Warchanter, Healing and Feats)

[karl_k0ch]

I have an almost pure warchanter (this 18/2rogue, to be precise). His primary stat is Str since I use to THF, Dex is a dump stat, Int is not.
He is at level 14 atm and I am really thinking if the feats
1 Insightful Reflexes, Weapon Focus
3 Extend
6 PA
9 Toughness
12 Empower Healing
15 Improved Crit: Slashing
18 Quicken

are really a wise choice.

1) How reliable is non-scroll-healing on a 18/2 warchanter?
2) How important is Quicken, considering the fact that there are not as much SP as on a CHA-based Spellsinger
3) Does EmpHeal and Quicken help in any way with Scroll/Wand healing?
4) How viable is the Augment Summoning feat? Are there more situations than charming doggies in HoX where this feat will help?

[blitzschlag]

1) with the right gear/feats its pretty reliable
2) pretty much for in-combat raid healing (like when fighting harry in pt.4/5). not so much for out of combat healing duty.
3) not the slightest
4) never thought about the feat.

in general i'd suggest taking maximize over empower healing as you get more bang out of it. sp is always an issue. twice if you consider multiclassing and low casting-stat. be prepared to jug pots if you wanna be primary masshealer.

how high is your int that you consider insightful reflexes a justifiable investment? or how much higher is your int than your dex could be to justify that feat?

[Dragavon]

I have an almost pure warchanter 4) How viable is the Augment Summoning feat? Are there more situations than charming doggies in HoX where this feat will help?

Augment summoning does nada fot the dogs on Hound. It only increase the stats on creatures you summon with spells. It is about as useful as skill focus repair on a halfling monk.

[karl_k0ch]

Augment summoning does nada fot the dogs on Hound. It only increase the stats on creatures you summon with spells. It is about as useful as skill focus repair on a halfling monk.

Augment Summoning
Usage: Passive
Your summoned creatures, charmed minions, and hirelings have +4 to all ability scores, increased health, and increased fortification.

Bolded for emphasis. Is the feat not WAI?

how high is your int that you consider insightful reflexes a justifiable investment? or how much higher is your int than your dex could be to justify that feat?

As I can be seen in the link in the OP: The starting int is 14, starting Dex is 8. Also, there is no point in using a +2 Dex tome and I will use a +Int item for the time when I take care of the traps. This way, the initial difference is 6 points; the gap may increase to 8-14, depending on tomes and other gear.

TR; DR: LR yields at least +3 reflex and saves some equip slots when doing traps.

[blitzschlag]

Bolded for emphasis. Is the feat not WAI?

it is, but controlled doggies don't count as charmed minions i guess

As I can be seen in the link in the OP: The starting int is 14, starting Dex is 8. Also, there is no point in using a +2 Dex tome and I will use a +Int item for the time when I take care of the traps. So the initial difference is 6 points; the gap may increase to 8-14, depending on tomes and other gear.

TR; DR: LR yields at least +3 reflex and saves some equip slots when doing traps.

the +int item is just a swapitem for disabeling purposes. no point in wearing it fulltime (yeah, with insightful reflexes its mandatory). a feat for +3 reflexsave, that does not let you reach really meaningful dimensions anyway, is discussable in my book

[karl_k0ch]

a feat for +3 reflexsave, that does not let you reach really meaningful dimensions anyway, is discussable in my book

What are meaningful dimensions for the reflex save? I was under the impression that the lower 30's are quite OK to make Evasion work.

The build in the OP has
11 18 bard
3 2 rogue
4 GH (morale)
5 14 + 6 Int
5 Resistance
2 Luck
----
30 Reflex (32 against traps, other bonuses may apply, too)

Is that not meaningful enough?

Against which feat would you trade it?

[Dragavon]

Bolded for emphasis. Is the feat not WAI?

I did honestly not remember that. It does not change my view on the feat though, another thougness feat is more useful

[voodoogroves]

I think I recall that Maximize was more SP efficient than Empower Healing. My generic THF-caster feat list is:

Toughness
Power Attack
Improved Crit
Quicken
Maximize
Extend

Then often Empower or Empowered Healing; I'd probably skip those on a bard.

I find Quicken super-useful for healing while in/near the melee. Sometimes the damage inbound isn't going to be nice on your concentration checks.

I need to re-check Augment Summoning to see if it is working or not in Hound. It was supposed to be, then there was this theory it was causing breaks faster and was bugged, etc. etc. I've got it feat-swapped out on all my hound folks right now so when they get off timer I'll need to run to Fred and give him a taste of the virtual medula oblongota and spec it back in.

[karl_k0ch]

I think I recall that Maximize was more SP efficient than Empower Healing. My generic THF-caster feat list is:

Toughness
Power Attack
Improved Crit
Quicken
Maximize
Extend

Thanks for the input. Which Non-MinII weapons are you using typically on a caster THF?