A Player's Guide to Healing (And, why you will be Just Fine without a Cleric to heal)

[OneWinged4ngel]

((Another one of my articles copied over from the WotC boards))

Healin'. Patchin' up the wounds. Sewing the Fighter's larynx back in after he took an arrow through the neck and lived and wanted to tell about it. Every player knows the drill. But oddly, a lot of players just use really... silly methods of going about healing themselves, and have some wild misconceptions about how to do it effectively and even how much of a priority it should be.

The Problems

Some players think they *have* to have a cleric or druid to cover the healing role, and place healing as an extremely high priority, even in combat, and even if they don't. Many even spend inordinate amounts of money on extremely inefficient healing items that may hurt them more than help them.

To summarize a few common issues:

• Players overprioritize healing in combat when there are more effective options available to them.
• Players spend too much money on healing, often spending wads of cash on things like potions of Cure Moderate Wounds.
• Players believe they can't heal efficiently without a Cleric or Druid or similar class in the party, and view such as an essential role, to the point where some even *force* others to play a Cleric or Druid just so that they can have a dedicated healer, and then downplay the extraordinary talents of those classes and belittle them to a mere healing role, making for an unenjoyable experience for the victim of this treatment.
• Many players just don't know how to get the best healing for their buck.

Some Information and Comparisons

First, an effort at dispelling some of the myths. First off, you should probably never be buying healing potions, perhaps with the exception of Cure Light Wounds or a similar level 1 spell. The reason for this is simple. The cost is exorbitant, and it's really not worth it. A Cure Serious Wounds potion will heal, on average, 18.5 hp, and it will cost you 750gp, and it will take either a standard or a full round action to use, and it will provoke AoOs unless you did some further investment to prevent that, and on top of that it probably smells bad and tastes bitter. Yuck. For the same price, you could have gotten a Wand of Cure Light Wounds (275hp total instead of 18.5hp), a Wand of Lesser Vigor (550hp total instead of 18.5gp), or a Healing Belt (Either 6d8 hp (average 27 hp) a day, or 18 hp (same as the potion!) per day if you burst heal, usable as a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.)) Would you rather get 18 hp, or 18 hp per day? Now would you rather use a standard or full action that provokes AoOs, *and* need to draw the item, or would you rather use a standard action that doesn't provoke AoOs? And hey, wouldn't you like the option to heal even more for efficiency, outside of battle? There's even another option, this one for artificers, that costs a mere 50 gp a pop: Infuse an ally with Greater Healing armor. This will give them 6d8+30 total healing (3d8+15 as a swift action, usable twice). As an added bonus, it will even automatically heal you if you get knocked unconscious. The point is... potions are bad. Potions are inefficient. So are scrolls of Cure Moderate Wounds, Cure Serious Wounds, and so forth.

Second, a dedicated healer is not a necessary combat role. Seriously.

First off, healing often does not outpace damage. Moreover, removing an enemy a threat can often be much more effective at saving your allies' necks than going up and poking them with Cure X Wounds. If an enemy were to deal 50 damage to an ally, and you can take that enemy out by either disabling or killing them, then you've "healed" that ally of the 50 damage he would have taken. Additionally, as healing often does not keep up the pace with damage, even if you can't disable the enemy, healing the ally might not be good enough to save them. Instead, you might want to use an ability to help the ally escape, or block the enemy from attacking them (this can be something as simple as Benign Transposition, really). In fact, healing in combat is only situationally a good choice, and is often a subpar tactical option. In general, Prevention > Healing.

Secondly, you can get very efficient out-of-combat healing quite easily without a Cleric or Druid, and indeed a Rogue, Artificer, Paladin, Ranger, Factotum, Warlock, or Bard could fill the healing role with a wand of Cure Light Wounds or Lesser Vigor. In fact, you can even get good, cheap burst healing comparable to the Cleric or Druid's ability at low levels with items like the Healing Belt.

Actually, the Artificer can prove to be a fantastic healer, cheaply (we're talking 37.5% market price here) turning out healing belts, wands of lesser vigor, and providing Greater Healing armor infusions (a mere second level infusion) at an early level. The Paladin and Ranger can use wands of Cure Light Wounds without penalty, and the others can use UMD to master the efficient wands. On top of that, members of *any* class can easily chip in with the very efficient Healing Belt.

These things considered, you really can get by without a Cleric or Druid. In fact, if you do have a Cleric or Druid, they're probably going to be more useful in most combats if they are doing something OTHER than healing, since they have considerable talents in many regards.

How to Heal Effectively
(Author's note: I have excluded a few very potent and efficient means of healing because things like the infinite-healing-for-cheap trap and other such things are just plain abusive, and few sane DMs will allow them)

• Blessed Bandages (10gp, MiC page 152): 10gp to automatically succeed to stabilize an ally. Can definitely save a friend at very low levels.
  
• Wands of Cure Light Wounds (750gp, Core): The hallmark of efficiency. These wands will dish out an average of 5.5hp a pop, and with 50 charges that will add up to 275 total healing. This wand gains an advantage over Lesser Vigor in two respects: Speed of use, and the fact that Lesser Vigor is a Cleric and Druid only spell, and thus is only available to those classes and UMD users, while Paladins and Rangers and the like will stick to Cure Light Wounds.
  
• Wands of Lesser Vigor (750gp, Spell Compendium Page 229): These are the most efficient healing wands around! You get 11 hp per pop (though it takes a full minute to gain that 11 hp), and you get a total of 550hp of healing for your 750gp.
  
• Healing Belts (750gp, MiC page 110): For 750gp, *anyone* can heal 6d8 hp a day, and even burst heal for 4d8hp as a Standard action with a Touch range, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity like spells and scrolls. Also, with the MiC rules for adding common effects, you don't even need to worry about "keeping the slot free" anymore. You can actually just say, give one of these to everyone in a party of 5 for 30d8 healing per day, and just subsidize your healing costs. This is a great way to keep everyone alive at low levels. As if this weren't good enough, you get feel-good +2 bonus to Heal checks as a bonus.
  
• Artificers can heal very effectively with Greater Healing Armor (MiC page 12), dishing out 3d8+15 healing *twice* usable as a swift action, and even automatically healing a character should they fall unconscious. Best of all, this only costs you 50gp for a total of 6d8+30hp healing, and is available at a very low level.
  
• Wand of Faith Healing (Spell Compendium): It's kinda cheesy, but it's worth mentioning if your DM allows it. It's exactly the same as Cure Light Wounds, except maximized and only usable on people who share your faith (which can easily just be everyone in your party). I personally don't allow this spell as a DM.
  
• Touch of Healing (Reserve Feat, Complete Champion pg 62): This one is for the actual "healers." As long as you have a healing spell of second level or higher ready to cast, you can heal anyone up to half their total hp (but no higher, meaning you have to use more abilities to fully heal them) for free. Basically, for the cost of a feat, you get a lot of free healing.
  
• Summon Nature's Ally IV (Core): Summoning a Unicorn nets you a free set of 3 CLWs, 1 CMW, and a Neutralize Poison. It has a caster level of 5th, so that'll total 5d8+20 points of healing (and a neutralize poison). It's even something a druid can cast spontaneously. Not bad.
  
• Revivify (Cleric 5, Spell Compendium page 176): Revive your dead buddy for 1000gp as a standard action instead of for 5000gp as a much longer action, and best of all *no level loss.* A no brainer really. You just need to be quick about it, acting within 1 round of the victim's death!
  
• Revenance (Cleric 4, Paladin 4, Bard 6): This spell can target any character that died within 1 round / caster level of casting. The subject comes back to life (as if by Raise Dead except with no penalties) and is able to fight (with a +1 morale bonus on attack, damage, and saves against the person who killer her) for 1 minute per level, at the end of which the character dies again. The real seller here is that it has a wider window to cast than Revivify (1 round / level), and moreover the ally will die at the end of the spell (or after being killed again), often allowing you to use Revivify when it would otherwise be impossible (window passed) or too dangerous (in the middle of combat).
  
• Delay Death (Cleric 4, Spell Compendium page 63): As an *Immediate Action*, the ally becomes unable to die from hit point damage (they'll still fall unconscious, they just won't die.) This means that you can instantaneously cast this spell when a buddy takes their final hit, and they won't die for 1 round/level (during which time you can finish the encounter, then heal them up.) Can definitely be a lifesaver.
  
• Tomb Tainted Soul (Feat, Libris Mortis): This handy feat allows you to be healed by negative energy. This means that a living Dread Necromancer can heal you to full as much as she likes with Charnel Touch, and that you can heal yourself with things like Uttercold metamagiced spells and the like.
  
• Amulet of Retributive Healing (2000gp, MiC Page 69): This handy little doodad lets you double up on your healing 3 times per day. When activated (as a swift action) this amulet allows you to cure yourself of an amount of damage equal to however much you cured your buddy of. So, if you cast Heal on your ally, you can activate this item to use a free quickened Heal on yourself. Works with scrolls and everything, too.
  
• Collar of Healing (5000gp, MiC page 90): As an *Immediate action* once per day, heal your animal companion of 50hp and cures the Fatigued or Exhausted conditions. Keep your little buddy going. As an added bonus, it works at any range (as long as you're on the same plane), and lets you know your companion's exact hit point total at all times.
  
• Heal (Core): Heal is a great spell. It really is. It's the healing spell you actually might want to use in fights fairly often. It heals a ton of damage, and it takes away ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned. A laundry list of status effects, some of which are quite deadly in their own right! However, Heal is not a necessary party role in and of itself! Again, you don't actually need *any* in-combat healing to have a highly effective party. Still, when you *do* have a Cleric or Druid around, there's no reason they shouldn't have this ready. If you don't have a Cleric or Druid around, you may want to consider a scroll or two of this for those few situations where you really do want a Heal (i.e., your buddy just got blasted for 100 damage and got stunned to boot).
  
• Divine Ward (Feat, PHB II): This feat will help out the "true healers," allowing them to use Close Range instead of Touch Range for their healing spells on one ally by spending your Turning attempts. You can get a similar results with Divine Metamagic (Reach Spell) (Which happens to be doubly useful for, say, a ranged Slay Living).
  
• Augment Healing (Feat, Complete Divine): Add +2 healing per level of the healing spell cast. Simple and effective for a dedicated healer, should you choose to get one.
  
• False Life (Sor/Wiz 2, Core):
  Instead of taking up an action to heal during combat, take an action to heal up to 1 hour / level before combat ever happens! See also, Aid (Cleric 2, PHB)
  
• Empathic Transfer (Egoist 2, Psychic Warrior 2, XPH): This useful power is the standy of healing as a Psionic character. The method is a little unique as opposed to standard methods of healing, but it works just as well. You eliminate anywhere from 2d10 to 10d10 (depending on augment) hp of damage from an ally, and transfer half of that damage onto yourself. Combined with Vigor (Psion 1, Psychic Warrior 1, XPH), and Share Pain (Psion 2, XPH) both shared to your psicrystal through Share Powers, the temporary hit points will absorb all of the damage.
  
• Vigor (Psion 1, Psychic Warrior 1, XPH): This power giives you 5 temporary hit points per power point spent, lasting for a minute per level. It's like healing *before* you ever take damage, and lets you buff beforehand in order to avoid the need to heal in combat.
  
• Amulet of Tears (2300gp, MiC page 70): Another source of temporary hit points, this handy item stores 3 charges per day and grants temporary hit points lasting for 10 minutes based on the number of charges spent. For 1 charge, you gain 12 tmporary hit points, and for 3 charges grants 24 temporary hit points.
  
• Share Pain (Psion 2, XPH): This power transfers half of the damage dealt to you to a willing subject, and thus helps a good deal with damage mitigation. It lasts for an hour per level, so can last for a full day's worth of encounters, and a popular use is to combine it with a Vigor (Psion 1, Psychic Warrior 1, XPH) power shared with your psicrystal and make your psicrystal the subject, effectively doubling the effect of vigor and transferring a good deal of hp damage onto a target that is often a noncombatant.
  
• Shield Other (Cleric 2, Paladin 2, Core): This is much like Share Pain, except it deals half of an ally's damage to you, helping you to protect them. It also adds a +1 resistance bonus to saves and a +1 deflection bonus to AC for the target, as an added plus.
  
• Vampiric Touch (Sor/Wiz 3, Duskblade 3, Core): 1d6 damage per two levels, and gain temporary hp equal to the damage dealt. This spell is notable for combining offensive abilities and effective in-combat "healing" into the same attack. This spell is useful in spell storing weapons, or channeled through a Duskblade's "Arcane Channelling" ability. It is generally *not* a good idea for the average mage to run up into melee and try to touch an enemy with it, because the damage will be low and the temporary hp probably won't save you from a world of pain (unless you have other protective spells and such up). Also note that if you're an Unseen Seer or Arcane Trickster, you can increase the amount healed with sneak attacks!
  
• Bloodstone weapon enhancement (+1, page 29 MiC): Stores and casts Vampiric Touch just like a spell storing weapon, except that it's automatically empowered. Basically, this will deal extra damage on attacks equal to (1d6 per two caster levels)*1.5, *and* give the wielder of the weapon temporary hp equal to the damage dealt. Thus, you're adding to damage and to healing at the same time! See also: Vampiric Touch.
  
• Bodyfeeder weapon enhancement (+3 bonus, XPH): This handy enhancement will grant its wielder temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt by any critical hit he dishes out. With an expanded critical hit range, you can expect this to give a steady stream of temporary hp. This enhancement can be granted by an artificer spending a 3rd level infusion and a small amount of gp. (Note: Though "Wrathful Healing" is almost certainly more effective, it's much less likely to be allowed)

-Signed,

[TheOOB]

This guide has some useful stuff, but it doesn't mention several key pieces of information, and can be fairly misleading.

The first and foremost thing any party healing needs to know is that it is far better to prevent damage from happening then to heal it once it happens. Healing is inherently reactive (barring to a small extent to vigor spells, but those are not very efficient in battle), and to keep your party alive you need to be proactive. At level 1, cure light wounds heals 5.5 hp on average, but a casting of shield of faith, protection from alignment, or cause fear can prevent several attacks from hitting your party, preventing far more damage then cure light wounds heals. Anything that makes your party get hurt less, or defeats enemies faster making it so the battle is shorter reduces the need for healing.

Thats not to say healing is worthless, people do take damage, and that damage needs to go away, often in the heat of battle, so healing spells have a use.

Another thing to note is that healing potions, even CSW ones, have a use. Everyone should have some ability to heal their own wounds, and not everyone can use a wand. When your party is separated, or your healer is down, you need something to keep everyone alive and kicking, and potions fit the bill, they can even be used by a non-healer on an unconscious cleric. CSW potions have a use in that they are virtually guaranteed to get an unconscious party member above 0 hp and fighting fit where as a CLW or CMW are not. Also, not everyone can use their belt slot for a healing item, it's hard to say, trade in a STR bonus for limited use healing item.

As far as clerics, and druids, I think you underestimate them. While it is possible to run a party without them, that doesn't mean it's a good idea. Yo-u can run a party with 4 samurai too, that doesn't mean you should. From a pure healing standpoint, you can't match a cleric or druid in effectiveness, items can be a decent subsitute, but even as cash efficient as wands of CLW and Lesser Vigor are, you are still paying money for each spell you use, in addition to the fact that both of those spells are horrible at in battle healing. Only clerics and druids (and other primary divine casters e.g. the favored soul) get enough powerful healing fast enough to keep a party alive through tough battles without having to drain their bank account to do so. At high levels you lose hp in 50-100+ increments, and healing 200 hp a pop with a single heal spell is something very useful indeed. Aside from that, clerics and druids, like mentioned above, add a lot to a party beyond simple healing, from proactive protection measures to status healing to combat ability.

[Mattarias, King.]

*applause!!*

Aw, man, this was the best D&D read I've seen in a while. Probably helped by the fact by our cleric never shows up to games.. ^^;

But still! Is this in Regdar's Repository? I vote that it should be.

[Viscount Einstrauss]

When you start getting into bigger fights against creatures with lots of HP, sometimes an extra attack just isn't as useful as guaranteeing that the party will survive the enemy's next strike. I agree that clerics/druids shouldn't play heal-bot, having lots of different healing options is a good idea, and that under normal circumstances it's better to down an enemy faster then heal everyone the moment they get slapped, but the healer role is still a necessity when HP starts going down fast. Plus, clerics/druids can bring back the dead at 500 gp a pop. That's a good enough reason to always have one right there.

[OneWinged4ngel]

This guide has some useful stuff, but it doesn't mention several key pieces of information, and can be fairly misleading.

The first and foremost thing any party healing needs to know is that it is far better to prevent damage from happening then to heal it once it happens. Healing is inherently reactive (barring to a small extent to vigor spells, but those are not very efficient in battle), and to keep your party alive you need to be proactive. At level 1, cure light wounds heals 5.5 hp on average, but a casting of shield of faith, protection from alignment, or cause fear can prevent several attacks from hitting your party, preventing far more damage then cure light wounds heals. Anything that makes your party get hurt less, or defeats enemies faster making it so the battle is shorter reduces the need for healing.

Thats not to say healing is worthless, people do take damage, and that damage needs to go away, often in the heat of battle, so healing spells have a use.

Completely agree with this part, except that you totally shouldn't be casting Shield of Faith (You want to cast Cause Fear, Command, or Blade of Blood. Possibly Protection from Alignment, if you expect to be fighting certain enemies). This was actually what I was trying to get across. Prevention > Healing, when possible. Of course, healing in battle should ONLY be done if you can heal enough to save your ally.

Another thing to note is that healing potions, even CSW ones, have a use. Everyone should have some ability to heal their own wounds, and not everyone can use a wand.

Use a Belt of Healing. Not a CSW potion. Everyone can use it. Heals as much as a CSW potion (or more!). Costs the same as a CSW potion. Lasts forever. No attunement time.

When your party is separated, or your healer is down, you need something to keep everyone alive and kicking, and potions fit the bill, they can even be used by a non-healer on an unconscious cleric.

Healing belts do this *better*, being less action-intensive. No draw action. No full-round to trickle it down the throat. Just a standard touch.

CSW potions have a use in that they are virtually guaranteed to get an unconscious party member above 0 hp and fighting fit where as a CLW or CMW are not. Also, not everyone can use their belt slot for a healing item, it's hard to say, trade in a STR bonus for limited use healing item.

The thing is, in a lot of cases, if you put an ally back on their feet you can actually get them killed if you're not careful. One hit *will* kill them if they're at low hp, and they'll be prone and vulnerable. Also, besides low levels, the the 10hp "dying" area doesn't actually come up that often. You get disabled, killed by a save or die, or blasted by something that deals a more damage than your current hp+10 far more often. Anyways, if an ally just stayed down (not being a threat) and you moved to protect him and neutralize the threat, you'd actually probably have a better chance of saving him in many cases.

As far as clerics, and druids, I think you underestimate them. While it is possible to run a party without them, that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

I never said it wasn't a good idea, and I *DEFINITELY* do not underestimate clerics and druids! They're the most powerful classes in the game! That said, that doesn't mean you HAVE to use them. I've seen people get shoehorned into playing them, and that's just wrong. THAT is what I'm saying no to. I'm not saying that it's a bad idea to have a cleric (indeed, it's a very good party member)

Yo-u can run a party with 4 samurai too, that doesn't mean you should. From a pure healing standpoint, you can't match a cleric or druid in effectiveness, items can be a decent subsitute, but even as cash efficient as wands of CLW and Lesser Vigor are, you are still paying money for each spell you use, in addition to the fact that both of those spells are horrible at in battle healing. Only clerics and druids (and other primary divine casters e.g. the favored soul) get enough powerful healing fast enough to keep a party alive through tough battles without having to drain their bank account to do so. At high levels you lose hp in 50-100+ increments, and healing 200 hp a pop with a single heal spell is something very useful indeed. Aside from that, clerics and druids, like mentioned above, add a lot to a party beyond simple healing, from proactive protection measures to status healing to combat ability.

Though... when you DO have a cleric, he's generally going to be better off NOT being a heal-bot. You want to have Close Wounds, Heal, Delay Death, and Revivify, sure, but you generally don't want Cure X Wounds in most cases, because it tends to make for a suboptimal action choice. In fact, my clerics rarely even make use of the ability to spontaneously cast cures (after all, you can't spontaneously cast Heal, which is one of the few curative spells you actually care about using in battle).

To define what I mean by an optimal action choice... I mean "leading to overcoming encounters with the lowest amount of risk to the party members, the greatest chance of success, and the least amount of resources expended."

When you start getting into bigger fights against creatures with lots of HP, sometimes an extra attack just isn't as useful as guaranteeing that the party will survive the enemy's next strike.

If a curative spell will ensure an ally's survival and save their life while an attack may not take the enemy down, go for it. That is an optimal case for using a curative spell. No one is saying that you shouldn't. However, lots of other things can protect the party as well, and curative spells aren't actually an order of magnitude better than all those other options to the point that you need to force someone to play a heal-bot.

Actually, the reason I originally wrote up this quick little guide was because some less experienced players of mine were *trying* to heal in fights with CXW spells, doing a terribly ineffective job of it, and getting CRUSHED (as in, almost TPKs) by encounters (even though I was kinda going easy, as it was the first coupla sessions), and burning through resources at an alarming rate. By contrast, I've seen groups take on much greater challenges with pretty much no healing (except, of course, out of combat), last all day, and generally never see anyone die.

[Viscount Einstrauss]

I think we're at mostly the same opinion, then. Clerics/druids are very good classes and their presence is a great boon to a team (to the point that I'll even play it if no one else will), but their best stuff isn't actually vanilla healing and that's only going to come into play in certain fights. They have all kinds of awesome buffs and abilities that can turn the tide of battle much better and more often if they aren't stuck healing the fighter every time he gets whacked.

[OneWinged4ngel]

Let me give an example of a character that is well protected in combat. One example might be my Level 5 Psion from a current game... he has 16 dex, a +1 darkleaf breastplate of nimbleness (courtesy of the party's artificer, I could afford this even with the normal starting wealth for level 5), and the powers Mental Barrier, Force Screen, Skate, Entangling Ectoplasm, Energy Stun, and Precognition.

We use the psicrystal and the other members of the party, as well as his Seer powers (like Clairvoyant Sense) to scout ahead when possible.

His base AC is 19. As an immediate action he can put up Mental Barrier for 23 AC. He can also cast Force Screen and Skate if he has a round or two buff (which he often gets, thanks to Clairvoyant sense and scouts), raising his movement speed and putting his AC up at 27 if he spends 1 PP, or 28 if he spends 5 (and, of course, most of this AC even applies against touch attacks). In addition, he'll use Entangling Ectoplasm to slow an enemy to half speed, lower their AC and saves, give them a -2 to all attacks, and a -4 to ranged attacks. Basically, enemies will not be able to reach him, so they're going to have to hit an AC of 31-32 to hit him with ranged (at level 5) or about 25 Touch. Additionally, he blast small areas with Energy Stun, damaging enemies and forcing them to make a fairly robust save or be stunned. If he knows a big, scary encounter is coming, he might even use a power stone of shared Vigor / Share Pain with his psicrystal to effectively double his hp for a while.

Both Entangling Ectoplasm and Energy stun help to prevent his allies from being hit, while making it easier for his allies to dish out the heavy damage and bring down the enemy. My character's role is mostly to support allies outside of battle, debuff and harass enemies during battle, and not die (All characters should fill this last role!)

I can also get Displacement as a swift action or Greater Healing Armor courtesy of the party's Artificer (displacement probably being better since, if I'm hit by anything threatening, I'll probably kinda just die...). Or take advantage of the cover provided by the party's warforged fighter. The party's paladin can heal me, but if I ended up getting hit I'd probably be dead so it hardly matters. Further, he would have to stop tanking and run over me to do that healing. And it wouldn't be very much healing. What would actually be a better support from the paladin would be if he could block enemies from getting to me, or cast Shield Other on me, taking half of the damage I do, and thus stop that telling blow from the manticore from making my character dead in one volley of spikes. Of course, he can't actually cast that until level 8 unless he's using a wand or scroll, but a *CLERIC* could.

In particular, a cleric could help be stay alive with Close Wounds / Shield Other stopping me from dying more than he could with a cure X wounds spell.

Anyways, point is, this guy is going to be tough to kill, and if he relied on cures for his survival (with his measley hp...) then he'd probably be a good deal easier to kill.

I think we're at mostly the same opinion, then. Clerics/druids are very good classes and their presence is a great boon to a team (to the point that I'll even play it if no one else will), but their best stuff isn't actually vanilla healing and that's only going to come into play in certain fights. They have all kinds of awesome buffs and abilities that can turn the tide of battle much better and more often if they aren't stuck healing the fighter every time he gets whacked.

Absolutely true. A cleric has tons of options that will save allies, and many of them are better than Cure X Wounds. In fact, I've had a good deal of my clerics hardly ever take advantage of that spontaneous casting ability. It's rather disappointing, actually, since you can't spontaneously cast the actually GOOD healing spells, like Heal.

Examples range from Shield Other to a cleric tanking (and thus, if he leaves his tanking post to go use a touch spell, then he risks AoOs and letting that enemy run amok uncontrolled) to a cleric actually just going and destroying the threat outright.

Of course, this is not to say that there aren't very, very effective healing builds that make people really really hard to kill, and that those things aren't good. It's just to say that you don't need to beat up some poor shmo to play some role he doesn't want to.

[John Campbell]

Something I noticed a while back, but have yet to exploit (haven't decided whether it's worth taking Craft Wand for)...

The eternal wand, from the MIC, is about the same price as a regular wand, give or take a bit depending on the level, can hold any single arcane spell of up to 3rd level, and can be used twice a day, eternally, by anyone who can cast arcane spells, regardless of whether or not the spell appears on their spell list.

Bards are arcane casters, and all the cures up to cure serious wounds are 3rd level or lower on the Bard spell list. Give a crafting wizard a little bardic assistance, and suddenly all of your arcane casters are healers too. Only twice a day, unless you get multiple wands, but, unlike normal wands, they last forever.

[TheOOB]

Something I noticed a while back, but have yet to exploit (haven't decided whether it's worth taking Craft Wand for)...

The eternal wand, from the MIC, is about the same price as a regular wand, give or take a bit depending on the level, can hold any single arcane spell of up to 3rd level, and can be used twice a day, eternally, by anyone who can cast arcane spells, regardless of whether or not the spell appears on their spell list.

Bards are arcane casters, and all the cures up to cure serious wounds are 3rd level or lower on the Bard spell list. Give a crafting wizard a little bardic assistance, and suddenly all of your arcane casters are healers too. Only twice a day, unless you get multiple wands, but, unlike normal wands, they last forever.

By the time you can afford an eternal wand it's not all that amazing to only get three CLWs a day. Even at low levels a CLW will only heal about one attacks worth of damage, and a low roll makes it near worthless (1 out of 8 uses it will only heal 2 hp, lame). The reason a normal CLW wand is near mandatory is so that a)you always have the ability to stabilize a dieing party member, and b) you can burn through charges to heal people back up between encounters, even if it is a little expensive.

[namo]

he has [...] a +1 darkwood breastplate of nimbleness

A darkwood armor ?! That's a funny houserule.

The eternal wand, from the MIC, is about the same price as a regular wand, give or take a bit depending on the level, can hold any single arcane spell of up to 3rd level, and can be used twice a day, eternally, by anyone who can cast arcane spells, regardless of whether or not the spell appears on their spell list.

I remember making the same remark over on the wizards boards. It won't get people to full health, but if somehow the cleric became unconscious, it's the wizard that patches him up for a change.

[Leon]

I agree that clerics/druids shouldn't play heal-bot

Unless they choose to

A darkwood armor ?! That's a funny houserule.

Quite, unless he means Darkleaf (from ECS - Similar to the tenents of Darkwood but not the same)

Use a Belt of Healing. Not a CSW potion. Everyone can use it. Heals as much as a CSW potion (or more!). Costs the same as a CSW potion. Lasts forever. No attunement time. Healing belts do this *better*, being less action-intensive. No draw action. No full-round to trickle it down the throat. Just a standard touch.

Still as pointed out - Needs a Belt Slot, if your wearing another blet slot item your still going to take the time to exchange belts.

Also, besides low levels, the the 10hp "dying" area doesn't actually come up that often. You get disabled, killed by a save or die, or blasted by something that deals a more damage than your current hp+10 far more often.

Dunno about you but for the campagin im in atm the -1 to -10 zone happens quite often (normally for my druid...)

optimal

Horrid Word



Last Campagin that i played with the current DM, when i joined (about lvl 12) they had a Druid, she got board however and remade a Diplomatic Fighter/Rogue. we also had a paladin/holyliberator/cleric - he mostly healed himself with his limited cure's

Party healing was by Pots and Scroll with a Limited Wish for backups when we needed something big. we survived without any dedicated healer or without "Horrid Word" in any regard and no the DM didnt go easy on us since we lacked healing

the only PC death while we played was the wizard and no amount of healing or preventive actions were going to save him (tho his contingant teleports save everyone else)

[OneWinged4ngel]

A darkwood armor ?! That's a funny houserule.

That's actually a typo. It's Darkleaf armor, and it's no houserule. It's from the ECS. Fixed.

[Roderick_BR]

Ah, I saw it once there. Very interesting.
Also another example of how some 3.x stuff is unbalanced. Just pick a bunch of healing itens, and you can let the cleric play the fighter's role.

[Tor the Fallen]

Wands are pretty useful for healing stuff up after battle, but in battle, sometimes you find yourself at 15/150 HP after a lucky critical. Druid and Cleric are busy doing their not healing you thing, and you're a touch away from death. Having opted out for the +6 belt of strength rather than a belt of healing, what do you do? A single hit will put you dead.

Well, you back out, chug a couple CSW potions, and, if the fight's still happening, get back in.

There are just times when the healers are all tied up and can't patch the party's grievous wounds. That's why everyone should have a several thousand gold in a couple of healing items they can use in an emergency. This is especially important when your wizard's currently in the belly of an invisible dragon, or the cleric just fell down and can't get up (because he's dead).

[OneWinged4ngel]

Wands are pretty useful for healing stuff up after battle, but in battle, sometimes you find yourself at 15/150 HP after a lucky critical. Druid and Cleric are busy doing their not healing you thing, and you're a touch away from death. Having opted out for the +6 belt of strength rather than a belt of healing, what do you do? A single hit will put you dead.

Well, you back out, chug a couple CSW potions, and, if the fight's still happening, get back in.

There are just times when the healers are all tied up and can't patch the party's grievous wounds. That's why everyone should have a several thousand gold in a couple of healing items they can use in an emergency. This is especially important when your wizard's currently in the belly of an invisible dragon, or the cleric just fell down and can't get up (because he's dead).

Unless you have HEAL or something similar that will fully restore you, you may be better off doing something other than healing when you've got that 15/150hp after one hit, because even if you do get healed then you'll just get knocked down to nothin' again. But yes, having a source of emergency healing is a good thing, and again no one is saying that in certain cases you shouldn't use it. See, the thing is, while you can name a few cases you can die without powerful enough healing, odds are you can name just as many for lacking other party capabilities, and people drop those roles all the time too. All I'm saying is that people shouldn't trip over losing a Cleric or Druid as much as some do.

Likewise, if you have 150hp, a belt of healing is not going to be very useful in a fight. If you use a CSW potion when you have 15/150 hp, you're going to go up to 32 hp or so, and then the enemy is going to KILL YOU DEAD with his 100 damage full attack or whatever while you wasted your action and 750gp, and you're not contributing to the fight in any way during that time. You'd probably get more of a chance of survival if you took a potion of Displacement or invisibility or something that makes you hard to hit period, or use an escape item. Or trying to disable or finish off the enemy when your turn comes around. Or using a Bloodstone weapon or something to heal *while dishin' it out.* And no, the fight isn't still going to be raging once you took a few rounds to potion up, because D&D combats just simply don't usually last that long if either side has a clue what they're doing. Lastly, realize that you can have a Belt of Healing that gives +6 strength due to the "adding common effects" rules in the Magic Item Compendium.

Step by step...

Wands are pretty useful for healing stuff up after battle, but in battle, sometimes you find yourself at 15/150 HP after a lucky critical. Druid and Cleric are busy doing their not healing you thing, and you're a touch away from death. Having opted out for the +6 belt of strength rather than a belt of healing, what do you do?

You can get a +6 strength added onto your belt of healing. A more realistic case in an MiC-allowed would be that you got, say, a Belt of Battle instead. (Not that I'd actually allow a Belt of Battle, since that's just a giant barrel of cheese)

A single hit will put you dead.

A single hit will put you dead even after you used your Cure Serious Wounds potion, though, since it only puts you up into about the thirties. So you haven't accomplished anything except wasting your action that could have saved you.

Well, you back out, chug a couple CSW potions, and, if the fight's still happening, get back in.

The fight won't still be happening. You will have been taken out of the fight as surely as if you had died if you're taking 2-3 rounds to chug potions (and, of course, 3 CSW potions won't even put you back up to a respectable hp total in this example). IF you survive the attempt to go back and chug CSW potions, which you likely won't because 25-40/150 hp is dangerously low as surely as 15/150.

There are just times when the healers are all tied up and can't patch the party's grievous wounds.

True, which is why you shouldn't be overly reliant on it.

That's why everyone should have a several thousand gold in a couple of healing items they can use in an emergency.

Any suggestions for what to use? A scroll of Heal is good, but a potion that heals 1/6th of your hp (what you suggested) isn't, and only serves to keep you as vulnerable as you were before you healed (or perhaps even moreso, since you could open yourself up to AoOs and the like, and need to have a free hand), and takes you out of the fight.

This is especially important when your wizard's currently in the belly of an invisible dragon, or the cleric just fell down and can't get up (because he's dead).

Carry scrolls of Revivify or Revenance (or, core only, Raise Dead). Rogue can use it reliably at the same level a cleric can. There, he's up! In the case of Raise Dead, you can and should totally wait until after the fight to do it.

[Skjaldbakka]

Generally speaking, everyone in a party should have a potion of healing, the biggest one they can afford. You shouldn't rely on potions for healing, but you should still have them. Of course, odds are you aren't buying these potions, but looting them. There really is no reason to sell a potion of healing, so you should just split the ones you find amongst the party.

[OneWinged4ngel]

Generally speaking, everyone in a party should have a potion of healing, the biggest one they can afford. You shouldn't rely on potions for healing, but you should still have them. Of course, odds are you aren't buying these potions, but looting them. There really is no reason to sell a potion of healing, so you should just split the ones you find amongst the party.

If you have UMD, scrolls are generally better. Except at low level, you should only be failing those on 1s.

Potions are alright (as long as you're not dumping cash on them), but they generally don't heal enough when you get them to be useful in combat. And of course, a Belt of Healing does the same as a CSW potion, except better in every way (except that it takes up a slot). If you can, get an alternative, because *most* things are more cost-effective than potions.

[Fax Celestis]

If you have UMD, scrolls are generally better. Except at low level, you should only be failing those on 1s.

Potions are alright (as long as you're not dumping cash on them), but they generally don't heal enough when you get them to be useful in combat. And of course, a Belt of Healing does the same as a CSW potion, except better in every way (except that it takes up a slot). If you can, get an alternative, because *most* things are more cost-effective than potions.

True, but if you're finding a potion, you're not paying for it. Further, in a pinch, one can make the difference. 99% of the time, though, if you need it that badly, you're boned anyway.

[OneWinged4ngel]

True, but if you're finding a potion, you're not paying for it. Further, in a pinch, one can make the difference. 99% of the time, though, if you need it that badly, you're boned anyway.

If you sell two, you get a Belt of Healing. Or more than one belt of healing, if you're an Artificer or something.

Even if they're loot, they can still net you OTHER items.

[Fax Celestis]

Yes, but a Belt of Healing precludes the use of a Belt of Giant Strength, a Monk's Belt, or similar.

[OneWinged4ngel]

Yes, but a Belt of Healing precludes the use of a Belt of Giant Strength.

If you would read what I wrote, I already specifically addressed this. Twice. So... I don't want to go in circles. In any case, at the point that having 4d8 burst healing is particularly useful, you don't have the resources for either of those belts. Additionally, with the rules in MiC (the source of the Healing Belt) you can stack on the effects of a Belt of Giant Strength to any of a few slots at no additional cost to the normal belt of giant strength. It basically doesn't require a slot saved for it any more, and that's a positive thing because having people always get the same items is boring as it gets. So no, it doesn't preclude you from getting a belt of giant strength's +6 bonus.

[Fax Celestis]

If you would read what I wrote, I already specifically addressed this. Twice. So... I don't want to go in circles. In any case, at the point that having 4d8 burst healing is useful, you don't have the resources for either of those belts. Additionally, with the rules in MiC (the source of the Healing Belt) you can stack on the effects of a Belt of Giant Strength to any of a few slots at no additional cost to the normal belt of giant strength. It basically doesn't require a slot saved for it any more, and that's a positive thing because having people always get the same items is boring as it gets. So no, it doesn't preclude you from getting a belt of giant strength in any form.

Yeah, I suppose. Still, I'm not much one for totally cutting potions out of the picture. Healing potions, sure, but others? I'll keep my potions of Animalistic Power and Girallon's Blessing, thanks.

[knightsaline]

Ever heard of a cantrip called cure minor wounds? it only heals 1 point of damage. most clerics don't use it, but it has 2 advantages. 1st: it automatically stabilized dying characters. most people seem to think that you have to heal them back up to 0 or above HP. that can place them in danger if they are weak. most monsters will not keep beating down on a seemingly dead body, yet will target the weakest target. so instead of wasting an action to bring someone back into the fight, you could be making an action that could save your parties arse. when the threat is gone, then you commence with the healing. the 2nd advantage is that you are not wasting a high level spell to stabilize someone. Clerics can convert any of their spells (except domain spells) into cure spells. I load my clerics 0 level slots with light spells. not all of them will be used, so at the start of the day, I actually know what spell to convert into a cure minor wounds.

now to work out how to bind a cure spell into a amulet of flurries, so the monk can heal someone by punching them.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Yeah, I suppose. Still, I'm not much one for totally cutting potions out of the picture. Healing potions, sure, but others? I'll keep my potions of Animalistic Power and Girallon's Blessing, thanks.

Right. Which one of those is a healing spell?

[OneWinged4ngel]

Right. Which one of those is a healing spell?

Good to know someone pays attention ;)

Yeah, I suppose. Still, I'm not much one for totally cutting potions out of the picture. Healing potions, sure, but others? I'll keep my potions of Animalistic Power and Girallon's Blessing, thanks.

Potions of buffs are sweet. I CERTAINLY never said that they weren't, because that would make me crazy. Potions of healing spells, though... not so much.

Ever heard of a cantrip called cure minor wounds? it only heals 1 point of damage. most clerics don't use it, but it has 2 advantages. 1st: it automatically stabilized dying characters.

Except that you have to weigh this against great choices like Guidance (a nice pre-emptive buff at low levels) and Detect Magic. And, the fact that Blessed Bandages, usable by anyone, are only 10gp.

[skywalker]

Hmmm. My group tried 3 of the free Wizards modules on their site. After the 1st 2 ended in a TPK and the survivors cutting and running, we decided you DO need a cleric. Mainly for healing outside of combat. Between encounters. Because yes, you can have a wand, yes, you can have a belt of healing, but that wand won't help you when the rogue hasn't maxed his use magic device. That belt won't help you if you need that slot for something else (keep in mind, since STR boosts are in belt form, an *optimal* fighter certainly won't be wearing a belt of healing.) My vote is, let the cleric heal, if your cleric likes to fight(like a lot of them I know) buy them a wand of cure mod(like a lot of them I know). It doubles as a deathstick for undead, too. 2d8+CL per round on a touch? I'll go for that.

Summary: I like your writing style, if you're using the same name as from the WotC boards, I love your re-balanced paladin, and you say some really good things here, but the cleric is still the #1 option for healing, and without one, you're fine, yes, but you could be doing a hell of a lot better.)

[knightsaline]

With the belts thing, you could wear 2 belts and only have one "active" at a time. problem is that its unrealistic to wear 2 belts and it requires DM OKing in order to do that.

The Cure Minor wounds thing has an advantage, as clerics can convert (almost) any of their spells into cures. My Cleric is actually a Cleric/Sorc multi, so any detecting of magic will be done by the pure Wizard. The belt thing could prove to be a problem with me because I'm going for a monks belt. The DM knows about my CMiWing strategy and approves. Also, what do I do if the book that most of your solutions is not allowed due to the DM/Majority of group not having the book? (I play by forum). I joined the group because they needed a healbot. I provided them with a healbot. I am happy to play a healbot. I chose my domains with that in mind (Sun and Healing, CG cleric of Pelor, not going for RSoP or RCoP). In the group, they know next to nothing about D&D (the person who got me in is used to 2nd ed). One of them thought that all the healing could be done by a level 7 ranger until I pointed out that a rangers spell slots are rarer than a clerics. the ranger idea has been dropped and been replaced by a rogue. the party consisted of (at the time of my joining);
1 samurai (some people do not have objections to CWar samurai)
1 Wu Jen
1 ranger, TWF style (dropped after the group realized that they needed a trapmonkey)
1 Wizard
1 Cleric/Sorc (me)
The group thought that the DM would throw a purple worm at a group of 5 level 7 PCs until I pointed out that it would result in a TPK, even with me going into full healing mode.

[OneWinged4ngel]

With the belts thing, you could wear 2 belts and only have one "active" at a time. problem is that its unrealistic to wear 2 belts and it requires DM OKing in order to do that.

Unrealistic, huh? Few seem to question outfits like, say, the iconic Sorceror Hennet's. Even if it's unrealistic.

Still, I see little need to actually wear more than one. 4d8 burst healing is only good at low levels (where you don't really need the belt slot open anyways) and later it becomes an efficiency healing tool.

[OneWinged4ngel]

Hmmm. My group tried 3 of the free Wizards modules on their site. After the 1st 2 ended in a TPK and the survivors cutting and running, we decided you DO need a cleric.

Actually, there are probably tons of ways you could have improved your tactics without a cleric. I've never had any problem conquering modules, and indeed, I tend to find them fairly easy...

but that wand won't help you when the rogue hasn't maxed his use magic device.

*Then there's something wrong with your Rogue.* All rogues should maximize UMD. There is pretty much no reason not to.

That belt won't help you if you need that slot for something else (keep in mind, since STR boosts are in belt form, an *optimal* fighter certainly won't be wearing a belt of healing.)

Actually, unless that "something else" has an attunement time, you can totally just switch them out. Additionally, I am THOROUGHLY annoyed that I have had to address this THREE times already, even though it's covered in the guide: Belts of Healing don't prevent you from taking extra strength boosts, because of the new rules in MiC. Doesn't anyone in this forum read a post before responding?!

My vote is, let the cleric heal, if your cleric likes to fight(like a lot of them I know) buy them a wand of cure mod(like a lot of them I know).

Why would you buy a wand of cure mod for OUT of combat healing? A Cure Light will heal you up almost as fast, and cost a lot less. A Lesser Vigor wand will take a bit longer, but it'll be even more efficient.

It doubles as a deathstick for undead, too. 2d8+CL per round on a touch? I'll go for that.

That's pitiful damage, to be completely honest, especially against undead from a Cleric. And especially for that utterly exorbitant price. I can safely say that you're making a poor financial decision.

Summary: I like your writing style, if you're using the same name as from the WotC boards, I love your re-balanced paladin, and you say some really good things here, but the cleric is still the #1 option for healing, and without one, you're fine, yes, but you could be doing a hell of a lot better.)

Actually, an Artificer can generally outheal the Cleric pretty handily at low-mid levels, particularly with Greater Healing Armor enhancement at level 3 giving 6d8+30 without consuming actions at the small cost of 50gp. He can also outfit the party with 30d8 healing per day out of combat healing for a mere 1400gp or so. He can also put out very cheap Lesser Vigor scrolls.

Also note that a Cleric typically is going to pay 25gp (or 12.5 gp and 1 xp if he took scribe scroll, which he probably should) for 11 hp healing out of combat healing at low levels, since you actually totally need to fill your few slots with things like Command, Cause Fear, Inhibit, Blade of Blood, Close Wounds, Shield Other, Hold Person, and the like to make sure the party can survive the rigors of low level mortality. As such, the Artificer isn't actually spending much more money to accomplish his 6d8+30 healing (which is *far* more effective in combat than the cleric's healing at low levels, and is divvied up into two handy sets of 3d8+15, which will totally full heal people as soon as they get knocked out or use a swift action).

The group thought that the DM would throw a purple worm at a group of 5 level 7 PCs until I pointed out that it would result in a TPK, even with me going into full healing mode.

Note that this is an issue of the party not being very effective. A good party of 5 level 7s could probably beat up a purple worm without too much trouble. They're stupid, for one (ray of stupidity vs touch AC 4, anyone?) and they have a horrific will save of +4. Basically, if your party knew what they were doing, it would be pretty unlikely to be a TPK, because they'd actually take out the worm after a round of carnage (which should be offset by protective abilities you have active that, you know, AREN'T cure X wounds).

But yes, FULL HEALING MODE will *not* save you from a challenging encounter in its own right unless you've got a build that's very, very effective at it to the point that enemies won't be able to . What would actually save those level 7 PCs is the offensive power to shut down that worm quickly so it can't kill people with its power attacking, improved grappling, poisoning, cleaving, awesome-blow-ing attacks.

One of them thought that all the healing could be done by a level 7 ranger until I pointed out that a rangers spell slots are rarer than a clerics.

See, I would say "Yeah, so what? I'm a Ranger, and I can be the party's healer, and you'll be FINE, because I totally don't even need to use my spell slots to be the party healer. I can also be the party's healer as a Rogue, since we're level 7 and I can easily have great UMD." And it'd totally work. I've done it. It works *fine.* You just don't heal during combat. Heck, Tempest Stormwind's example on the other thread of the party's main healer for his games was a Swordsage/Shadow Sun Ninja (if I recall correctly). I've done all my healing for a party with a paladin, who just carried around a wand of Cure Light Wounds (this was before I made the Rebalanced Paladin, which actually has some handy in-combat healing options. And before the Guardian Spirit showed up in the Dungeonscape book.) No one died as a result, despite stiff challenges.

Even a cleric is going to be doing a bunch of his out of combat healing via wands or scrolls (at least, until he's got a good supply of spare spell slots to burn), and hey, a Rogue can use that wand just as well as the Cleric can, barring that 5% chance of failure before he gets Skill Mastery or something of that sort.

Psions, Warlocks, Rogues, Psychic Warriors, Wilders, Artificers, Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Rangers and Bards can all do a good enough job of healing to carry a party of 4. Heck, that's not even mentioning all the classes, or any PrCs...

As far as healing in combat goes, it's just one of *many* forms of damage mitigation. And no, it's not far and away the best.

if you're using the same name as from the WotC boards, I love your re-balanced paladin, and you say some really good things here

Yes, I'm OneWinged4ngel from the WotC boards. I'm trying out a few different boards, since I didn't much like the idea of them stealing people's material and having a hidden "agreement" that gives them your intellectual property.

[Jannex]

*Then there's something wrong with your Rogue.* All rogues should maximize UMD. There is pretty much no reason not to.

There are plenty of reasons not to, foremost among them being that sometimes even 8+Int/level isn't enough skill points. The Rogue skill list is both long and varied, and you don't always have enough points to cover all the skills you really want, let alone the ones that are just "useful," even if they're not in-character. This is especially true at low levels, since the DCs are high enough that you're not going to be successful the vast majority of the time. Those points are just rotting away in a skill you really can't use yet, when they could have been put in a skill that might have saved your butt in a different situation.