Help with Lo-Op, L1 Healer type.

[inexorabletruth]

tl;dr:
Anyone know of some fun healer types that aren't Clerics or Druids?

Hi everyone! 1st-time poster, long-time lurker here. 90% of everything I've learned about D&D I learned right here, but I'm still a core books kind of guy. So I'd like to try something new for a change, and I can't imagine a better forum to ask.

I hope to be joining a PBP soon to fill in for a Cleric who's dropping out of the campaign. They have a Paladin and 2 Bards on the campaign already. They haven't left the tavern yet, and already one of them nearly died, so they need a healer, but the Cleric is a bit too upper tier for this Lo-Op campaign, and frankly I'm bored of playing Clerics. Can anyone suggest anything new?

Limitations:
Level 1
No monster races (Humans and Dwarves are the most common races)
WotC Published materials only.
No home-brews.

House Rules:
RAW except that a successful Heal check restores some HP (somewhere between Cure Minor and Cure Light Wounds)

Setting:
DM describes it as "Eberron Light." Warforged and Incarnum users are fairly common. The most common races are Dwarf and Human though.

I think that covers everything. Any suggestions?

[Black_Zawisza]

Hi everyone! 1st-time poster, long-time lurker here. 90% of everything I've learned about D&D I learned right here, but I'm still a core books kind of guy. So I'd like to try something new for a change, and I can't imagine a better forum to ask.
Are you saying you want to branch out of core? If you want to go with another divine caster, the Archivist (from Heroes of Horror, but available for free at link below) is my favorite. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3

It acquires spells like a Wizard, but can learn spells from any divine list in the game (Cleric, Ranger, Paladin, obscure cheesy PrC? You name it).

Here's a link to a good Archivist Handbook: http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=185.0

An Archivist can't spontaneously cast Cure spells like the Cleric, so to make up for that I would consider the Touch of Healing reserve feat from Complete Champion once you're level 3. As long as you have a healing spell of at least 2nd level available to cast, you can touch someone and heal 3 damage per spell level. It takes a standard action, and you can only heal them up to half their max HP, but it's amazing for out-of-combat healing.

[Akal Saris]

The Healer class from the mini's handbook is another good healing option for a low or mid op game. There's a link to a handbook on it in my signature.

Another option might be crusader - you'd only do a little healing and your buff abilities would complement the bard's as well. Might be stepping on the paladin's toes a little bit though.

[inexorabletruth]

I looked at the Crusader first, but honestly it looked like something the Paladin should've been in the first place, so I'd really hate to step on Pally's shoes.

I'm not familiar with the Archivist, but it looks like it would require me to spread those skill points out pretty thin in order to make use of his Dark Knowledge ability, which seems to be his highlight function, or am I misinterpreting him? Being able to learn all divine spells sounds pretty cool though. I'll keep him as a runner up.

I like the Healer so far. That would pretty much make me a support player, which is good. Since I'm popping in after the session has started I really don't want to play center stage... group harmony and all.

That would give us:
1 Pisforged (forgot to mention him last time)
1 Bard
1 Savage Bard
1 Paladin
1 Healer

We won't be very good at dealing damage, but at least we'll be able to take some hits while we pick away at our enemies. Can you recommend a feat?

[Jack Zander]

You have two bards and a paladin? The last thing your group needs is another healer. Pool your resources and get a wand or some scrolls for everyone. Consider making a character that can actually end a fight rather than one who just delays the inevitable. I suspect this is your group's true problem.

[Big Fau]

You have two bards and a paladin? The last thing your group needs is another healer. Pool your resources and get a wand or some scrolls for everyone. Consider making a character that can actually end a fight rather than one who just delays the inevitable. I suspect this is your group's true problem.

Seconded. If even one of those Bards is going for Inspire Courage tricks (even a single feat towards Dragonfire Inspiration does wonders for the entire party), you are going to want a another damage dealer.


If not, play something with Trapfinding. Factotum or Incarnate could work, but both are rather more complex than your average skill monkey.

[inexorabletruth]

They're at level 1, so the only one who can heal is the Pally, and he's the one who almost died.

But, if you really think so, then I'm not opposed to the idea of a puncher or skill monkey. My M.O. is typically to build an item junkie who UMDs like it's the only skill on the board, but I do this mainly with Rogues or Bards. Which reference material has Factotums or Incarnates?

It would amuse me to build some kind of half-crazed crafter Gnome, bristling with alchemical items and poisons (wands at later levels) that he crafted to deal death (or sell for a profit, whichever need arises first).

[Jack Zander]

Hmm... sounds like you should get a hold of the Artificer. Then you can craft your party some scrolls and wands and then all three of the casters can heal.

[deuxhero]

Is your reserve and starting wealth even big enough to make a CLW wand at level 1?

[inexorabletruth]

No.

Starting wealth is by RAW. You can leave it to fate and roll for GP, or take the Average, but you have to declare your choice first. But crafters can earn their own wealth pretty quickly. And with two bards in tow, we've got Perform checks out the wazoo to stock up on team wealth before the party even leaves town. As long as the DM sticks to RAW, I'm not worried about GP.

I've heard of an Artificer. Which book is it in?

[Jack Zander]

Is your reserve and starting wealth even big enough to make a CLW wand at level 1?

Probably not, but it should be enough to make a few scrolls. Those things are dirt cheap.



No.

Starting wealth is by RAW. You can leave it to fate and roll for GP, or take the Average, but you have to declare your choice first. But crafters can earn their own wealth pretty quickly. And with two bards in tow, we've got Perform checks out the wazoo to stock up on team wealth before the party even leaves town. As long as the DM sticks to RAW, I'm not worried about GP.

I've heard of an Artificer. Which book is it in?

The main Eberron book. Whatever that's called.

[inexorabletruth]

Found it. Dang. He's like the ultimate plan B. I would've liked more skill points though, but it's enough to fill the Craft and UMD slots I need.

[Jack Zander]

Boost your Int, it'll help your wizard items be more potent and give you extra skills.

[inexorabletruth]

True, true. And there are some races that give bonuses to INT. It's all worth looking into.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

[inexorabletruth]

BTW, got any Feat recommendations? I'm not very familiar with all that Eberron can offer.

[Inferno]

First decide on how you intend to play your artificer. Its a very versatile class, but you may want to keep an eye on not overshadowing your party.
A good place to start might be the 3 artisan feats (in the ECS with artificer) which each make item crafting cheaper (in gold, xp, or time)

The artificer can also do almost anything in combat he wants to: melee, ranged, buffing, healing, lead a swarm of homunculi (mini, upgradable constructs)

Also:This is a useful guide (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872330/Artificer_Handbook_%28rough_draft%29
)

[deuxhero]

Artifcer is the best tier 1s at not overshadowing its allies without gimping itself too hard (because a lot of the play styles buff allies a lot, even beyond a "God Wizard").

[Inferno]

Yep, one of its most elegant abilities is to make himself as strong as he feels like (or can afford) and if it starts to be a problem, just make the fighter a bigger beatstick.

[inexorabletruth]

First decide on how you intend to play your artificer.

Well, it's hard to tell. The Golemficer sounds like a good idea since we have a Psiforged in the group. Cure spells won't help him much. He needs someone who can repair Warforged.

I had in mind a kind of item junkie, covered in wands, scrolls, alchemical items, and all manner of magical whatchamacallits that he can pull out of his fog coat and unleash on his foes.

Think this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF-WeswkqXc), but a little more silly, since he'll probably end up being a Gnome or Dwarf, due to their Crafting bonuses.

So it'll probably be interpreted as this:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6639905785_edab86a04d_z.jpg

But c'est la vie.

At any rate, I guess that would technically be a Blastificer.

[Inferno]

Your "item junkie" might want to go shopping on these lists:
Shax' Indispensable Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101) - Should include all the alchemical items and other assorted goodies you're interested in.
Necessary Magic Items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851) - Includes mostly bigger ticket items only relevant later in your adventuring career.

[Godskook]

I looked at the Crusader first, but honestly it looked like something the Paladin should've been in the first place, so I'd really hate to step on Pally's shoes.

Its what Paladins should've been, but not what they are. Paladins 'are' chargers types who are best built as unstoppable killers, while Crusaders 'are' reach-types who are best built as unbreakable walls. If your Pally's built like how Pally's are built, a standard lock-down Crusader won't step on his toes at all.

Which begs the question, how's the Paladin built and what's he actually building towards?

[Feralventas]

I control+f'd truenamer, didn't find it mentioned before. If you're at low levels, you should be able to heal just fine with it while dealing a respectable amount of damage. It's pretty difficult to scale with, and if you're in anything resembling a low-magic setting, it's almost non-viable past level 3, but with proper focus on your int-score you should be fine.

4 ranks at 1st level.
+3 Skill focus.
+3 int mod.

On a skill check to use Least Word of Nurturing DC 15+2HD or 2xCR for monsters. DC 17 on your team on skill check with +10, with a scaling +2 to the DC every time you succeed, but with no limits other than not being able to make the check any more. Instead of granting straight up healing, you give the target Fast Healing for a few rounds. You can also take buffs to AC or attacks, and you have a free +4 to checks against yourself with it since you'll know your own personal truename, and can research the names of your teammates to get the same +4 to checks against them.

[tiercel]

I know I'm coming a little late to this party, but Complete Divine's Spirit Shaman (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19865442/The_Spirit_Shaman_Handbook) might work well -- it doesn't pack the mighty punch of Druid, but it could pull full healer duty at the lower levels... and at higher levels, when wands/bard casting come online, your Shaman can be leveraging Inspire Courage by flooding the battlefield with summons. Plus, if you want a little more offensive punch, you can cover a bit of that too with the Druid spell list.

If you're looking for "something different" the class abilities, spell retrieval/casting mechanic, and fluff can definitely get you there -- just a matter of whether you like the class.

[inexorabletruth]

Your "item junkie" might want to go shopping on these lists:...

Great selection! Thanks for the help. I could even pick up some of those at L1 when I roll up my GP.


I control+f'd truenamer

Idk man... people have recommended NPC classes over Truenamer. I hear it is the single hardest class in the game to play. I want to try something new, but not at the cost of my sanity.


Which begs the question, how's the Paladin built and what's he actually building towards?

He's built like a meat shield. The plan is to turn into a Dwarven Defender. He even took Toughness as a feat for extra HP.


Complete Divine's Spirit Shaman might work well

I like what I saw in the Spirit Shaman as well, and I may keep him as a backup. Thanks for the suggestion, friend.

[Godskook]

He's built like a meat shield. The plan is to turn into a Dwarven Defender. He even took Toughness as a feat for extra HP.

Uh, he might need to come here so we can explain what tanking actually is, how its done, and why Toughness is a bad plan. Ideally, we can get him into Crusader and onward into a tripper build, but meh.


I like what I saw in the Spirit Shaman as well, and I may keep him as a backup. Thanks for the suggestion, friend.

Seconding Spirit Shaman. See's so little play, but it's nigh tier 1. Having both full-list access and spontaneous casting nearly makes up for the dual casting stat and weird metamagic rules.

[Piggy Knowles]

OK, I wouldn't suggest this if it wasn't a lower-op group, but it seems like you need a solid tank and damage dealer as well as a healer. And your double-bard action means that you'll need someone to take advantage of those IC buffs.

How about a dragon shaman? The class is found in the PHBII.

I would go something like...

Human Dragon Shaman (Copper)
ACF: Shamanic Invocation (lose an aura at level 5, gain Beguiling Influence)
1- Power Attack, Battle Jump
2- Skill Focus (Jump)
3- Nymph's Kiss
6- Entangling Exhalation
9- Quicken Breath
12- Double Draconic Aura

...as a start. From there, you could either look into more charging-attack options (Imp Bull Rush, Shock Trooper, Leap Attack all come to mind), or focus on the skills (Imperious Command certainly wouldn't go amiss).

In any case, you would have:

Excellent HP, thanks to a d12 hit die and high Con.
Access to the Vigor aura, which will give your whole party fast healing when below 1/2 HP.
Additional healing from Touch of Vitality, your own little version of Lay on Hands.
Spider Climb at will, letting you hang out on the ceiling and spray people with acid, or jump down and Battle Jump them to death.
Excellent debuffing thanks to Quicken Breath + Entangling Exhalation.
Strong social skills, thanks to Bluff and Intimidate as class skills + Beguiling Influence + Nymph's Kiss.

[inexorabletruth]

Uh, he might need to come here so we can explain what tanking actually is, how its done, and why Toughness is a bad plan. Ideally, we can get him into Crusader and onward into a tripper build, but meh.

I know. :smallfrown: He built what he wanted, though. That's the fun of lo-op. I've built a non-lethal Rogue dart thrower (little bitty hand crafted wooden darts) in a lo-op before, as well as a Monk "Slapper" loosely inspired by The Three Stooges who told bad jokes and was built to interrupt all attacks with a slap to the face. I can't say either one of them would have survived a serious campaign, but they were fun to play. *shrug*


How about a dragon shaman?

Interesting... I wasn't planning on going that direction at all, but it sounds like fun. I wonder if pairing that up with a Dragonborn race would be a good match? That penalty to DEX might undermine the build though. Hmm... I've seen Dragonfire Adepts in action before and they looked fun to play. It seems to me that the Dragon Shaman is the buffer version of that. Am I right?

[Inferno]

Dragonfire Adepts are generally seen as being far more useful to a party, as they have more hitting power, and options with the use of their breath weapon.
As well as a number of useful invocations.
Dragon Shaman's don't have a lot going for them beside a DFA
In a party with 2 bards especially though, I would still suggest something that can take advantage of the sort of buffs the bards can provide: an artificer with golems/homunculi, a summoner of some sort, or even a rogueish type.

[Big Fau]

Idk man... people have recommended NPC classes over Truenamer. I hear it is the single hardest class in the game to play. I want to try something new, but not at the cost of my sanity.


It isn't as hard as a Meldshaper, or, ironically, an Artificer. It's that the Truenamer is really bad, even when heavily optimized. The effects it can use are not level appropriate at any level below 20th, the Utterances last between 5 rounds and 1 minute, and most of those abilities are garbage.

[Coidzor]

tl;dr:
Anyone know of some fun healer types that aren't Clerics or Druids?

No. Especially not in Low-Op.

I have some good news and bad news. (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2710.0)

[Piggy Knowles]

Dragonfire adepts are basically warlocks with (in my opinion) better flavor. Honestly, they're a strictly better class than the dragon shaman, which takes some work to pull off well.

That said, some of the dragon shaman's auras really aren't bad (Senses gives a boost to initiative and Listen/Spot, and Vigor's fast healing can be a very nice passive healing mechanism). It's got a tankier chassis, too, thanks to better BAB, armor proficiencies, and the meaty d12 hit die. Plus it can qualify for metabreath feats without requiring Dragonborn of Bahamut or similar tricks.

In any case, playing a dragon shaman as a strict buffer is a losing game, IMO, but if you play it as a tank/melee controller you can get some OK results. Instead of your typical melee control options like Thicket of Blades, you can use swift action entangling breaths, and you can share most of your goodies with your teammates. It's no crusader, but it can do neat things in a lower-powered group.

Copper is pretty much the only totem worth taking, though - acid is a significantly better choice than any of the other breath weapon choices, the skill options are solid, and unless you're playing a Frostburn or Stormwrack campaign, it has the best draconic adaptation.

[KeepU]

My go to for a low op healer is the dragon shaman from phb2. You start out with 3 auras (use 1 at a time) to buff the party. If you're building for combat support/healing you can grab one that enhances search, spot, and initiative; a second that gives fast healing (up to half hit points); and there are several good choices for the 3rd (retributive elemental damage, DR...) At later levels you pick up a lay on hands like ability which will eventually let you cure disease, poison etc. and remove conditions. You also get good hp, 3/4 base attack, and a breath weapon (a few levels in.)

[inexorabletruth]

So many options...

I think, in the end, I'm going to go with Artificer. It's the best way to cover all bases and still have fun with the character. The Dragon Adept and Dragon Shaman routes sound like lots of fun, but I think I'll keep those in my back pocket for future campaigns.

Now I need to choose a race. Once again, I'd like to step outside of core for a change. I almost always play a Human, Dwarf, or Half-Orc.

I originally wanted to go with Gnome or Dwarf for the crafting bonuses (and fluff), but neither one of those boost INT or CHA. I'd go with Rakshasa if I thought I could get away with it. Talk about racial bonuses...
Drow is less fluff appropriate than Dwarf or Gnome, but that +2 INT/DEX/CHA triple threat is really hard to ignore. The DM allows Drow in the campaign as long as I can write a decent back story.

Maybe he can be an opportunistic adventurer/merchant (a la Jarlaxle) who decided to find fresh clientele on the surface. I could easily steer way clear of the LG-bitterly-redeemed-Drow-Ranger-with-a-tearful-and-lonely-past trope while still not necessarily playing an evil character that way.

It sounds forced, though. Any suggestions on a good race for artificers? CHA and INT are pretty important. The rest are all just extra gravy, but crafter bonuses would be a groove.

[Jack Zander]

If you can get away with playing a drow without the LA, then you should by Moradin do all that is within your power to do so.

[Daer]

if you are using eberron then, halfling with dragonmarks of healing :)
and any class you like.

[inexorabletruth]

We're using all WotC published material. The setting is described as "Eberron-light." Humans and Dwarves are the most common races, followed by Warforged. Incarnum and Psionic users are common amongst the upper class, and the Empire that we're located near, though not atheist, views divine and arcane magic to be a "lesser" magic, so it is therefore relegated to middle and lower classes.

Where do I find the Dragonmark of Healing? And why Halfling? I always kind of saw them as ranged weapon fighters and Rogues.

[inexorabletruth]

If you can get away with playing a drow without the LA, then you should by Moradin do all that is within your power to do so.

You don't have to sell me.

I've been reading Drow of the Underdark v 3.5 and am really starting to like the role-play dynamics. They're actually a pretty complicated race. They aren't as two-dimensional as everyone seems to play them (either the vile antithesis of their surface dwelling cousins, or do-gooder outcasts spurned by both the Underdark and the surface world). There's a lot of room for out-of-context theater here for a CN Drow loose on the surface. Their views on life, society, social dynamics and justice are just so primal they're almost childlike, or psychopathic... sometimes it's hard to tell.

[Inferno]

Changeling is a personal favorite and doesn't have much synergy with the Artificers lack of social skills, but is always cool.

Warforged/Warforged scout (MM3?) has its obvious advantages, which include being able to share embedded gear with your psiforged buddy. And using your infusions on yourself.

[Godskook]

Warforged get racial substitutions on the Artificer class, and iirc, they're good enough to be worth noting. Assuming your DM allows custom items of +Skill, you won't care about the charisma penalty that comes with it.

[Big Fau]

We're using all WotC published material. The setting is described as "Eberron-light." Humans and Dwarves are the most common races, followed by Warforged. Incarnum and Psionic users are common amongst the upper class, and the Empire that we're located near, though not atheist, views divine and arcane magic to be a "lesser" magic, so it is therefore relegated to middle and lower classes.

Where do I find the Dragonmark of Healing? And why Halfling? I always kind of saw them as ranged weapon fighters and Rogues.

Eberron Campaign Setting (actual name of the book). As for the Halfling, Dragonmarks are race-specific. Halflings have the Mark of Healing and Mark of Hospitality IIRC.

Dragonmarks are a bit unreliable at the low levels though. They get somewhat better around the mid-levels, but at 1st level they are very weak.

[Alienist]

Human is the best level 1 Artificer race. This is because Summon Marked Homunculus is by a large margin the best level 1 infusion, and for that you need to be a human dragon marked member of house Cannith.

(So, Least Dragonmark of Making feat and Human)

As Godskook points out Warforged is an interesting alternative. Warforged have the advantage of not sleeping, so you can make magic items in the time when everyone else is sleeping. Someone will now jump in and say what a big fat idiot I am because you can just get the dead-baby homunculus and shove them in a portable hole, but of course while that is one way to double your output, the dead-baby isn't even available until level 5 (you get the ability to make it at 4, but can't meet the pre-requisites till 5).

Don't make custom items, because that will break the campaign in half.

If you do make custom items, I suggest restricting them to the following two items:

(1) an item that grants a big fat chunk of +UMD skillzors (not available till level 3)
(2) an item that grants the Bard spell that lets you take 10 on UMD if you already have 10 ranks in UMD (not available till level 7?)

DON'T take the 'save money' feat option, you won't need to unless the other players expect you to build magic items for them for free.

DO take reduced XP (this will make your actual class feature go further)
DO take reduced time (eventually. You don't need it straight away, especially not when anything take 1 day minimum anyway) but once the items take weeks to make you'll be glad of it)

DON'T make healing scrolls, it is a trap. The scrolls you make are neither divine nor arcane.

From the SRD:


To have any chance of activating a scroll spell, the scroll user must meet the following requirements.

The spell must be of the correct type (arcane or divine). Arcane spellcasters (wizards, sorcerers, and bards) can only use scrolls containing arcane spells, and divine spellcasters (clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers) can only use scrolls containing divine spells. (The type of scroll a character creates is also determined by his or her class.)


So nobody else can use your scrolls. Feel free to make scrolls for you to use ... but note that in order to use your own scrolls you need to make a UMD check!

The problem is the next clause:



The user must have the spell on his or her class list.


Artificers never qualify for anything which requires a spell to be on a spell list, because they don't have spell lists, they have infusion lists. (Yes it's retarded, but don't blame me, blame the Baker)

In all other respects, infusions are entirely equivalent to spells. (Did I mention the retarded bit yet?)


As has been mentioned before, pump Int instead of Cha. You want both to be in their 50s of course :D, but for Cha it only affects one thing that we care about - UMD. And if we can substitute +skill items for +attribute items then we make a HUGE cost savings. So Int 16-18, Cha 14 is fine for starting out.

Warforged get a Cha penalty if I remember correctly, but they still make really good Artificers... that is how little we care about Cha (!!)

Level 1 Crafting Pool
I suggest making ~20 scrolls of essentially utility spells. Things like Comprehend Languages, or Climbing Tree. No you don't use that sort of thing every day, but when you need it you really need it. Note that at this level you're probably only going to have a ~50% chance of making the UMD roll. Remember that you get TWO chances to make the roll, so you can bank on getting ~15 level 1 scrolls. Very handy.

Level 2 Crafting Pool
Now here things get interesting, because you can make some awesome level 2 scrolls (now that we have the synergy bonus from Spellcraft we can 'safely' have a crack at the level 2 spells, also we have a bigger pool and more money to throw around) OR we can make healing potions! Hooray! (NB: your spellcraft synergy doesn't help with pots)

Bat your eyelids and smile sweetly at your DM, maybe he'll let you add Decipher Script as a class skill too.

Level 3 Crafting Pool
Wondrous items.

Level 4 Crafting Pool
More wondrous items

Level 5 Crafting Pool
A dead-baby homunculus

(note: when you're making it you can choose what it looks like... Imp, Pseudodragon etc. Go wild, go crazy, just don't go dead-baby)

Arms and Armour

Level 6
Wands

(etc)

The problem with Healing (in general) is that the amounts are small, easily negated by a second hit from the monster, and it takes a standard action to do healing. This sucks and is why people hate being the healbot. So we really want (A) fast(er) healing and (B) big healing.

(NB: Show your Paladin the feats Battle Blessing and Mastery of Night and Day, this will allow him to dish out maximised healing spells as swift actions for no change in spell slot)

Defence/Healing options as an Artificer

Level 1
Artificers have a number of options at their disposal.
Shield of Faith, Magic Vestment (which you can't use because it rounds down to 0...) etc.

There is also in some of the splat books some damage prevention spells. They're not overly exciting.

However, Armor Enhancement is awesome-sauce. Unfortunately, that's a level 2 infusion. At level 1 we get Armor Enhancement, Lesser, which is the low fat, low sugar version. We only get armour enchantments of +1 value or less than 5000gp market price

Things you can do with Armor Enhancement Lesser:
(Keep in mind also that the cost per casting is 10gp, duration is 10 min/level and casting time is 1 minute)

If you're told to remove your armour but (for some strange reason) you expect treachery, then you can put Called on it.

If you expect to be grappled you can put Acidic on it.

Blurring can get you 15 rounds worth of Blur (20% miss).
If that is too lame, you can get 5 rounds of Displacement (50% miss)

DEATH FREAKIN' WARD is a +1 enhancement. Yikes. (Though do we need this at level 1, probably not to be honest)

on Shields:

We can put Heartening on a shield twice a day you get 5 temporary hit points as an immediate action.

NB: it only lasts a short time (not the whole day) but if you can prepare for combat then that is a great defensive option. Bane is a great offensive option, but at this level we can't cast it on anyone else's weapon.

That solves both quantity of healing (at low levels) and speed of casting. But we can do better (later).

Another shield-only option is Blinding (don't be standing next to your buddies when you pull this trick!)

Displacement kind of sort of maybe doubles your hit points. If you have more than 10 hit points it might be better than Heartening... YMMV (aka how lucky do you feel...)

Level 2
Now that we are level 2 we can use the Spell Storing Item infusion. (We can also make scrolls of Armor Enhancement.... mmm.... crunchy)
The logic with Spell Storing Item is that if you're willing to burn a little gold for a groovy Armor Enhancement, Lesser effect, then maybe you can burn a little XP for a one-shot 'wand' of any level 1 spell in the game. (The casting time is 1 minute, duration is 1 hour/level and the cost for a level 1 spell is 2xp)

For obvious reasons I hope you forgive me if I don't run through all the possible uses this could be put to. (!!!!)

Level 3
Now we get to the good stuff. Chill and Heat metal are not bad offensive spells (if a bit situational), we get the +stat enhancement group of spells (Eagle's Splendor may help your magic item creation, see also the Skill Enhancement level 1 infusion), and our offensive options are further increased by being able to place Bane on other people's weapons.

However, this is the real sweet spot for us in the defensive/healing category. The absolute King of low level healing is...

Armor Enhancement to get Healing, Greater.

This bad boy gives us 3d8+15 healing. Twice a day (well, in a 30 minute span anyway). And it is faster than an immediate. What could be faster than an immediate you ask? The key is this: if your hit points fall to -1 to -9 it will trigger automatically. (Cue angelic choir singing "aaaaaaaaahhhhhh")

And you're getting it at level 3. And it 'stacks' well with Heartening.

So at level 3 you've got an extra 10 (temp) + 30 (real) + 6d8 (~27) = 67 hit points 'up your sleeve' in any combat that you can prepare for.

That might be more hit points than the rest of the party combined.

Oh... I suppose you could cast it on their armour too... if you really wanted to.

Level 4
Magic Vestment finally kicks in and gives +1 big woopy-doo. Also we can Spell Storing Item level 2 spells now (Knock anyone? It'll cost 8xp a pop though).


Low level healing spells:
Cure light wounds - great if you're a Paladin with the aforementioned mods, kind of meh otherwise.
Faith Healing - like a maximised Cure Light Wounds (and so pretty good) ... the catch is it is only for people of your religion
Vigor, Lesser - heals the most, but is slowest.

Low level repair spells:
The Artificer gets a spell that can repair constructs. Note that if you are a Warforged, then you are a construct. :D

[inexorabletruth]

By the Power of Grayskull, Alienist. That... was... informative. :smallwink:

You make a strong case for being Human, and I'm looking into it right now. But I'm not sure where to find Summon Marked Homunculus. I'm looking in the Eberron Campaign Setting, and I see what you mean by "dead baby homunculus" though... yeesh. That is creepy. Where do I find that spell, and what's the diff between a Marked Homunculus and a regular one?

I like the SLAs though, and Repair Damage is a great spell to have on my list since we have a Psiforged in the group, and the +2 to Craft is very handy.

I'm concerned about what you said about scrolls though. Does that mean that I'm the only one who can use the scrolls I make? Early on scrolls and Alchemical Items are going to be the mainstay of my building options, since it's about all I can afford at L1 with average starting GP and no XP.

Also, I'm not touching homebrewed Craft items. Everything I make will be from a WotC book. That vein in the DM's forehead gets twitchy when people talk homebrew, and I don't blame him, with the way those tend to get OP. This is Lo-Op anyway... no reason to bring home-brewed nuclear bombs to a gun-fight.

[Gavinfoxx]

Where do you find the bard spell that lets you Take 10 on UMD?

Also, here is a thing I wrote on selling scrolls to make money, or what classes can use Artificer Scrolls"

"So an Artificer wants to sell Scrolls for extra cash?

Welll... none of the scrolls they make are ARCANE, so Wizards can't scribe them. None of them are DIVINE, so Clerics can't cast them. So who can use them? Anyone who has lots of ranks in Use Magic Device. Now what sort of people are likely to have lots of ranks in Use Magic Device? Well lets look at the base classes that have UMD as a skill, then!

Non Artificer Base Classes that get Use Magical Device as a class skill:

Bard (From PHB)

Rogue (From PHB)

Beguiler (From Player's Handbook II)

Spellthief (From Complete Arcane)

Warlock (From Complete Arcane)

Expert (can choose any 10 skills as class skills) (From DMG)

Factotum (From Dungeonscape)

Notice something about these classes?

2/8 of them have sneak attack (rogue and spellthief)

4/8 of them have access to magical charming type abilities (bard, factotum, warlock, beguiler)

7/8 of them have large amount of skill points at each level (all but warlock)

4/8 of them have trapfinding (rogue, beguiler, factotum, spellthief)

7/8 of these classes are 'Heroic Character' classes (all but Expert)

4/8 of these classes are likely to be common:
The Expert because it is an NPC class, and also note that adventurer type Experts WOULD choose UMD as one of their chosen 'choose 10 class skills' options
The Warlock because it requires no particular training, unlike ALL the other PC classes -- it just requires selling your soul to something
The Rogue because it is a simplest 'advanced' replacement for the thieving-focused examples of the Expert NPC class
The Bard because it is a simple 'advanced' replacement for the Aristocrat NPC class.

8/8 of them can have lots of social skills on their class skill list

And finally...

8/8 of them make great criminals of some type or other--either social, sneaky, or both!

So who would want to buy your Scrolls or wands? Folk who happen to be able to USE them... in other words, the CRIMINAL ELEMENT OF SOCIETY, who is most likely to have Use Magic Device as a class skill, and have it maxxed for whatever level they are! Luckily, there are a LOT of level 1 spells from classes all over the place that each and every one of these classes would LOVE to have as part of their toolkit! And only an Artificer, for example, is GOING to be able to get absolutely ANY 'first circle' spell from ANYWHERE into a scroll. The artificer doesn't even have to have any clue what sort of person might be able to cast this particular spell as a first circle (ie, Level 1 to us players) spell -- they just derived that this spell was possible to put in a relatively easy to scribe scroll with their Use Magic Device check. So there *would* be a market for an artificer's scrolls... but it'd be quite shady...

Of course, this makes some GREAT potential plot and story arcs, hint hint!"

[Godskook]

Talk to your DM about homebrew magic items if you go Artificer. You're a crafter, and it makes a *LOT* of sense that you'd get your own custom stuff eventually. One example of something is the Potionade found in my signature. Its balanced against the Belt of Healing, and if that's allowed in your game, Potionade should be ok too(the prices are such that you get more healing from hoarding healing belts in a handy haversack).

[inexorabletruth]

Where do you find the bard spell that lets you Take 10 on UMD?

There's a spell that lets you take 10 on UMD?!

Anyway, the DM said "no" to Warforged and Drow and is considering Dragonmarked Human, but is leaning towards "no" to that as well.

He says Gnome and Dwarf are fine, which the Starting Package recommends Gnome... so. :smallfrown: Guess I'm going with that if the Dragonmarked Human is a no-go.

BTW, just found the spell, Summon Marked Homunculus. Eberron: Dragonmarked, pg. 147 :smallbiggrin:

Sorry... I've never looked into my Eberron materials before.

[Inferno]

There's also a soulmeld, mages spectacles which gives a +15 bonus to UMD and available through feats iirc.

[Dumbledore lives]

Well it's a long shot but you could try Tinker Gnome from the Dragonlance campaign setting, it fits the fluff perfectly, and gives +2 to int, but since it's from a fairly obscure source it might be no go.

[Draz74]

I may be too late to the party, but my favorite non-Tier-1 healer build is an Egoist Psion (with the True Healer ACF from Mind's Eye) with some Incarnum tricks mixed in.

At level 1, this combo can heal things if it has the Vigor power as well as Shape Soulmeld (Lifebond Vestments). Give yourself temporary bonus HP, then lose those to heal your friends. Can only heal a given character 1/hour, but the good news is your healing is very efficient in terms of HP/PP.

Long-term, the build would be something like Egoist 7 / Incarnate 2 / Crusader 1 / Soul Manifester 10.

[Big Fau]

There's also a soulmeld, mages spectacles which gives a +15 bonus to UMD and available through feats iirc.

Not that big of a bonus without an Essentia. It's still a +4 IIRC, which is still really good for a single feat.

[inexorabletruth]

He ok'd the Dragonmarked Human Artificer! *thumbs up* :smallbiggrin:

Thanks for all the help guys! I roll up the character tomorrow... or rather later today. After some sleep. It's 4:30 in the morning. My brain is mush at the moment and in no mood to roll up a character.

[Alienist]

He ok'd the Dragonmarked Human Artificer! *thumbs up* :smallbiggrin:

Thanks for all the help guys! I roll up the character tomorrow... or rather later today. After some sleep. It's 4:30 in the morning. My brain is mush at the moment and in no mood to roll up a character.

Congratulations.

Okay, so there are a couple of things you need to figure out regarding your character's purpose in life:

(1) to minion, or not to minion?
(2) Artificer's get 'free' (ish) metamagic, which metamagic do you want to go for?

Now for #1, obviously you appreciate the finer things in life, such as a summon that lasts for 1 hour at level 1 rather than 1 round.

For the non-summoned variety however, if you make an army of them, and you all get hit by a fireball... how will you handle the massive feedback damage if multiple of them get ranked in one go?

So you might want to look into the rules for bumping up homunculi hit dice, or getting the Improved Homunculus feat at level 6.

Or, alternately, splashing a feat on Craft Construct at some point.

For #2 it is a matter of taste. Some people are going to head on over to the Extend/Persistent Spell Buffet and load up their plates there. Other people are going to be thinking in terms of kebabs - specifically their favourite spell on a stick (e.g. Scorching Ray + Twin)

You probably need to dump the feats into the metamagic earlier rather than later, since at higher levels our feats are usually taken care of, e.g. at 12th level you really want to take Etch Schema (possibly with your bonus feat) in order to actually take advantage of the awesome level 11 class feature. (A schema is essentially a 1/day scroll, that costs similar to the cost of half an eternal wand, which are 2/day items)
At 15th/16th level extra rings is really cool (but you don't get one of the prerequisites until level 14.
If you wanted to craft constructs, the earliest you could take it is level 6, but that is also the earliest you can take improved homunculus.
If you go heavily into Wands, then Wand Mastery is a big cost saving/power boost, the earliest you can get it is level 9...
Etc.

For the fourth level bonus feat I recommend Legendary Artisan (make your craft pool go further!)

For the eighth level bonus feat I recommend Exceptional Artisan (time to create items will have started to become an issue)

For the 12th level bonus feat Etch Schema
For the 16th level bonus feat Extra Rings

So the level 1 and 3 feats are the logical spots for your metamagic feats.

Keep in mind the level 1 infusion from Magic of Eberron: Metamagic Scroll, this gives you a free application of one (and only one) metamagic onto a scroll, so long as the metamagic modifier is +2 or less.

So at low levels you can have fun with things like a Fell Drain Flaming Sphere, or an Empowered Scorching Ray, or an Extended Creeping Cold.

And here's a cute trick: you can actually make Scorching Ray scrolls at level 1, and it doesn't matter that your caster level is only 1, because the damage (on each ray) is independent of your caster level. (Not that I recommend this, it's just interesting to think that a level 1 character can toss out a 6d6 attack (with significant resource expenditure)

Speaking of significant resource expenditures, if you have your heart set on getting a homunculus at level 4, there are a couple of ways; you could buy a scroll of Arcane Eye, you could hire an NPC wizard who knows it to assist, or you could blow a 250gp gem on a scroll of Suffer the Flesh (from Magic of Eberron). It does Con damage, but that actually fits with the whole homunculus needing a pint of blood fluff/theme.