What's the most exciting support/healer?

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm joining a new group, and although I don't know the team comp, healers are almost always in demand. But I haven't played many of them, and I need your advice.

I'm wanting to find a healer that has multiple tactical decisions to make, and makes them fairly frequently. Not something that's exactly super effective (like a Life Cleric is) but more on the lines of being complex and having multiple strategies to take.

I'm also big on RP elements, so any suggestions there would also be very helpful!

I know that healing is rather simple in DnD 5e, but I'm hoping there's some suggestions you guys might have. In case it is relevant, I have access to all of the core books, and only those are allowed in this campaign (no UA).

(Note: I have a similar thread on tanks, if that interests you)

[sophontteks]

Shepherd druid. You got a lot of options.

Unicorn spirit
Great healing. But you can use your spirit to buff your allies as well. You can walk with the best healers if you want to, but you have other options.

Amazing summons.
Its their main draw. They summon critters that are tougher then any other. Great way to control the battlefield, help soak up damage, and tie up the enemy.

You can speak to animals at will.
Deceptively great way to gather information. Very fun as well.

You can turn into an animal.
Give the rogue a run for his money by turning into a mouse. Great way around obstacles, for evasion, for information gathering. Just great utility all around.

[hymer]

Druid is the answer. (It usually is.) Dreams if you want to emphasize healing, Land if you want to pick up some extra spells for anything, or Shepherd if you're more into the Support. But any choice can do any of the things you're asking about.
Pick a debuff or control cantrip (Frostbite or Thorn Whip, e.g.) or two to keep your combat options open for tactical finesse, and then glory in the spell list of druids. Wild shape for fun and profit, especially in scouting. Druids have strong fluff elements to hang RP on, as well.

Edit: Partially shadowmonk'ed.

[CTurbo]

Ok I'm gonna answer the exciting healer/complex tank questions with the same answer.

Tempest Cleric

Go Variant Human with the Heavy Armor Mastery feat level 1 and get into full Plate as soon as you can. Use a Warhammer and Shield for 20 AC plus -3 damage reduction from the feat. You could easily start 16 Str, 14 Con, 16 Wis

Tempest Clerics make great tanks because you can have a high AC and dish out a LOT of damage in a lot of different ways. Spirit Guardians is almost overpowered. You deal 3d8 damage to all enemies within 15 ft of you as long as you have the spell up both when they enter the area and if they start their turn there. Spiritual Weapon basically gives you a bonus action 1d8+ Wis attack that you can even use at range. You can head into battle with both of those things up and use your actual action for anything you want. Attack with your Warhammer, cast a cantrip, cast a blasting spell, cast a control spell, heal somebody, or just simply use the dodge action.

Tempest Clerics get some great control spells like Gust of Wind, Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, etc... but best of all, you can maximize Thunder and Lightning spell damage once or twice per short rest which makes you one of the best Area of Effect blasters in the game.

Of yeah and yo're good at healing too when you need it.

Just pump Wis and grab Warcaster to help with concentration checks and you'll be unstoppable. Sentinel is also great to keep enemies locked down in your Spiritual Guardians. At level 8 your weapon attack will do 2d8+Str damage. Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians can be upcast for more damage too. You could literally be the highest DPR character in the game as well as the tankiest and healiest lol

Oh and I forget to mention that you can shock enemies that hit you for 2d8 damage too making you even tankier.

[JellyPooga]

Bard. They get some unique spells and can grab any "missing" healing spells with magical secrets. On top of that, Bardic Inspiration, Expertise and other abilities gives them round-to-round decisions to make.

[sophontteks]

The later 2 options suggested are good and also elude to another point. Healers aren't really in high demand in 5e. Its not an essential role.

Some healing between fights is nice. Healing word to put downed players back into the fight is great. But thats not enough to warrant a dedicated healer.

But the healers are good. Don't get me wrong. Its just that healing is not the first thing on their mind in a fight. Its just an option that they can do , when its needed, better then the others.

So with that said. Your options are very, very wide. Bards, Paladins, Celestial Warlocks, Divine soul sorcerers, rangers, druids, and clerics all meet the requirements nessesary to take on a healing role.

[Hecuba]

I'm joining a new group, and although I don't know the team comp, healers are almost always in demand. But I haven't played many of them, and I need your advice.

I'm wanting to find a healer that has multiple tactical decisions to make, and makes them fairly frequently. Not something that's exactly super effective (like a Life Cleric is) but more on the lines of being complex and having multiple strategies to take.

I'm also big on RP elements, so any suggestions there would also be very helpful!

I know that healing is rather simple in DnD 5e, but I'm hoping there's some suggestions you guys might have. In case it is relevant, I have access to all of the core books, and only those are allowed in this campaign (no UA).

(Note: I have a similar thread on tanks, if that interests you)

To clarify: is it PHB only, or just no UA? If you have access to XGtE, I would recommend a Divine Soul Sorcerer.

If it is indeed PHB classes\subclasses only, I would say to aim for a College of Lore Bard. Healing is, as you mentioned, fairly straightforward for 5e in general. If you had more sources, the healing spells omitted from the Bard list might meaningfully exceed what you can cover from with your magical secrets. But in PHB-only play, that list effectively becomes Mass Healing Word, Revivify, and Dispel Magic. Dispel Magic is probably something a party member can cover, Mass Healing Word can probably be set aside until Mass Cure Wounds comes online - and if push comes to shove, you can cover 2 of them with your Level 6 Magical Secrets from Lore Bard.

You should safely be able to cover the healing needs of the party. And once that's done, you have options for support outside healing that I generally find more interesting than the support options for Druids and Clerics.
Heroism and Enhance Ability give you sources of temp HP to prepare for damage.
Enhance Ability also has a great array of other benefits.
You have several charm based options to remove creatures from the fight.
Bardic Inspiration is effectively a pool of dice to make your party better.
Invisibility is a very powerful buff to hand out, both offensively and defensively.
Skill Empowerment, Polymorph, etc.


You can also use whatever Magical Secrets you don't feel you need to reserve for healing spells to cherry pick support spells from other class lists. Most importantly, you can grab buffs and battlefield control spells from the W/S list that would not be available to any other healer (except a Divine Soul Sorcerer). Grab Haste and give a party member(s) an extra pseudo-action. Or grab slow and make an enemy worthless. Grab Gaseous Form and help your party sneak through what would ordinarily not be a viable path.

[Kadesh]

Any class can take Inspiring Leader, and give off some 'Healing' every short rest. Spend 1 hour and 10 minutes to extort your friends ever further on in the name of your god, honour, glory, money, food, girls/boys/gibbering mouthers, whatever, and they get a few HP.

A Battle Master Fighter can not only deal damage, but also heal with Rally to help provide additional healing. A level of Druid gets you healing berries to provide additional Out of Combat Healing, and Land Druid 2 gets you 4 1st level spell slots for 48 HP healed. Combined with Fighter 5, Inspiring Leader, and Battlemaster, spending all of your spell slots on healing, all of your superiority dice on rally, and 2 uses of inspiring Leader, even without Charisma, you are looking at healing 62+8d8 (average 102HP 'healed').

Now, I'm not going to say it is the beat healer, a Land Druid 6/Life Cleric 1 can potentially heal like 420 in that same time (nothung stopping it from picking up Inspiring Leader though either) , but at the stage, it is stuck to melee with Shillelagh or Wild Shape as a Wolf (which tbf ain't bad, but it ain't good either) or plinking from range.

[Man_Over_Game]

To clarify: is it PHB only, or just no UA? If you have access to XGtE, I would recommend a Divine Soul Sorcerer.

If it is indeed PHB classes\subclasses only, I would say to aim for a College of Lore Bard. Healing is, as you mentioned, fairly straightforward for 5e in general. If you had more sources, the healing spells omitted from the Bard list might meaningfully exceed what you can cover from with your magical secrets. But in PHB-only play, that list effectively becomes Mass Healing Word, Revivify, and Dispel Magic. Dispel Magic is probably something a party member can cover, Mass Healing Word can probably be set aside until Mass Cure Wounds comes online - and if push comes to shove, you can cover 2 of them with your Level 6 Magical Secrets from Lore Bard.

You should safely be able to cover the healing needs of the party. And once that's done, you have options for support outside healing that I generally find more interesting than the support options for Druids and Clerics.
Heroism and Enhance Ability give you sources of temp HP to prepare for damage.
Enhance Ability also has a great array of other benefits.
You have several charm based options to remove creatures from the fight.
Bardic Inspiration is effectively a pool of dice to make your party better.
Invisibility is a very powerful buff to hand out, both offensively and defensively.
Skill Empowerment, Polymorph, etc.


You can also use whatever Magical Secrets you don't feel you need to reserve for healing spells to cherry pick support spells from other class lists. Most importantly, you can grab buffs and battlefield control spells from the W/S list that would not be available to any other healer (except a Divine Soul Sorcerer). Grab Haste and give a party member(s) an extra pseudo-action. Or grab slow and make an enemy worthless. Grab Gaseous Form and help your party sneak through what would ordinarily not be a viable path.


Your Divine Soul option is a good choice. Healing/Buff spells combined with Twinned Spell is a solid combo. Maybe take 1 level into Warlock for the spell slot regen, giving me 2 level 1 spell slots per short rest, which I can convert into Sorcery points. 1 level into warlock would effectively give me 2 sorcery points or 4 spell slots a day.

[Hecuba]

Your Divine Soul option is a good choice. Healing/Buff spells combined with Twinned Spell is a solid combo. Maybe take 1 level into Warlock for the spell slot regen, giving me 2 level 1 spell slots per short rest, which I can convert into Sorcery points. 1 level into warlock would effectively give me 2 sorcery points or 4 spell slots a day.

Be careful with warlock-slots-to-sorcery-points shenanigans: down that path lies the way to coffee-lock, which leads to the dangers of the DM becoming he-who-throws-books-at-heads.

But yes, if you have access to XGtE subclasses and spells, I would recommend Divine Soul Sorcerer over Lore Bard. You loose access to a few buffs that are only on the Druid, Bard, Paladin, or Ranger lists - but being able to select spells freely from the Cleric and Sorcerer lists more than offsets that.

You'll effectively get 1 cleric spell known for free (you can swap at level 2 if your alignment doesn't get you the starting one you want).
Assuming you're Good, I'd aim for the following for healing spell progression:

1st level

Spare the Dying (cantrip)
Cure Wounds (Divine Soul bonus)
2 available spells known unallocated

2nd level

Healing Word (swapping for Cure Wounds- you probably don't need both until at least 5, if ever)
3 available spells known unallocated
3rd level

Lesser Restoration
3 available spells known unallocated

4th level

For most campaigns, avoid Prayer of Healing: unless you're routinely seeing party members run out of HD the efficiency bonus does not offset them simply using HD instead, and the casting time makes it otherwise useless. Consider Aid instead if you really think you need to give out more HP to multiple people during downtime. In most cases, however, neither is needed
4 available spells known unallocated

5th level

Mass Healing Word
4 available spells known unallocated

6th level

Revivify
4 available spells known unallocated
Beacon of Hope is worth considering, but in most cases your Empowered Healing will be sufficient until higher level.
If there are no other non-spells-known casters to grab it, you may need to grab Dispel Magic

7th level

Death Ward
4 available spells known unallocated

8th level

If single target HP damage in combat is becoming an issue, either pick up Life Transference or pick Cure Wounds back up. It's usually not necessary in my experience.
5 available spells known unallocated

9th level

Greater Restoration
Raise Dead
4 available spells known unallocated

10th level

If you didn't grab Beacon of Hope before, consider whether you need it now. If you did grab Beacon of Hope previously and Mass Healing Word isn't keeping up even with it helping (or if your party is leaning on your concentration for something else like haste, and thus preventing you from using beacon), then consider Mass Cure Wounds
(Planar Binding can handles some healing here if you DM is cooperative, and is a powerful spell worth considering for other purposes. But I don't generally see it as a healing mainstay).
4 available spells known unallocated

11th level

Heal
Between Heal and Mass Healing Word, you can probably safely swap out Healing Word now.
5 available spells known unallocated

12th level

6 available spells known unallocated
(Planar Ally can handles some healing here if you DM is cooperative, and is a powerful spell worth considering for other purposes. But I don't generally see it as a healing mainstay).

13th level

Swap Raise Dead for Resurrection
7 available spells known unallocated

14th level

Swap Greater Restoration for Conjure Celestial (a Couatl can readily cover Greater Restoration once per day). You could also start planning to drop Lesser Restoration, but that's more problematic (if you can use the Couatl's other spells with some reliability, its a good trade. If not, a using 7th level slots for a 2nd level effect in order to free up a spell known is much different that using a 7th level slot for a 5th level effect).
8 available spells known unallocated

15th level

9 available spells known unallocated

16th level

10 available spells known unallocated

17th level

Mass Heal
Swap Resurrection for True Resurrection
10 available spells known unallocated



The free slots can be used for buffs, battlefield control, or more direct options (id est Fireball).

[MagneticKitty]

Envoy Warforged forge cleric 3 / divine or pheonix sorcerer x. Was built to be a smithy. Smith tools are augmented into his body, and he has an affinity for fire.
Feat: elementally adept fire.
Cha 16 / str 14 / con 14 /wis 13 / dex 10 / int 8

Envoy gets a plus 1 con and plus 1 on two other stats. This one has cha, con, and wis

Str needs to go up for heavy armor use.

Forge is for flavor and spell access, take spells that don't require a dc support stuff. And sorc is blasty or Healy depending on if you take divine soul or not

~~~~~

Tortle paladin body guard
Tortle redemption paladin with protection fighting style. Can take hits for people or impose disadvantage.
Plus if you make a dex save the rest of the group gets advantage.
Str 17 / cha 14 / wis 14 / con 12 / dex 10 / int 8

~~~~~

Tranquility monk.... uh.. whatver...

[Finger6842]

Bard. They get some unique spells and can grab any "missing" healing spells with magical secrets. On top of that, Bardic Inspiration, Expertise and other abilities give them round-to-round decisions to make.

This, not because it's the best healer but because it's the most versatile class in the game which translates to a ton of interesting choices both in and out of combat, plus none of that pesky religion stuff.