bard-ish and/or monk-ish healer?

[Kalizaar]

Hi there! Some of my friends and I are starting up DDO and I need some advice, please! I haven't played since Beta, and they haven't played for a couple years, so there is a lot we don't know right now. I don't know much about all the specifics of the Monk, Drow, Half Orc, Favored soul, dragon marks, and the latest shiny loot in the game. I'm an old 2nd Edition DnDer in relation to this game. A veteran MMOer and gamer in general, but I'm definitely behind the curve on the latest and greatest of this game.

Anyhow, I've been asked to play a healer for our group, but playing a straight up Cleric just sounds a bit boring to me. Looking at all the new stuff (to me since beta.. lol) and reading these forums a bit there seems to be all sorts of fun ways to be a decent healer. It's a bit overwhelming to read through all these builds though!

So first let me describe what we're looking for in DDO. We're casual gamers. We like to fool around, sniff the roses now and then, try whacky things, and we don't take the game so serious as to get angry if we don't manage to get from point A to point B in the most optimal way possible. None of us will have the ultimate gear, either.

We will have a tank (probably paladin or something like that), a melee DPS and a back stabby DPS along with my healer for sure. Maybe another person now and then for more DPS. Things we will most likely be light on and that I hope to be able to fill in for are obviously healing, there also won't be much if any magic going on, probably not much ranged attacking, and although our backstabby will most likely be able to disarm traps there's a good chance we won't have anyone that's good at finding hidden doors, opening those various rune doors (your wisdom is too low! etc), and it's possible our backstabby won't be the BEST at disarming traps.

Obviously being able to fill ALL the holes with one character would be pretty difficult so this will be one of those priority deals. I'm open to using any Race and any Classes.

So, on to the priorities. Remember, "optimal" isn't necessary here. "Fun" is most important. Try to fill as many holes while keeping in mind the priority list.

Oh, and I have access to the 32 point build, Drow, Monk, and Favored Soul. I could buy Warforged or Half Orc if I had to.

1. As far as Races are concerned I'm fairly open. I think Warforged are really cool, Drow are kind of cool, and the Half Orc is neat as well. The other races are meh, but if one of the first 3 aren't an option to be viable that's ok.

2. As for Classes: Bard, Monk, and Favored Soul top my list of interests. So I would prefer a character that was able to implement one or more of those 3 if at all possible. Wizards/Sorcerers are cool, Rangers/Paladins/Barbarians/Rogues are kind of neat, Fighers/Clerics just are kind of blah to me so definitely would prefer not to focus on those two.

3. Healer! I must be able to heal the party. I don't need to be the greatest healer known to Eberron, but I should be able to keep my group of 4-5 friends alive under most circumstances. If it's a struggle to keep my small group alive for the hardest content a group of friends can attempt that's OK. We like challenges. Sometimes dying horribly is hilarious and just makes us rethink our strategy to attempt a few more times while crying from laughter. So we might not be able to complete the toughest stuff, but it would be fun to try. Succeeding would be a bonus.

4. Secret stuff! Most likely the rest of the group will be a bunch of dunces. A secret door could be cracked open a couple inches, with a fetid stench blowing out of it and some creepy groaning going on and they'd walk right on by it. I need to be able to notice that stuff. I also want to be able to open a majority of any other special doors that require a keen eye or mind (those various int/wis/whatever type runes I've seen around). I imagine it's impossible to be able to open all of them, but I'd like a chance at some or most if possible.

5. Dangerous stuff! I know this is the backstabber's job, but it's possible our backstabber will be more focused on being more backstabbity and less nimble with the delicate contraptions that want to kill us all. If it's at all possible to be good at that without taking too much from the healing (highest priority) and secret stuff (secondary but high priority) that would be awesome. If that's just not possible, ah well.

6. Sparkle-sparkle-ohhhhhhh! I have a feeling we'll be lacking entirely in the magical department. I'm sure we'll manage to cope without it, but if this character can manage to do any of that it would be nice.

7. Not be completely inept at defending myself and able to kill things bigger than mice. I don't need to be the biggest hitter of the group, but I'd like to be able to do a bit more than sneeze on things that I come across if possible.


Now, as for how this character goes about any of these things I don't care. If this character needs to use items instead of innate abilities to accomplish the healing, secret stuff with a bit of traps and flash-boom type stuff that's fine. As long as the priority list is being adhered to it's all good.

Keep in mind though that we won't have the ultimate equipment. That means if this character has to rely on wands, scrolls, potions, or other special trinkets of some variety to do some things then those items need to be gotten without a HUGE investment of money, time and luck. Some difficulty is fine, but we're not known to grind eternally to get one specific item to make things work.

So, what do you all think?

I'd really appreciate all the suggestions you can provide. Thanks in advance!

[dasomdas]

hmm.. u love fvs but u hate cleric
huh?

[krisz93]

Check out Virtuoso of Healing in my signature. It heals with dragonmarks, positive energy burst, has access to UMD scroll healing and great crowd control from Virtuoso

[FrozenNova]

FvS and clerics are practically the same thing in terms of functions, roles and capacities. A fvs can do everything a cleric can do and vice versa, without much change in difficulty or method.

Monks arn't healers. You can't keep a party up with healing ki.

So, you want..
1) healing
2) trap skills
3) offensive casting
4) melee

Realistically? Not happening.
You have a rogue in your static group - you do not need any investment in trap skills.
Yes, your "back stabby" will be 'BEST' at disarming traps. Traps on a rogue require zero build investment.
'Traps' refers to all applications of search, spot, and disable. Hidden doors are covered.
Seeing as you have no arcanes (bad idea, admittedly), melee is pretty much covered.
Offensive casting bards have fallen a long way out of favor.

Divines:
Cramming in trap skills is not a great idea, though just about possible via the Find Traps spell.
Can play melee or offensive casting - mutually exclusive.

Ideally?
Just play an offensive casting divine class.
Offensive casting divines are healers, crowd controllers, instakillers, and boss damagers.
The best race for an offensive casting divine is irrefutably human. No other race has a bonus to wisdom, and the extra feat and skill are important.
Convince one of the melee toons to swap to either an arcane or a warchanter, so you're not left without some important functions.
(See: Haste, displace, greater heroism, crowd control).

[lazlow]

bard will fill yer partys holes nicely and can heal content effectively


when in doubt always go bard

laz