afticer- yes or no?

[wiglin]

Another convenience for being a warforged is getting mass repairs. The dog will take damage in epics and being able to heal yourself and the dog at the same time is handy.

[Seikojin]

I'll have one or two for sure.

[Agones]

Actually, other races do have various advanages - presenting two examples below; i'm not too familiar with other races. [...]

True. It was very late here and I was a bit short sighted.

Yep, I am planning on an interesting halfling mostly-ranged build, and I will try to add guile to the mix.

If the half elf race were not so expensive I would create one with the rogue dilletante. Perhaps for my bard's next life.

[supp3nhuhn]

I tred my cleric and the past life has been enough to keep me alive in oh **** moments while scrolls are used for healing when i have lower damage intake.

Halflings can also use dragonmarks for emergency heals.

I think most of the time you can make do by just using heal scrolls, the sp is rather limited if you like to bb and thus using items helps your staying power although i do believe that warforged are probably the most ideal class they are not necessarily teh best in every circumstance.

[ThePrisoner]

I was at first doubtful that construct essence would provide enough healing to be useful, but I am starting to come around on it. Here's why;

First, at 6 hp per level and no class enhancements for toughness, artificers aren't going to have a ton of hp.
Second, you can put enhancement points into repair manipulation, which I feel is worth it considering that artificers cast both reconstruct and deconstruct.
Third, you can stock up on superior mending VI clickies, which boost your repair by 75%.

I currently have a wf wizard with around 435hp (no greensteel hp item yet). Her reconstructs get back 255 hp. That's enough to bring her back to full health or close enough to it to not worry. In other words, it's a more than good enough self heal. This is with a superior potency VI item (50% amp) and only one rank in repair manipulation (20% amp). As you can see, with a crafted, looted, or bought superior mending VI clicky and a couple more points in repair manipulation, a non warforged artificer with construct essence would self heal for around the same amount, and will be dealing with hp in the same ballpark. Therefore a non warforged artificer with construct essence could easily have a more than adequate self reconstruct capability.

As for healing amp, forget about it. With the amount of hp you will have as a wf or non wf artificer, no penalties will stop an empowered healing heal or empowered healing mass heal from filling you up. You aren't making a wf barb, you are making a feather weight. I can tell you as someone who plays a healer frequently, based on the hp you will have, no healer is going to hate you or love you at end game whether you healing amp is -35% or +300%. If you do make a wf though, you take that first rank of healers friend no matter what class you are. No more, no less (as far as enhancements go).

The other reason healing amp shouldn't factor in is there is a good chance you will be self healing anyway like the arcanes. Whether you have the sp for it is another matter, given the relatively low artificer sp pool, but if you are a crossbow user and out of range of mass cures, then expect to take care of yourself. Which is fine because you shouldn't be drawing much aggro anyway and wont get hit by the big swings.

So in summary, construct essence, with a little help, will cover your self healing needs.
Being a wf is fine too. In fact, the extra hp will be nice since artificers are a little on the light side.
Healing amp is not really a factor for light weights. Artificers are light weights.
Any direction you take here should be fine.

[Dirichlet]

I currently have a wf wizard with around 435hp (no greensteel hp item yet). Her reconstructs get back 255 hp. That's enough to bring her back to full health or close enough to it to not worry. In other words, it's a more than good enough self heal. This is with a superior potency VI item (50% amp) and only one rank in repair manipulation (20% amp). As you can see, with a crafted, looted, or bought superior mending VI clicky and a couple more points in repair manipulation, a non warforged artificer with construct essence would self heal for around the same amount, and will be dealing with hp in the same ballpark. Therefore a non warforged artificer with construct essence could easily have a more than adequate self reconstruct capability.

The numbers don't add up I'm afraid. Your WF Wizard is getting 150 (base) * 1.7 (20% manipulation + 50% potency) = 255. With full ranks in Repair Manipulation and Superior Mending VI a non-WF with Construct Essence gets 150 * 2.25 (50% manipulation + 75% mending) * 0.5 (penalty) = 168. That's nowhere near the same.

If it was 75% positive / 75% repair instead of 75% positive / 50% repair then you'd be on 253 with that maxed out Reconstruct and I could maybe justify it. 168 won't even cover half your HP.

[Lifespawn]

personally i'm going helf using the cleric or fvs dilly till my umd is enough for scrolls
then switching to rogue dilly for sneak attack but then i am going ranged

a melee might be better served using construct essence and quicken for no fail self healing then i'd either go human/bsword and take the healing amp line or dwarf/daxe for the higher hp from con and toughness enhancment

halfling is another way to go with the dmarks but 3 feats will be somewhat steep but they are excellent healing no fail usable in beholder field aswell

for someone earlier that saw a melee and asked why would you melee the guy you saw with the greataxe was doing it wrong 1 handed bsword or daxe will get you runearm use and glancing blows the damage isn't shabby