gozreh, Sarenrae, or Shelyn, you’ve come to the Swallowtail Festival to celebrate the consecration of Sandpoint Cathedral.
Benefit: You gain a silver holy symbol of your chosen deity, and so long as you worship that deity and openly wear his or her symbol, you regain +1 additional hit point every time you receive magical healing.
This will give you some extra HP due to the nerfing from Oath of Charity.
And some more healing items:
Spoiler:
Get a Vampiric weapon. The ability was nerfed from D&D 3.5, but still useful to keep yourself in the game.
Healer's Kit - 50 GP, 10 uses: This is your bread and butter until you get the Vest of Surgery. Trying to Treat Deadly Wounds without one is a -4 penalty, and using it costs 2 charges for a +2 (Or 1 charge for no penalty/bonus).
Doctor's Clothes & Mask - 150 GP & 50 GP:
These two items give you resistances to many nasty things and thematically work with your character.
Vest of Surgery - 3000 GP, chest slot:
This vest basically is an infinite healer's kit, and one-day can heal ability damage with Treat Deadly Wounds instead of HP, which you already can do.
Hearth Mantle - 3,600 gp, neck slot:
Any creature that sleeps within 20 feet of the mantle for the full duration of the campfire recovers a number of hit points equal to twice its character level, as if it had undergone complete bed rest for a full 24 hours.
Healer's Gloves - 2500 GP, hand slot:
These grant a +5 to Heal. Pretty simple and helpful, but I'd still take the old Healing Belt.
Surgeon's Tools - 20 GP:
When paired with a healer's kit [see above vest], you gain a +3 circumstance bonus to Heal for Treat Deadly Wounds.
Mobile Hospital - 1000 GP, 500 lbs:
This is a bunch of stuff to run a small hospital, great for setting up camp if mobilized properly.
Healy Myrrh - 50 GP:
This basically gives everyone in the area the healing powers of vape, granting +1 HP per level healing when receiving care.
Bandages of Rapid Recovery - 200 GP, chest:
When worn over the chest, your healing even when active, and when you are resting, your level is considered 4 levels higher for treatment. This is nice later on when given time to rest after an extensive battle that nearly kills people as it lets you get them back on their massive HP pool feet in no time. Early on, however it's uses are limited since HP is regained easily or HP pools are small.
Portable Solarium - 800 GP, 35 lbs:
Probably a little less useful than everything else so far, considering you don't usually rest in the day/outside. This may have to go on the wagon with the Mobile Hospital.
Healer's Satchel - 1,500 gp (Normal), 3,000 gp (Specialized)
Unfortunately it works on Wisdom for extra healing, so it might not work with your stats.
Crystal of Healing Hands - 12,000 gp
Great way to store 1 extra lay on hands, but at a high price tag.
Healer’s Burning Glass - 32,400 gp
When used to treat deadly wounds, the glass provides a +4 circumstance bonus on Heal checks. Once per day, it can be used to affect a touched creature with regenerate (as the spell). The user must be in an area of bright light to use either function. Way better than the nerfed Ring of Regeneration.
Other useful Healing feats:
Spoiler:
Believer's Boon {Medicine}
Not uneven necessary in my experience, though speeds up the process considerably.
Signature Skill {Heal}
5 Ranks: When you treat deadly wounds, the target recovers hit points and ability damage as if it had rested for a full day.
10 Ranks: When you treat deadly wounds, the target recovers hit points as if it had rested for a full day with long-term care.
15 Ranks: When you treat deadly wounds, the creature recovers hit point and ability damage as if it had rested for 3 days.
20 Ranks: When you treat deadly wounds, the target recovers hit point and ability damage as if it had rested for 3 days with long-term care.
Extra Lay on hands, Extra Channel (more is always good, and you can take it multiple times, especially when going for Ultimate Mercy.)
Ultimate Mercy
Cha 19, Greater Mercy, lay on hands, mercy class feature.
Benefit: You can expend 10 uses of lay on hands to bring a single dead creature you touch back to life as a raise dead spell with a caster level equal to your paladin level. You must provide the material component for raise dead or choose to accept 1 temporary negative level; this level automatically goes away after 24 hours, never becomes a permanent negative level, and cannot be overcome in any way except by waiting for the duration to expire.
