Opinion of Healer Class

[Petey7]

I'm wondering what members on here think of the Healer class from the Miniatures Handbook. I know that the class is limited but I want to put things in context.


A couple friends of mine asked me to join a campaign after there cleric left. I decided to make a Leonal (augmented by the DM to make it basically a human with natural weapons, minus the bonuses for being human), neutral, cleric of Obad-hai, positive energy, and took the spontaneous wounder feat. Basically, a jack of all trades in terms of a cleric. I also built him more towards fighting than healing. I started at level 14 (everyone in the party was between level 13 and 17). Unfortunately, I didn't know that the DM made almost every battle a boss battle. The very first fight I was in we were fighting some high level liches that had absolutely nothing to do with the story line. The next time we played we were supposed to be finding these clerics that each had a piece of the weapon were finding the pieces of. Turns out they were level 23 clerics of Vecna who wanted to kill us just cause. I spent almost the entire time healing people. The only reason we lived was because I and the bard's cohort decided to sacrafice ourselves while the others escaped. I then used Bull's Strength on the cohort (a fighter), but in a couple of turns we were both at negetive health. The DM decided that the clerics decided to leave via the spell Gate instead of kill us (which made no sense in character). Luckily the wizard decided to stay in the tunnel the rest of the group left through (we were underground) to slow the clerics down after we died, and eventually came looking for us (the DM didn't say the clerics left so the wizard kept the same action prepared for 20 or so rounds). We leveled up, but it was still bull****.

The next session the DM had us fight these creatures of chaos (can't remember the actual name of them, but they come in different colors if that helps anyone figure out what I'm talking about), and told us that he used the far more more powerful 4E version converted to work in 3.5. I showed up late, with most of the party with negative levels, ability damage, insane, and bloodied. Again I spent the entire time healing people, we manged to win, and the DM had to resort to a Dues Ex Machina for us to get back to perfect health. The out of game result? Half the party being mad at me for showing up late and "being a crappy healer" in one persons words. A friend and I talked to the DM, who we are both friends with, about the difficulty of the encounters and he said that that was how he liked to run his game and that he refused to change anything. So, I see two options. Quit the campaign since I'm not enjoying it and the DM doesn't want to change things, or find a way to be better at what the party needs me to be and hope that that will make it more fun for me. This made me think of the healer class.

I've read the general complaints about healers. Limited range of spells, one trick pony, limited to light armor, etc. I even read one comment that claimed healing during combat was completely useless. But heres the thing, all of done so far is use nothing but healing spells, and occasionally been screwed up by attacks of opp while trying to do so. I was thinking of doing a gnome healer, with the augment healing feat and a bunch of defensive feats like dodge and mobility. Since I'd be starting it at 15th level I figure I should be able to afford a cloak of charisma +6, and studded leather with fortification. I also think that being able to caste Heal, Mass as an 8th level spell and have Greater Restoration as a supernatural ability would be extremely helpful. Not to mention that I would get more high level spells each day.

Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance for any replies.

 

[Wik]

The healer is what we call a "girlfriend class". It's a class that was designed to be easy to play for a player that wasn't as involved in the game as everyone else. It was there for the girlfriend of one of the players, so that she had something to do.

That being said, it's not a very good class, even for that. It is, in fact, a sub par healing class, and you would be better off playing a cleric that has been optimised for healing.

Might I suggest you look at preventative healing? What I mean is, temporary hit points, damage reduction, and spells to that effect? Buff pre combat, if possible, so you can focus on other things in the actual fight.

 

[Dandu]

What you have heard is correct. Healing in combat is not very useless because you won't heal more damage than your allies take - with the exception of the Heal spell.

Honestly, you'd get more power being a Cleric. You get less high level spells for Mass Heal per day (I think), but since you'll be able to buff your allies, debuff your enemies, and smack people around, fights will end sooner and you won't need so many healing spells.

Also, Dodge and Mobility are some of the weakest feats ever.

 

[Petey7]

Dandu, I was thinking dodge and mobility as a way to (hopefully) not take as much damage, but I agree they definitely aren't the greatest feats. I wouldn't say the worst, assuming we're including supplements in this, but I know what you mean.

Wik, buffing for combat and stuff like that is exactly what I planned to do, but so far, and from what I hear has always been the case, every fight is basically a surprise attack, out of nowhere, with no time to plan ahead, and two rounds into all three fights people wanted me to heal them.

I think if things continue the way they are, I'll probably just quit the campaign like the last cleric did.

Also, thank you both for the advice.

 

[Dandu]

Dandu, I was thinking dodge and mobility as a way to (hopefully) not take as much damage, but I agree they definitely aren't the greatest feats. I wouldn't say the worst, assuming we're including supplements in this, but I know what you mean.

In core alone, the Combat Expertise feat will let you add +5 to AC if you have at least 5 BAB if you're making attack rolls in combat.

If you spend your time healing allies instead of attacking enemies... just make an attack roll with your Cure Light Wounds spell.

Wik, buffing for combat and stuff like that is exactly what I planned to do, but so far, and from what I hear has always been the case, every fight is basically a surprise attack, out of nowhere, with no time to plan ahead, and two rounds into all three fights people wanted me to heal them.

Hm. Dragon Shaman gives you infinite healing (can heal allies up to half their HP total) and the ability to provide bonuses on initiative. Crusader allows you to heal in combat as a side effect of dealing damage to others.

 

[Pergentile]

Quit

Don't want to be too judgmental from the little info given... but I am, so here it is.

Quit.

If you are playing in a group:
1. With Players that are completely dependent on you, and get mad at you when you don't keep them from being worthless (dieing in two rounds).
2. With a DM that makes challenges so hard, that players must play characters they don't want to, just to survive, and do not have fun. (Needing a Healer in the group is fine, but making you play a character that does nothing but?)
3. With ANYONE who makes you feel bad about you/your character.
4. With a DM that doesn't care whether you are having fun or not, and will not consider changing things to make his Players enjoy the game at all.
5. With Players that outright insult you.
6. With a DM that doesn't address Players outright insulting you.

Then I would have to say that you are probably playing with an incompetent DM and a bunch of immature [removed]. Especially the DM... I am very judgmental of DM's who can't manage to keep Players happy while having fun themselves...
Changing your class won't make things fun. Being a perfect healer won't keep your emotional, immature, [removed] teammates any more pleasant to be around. Being amazing at healing will (by the sounds of it), just make your DM make things even harder, making it still seem like you're failing the group.

The first group I played with were a bunch of college-school idiots. I found a group of older players to play with, and first tried DMing with them. I was NEVER upset, I NEVER had a problem, and I ALWAYS had fun. Not because road-bumps didn't arise, but because we were all mature enough to handle them without getting pissy. Trust me when I say that you are not playing D&D how it should be played until you find just the right group of people to play with. Don't be stubborn and stay, just be patient until you find the right group.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

The "Healer" has no spontaneous healing. They memorize spells like anyone else, and then get some limited healing as spell-like abilities; the only advantage they have over a Cleric is the ability to add Charisma to healing spells, which is useless for any healing spell over 1st level. In exchange, you lose almost all of the Cleric's good spells, their armor, and their BAB.

This class is a stinking pile of trap.

Honestly, this sounds like a terrible game. The DM's throwing monsters at you that are way out of your league and for some reason, the other players are blaming you for this. Friends or not, Granny would not appreciate where I'd tell them to shove their game.

Still, if you want to keep trying:

Favored Soul 5/Divine Oracle 10. Every time you gain a new level of spells, you start with 3 known-- the first spells you pick are the cure for that level, the mass cure for that level, and the summon monster for that level. Feats: Dragontouched, Skill Focus (K: religion), Draconic Aura (vigor), Augment Healing, Spell Focus (conjuration), Augment Summoning.

Since you always get to act in the surprise round, use that to throw out a buff, then cast your highest available summon monster on your turn, then play it by ear. Save your healing spells for emergencies and after combat, when the fast healing provided by your aura can do most of the work. The faster the monsters go down, the fewer healing spells you have to cast.

At this point, you are the best possible healer, with the exception of the Radiant Servant of Pelor, and you have more flexibility in responding to the specific needs of the party.

 

[Petey7]

I want to start off by saying, the one that out right insulted me, is a dick in general, and the DM did say something to him about it and said he'd talk to him later. I play in another game with the DM (where he isn't the DM), and he can play really well, and strategize better than most. I just think DMing isn't his strong suit.

Viktyr, the Favored Soul/Divine Oracle combo sounds good, but I have a couple of questions about it. I know in PHB2 there is a variant of the class that allows you to give an ally or yourself temporary hit points when effected by a spell you cast. The only downside is that you don't gain weapon focus as a class ability. Which ability (weapon focus or granting temp HP) do you think is better? Also, I'm having trouble finding the the vigor aura. What book is it in? I don't see it in Dragon Magic.

EDIT: I found the vigor aura in PHB2 under Dragon Shaman.

EDIT 2: Sorry for the dice roll at the bottom, still figuring out all the functions on the site.

 

[rgard]

I just think DMing isn't his strong suit.

Agreeing with some of the other posts that I would probably quit too. DMing is a learned skill. He'll get better over time or run out of players.

Tried the dice rolling thing. I think this one died in a bar fight.

 

[Jared Rascher]

The best use of a Healer is to take one as a cohort at high level so that he can raise your friends without expending any gold . . .