New to the game and need advice...

[Psyrie]

I am teaming up with my boyfriend (he is going to be a fighter with some levels in rogue for a lock picking/searching kind of thing). I either group with him or go solo. However, I’d like to be able to play in a group as a healer as well. After researching a bit I’d like to try favored soul as a TWF who can heal well. Is that even possible? I have looked all over the forums and have a good idea, but it seems all the builds use a tome or item in their stats. I used a build I found here and couldn't cast any spells. So I need a build that doesn't take tomes/items into account, unless there is an easy way to get them.

I’m not sure what stats, feats, and skills would be best as I am new to the game, and unfamiliar with the dnd 3.5 rules. I’d like to play a Drow (leaning towards this) or an Elf character. I have a 32 point build system to work with. I’d like a character I am happy with at endgame, instead of wishing I had gone a different route. I also think I'd like to be a pure favored soul, unless there is a good argument against it.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I’d appreciate any and all comments. Except all the ones calling me a noob. As a side note, I am posting this in both the favored souls forum and character builder forum, as I am not sure where it goes exactly.

[unbongwah]

Welcome to the game, Psyrie. :-)

Pure vs multiclassed: pure FvS is the way to go if you want to be caster-focused, IMHO, to max your spell progression & spell points; added bonus is the lvl 20 FvS abilities are quite nice. Main reason to multiclass is FvSs are starved for feats - dual-wielders especially so. Monk 2 is popular for the reasons Impatiens cites; and ironically, at low levels you'll probably have higher DPS with handwraps than weapons, despite your FvS & racial bonuses. I've also seen builds use rogue 2 instead for Evasion, a bit of sneak attack, and class skills (UMD being the most useful).

Elf vs drow: if you've got 32-pt builds, I prefer elves to drows for FvS. The elf racial enhancements to longswords & scimitars make them a natural fit for a melee-focused Sovereign Host or Undying Court FvS; and the SH & UC bonus abilities are better than Vulkoor's, IMHO. Undying Call is particularly useful if you're teaming up with other elves, since True Resurrection is a lvl 9 spell...though if the healers were doing their jobs properly, no one would've died in the first place, right? ;-) [An elf rogue / ranger might be a good choice for your BF.] FvSs are not usually a skill-heavy class (Concentration is the only must-have, IMHO), so the drow's INT bonus goes to waste; and the drow CHA bonus is not as helpful as it seems at first glance, because even as a new player it's pretty easy to start with base CHA of, say, 14 and boost it to 19+ with enhancements and/or items.

For base stats I would go 14 / 16 / 12 / 8 / 14 / 14, with an extra point dropped into STR or WIS depending on what you want to focus on, melee or offensive casting. Put all your level-ups into that stat as well. You'll need to find or buy a +1 DEX tome by level 9 so you can get the 2nd & 3rd TWF feats; but otherwise you shouldn't require tomes for this character. For feats, apart from the three TWF feats (which you can take at lvl 1, 9, and 15) and Toughness (which I would take at 3), I would go for metamagic feats: Empower Healing & Extend if you want to focus on heals & buffs; Empower, Heighten, and/or Maximize if you want to focus on offensive spells; Quicken is also a good idea.

Also worth considering is human: you give up your DEX bonus (so it's harder to get TWF) & racial weapon enhancements (so you have lower DPS) and are stuck with Sovereign Host; but gain an extra feat, extra skill points, extra HPs, +2 enhancement to stat of your choice (vs elf bonus to DEX only), and better self-healing thru Healer's Friend enhancements.

[Psyrie]

Thanks! This was very helpful