Optimizing in-combat healing

[WarKitty]

I'm curious now. I know all the stuff about killing things being better than in-combat healing. Let's suppose for a minute that I want to build an in-combat healer. Say I have a vow of nonviolence (actual feat optional). How would I go about doing this?

[Devmaar]

My initial thoughts are Strongheart Vest + Stigmata or a Sorcerer with Arcane Disciple (healing)

[Saint GoH]

I've messed around with this idea, and Id say that Eldritch Disciple (Complete Mage? Arcane?) is probably your best bet. Basically allows warlock and cleric levels to stack, and every so often you get "Gifts", one of which is using a turn undead attempt to cast your eldritch blast as a healing blast. Chain it, cone it, burst it, whatever works and suddenly you have a whole party heal.

What I've also found helpful but difficult to use is an ACF for druids in I think PHBII. You basically lose access to spontaneous summoning, but instead can turn spell slots into Vigorish spells that last for a few rounds as an aura. I think its 3 points of healing per spell level. Apply Empowered Healing to gain +2 per level and you have a pretty decent AoE healing battery. Downside is I think you can also heal your enemies with that (unless its an undead campaign?).

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Cloistered Cleric with Healing and Sun domains with the PhB II variant 'spontaneous domain' applied to the Healing domain.

Now you go into Radiant Servant of Pelor. All your cure spells are domain spells, so they are all automatically maximized and empowered at no additional charge.

Have a nice day.

[Akal Saris]

If you allow 2nd party material,

Healer 5/Healing Hand of Mishakel 5/Combat Medic 5/Anything 5 (I like contemplative)

With Augment Healing, Mastery of Day and Night, and Magic of the Land, the build doesn't provoke AOO's for healing, each cure spell is auto-empowered and maximized, comes automatically attached with sanctuary, aid, and +5 to reflex saves, heals +4 HP/spell level, and also heals an additional 2x your Cha in HP.

Healing Hand of Mishakel already requires its own Vow of Nonviolence, so taking Vow of Nonviolence is actually pretty optimal in this case.

[holywhippet]

One thing to definetly look into - wands of cure light wounds. In fact any wands of cure * wounds. Far better bang for your buck than healing potions and scrolls - and lots of classes can use them in case you get disabled.

[tyckspoon]

One thing to definetly look into - wands of cure light wounds. In fact any wands of cure * wounds. Far better bang for your buck than healing potions and scrolls - and lots of classes can use them in case you get disabled.

More or less completely useless for in-combat healing, tho.

[dgnslyr]

One thing to definetly look into - wands of cure light wounds. In fact any wands of cure * wounds. Far better bang for your buck than healing potions and scrolls - and lots of classes can use them in case you get disabled.

You mean Wands of Lesser Vigor, right? Much more cost effective when you're not strapped for time.

[WarKitty]

The idea was to hopefully make something that would be useful for in-combat healing, even if it is cheesed up. Doesn't have to be the most effective ever, but should at least be capable of contributing to a party.

[Tytalus]

A simple but very effective build for in-combat healing is something like (idea not from me, found elsewhere)

Crusader 5 / Hellreaver 5 / Binder 1 / Crusader +9 with Extra Granted Maneuver and Improved Unarmed Strike.

It's a tank that can heal people while beating people up, indefinitely:

• Every time you hit someone you provide 2 points of healing (or 4 with Aura of Triumph, which also works off any ally's attack).
• Every time you hit someone with a maneuver you provide extra healing of 150 points, 25 points or 25 points to all within 30 feet.
• Every round as a swift action you can provide another 20 points of healing.

You can do this indefinitely, as long as there are enemies to fight. Use unarmed attacks to deal nonlethal damage, so you don't violate your vow.

The crusader portion is more or less optional (although excellent); you can achieve similar effects (without even lifting a weapon) with a binder/hellreaver. With a few binder levels you can, for example, bind Buer and provide unlimited out-of-combat healing, too.

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Other than that, I would second the aforementioned Eldritch Disciple. Since the "special" healing (aside from what your cleric side already offers) is based on your Eldritch Blast damage, it combines surprisingly well with Hellfire Warlock (perhaps re-flavor that to "Soulfire"?) and a Rod of Bodily Restoration (MIC).

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Sorcerer with Arcane Disciple (healing)

Not so great. Healing gained through Arcane Disciple suffers from an annoying 1/day/slot limitation, which makes it hard to be a dedicated healer. The WIS requirement may also be a problem.

[gorfnab]

Well, some non-cleric/full caster options would be:

Artificers can make decent healers since they can make scrolls of any healing spell out there. Also they can cure 6d8+30 with the 2nd level infusion Armor Enhancement set to Healing, Greater from MIC.

Dragon Shaman - They get Touch of Vitality (Lay On Hands++) that allow them to cure other things like ability point damage and conditions like poison or sickened. Also the Draconic Aura Vigor gives allies fast healing if they're below half their total hit points.

Lay On Hands Optimized Paladin

[Cespenar]

Since I'm a fan of silly ideas, I'm going to suggest taking a single level or Wizard beside a normal Radiant Servant of Pelor build, get Precocious Apprentice, get Spectral Hand, and profit.

Another path would probably be Able Learner, Use Magic Device, Wand of Spectral Hand.

[JaronK]

A Binder can do this at higher levels by binding Zceryl and taking the feat that lets him use that vestige's abilities once every 4 rounds instead of 5. Now just spam creatures that can cast Heal or similar. There's quite a few (especially if you look in BoED).

JaronK

[panaikhan]

I went down the druid road for this a while back.
The ability to sacrifice spells for vigor is a good one.

There's also a feat that anyone can take if they qualify, that lets party buffs also heal everyone they effect. I think the effect is location-dependant though, and requires a knowledge:Nature roll.

[WarKitty]

I went down the druid road for this a while back.
The ability to sacrifice spells for vigor is a good one.

There's also a feat that anyone can take if they qualify, that lets party buffs also heal everyone they effect. I think the effect is location-dependant though, and requires a knowledge:Nature roll.

Now there's a good idea though. I might like combining a healing and buffing character for more effectiveness.

[Fouredged Sword]

Bard 5 / Warweaver 5 / whatever 10

take hymn of healing and versitile spellcaster 1st level, widen spell 3rd.

Now healing hymn lets you add your preform ranks to all healing spells as a bardic music use, warweaver makes all your healing spells effect the whole party as a single casting with free reach. At level 10 you heal 15 hp to all party members at once as a level 0 spell.

[Pechvarry]

A simple but very effective build for in-combat healing is something like (idea not from me, found elsewhere)

Crusader 5 / Hellreaver 5 / Binder 1 / Crusader +9 with Extra Granted Maneuver and Improved Unarmed Strike.

It's a tank that can heal people while beating people up, indefinitely:

• Every time you hit someone you provide 2 points of healing (or 4 with Aura of Triumph, which also works off any ally's attack).
• Every time you hit someone with a maneuver you provide extra healing of 150 points, 25 points or 25 points to all within 30 feet.
• Every round as a swift action you can provide another 20 points of healing.

a) what's binder for in this build?
b) the 150 points of healing should be from strike of righteous vitality -- won't be up EVERY round. Though it will be up often.
c) This build is cool with dragon shaman 1 (maybe that's what Binder was supposed to be?) or draconic aura feat if your DM is kind. Unlimited healing that requires you to be in combat paired with unlimited out-of-combat healing that can only take you to half health. Neat.

[gorfnab]

a) what's binder for in this build?

You can refill your fury points during an encounter by taking con damage, which would then be healed by having bound the Naberious vestige.

[Bakkan]

If you go with an actual spellcaster, consider persisting or quickening Healing Lorecall from Spell Compendium. It's a 2nd-level cleric spell that boots your CL for healing spells (if your Heal ranks are higher than your CL) and allows you to remove negative conditions for free every time you heal someone.

[Salanmander]

I've messed around with this idea, and Id say that Eldritch Disciple (Complete Mage? Arcane?) is probably your best bet. Basically allows warlock and cleric levels to stack, and every so often you get "Gifts", one of which is using a turn undead attempt to cast your eldritch blast as a healing blast. Chain it, cone it, burst it, whatever works and suddenly you have a whole party heal.

I haven't played a warlock myself, but the ability in question says "...in place of applying an eldritch essence invocation to your eldritch blast...". Doesn't that mean that you can't actually chain/cone/burst/whatever it when you're healing with it?

[Pechvarry]

I haven't played a warlock myself, but the ability in question says "...in place of applying an eldritch essence invocation to your eldritch blast...". Doesn't that mean that you can't actually chain/cone/burst/whatever it when you're healing with it?

You can add an eldritch essense and a blast shape to any given invocation. So you can chain your healing blast, but you can't also make it sicken your allies (lol).

You can refill your fury points during an encounter by taking con damage, which would then be healed by having bound the Naberious vestige.

Humm. Not sure I'd waste a class level on that. the fury points are plentiful enough that a wand of restoration would do. Not to mention, the eventual Strike of Righteous Vitality would restore the CON damage. Which is why it pairs remarkably well with Greater Divine Surge and the level 8 stance (for surviving between the turn where you bottom out your CON and the round in which you recover it all via your Heal strike).

[Sitzkrieg]

JaronK's binder suggestion might be better, but a 5th level binder with Tenebrous gets a turn attempt every 5 rounds. Combining this with the Healing Devotion feat from CC will get you unlimited out of combat healing by granting minute-long fast healing to all your allies. Might see some use as a pre-battle buff too, since you can just fire and forget and it'll last the whole fight.

[Gnaeus]

I went down the druid road for this a while back.
The ability to sacrifice spells for vigor is a good one.

It is only a good one for character levels 1-6. 7-12 you are better off spontaineously summoning unicorns. 13+ fast healing 3 is not helpful for in combat healing.

[Thurbane]

More or less completely useless for in-combat healing, tho.

One use for in-combat healing with wands is a Rod of Many Wands, preferably wielded by a (invisible) familiar. If you're firing off 3 wands of Cure Critical as an action (12d8+21, avg = 75), it becomes somewhat viable. Horribly expensive, though...

[panaikhan]

It is only a good one for character levels 1-6. 7-12 you are better off spontaineously summoning unicorns. 13+ fast healing 3 is not helpful for in combat healing.

To be fair, the fast healing scales to what level spell you sacrifice. Fast Healing x for 3 rounds to every member of the party is still a whole lot of healing

[Aharon]

Since nobody has mentioned it yet:
War Weaver is a viable class for in-combat healing - you heal everybody in your tapestry (up to Cha-Bonus people) at the same time.

[Gnaeus]

To be fair, the fast healing scales to what level spell you sacrifice. Fast Healing x for 3 rounds to every member of the party is still a whole lot of healing

Sorry, my bad, when I looked I swear I read that it was the duration that was spell dependent, not the amount. I think you are right. But it doesn't matter at all.

Lets assume you are comparing a level 6 spell sacrifice to a rapid SNA 6, cast as a 6th level spell with ring of the Beast.

Lets pretend that you have a large party, because that helps you in this example. Say 6 players? That healing distribution works out to:
Round 1-36 HP
Round 2-36 HP
Round 3-36 HP
Total 108 HP
Rapid SNA 6 summons avg 3.5 unicorns:
Round 1-Cure Moderates- 49 HP
Round 2 Cure Light -33 HP
Round 3 Cure Light - 33 HP
Round 4 Cure Light -33 HP
Total 148.75

So, the unicorns win in overall damage healed. They win in damage healed in the first round, which is critical for in combat healing. They can focus healing on one or two badly injured characters, which is usually better than spreading healing around the party, some of whom may be uninjured or nowhere near death or not in danger of further attack.

Also, the unicorns provide free magic circle v. evil, reducing your ongoing damage. The unicorns can provide AOOs or soak up hits, further reducing damage. If the unicorns arent healing enough, you can summon more of them, whereas you can't stack Fast healing 5 on top of fast healing 6 to get fast healing 11.

Now, lets talk about high levels. Lets say that you are giving fast healing 8 for 3 rounds. If your fighter is hurt, and he is fighting a CR 15 monster (because you are casting level 8 spells, so probably you are level 15+) 8 hit points of healing is pathetic. Anything he is fighting is probably doing 30+ damage per hit. At that level, Heal is worth it. Summoning a T Rex to block for him while he withdraws is worth it. Rapid healing 8 is a waste of a round and a level 8 spell slot.

So, to recap. It is an ok variant 1-6, bad forever after (if your goal is actually providing healing).

[Person_Man]

Also:

• Claws of the Vampire psionic power heals 50% of your claw damage. Can be massive when combined with Claws of the Beast (ie, your standard King of Smack combo.
• Thereputic Mantle soulmeld (unbound). Adds (Essentia Invested * 2) + spell level to any "spell or effect that heals hit point damage" that targets you. VERY useful at low levels for a Crusader/Incarnate, and at mid levels if you want to stack multiple healing effects every round.
• Vampiric weapon enhancement: Each hit heals a small amount of damage. +2 bonus. Unapproachable East pg 54.
• Frostrager PrC heals Cold damage when in a Rage. Frostburn.
• Combat Focus + Combat Stability + Combat Vigor (all PHBII) gives you +4 Will Saves, +8 to resist Grapple/Trip/Bull Rush/etc, and Fast Healing 4.
• Lord of the Uttercold metamagic (Comp Arcane) changes energy damage into 50% cold and 50% negative energy. Summon skeletons and dump Uttercold Fireballs on them while they fight for you. Allies can also take the Tomb Tainted Soul feat (Libris Mortis) to be healed by negative energy, and Cold Resistance is pretty easy to come by.
• Millennial Chainmail: +3 chainmail, light armor, +8 max Dex bonus, armor check penalty -2, Fast Healing 3. Requires True Believer feat and 7 HD. 18,800 gp, Complete Divine pg 99.
• Nychyaella’s Healing Spear: Vampiric Touch three time per day. 44,392 gp, Player’s Guide to Faerun pg 121.
• Minor Shapeshift: As long as you have any Polymorph spell of 4th level or higher memorized, you can spend a Swift Action to give yourself temporary hit points equal to your Hit Dice. Good for Gish builds. Complete Arcane pg 45.
• Stone Power feat gives you temporary hit points which can be refilled every turn. Tome of Battle.
• Share Spells ability allows you to share the effect of spells cast on you. So it's very efficient way to heal for Paladins, Druids, Healers, and their mounts.

The key to combat healing is efficiency. Ideally, you want to find a way to heal that doesn't waste actions. Find a way to turn an offensive spell or an attack into something that also heals. If that's not an option, then my suggestion is that you don't bother healing in combat. In most cases the damage you heal will be less then the damage enemies can deal every round. So it's in your best interest to spend your action killing them instead of healing yourself. If you are truly close to death and don't think you can possibly kill your enemies before they kill you, then you should retreat (preferably with Teleport or some similar effect that removes you entirely from danger).

[Pechvarry]

Also:

• Claws of the Beast psionic power heals 50% of your claw damage. Can be massive when combined with Claws of the Beast (ie, your standard King of Smack combo.

I'm assuming this should be claws of the vampire, made more effective with claws of the beast.

[Person_Man]

I'm assuming this should be claws of the vampire, made more effective with claws of the beast.

Yup. I've corrected it. Thanks for catching it.