Dedicated Healer 3.5

[Superglucose]

How would one go about making a marginally optimized healer using only core/ravenloft classes and feats from anywhere, but which must be approved by the GM?

[Temotei]

Core only? Ouch. Does gestalt count?

Seriously though, I'd say it depends. A cleric can cast sanctuary and move around healing allies. That, in itself, helps the cleric builds.

Didn't notice the "feats from anywhere" part. That changes things.

Take a bunch of healing feats (Healing Devotion, Augment Healing, Domain Focus: Healing, Sacred Boost, Sacred Healing, Imbued Healing, Touch of Healing, etc.)

Take the Healing domain.

Get items that increase healing capabilities, like the healing belt. There's an amulet that lets you get healed whenever you heal someone else...I think it's called the amulet of retributive healing, but don't quote me on that.

Don't prepare healing spells. Prepare defensive spells, then convert them to healing as you need them.

[Douglas]

The restriction on classes rules out the primary way to do it, which is Radiant Servant of Pelor. For feats, there's Augment Healing (+2 hp healed per spell level). Empower Spell is good at high levels provided your DM rules it as the total amount getting the benefit rather than just the dice - (2d8+10) * 1.5 vs (2d8*1.5) + 10. This is, I believe, RAW but it's one that many DMs may question.

Easy Metamagic for Empower Spell is excellent if your DM will allow it.

[sofawall]

The restriction on classes rules out the primary way to do it, which is Radiant Servant of Pelor. For feats, there's Augment Healing (+2 hp healed per spell level). Empower Spell is good at high levels provided your DM rules it as the total amount getting the benefit rather than just the dice - (2d8+10) * 1.5 vs (2d8*1.5) + 10. This is, I believe, RAW but it's one that many DMs may question.

Easy Metamagic for Empower Spell is excellent if your DM will allow it.

RAW would be the second, unless everything I know is wrong.

[Temotei]

RAW would be the second, unless everything I know is wrong.

Pretty sure you're right.

While 2d8 is a variable number (changes regardless of level), ten isn't. The amount might change from level to level, but the number isn't changing.

The equation for a 10th level cleric casting cure moderate wounds would be: (2d8*1.5)+10.

[jiriku]

Everything you know is wrong. Black is white, up is down, and short is long.

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by one-half. An empowered spell deals half again as much damage as normal, cures half again as many hit points, affects half again as many targets, and so forth, as appropriate. For example, an empowered magic missile deals 1-1/2 times its normal damage (roll 1d4+1 and multiply the result by 1-1/2 for each missile).

Emphasis mine.

[Superglucose]

Well thanks. Looks like there's not much my party members can do.

[dyslexicfaser]

Doesn't one of the Pelor-based PrCs have good stuff for a dedicated healerbot?

[Douglas]

10 might not be variable, but 2d8+10 is. "All variable numeric effects" of the spell are increased. I think "amount of hp healed" is a much more obvious meaning of "variable numeric effect" than "only the portion that comes from the dice".

Edit: And there's the example from the PHB that jiriku gave.

[Temotei]

Everything you know is wrong. Black is white, up is down, and short is long.



Emphasis mine.

Ah. The SRD thwarts.

[tyckspoon]

Thankfully, there's actually a lot you can do with feats, although none of them are really stellar- you won't break out of marginally optimized unless you can get access to good PrCs or get the DM to let you use some of the cheesier metamagic reducers.

I would start by being a Cleric, preferably Human, because you are going to want quite a few feats, and you want them front-loaded. One of your Domains is Healing, the other doesn't matter all that much; pick something with useful spells if you can find a god that has both Healing and another good domain.

1st level: Take Sacred Healing (PHB2, Comp. Divine) and Imbued Healing (Comp. Champion.) Sacred Healing lets you burn a Turn Undead use to add a per-die bonus to your healing done (if you can find a dX/level healing spell somewhere, jump on it and use the heck out of it with this feat.) Imbued Healing adds a minor but useful rider effect to your healing spells based on your domains; the Healing domain effect is temp HP.

3rd level: Touch of Healing (Reserve feat, Comp. Champion) Effectively, as long as you have healing spells left nobody has to be at less than half HP. Also adds another +1 CL to your healing spells.

6th level: Augment Healing. Adds HP healed to your spells based on spell level, and you're starting to get high enough level spells to make it worthwhile. Between Sacred Healing, Augment Healing, and your CL bumps from your domain and reserve feat, you probably heal more in static bonus than you do from the rolled value on Cure X Wounds spells.

Higher levels: At this point I would lay off the healing feats and pick up some general clerical stuff (maybe Extra Turning, considering that you're going to want to use a Turn pretty much every time you cast a cure.) If you really want to stick to Healing, consider grabbing Healing Devotion at this point; it lets you transform a Turn Undead use directly into healing by granting somebody Fast Healing for a minute.

[jiriku]

The divine restoration cleric alternative class feature (Dungeonscape) would be invaluable in Ravenloft. At the cost of one domain granted power, you gain the ability to spontaneously cast lesser restoration, restoration, and greater restoration.


Spell choice is important. Ranged heals are preferable. If you simply must rely on the cure x wounds line, take the Divine Ward feat (PH2) to be able to use them at range. However, this consumes turn undead attempts, which are as scarce as parkas at a nudist camp in Ravenloft. Below I'll discuss some less commonly used healing spells that I feel are under-appreciated.

1. At 1st level, faith healing (SC) will heal 15 per spell if you get Augment Healing (which you will, because yo momma didn't raise no fool).
   
2. At 2nd level, close wounds (SC) lets you heal 10-13 points at range as an immediate action. Remove paralysis (PHB) is your first AoE heal, although it is only credible for that purpose if you have Augment Healing and Imbue Healing with the Healing (and preferably Good) domain. 4 points of healing per person and +temp hp = HD to up to four targets. Also DR 3/evil with the Good domain.
   
3. At 3rd level, insignia of healing (RoD) is your first significant AoE heal, and heals up to 17-24 points to every party member with unlimited range. Mass aid (SC) is also pretty good, granting a small combat bonus and 1d8+5ish tempory hit points at range.
   
4. 4th level introduces some great heal-over-time spells, including healing spirit (PH2), which will heal 9-16 per round for CL/2 rounds with close range. Positive energy aura (SC), an excellent dual-threat spell, heals every living creature and damages every undead creature within 10 feet of you for 10 points every round for 1 round/level.
   
5. 5th level brings you some heal-over-time spells that last long enough to be cast as pre-battle buffing spells. Darts of life (CC) is a ranged heal with considerable flexibility that heals 110-180 points. The healing can be split between multiple targets and delivered over 10+ minutes. Healing circle (CC) heals 100-170 points in five progressively smaller packets over the course of 10+ minutes, which your allies within 30 feet can call upon as needed.
   
6. At 6th level, you get heal. As a touch spell, it's hard to use, but is real useful if someone has both hit point damage and some negative status effects. I mention this spell just to contrast it with the previous two. Both darts of life and healing circle heal about as much as heal with better range and a lower level spell slot, but heal removes status effects and can be discharged completely as soon as it's cast. Know the strengths and weaknesses of these spells to avoid wasting a heal when a lower-level spell will do.

Side Note: As mentioned, defensive spells are a good way to keep people from taking damage. My favorite defensive spells are:

3rd level: mass conviction (SC) to boost saves, mass resist energy (SC) to avoid damage
4th level: wall of sand (SC) blocks attacks
5th level: wall of stone (PHB) blocks attacks

[Thrawn183]

Well there's cure spells and then there's the heal spell (and later mass heal). It's pretty tough to optimize the heal spell, whereas there's a lot you can do (as mentioned earlier) about optimizing cure spells. So if you're going to be doing high level play? Just work on optimizing all the other spells that you're going to be casting so you have more spell slots for heal spells.

Honestly restores so many hp, and fixes so many ailments, including effects that specifically require high level spells to fix, that the moment you get heal the whole game changes. Healing in combat becomes an actually viable course of action!

So yeah, if you're playing <10, work on those cure spells. If you playing >10, work on boosting your combat abilities, because heal just doesn't need any boosts (and there isn't all that much you can do to boost it any way).

[Roderick_BR]

See if he can get vigor spells. They're golden.
Also, class variant, like cloistered cleric. Seems like he won't do much hitting himself, so getting more skill points, lore skills, and extra knowledge magic will make him more invaluable out of combat, and he won't be missing much combat stuff.

Finally, vows? A classic combo is getting vow of peace, or something like that. You can't hurt the badies, but you get permanent sanctuary.
If your group accept it, there's another vow based on it, where your friends are forced to make a promise to not kill enemies (very hard), but are free to kill enemies that refuse rendition, but you gain even more abilities.

Also, since he won't be too much active in direct combat, don't forget that healing is not only HP (although combat healing is hard, and you need all the help you'll need), your friend should remember to load in others effects that remove debuffs (remove disease, curse, blindness, etc), AND get some buffs to enhance the party. If your party is reasonable, they'll love your friend.

[Temotei]

Doesn't one of the Pelor-based PrCs have good stuff for a dedicated healerbot?

Yes. Read the first post.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Is this for one of the guys in your ravenloft campaign? If so it probably won't make much difference in the end. Pimp out a cleric and use the feats already suggested. When CoDzill starts stomping the opposition your GM might back off a little....... or kill you all with rocks.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

If you can bust out the DMM use, your vigor spells will cut down on non-com spell use. Another winner is the spell Healing Lorecall. It's a 2nd level Cleric spell on page 110 of SpC that has 3 benefits:

1. If you have least 5 ranks in Heal, you can remove dazed, dazzled, or fatigued from those you cast a healing conjuration on.

2. If you have least 10 ranks in Heal, you can also remove exhausted, nauseated, or sickened from those you cast a healing conjuration on in addition to the above list.

3. You can use your ranks in Heal, instead of your caster level, to determine the amount healed by your spells.

[dyslexicfaser]

Oh, if you are going the DMM route, Persisted Monstrous Regeneration is pretty cool.

[PhoenixRivers]

RAW would be the second, unless everything I know is wrong.

Sofa, you're getting hung up on a tree and missing the forest.

damage/healing of the spell = 2d8+10

yes, 2d8 is a variable. 10 is a constant. Let's call (2d8) a variable (y) with a range between 2 and 16. Let's refer to the total damage dealt as a variable as well (d).

2>=y>=16

damage = y+10

d=y+10

D, the damage, is a variable, numeric effect of the spell. So we multiply that result by 1.5.

1.5d = 1.5(y+10)

[Kantolin]

Another thing I haven't seen is the feat Magic of the Land, from the Races of the Wild. It's essentially 'another augment healing', which however requires a knowledge(nature) check.

Pump Knowledge(nature) and get an item to help boost that knowledge check and you're golden. Perhaps buy a Crystal Mask of Knowledge (Magic Item Compendium)?

Augment Healing (Feat, mentioned above, Complete Divine) and Magic of the Land allow you to lay on such serious healing that that's probably all you need, especially when mixed with healing spirit or darts of life.

This combination, along with buying an armband of maximized healing (Magic item compendium), really did solve all my team's healing problems - healing more than that was just icing on the cake.

Oddly enough, I'd avoid the healing domain as... well, it's not terribly useful, sadly. Neither is healing devotion. Imbued Healing feat (Complete Champion), however, makes the healing domain worthwhile - using it means whenever you heal someone, they also get temporary hit points. This is invaluable as it essentially increases the potency of all of your heals (slightly up and above their max HP if necessary), and particularly helps when you start spreading out the healing (Cure mass, mass lesser vigor starts having a real point, darts of life to multiple targets, healing spirit giving it every round).

For probable overkill, you could go with the sacred healing feat (PHB2). It's strictly worse than augment healing, though, as +2/spell level is superior to +2/die costing you a turn check, especially on healing spirit (+8 is better than +2) or darts of life (+10 apiece is better than +2 apiece)... but it's more healing. You likely won't need it, though.

Also useful is the Healing Lorecall spell (Spell Compendium). This functionally raises your caster level a touch assuming you've maxed out heal, but its real point is that it lets you cure a few minor statii along with your healing.

I believe either imbued healing or healing lorecall even makes your cure minor wound orisons have a proper function. ^_^

Apply Amulet of Retributive healing (Item, Magic Item Compendium) to taste (so you can heal yourself and an ally simultaneously). Season with various clerical buffs. Be sure to remind any ranger/druid/wizard/paladin allies that casting a spell on them means they can share it with their companions.

[KillianHawkeye]

Domain Spontaneity for the Healing domain is pretty good at higher levels so you can spontaneously cast heal instead of mass cure moderate wounds.

[Tehnar]

There is a feat in PHB 2 that allows you to make a bond with someone, and cast touch spells on him at range.

On another note, heal + close wounds will probably instant destroy most undead, even if they make their saves.