A Humble Guide to Healing and Offensive Casting with Favored Souls

[Silverleafeon]

I forgot enhancements, so I added that.

Also, I went back into the equipment section which was incomplete and added some.

One of my favorite Robes was a Great Spearblock DR 5/Bludgening + Slashing Deathblock robe {first 5 points of piercing is stopped}, before I got the Elven Robe from Gianthold which has arcane lore and such. There are probably 8 robes in my reincarnation bank right now.

{I would be glad to hear any advice on high level equipment as the equipment section is still quite unfinished.}

[Vynnt]

Charisma gives 9 + (cha mod x level) sp. At level 20, that's 29 per 2 points, nice to have but hardly worth investment.

[Silverleafeon]

Thank you, I added this in as well as color coding, and the many useful links that I often use.
The equipment sections has been added to again, and is now label under construction.

[gwlech]

I stopped reading here, arrow blocking robes, really?

He means spearblock. Invulnerability is another good option early on. But way to start the thread by being a j@ckass.

[muffinlad]

Silver,

I think you put a lot of work into this, and I agree with much of what you have said (Rep granted for your effort!)

I do have several things I would note:

A) List your spell desirablity levels early in the posts, giving folks the levels up front sets the boundries and helps with short hand in the future- for example:

Catagory List-
1) Avoid
2) Situational-Future Switch Out.
3) Scroll it!
4) Take
5) Have

Etc.

B) Stalwart Pack is valued for the temp hit points it gives when someone takes lots of damage (goes below half). You are correct that most of the time folks will not sit around and wait for it, and that the DR is mostly worthless, but it can be used in some cases to provide a mild buffer when the healing Lag might make things a bit slow (Shround 4, etc.) I would say Situational rather than Avoid, but it is your guide.

C) Mass Shield of faith is not bad when most of the folks are lower level (say sub 16/17), and may not have the additional AC. Future change out in many cases.

D) Two weapon fighting FvS were generally NOT tossing down as many attacks as the guys that are really going to be hampered by the new TWF rules (due to the fewer enhancements they were investing-Not in all cases, but in many...and the 20% hits everyone the same as a base at max enhancements...). The impact on them will be not as noticed, and their DPS can still help the party with their spell back ups, etc.

E) Restoration, Greater Restoration, and Heroes Feast can all be cast from scrolls, and should be.

F)Your point about wands is spot on. However, eventually Heal Scrolls will be simpler to carry in mass, and they cure most of what ails folks.

G) Raise Dead, Res. and Heal should all be carried by scolls as a back up. In high quantity.

H) Do not underestimate Summon Monster III at low level (Scroll or item) and Summon Monster V (scroll normally). They can add some delay to the monsters plans or distraction for your diplomacy skills.

I) Even healers should carry Cure Serious Pots. They work...under....water. And they are on a different cool down. Same with Lesser Resto pots.

Thats all I can think of for insight from my view, keep up the good work!

muffinflave.

[MsEricka]

Sovereign Host - longsword ; free cure light wounds every 6 seconds (healing for about 40+ hp each time.) ; total healing once every 10 minutes {good substitute for greater restoration} ; available to all

At higher levels forget about unyielding sovereignty, it's 4 action points and you can use those elsewhere. To replace it carry heal scrolls. Any good healer should have 100-200 heal scrolls at any given time.

Metamagics affect Healing Word, and so does potency/devotion. My Healing Word regularly hits for 100+ and I've seen it upwards of 150. Not too bad for zero spell points.

Acid hits are usually in multiple low amounts therefore an acid greater resist robe/ resist acid spell will prevent them.
Take Resist Cold at level 15.
Take Resist Fire at level 5.
Take Resist Lighting at level 10.
Sonic hits are usually found in traps, stunning spells, and multiple low amounts, therefore a sonic greater resist robe / resist sonic spell will prevent them.

I totally agree with taking fire, but cold and lightning i disagree with. Acid is a much better choice in my opinion simply due to the fact that it negates melf's acid arrow which is used by mobs all the way up to high levels and damage per tick is typically less than 10.

I also took sonic as well for one specific reason, Orthons. At level 20 i can go toe to toe with orthons and barely take any damage thanks to the capstone of dr10/(whatever you choose)

As for lightning and cold, I usually find that in most cases they do more than 10 points of a damage, so you're going to buff yourself anyways. I took sonic/acid to save myself spell points, and chose fire because it's the most common elemental damage in the game. You also didn't mention that the Favored Soul Energy Resistance stacks with buffs, and since fire can do a LOT of damage, i can get a 40 resist instead of just 30. I know you're aware of this, but you didn't mention it so I thought I'd throw it out there for others.

[Silverleafeon]

Silver,

I think you put a lot of work into this, and I agree with much of what you have said (Rep granted for your effort!)

I do have several things I would note...

...Thats all I can think of for insight from my view, keep up the good work!

muffinflave.

Thank you for the great advice.
Coloring the spell names and sorting them into catagories sounds great.

I'll add your equipment/spell advice as well.

[Silverleafeon]

...Metamagics affect Healing Word, and so does potency/devotion. My Healing Word regularly hits for 100+ and I've seen it upwards of 150. Not too bad for zero spell points...

Nicely done, are those crit rolls or just normal rolls?
Can you explain the bonuses, I think I averaged about 50ish without critical modifers or healing clickies?
I don't remember which feats were active at the time, which are you using?

I like unyielding sovereignty, but always forget to use it, lol.

Thank you for advice, and yes I will expand the resist energy section a lot.
That way I can present both schools of thought on the matter.



Edit: I got most of the edits done, and have spell levels 1 thru 3 reorganized.
(4 thru 9 soon to come.)

[Narwe]

Drow - this is the cheapest way to get a better build than the normal 28 point build. It boosts dexterity (which you should care less about unless you are pursuing two weapon fighting), lowers constitution (which you really want lots of), increases intelligence (which is nice for skills as favored souls don't get as many as they want), and increases charisma (which is nice but not real important as you don't need to start with charisma higher than 14 anyway).

Dwarf - this give you a better chance of staying on your feet in battle (you cannot cast while prone) and increase your constitution (a good thing) while decreasing your charisma (not really a problem). Small characters do have problems climbing up rocky surfaces and I have not tested how slow the dwarf is compared to other races. {Keeping up with the rest of the party and spell point conservation eventually becomes your biggest concerns.}
Elf - this is for two weapon fighting whose future is uncertain.

Halfling - at first glance the ideal race for healers to choose with those dragonmarks. Twenty levels later, one realizes that halflings have trouble climbing up rocky surfaces, they have a decrease in strength (which is very needed for carrying things and occasional melee), they have an increase in dexterity (which is worthless), they look very cute, they are more lucky than normal with loot, they have better racial items than most races, they have many great ways to spend their enhancements. When all is said and done, halflings have so much to spend action points, feats, and skills points upon that they cannot begin to do everything they want to. (But all the options are kinda fun to have.) The halfling dragonmarks will cost 3 feats and 10 action points to gain about 5 heal spells, 7 Cure Serious Wounds, and 9 Cure Light Wounds. These are all on the same timer. They cannot be interrupted by a beholder (but scrolls and wands cannot be interrupted by a beholder either). For a fighter/rogue/sorcerer this might seem very attractive. For a favored soul, the dragonmarks are handy but are replaceable with any of these: Mental Toughness/Improved Mental Toughness/Scrolls/Wands/Clickies/Capstone spells. {The other dragonmarks are rarely taken compared to this one.} Overall, a fun race to play, and worth considering, but watch your strength and jumping because keeping up is so important.

Human - the ideal race for a favored soul, since this race adapts well to a variety of forms and favored souls are tricky to build. The extra feat and skill points are truly welcome.

Warforged - while the decrease to both charisma and wisdom are really bad for a favored soul, there are definite advantages to this race. Your capstone DR stacks with your racial DR, you are immune to various effects, you fear rust monsters, you can swim underwater all day long. Oddly enough, since people relate warforged with being harder to heal, and favored souls as offensive casters, you might have a bit of humor at times at people's silly attitudes as they lump all that together incorrectly worry about how much you can heal them (which is always at the back of their minds).

You forgot elf here and their scimitar synergies. See Impaqt's build thread, for example

[Silverleafeon]

A thousand pardons to all the elves out there...

(hopefully fixed and a link was added)

[aristarchus1000]

First of all, great job, I can tell a lot of hard work went into this. I don't agree with everything, but this is a good start and can certainly help people new to the class get an idea. The subsequent responses are mostly good nuances that a new player should address as well. I know that I often get tells with very basic questions from other players, so even though this stuff is obvious to those of us who have been hanging around the board for a while, I think it is useful.

As mentioned earlier, I would not discount TWF just because of the changes. As mentioned, FvS will see a smaller decrease in efficiency compared to pure DPS classes, and since EVERYONE is getting a dps nerf, it might mean that any DPS you do provide is relatively more important to the group. I don't think anyone truly knows how it will change the dynamic of what will happen, so I would refrain from trying to predict.

Also, it would be nice if you referenced other posts a bit more, just include the links in your guide. Some of the aspects you try to summarize just can't be summarized in a few short words, or paragraphs, or even pages. It will make your guide even more humble, and give credit to a lot of the knowledge on this board.

[Silverleafeon]

Nods solemnly and tries to look wise...

Edit, I finally finished organizing the spells.
The danger in categorizing them more is that there is so much variations one can do, and I want to leave things open as much as I can instead of saying choose certain spells only.

Added some more melee links (although that part of the guide is rather weak still).

Edit #2, I just hit 12 with my TRed FvS, and needless to say I'm exicted about soloing thru some quests (soloed Invaders on normal 5 times yesterday). However, I have been gathering useful links to add to this thread. Also, considering adding notes for strength based FvS on spells and so forth.

[Hafeal]

Any good healer should have 100-200 heal scrolls at any given time.

This is a common misconception, both in the OP and above. No fvs / cleric 'needs' such supplies to be successful. If you choose to spend your plat for the luxury of having these supplies - great. Anyone who expects it can go play their own fvs / cleric.

Further, when you do invest in such supplies, as has been discussed many times previously on these forums, be selective as to the when and where of using them in your groups. Over reliance on supplies is a crutch, imo, and prevents a person's growth in understanding as to be a better fvs / cleric in managing their mana.

Lastly, with the current ease of the game, especially at normal settings, a 'good' fvs / cleric should never need more than his mana bar in an average group. A great fvs / cleric will carry a crappy PUG.

[taurean430]

The neglecting of taking resistance to acid, especially at lower level, is disconcerting.

You are advising people who don't know better to spend mana to avoid damage from melf's acid arrow. Whereas it wouldn't be an issue if they took it early. Which incidentally is the level range that they would encounter it the most.

The ring, Anathema will provide a FvS with magi, and a +1 to evocation dc's.

[Matuse]

100-200 heal scrolls? Why?

I carry MAYBE 50 of them, and I use perhaps 5 per run of VoD, and never need them any other time.

[AyumiAmakusa]

Death Pact is not affected by Eschew Materials. It requires a separate special component like Stoneskin.

[muffinlad]

100-200 heal scrolls? Why?

I carry MAYBE 50 of them, and I use perhaps 5 per run of VoD, and never need them any other time.

I tend to carry 100-200 as well, and while my use is infrequent my FvS, on occasion hitting folks with a cast heal, scroll heal (rinse-repeat) can be advantageous, and lets me save my mana for blasting or other spells, etc. All in the way your style has developed I suppose. I think 50 is generally reasonable though, and can't remember the last time I used more than 10 or 20 on a mission as a FvS.

muffinflave

[Ardkor]

Thanks for the guide, I especially liked the overview of the spells. +1 rep for the hard work, and I look forward to seeing it develop!

[Silverleafeon]

Thank you

Since writing this, my TRed Favored Soul has gone to level 18 and half, and accumulated various observations.

Hope to update sometime soon (maybe when I hit 20), but still reviewing/testing a few things.

[richieelias27]

I totally agree with taking fire, but cold and lightning i disagree with. Acid is a much better choice in my opinion simply due to the fact that it negates melf's acid arrow which is used by mobs all the way up to high levels and damage per tick is typically less than 10.

I also took sonic as well for one specific reason, Orthons. At level 20 i can go toe to toe with orthons and barely take any damage thanks to the capstone of dr10/(whatever you choose)

As for lightning and cold, I usually find that in most cases they do more than 10 points of a damage, so you're going to buff yourself anyways. I took sonic/acid to save myself spell points, and chose fire because it's the most common elemental damage in the game. You also didn't mention that the Favored Soul Energy Resistance stacks with buffs, and since fire can do a LOT of damage, i can get a 40 resist instead of just 30. I know you're aware of this, but you didn't mention it so I thought I'd throw it out there for others.

I just dont understand the logic of taking the Acid resist feat at all. As you said already, the spell resist energy gives resit 30. Given that it is very rare indeed to take more than 30 points of acid damage at a time, it seems the spell is completely sufficient, and taking the feat is just overkill.

If you're that concerned with casting the spell, get an item with acid resist/30 on it? Or better yet cast it from a wand? Personally I see lightning/cold/fire being a much better option here, as most of the time you get hit with those spells it tends to be over 30 pts of damage.

Also, regarding Symbol of Stunning:
Anything Symbol of stunning hits acts as if it is held. Held mobs are auto-critted. Symbol of stunning is also persistant once it goes off. In other words you can kite things in and out of it the same way you do with BB forcing them to make their save multiple times. The symbol also lasts a pretty long time with extend. In short, this spell rocks.