Pillar of life

[Hobit of Bree]

This spell seems pretty horrid as a combat healing spell. It can be used by any living creature (including the bad guys unless they are undead) and requires a standard action. Not a horrible spell outside of combat, but not much better than mass cure light wounds (which is a reasonable combat healing spell). It is pretty nice with respect to undead, but I'm not even certain it does anything if you cast it on top of a vampire (they need to move into it). The no save/no spell resistance makes it okay if you can get them into the space somehow.

Basically it just seems fairly useless. I'm going to get stuck with it (healing witch patron) and hoping that someone has an idea how to use it.

[Firebug]

One benefit it has is that it is actually medium range. Not many other healing spells can be cast that far away.

[Boudacia]

It looks like complete crap to me too.

It can heal a lot of damage if lots of people are injured at the same time. But it is unlikely that sort of near optimal use will come up. Choose another spell. :(

[Daw]

It is a corner case on utility, but it is thematically interesting. I know, I am a heretic for valuing thematics over numbers. I am ok with that. I find numbers only approaches boring.

[Cavall]

Yeah it's certainly a unique idea thematically with some corner case uses. But not the top shelf of heal spells. Best used to bottle neck the undead I guess?

[Firebug]

I am imagining a multi-floor hospital like situation, where you have a 9th level cleric cast Pillar of Life (since its 20' tall) that will last 9 rounds and people moving into and out of range to pick up their heal. At least 8 people per floor per round, say 2 floors would be approximately 2600 hp healed per cast.

I'd say pretty efficient overall... just not to a standard adventuring party.

[Gray Warden]

If you, or your party, have a reliable way to move undead enemies around, it can be quite devastating. At that point, it's pretty much a no-save trap that resets itself, lasting rounds/lvl. For examples, with the Prehensile Hair hex, you could cast the spell, and then bull-rush/reposition undeads into the pillar.

Yeah, overall quite underwhelming as a heal spell, although I think it was conceived more as an offensive tool.

[pad300]

You're right, it's not really an adventuring spell.
What it is, is an army healer. Show up at a field hospital after a battle, and have a bunch of flunkies carry people on stretchers through the pillar...
With some organization and planning, you can put a lot of critically wounded soldiers back on the battle line that way.

[Scrapper]

You must brave the Tower of Undeath! *NUKE* The tower has been cleansed...

[LordKailas]

I have a friend that loves using this spell. Generally they argue that if they drop it on top of someone it should immediately heal them. It's not the way the spell is worded, but I've never seen a DM balk at the request or it being used this way. Since the character in question can still only be affected once.

They'll put it out when someone drops and they can't get in range to heal them otherwise. They point out that anyone else can touch it and also heal, but other players rarely feel like spending their standard action to do this. Even when the DM is running intelligent living enemies they don't waste their time trying to get healing from it.

Every time I look at it it seems very underwhelming.

[Hobit of Bree]

Thanks all. I like the hospital and "army healing" ideas--both quite appropriate for the game I'm in.