Holy Symbol

[Motorskills]

I'm not quite sure what the deal with Holy Symbols is. In the days of yore, they were required for casting spells and turning undead. In 4e.... I'm unclear.

They seem to be Implements, but it is unclear whether they are required, required to be held, required to be used (as a Standard or Minor action), or what....

 

[Ryujin]

They are not required for casting unless you, as a DM, say that they are.

They occupy a special "Holy Symbol Slot" and need not be presented, in order to be used for a bonus.

 

[blalien]

Certain classes can use holy symbols as implements. You are not required to use a holy symbol to use powers, and the basic holy symbol doesn't do much good. If you have a magic holy symbol with an enhancement bonus, you can add that bonus to attack and damage with any power that has the implement keyword.

 

[DracoSuave]

Something a bit more in depth...

You're not required to have a holy symbol to use powers, but you won't be able to use powers well without an implement.

This won't matter at level 1, but once the magic items start going out, enchanted holy symbols will also be required, much the same way one requires magic wands, magic staffs, or magic orbs.

Another benefit to using any implement is the ability to use expertise feats in order to boost attack bonus, and a secondary nifty added bonus.

In the case of holy symbols, it's immunity to combat advantage you did not force upon yourself.

 

[mneme]

Also, Holy Symbols can either be worn or wielded in a hand.

If you are wearing a Holy Symbol, it takes up your "holy symbol" slot, and you can use it as if you were wielding it. However, if you do so, no holy symbol you wield will function, so you cannot practically change holy symbols during a fight. Characters that use both holy symbols and weapons should generally wear holy symbols.

If you are wielding a holy symbol (in a hand), it takes up that hand and you cannot wear a shield or do anything else with that hand. However, you can relatively easily switch holy symbols by dropping the old one (or stowing it) and drawing a new one, so you can benefit from the versitility of some different holy symbols. Characters that use an implement exclusively may want to consider wielding a holy symbol in a hand rather than wearing it for this reason.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I'd just add that the situation is the same for holy symbols as it is for other implements, and even for weapons. Unless a power specifies some specific requirement you can always use them with or without an implement or weapon. If you use a weapon power without a weapon you'll suffer some fairly substantial reduction in to-hit and damage, even at level 1. OTOH implements aren't quite as critical, but still pretty handy. A PC even at level one could potentially have Holy Symbol Expertise (a +1 to-hit) and if human could even have a Superior Holy Symbol and the corresponding proficiency for yet another bonus, even without needing a magical symbol (though you would need a superior non-magical one in that case).

In any practical sense though magical implements are going to be required by any reasonable character within the first few levels, so it is really more of a corner-case you run into at level 1 than anything else. Given that a holy symbol costs a few gp and doesn't take up any otherwise useful slot I haven't yet run into a level 1 cleric that didn't bother to just pick one up for RP reasons if nothing else. If all else fails you can always enchant it yourself if the DM for some peculiar reason doesn't give you one without a ton of expenditure.