Cure Light Wounds: Nearly Useless?

[Ahwe Yahzhe]

I'm looking at Cure Light Wounds as a 2nd-Level Utility for Clerics:

An Encounter Power, minor action to expend a healing surge to heal surge + Charisma bonus. Range 10.

Compare that to the class feature, Healing Word, useable twice per encounter: minor action to expend a healing surge +1d6. Range 5.

Given that the average Charisma bonus for a Cleric using this is +2 (maybe +3), and you're going to average 3 or 4 points on d6, how is this anything but an "extra" Healing Word per encounter (of which the Cleric already has two)? Aside from the better range, this is actually weaker than the class feature. Am I missing something here?

-Ahwe

 

[Kordeth]

You've missed a key point. Cure Light Wounds allows the target to regain hp as though it had spent a healing surge. That is, it doesn't use up one of the target's surges. It's one of the best healing-based powers in the Heroic tier.

 

[Thanee]

It's not even Encounter, but Daily.

However, it does *not* expend a Healing Surge, which is the big difference... it heals you "as if you had spent a Healing Surge".

No Healing Surge needed for that.

That's also why it has to be Daily, because otherwise you would have unlimited out-of-combat healing.


The higher level ones (i.e. Cure Serious) are better, though.

Bye
Thanee

 

[DreamChaser]

Look again. CLW does not require the target to spend a healing surge. They simply regain hit points as though they had plus Wis mod (Healer's lore).

DC

 

[DreamChaser]

Wow...that's never happened to me before...1 of three simultaneous...

 

[DLichen]

Since it actually is a melee touch daily, I'm wondering if you're just reading something else completely.

AKA Bastion of Health - Cleric Utility 6, which actually does what you noted.

To which my response is - having more healing never hurts

 

[Zurai]

Since it actually is a melee touch daily, I'm wondering if you're just reading something else completely.

Yep. He's quoting the text for Bastion of Health. The advantage of that one is that it's fairly long range for a low-level healing power, and it's an encounter power.

The advantage of Cure Light Wounds is that it doesn't expend a healing surge.

 

[Thanee]

Since it actually is a melee touch daily, I'm wondering if you're just reading something else completely.

Ah, that makes some sense.

And yeah, it's mostly a third "Healing Word", when you already have expended your other two.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Saeviomagy]

Even the power as described by the OP would be good. It's like having a free healing potion every day.

4e combats are lost because you don't have enough healing in a single combat, not because you can't heal fast enough.

Anything which allows you to heal, even if it costs you a surge, is a very good thing to have.

 

[Byronic]

delete please (this post, not the thread)