Character concept help: DS defiling healer

[elephantgrey]

Im playing in a level 11 dark sun one off next week and need help materializing my character from concept. I want to play an arcane healer who defiles, taking the life-force from those around him to channel that into whoever hes helping at the time. This is an idea ive had since i first read the 4e DSCS, but have never been able to actualy create a character that felt like it fit the description i had in my head.

I have been thinking a level 11 human templar, probably from draj. i imagine him having a familiar, but im not sure of what (tiny gelatinous cubes are my usual default for familiar choice, but im not sure it fits the bill here).
As for class, i am unsure between artificer, bard, and a bard|ardent with psionic defiler feat (not really pure ardent, i want to be at least hybrid arcane, even with psionic defiler).


Any advice/comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance,
elephantgrey

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I believe Arcane Defiling only works on daily attack powers, so it's not really possible to do life-draining like that. As a bard, you could simulate it by making an attack, bolster it with Arcane Defiling (which injures your friends), and then use Majestic Word to heal an ally. That's not efficient for obvious reasons though.

A warlock who takes a few infernal powers can come close though. There's at least two powers that drain life, but they always give the extra temporary hit points to the warlock, not to an ally.

There's a few templar warlock healing powers. Most are utility, but there's Glare of Oppression (this only gives regeneration 3) for templars, and for sorcerer-king pact warlocks there's Sinister Extraction (a few temp hp only).

 

[Blue]

The default Arcane Defiling power hurts all allies and is somewhat self defeating in your role. Plus it would only really come in once per encounter when using a daily attack power that also heals, to allow you to reroll a miss.

And amusingly, by RAW it only hurts allies.

I'd suggest working with your DM to find a happy compromise. Maybe a feat that drains Int (or whatever) HPs from all other allies in 5 sq when you use your class healing feature, giving half of the total as a temp HP boost to the target of the power. That's off the top of my head, I haven't looked at it from a balance perspective.

 

[the Jester]

I think you may be missing the point of defiling.

It makes your magic more powerful, but at a price to your allies.

It sounds like you're trying to reverse this- make your magic more powerful in order to benefit your allies more- but maybe I am misunderstanding your plan.

 

[elephantgrey]

When i say steal life from those around me, i kinda include them, stealing life from many to heal one. This is a one-shot, so I dont mind hurting teammates really, just aslong as i dont pop like three dailies in the first encounter and TPKing us at the start of the night.
When i say defiling healer, i dont mean that every heal i do has to use the arcane defiling power, just a healer that feels like its leaching health.
I know the concept is counterproductive on the whole, but thats why i am trying to implement it in a one-shot game instead of a campaign. Its an idea i think is cool (fluff wise), and i just would like to give it a try.
I guess what im really asking for here is an arcane healer build that feels like it steals health from enemies, and takes health from one/some allies, to heal another.

 

[keterys]

Hrmm. I think you'd need the DM to let you tinker with something, to be honest. The closest I've seen is actually the feat Ravenous Blessing -
Benefit: Whenever you target an ally with a healing power, you can choose to take necrotic damage equal to 3 + one-half your level. This damage cannot be decreased in any way. If you choose to take necrotic damage, one ally affected by the power regains hit points equal to your level. If you have the Student of the Plague feat, an ally who regains hit points from this feat also gains a +2 power bonus to saving throws until the end of your next turn.