Healer Bard tips

[Petal_Reader]

I searched for a thread that already addressed this and couldn't seem to find much, so I thought I'd make a new one.

I'm interested in building a bard that is particularly good as a healer, though she doesn't per se have to be entirely focused on it. I'm wondering what the best tricks are to achieve this? The character's level is 8. Half-elf, 20 Charisma.

Thoughts:
1) Multiclass, cleric (life domain). This seems really good, and I am strongly considering it, but bard seems to be pretty happy with as many levels of its own abilities as it can get. Is the dip worth it, or are there better/easier options?

2) Magical secrets. So far, Aura of Vitality looks like the most attractive to grab from the paladin list. Beacon of Hope also looked good, but I can't have both active at once, and Aura of Vitality provides more healing throughout a minute or so of battle than Beacon does. Is it worthwhile to consider Mass Healing Word?

3) The Healer feat (allowed by my DM) seems like a good way to make sure Song of Rest is useful just about every short rest. Are there any ritual that are particularly good for this?

[bid]

1) Multiclass, cleric (life domain).
The main benefit of cleric is access to medium armor/shield. This removes pressure on Dex. You can get half-elf 10 14 14 11 13 16, which is enough for AC19 with medium armor/shield.

Don't forget inspiring leader!

[Corran]

Have a look at this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?471899-Ridiculously-good-healer-%28just-for-fun%29) thread, it might help you.

[Foxhound438]

life cleric 1 and aura of vitality is where it's at.

[Slipperychicken]

#1 and #2) If you want to be amazing at healing, combine those. Dip a level into life cleric and take aura of vitality. 2d6+5 over ten rounds is 20d6+50, or about 120 hit points for a 3rd level spell. It's hard to find a better deal than that (IIRC if your DM allows life cleric + goodberry to work, that's more efficient but takes longer. Same deal with prayer of healing). In a fight, Aura of Vitality is also kind of like a free healing word every round, but it costs concentration.

#3a) Healer feat is great. 1d6+12 for everyone, every short rest, without using a daily resource like a spell slot or a hit die? That's good. Make sure your party takes a lot of short rests after they've been hurt; you can easily justify at least two rests per day as stopping for lunch and dinner, and more as taking a breather to recover from all the action. Pack 3 healer hits to be sure you don't run out until you can resupply. The cost of the healer kits is negligible; when you do the math, each time you use a healer kit is only 5 silver.

#3b) Song of Rest is only supposed to work when people are spending one or more hit dice during rests.

#4) Consider the inspiring leader feat too. 13 temp hp per short rest is a nice little buffer. Among 4 party members, that's basically 52 hit points you're adding.


Extra: Try not to boast about your healing or let your party get complacent about taking damage. All the healing in the world doesn't amount to much if the party's too stupid to avoid damage in the first place. The way they're going to stay alive is if they play cautiously, as if they're never going to receive healing again. If your party plays smart and knows how to conserve their hp, then your healing will do them a lot of good.

[Petal_Reader]

My character has a good Dexterity, and she's a lore bard, so I don't intend to rely on melee attacks much. Do you think using a shield is necessary?

I was thinking cleric with Life domain for the exact reason you all have mentioned: the 2 + spell level bonus hit points restored when healing. So even if I didn't use my Aura of Vitality slot, a Healing word is more like a bonus action Cure Wounds, which seems like a good way to increase the efficiency of spell slots.

The more I think of it, the more attractive Inspiring Leader looks. 13 temporary hit points is a decent enough layer of protection that I may not have to heal at all in at least some encounters.

[MaxWilson]

#1 and #2) If you want to be amazing at healing, combine those. Dip a level into life cleric and take aura of vitality. 2d6+5 over ten rounds is 20d6+50, or about 120 hit points for a 3rd level spell. It's hard to find a better deal than that (IIRC if your DM allows life cleric + goodberry to work, that's more efficient but takes longer.

Greatberry (Goodberry + Disciple of Life), even if your DM allows it which he shouldn't by RAW, is somewhat less efficient than Aura of Vitality + Disciple of life. 120 HP/5 spell points is 24 HP per spell point for Aura of Vitality, whereas 40 HP/2 spell points for Goodberry is only 20 HP per spell point. Add in Extended Spell metamagic as mentioned by Corran and it blows Goodberry right out of the water--it's more than twice as efficient.


The more I think of it, the more attractive Inspiring Leader looks. 13 temporary hit points is a decent enough layer of protection that I may not have to heal at all in at least some encounters.

Yes, Inspiring Leader is amazing, especially for hirelings and summons, if you have a way to communicate with them. But it's good for PCs too--it's kind of like a cheap casting of Aid IV every short rest.

[Spacehamster]

Greatberry (Goodberry + Disciple of Life), even if your DM allows it which he shouldn't by RAW, is somewhat less efficient than Aura of Vitality + Disciple of life. 120 HP/5 spell points is 24 HP per spell point for Aura of Vitality, whereas 40 HP/2 spell points for Goodberry is only 20 HP per spell point. Add in Extended Spell metamagic as mentioned by Corran and it blows Goodberry right out of the water--it's more than twice as efficient.



Yes, Inspiring Leader is amazing, especially for hirelings and summons, if you have a way to communicate with them. But it's good for PCs too--it's kind of like a cheap casting of Aid IV every short rest.

Why would they not allow goodberry + life cleric? Devs have even said it works. :)