heal bot

[avothepaladin]

Hi so i am looking at making a heal bot but i can't decide what class to make. I am about to unlock 32 point build and have favor soul unlocked through points.

Whats the pros and cons to each of them, and what is the recommended class to heal bot build for raiding.

[siver]

Hi so i am looking at making a heal bot but i can't decide what class to make. I am about to unlock 32 point build and have favor soul unlocked through points.

Whats the pros and cons to each of them, and what is the recommended class to heal bot build for raiding.

Since you asked, here are the pros and cons to a healbot:

Pros:
Erm... You basically get to sit back and do nothing most of the time.

Cons:
You are worthless now that DDO has this crazy thing called "hireling vendors."
You drive up dungeon scaling for the benefit of saving people a few platinum.
Any decent group won't have any use for you, so you'll be stuck dealing with the people who cannot open a door without someone to heal their horrible ouchies from straining at the (not very) rusty hinges.


Ahem. Sorry, have a little bias against anybody who wants to play something that just stands around and does nothing for 90% of the quest, and duplicates the stack of potions I carry for the other 10%.

Now, if you want to build a healer, that's another story. If so, here are the benefits of each:

Cleric:
Uses the same stat for spell DCs as for spell points
Turn undead charges can be used for healing, or for boosting other abilities (DV=spell points, DM=melee damage, etc)
The prestige enhancement line makes healing easy. Almost too easy.

A good easy build is to start with 18 wisdom, at least 14 con, then any leftover points into strength (if you want to fight when you aren't healing) or charisma (if you want to focus on casting).

Favored Soul:
Boatloads of SP, even if you end up with only 20 charisma (I hate odd numbers, but 19 is technically all a favored soul needs for casting)
Free weapon proficiency and weapon damage bonuses, for when you don't need to be healing
Wings (unparalleled mobility compared to a cleric)
Jump is a class skill (yeah, I count that as a definite bonus, having played clerics for some six years)

A quick favored soul build would be 14 charisma (use a +6 item to get to the magical 20 charisma for maximum happy casting) at least 14 constitution, and then everything else in strength or wisdom (depending on whether you want to fight in melee or cast spells when you aren't keeping the other people alive).

Personally, I favor the cleric myself, though that might be because I've been playing one for about six years now. After that much time, it can be hard to accept change. Favored souls do get more spell points, which if you want to stand back and heal, will allow you to last longer. Clerics get rather decent SP free healing, if you can step into the line of fire to fire off the radiant aura or radiant burst.

[avothepaladin]

Since you asked, here are the pros and cons to a healbot:

Pros:
Erm... You basically get to sit back and do nothing most of the time.

Cons:
You are worthless now that DDO has this crazy thing called "hireling vendors."
You drive up dungeon scaling for the benefit of saving people a few platinum.
Any decent group won't have any use for you, so you'll be stuck dealing with the people who cannot open a door without someone to heal their horrible ouchies from straining at the (not very) rusty hinges.


Ahem. Sorry, have a little bias against anybody who wants to play something that just stands around and does nothing for 90% of the quest, and duplicates the stack of potions I carry for the other 10%.

Now, if you want to build a healer, that's another story. If so, here are the benefits of each:

Cleric:
Uses the same stat for spell DCs as for spell points
Turn undead charges can be used for healing, or for boosting other abilities (DV=spell points, DM=melee damage, etc)
The prestige enhancement line makes healing easy. Almost too easy.

A good easy build is to start with 18 wisdom, at least 14 con, then any leftover points into strength (if you want to fight when you aren't healing) or charisma (if you want to focus on casting).

Favored Soul:
Boatloads of SP, even if you end up with only 20 charisma (I hate odd numbers, but 19 is technically all a favored soul needs for casting)
Free weapon proficiency and weapon damage bonuses, for when you don't need to be healing
Wings (unparalleled mobility compared to a cleric)
Jump is a class skill (yeah, I count that as a definite bonus, having played clerics for some six years)

A quick favored soul build would be 14 charisma (use a +6 item to get to the magical 20 charisma for maximum happy casting) at least 14 constitution, and then everything else in strength or wisdom (depending on whether you want to fight in melee or cast spells when you aren't keeping the other people alive).

Personally, I favor the cleric myself, though that might be because I've been playing one for about six years now. After that much time, it can be hard to accept change. Favored souls do get more spell points, which if you want to stand back and heal, will allow you to last longer. Clerics get rather decent SP free healing, if you can step into the line of fire to fire off the radiant aura or radiant burst.

i didnt want the pro's and con's of a heal bot i ment for the classes which you did state.

Sorry thats what i thought healers did in this game any ways sorta of new didn't know they also did damage which i can understand. quicker the boss goes down the better. sounds like i will go cleric cant really stand melee in this game.

[siver]

i didnt want the pro's and con's of a heal bot i ment for the classes which you did state.

Sorry thats what i thought healers did in this game any ways sorta of new didn't know they also did damage which i can understand. quicker the boss goes down the better. sounds like i will go cleric cant really stand melee in this game.

The first part was kind of silly, but meant to point out that healbots, like you might find in other games, are almost completely unnecessary in this one. There will be times when it is better to stand back and focus on keeping your party alive. That is usually only at certain times in raids.

At other times, the cleric (or favored soul) is arguably the single most powerful character in the game. In fact, the most powerful damage spell in the game, against which practically nothing is immune, is on the cleric and favored soul spell list*. So, choosing to only heal is understandably silly, I think.

Also, just because you don't care for melee, doesn't mean you should disregard favored souls. A casting favored soul does have more SP, which means you can go for longer before needing to use a shrine. You just need to make sure you have at least 19 charisma, after counting your gear (so 13 with a +6 item works. If you have a +3 tome, you could start with 10 charisma and hit the magic number by the time you need it.). After that, your wisdom affects the DC on your spells, so put everything you can into it, and you should be good to go. The counter that clerics get to the favored soul's raw spell points is the Radiant Burst/aura which require you be near the people you want to heal. That said, clerics do have another benefit for someone just starting on their path to divine glory: They can change spells on a whim. If you go with a cleric, I suggest you do this quite a bit. Get a feel for the different spells, and see which work well for your style of play. Then, after you've figured out what you like to use, you can try out a favored soul and have a leg up on your casting fun.


*Blade barrier, if used well, can be the most powerful damage spell in the game currently. It is also considered a spell, so ignores DR, and slashing damage, so ignores anything but complete immunity to spell damage. The only down side is that it is nearly useless against a target that doesn't move a lot. It can also cause irritation with people who are chasing the monsters which are chasing you as you run them through the blender, so be aware of your party's feeling when using this super awesome spell (or wait until the party gets itself killed going 6 different ways while you try to pick one member to follow)!

[epopotamus]

purely talking about healing:

cleric:
+Radiant Servant burst/aura means free heals based on turns (aura works with emp heals, burst with emp/max/emp heals)
+spontaneous healing spells (free spell slots every spell level preset to heal spells)
+Radiant Servant gives +25% to empower heals to make it +75% total.
+enhancements for mana reduction on empower heals.
-less mana overall


fvs:
+More mana (generally 500-900 more mana than a cleric, depending on gear and whatnot)
+enhancements for mana reduction on empower (empower only works on cures, not the heal/mass heal spell)
-less spell slots (some levels are tight fits for useful spells)

those come to mind at the moment, im sure theres some i missed.
would personally go cleric if you just want to heal

[PNellesen]

If your primary focus is going to be healing, I'd say go Cleric for Radiant Servant - it makes you an undead killing machine, and makes the SP difference between FvS and Cleric less noticeable.

Like others have said, though - "healbot" is a waste of a VERY powerful character class, either Cleric or FvS. Learn to use not only your damage spells, but your Crowd Control and insta-kill spells as well. If you go Cleric, once you get Radiant Servant burst and aura, you're going to want to do SOMETHING with all the SP you're going to have

[Matuse]

I never group with a healbot twice. They are useless as players. Hirelings are vastly better. They don't complain, they stick with the group, they have no problem at all sucking down Sp potions, they scale the dungeon less, and if they DO die, they give less of a penalty.

Play a divine instead. You have the raw power of the gods at your fingertips. Do not squander it on taking a 5 dimensional character and reducing it to 1 very very boring dimension.

[Boombastic]

I never group with a healbot twice. They are useless as players. Hirelings are vastly better. They don't complain, they stick with the group, they have no problem at all sucking down Sp potions, they scale the dungeon less, and if they DO die, they give less of a penalty.

Play a divine instead. You have the raw power of the gods at your fingertips. Do not squander it on taking a 5 dimensional character and reducing it to 1 very very boring dimension.

I consider my current cleric a healbot (HOrc cleric with 1 lvl fighter dip) but I also melee when healing isn't needed, so I'm not totally useless. I also carry stacks of SP pots, know how to keep up with the group, and don't complain. Then again, I run with friends and guildies. Sounds like you had some players that are used to the WoW playstyle. I also come from WoW but did a bit of research in that hardcore dedicated healing isnt needed 100% of the time.

[unbongwah]

I consider my current cleric a healbot (HOrc cleric with 1 lvl fighter dip) but I also melee when healing isn't needed, so I'm not totally useless.

Healbot = divine who only heals (and maybe buffs). By taking a fighter splash & using melee weapons, you have automatically upgraded(?) yourself to the status of "battle cleric."

The point is that a cleric or FvS who only heals is about as useful as a sorc or wiz who only buffs; i.e., you are missing out on the classes' full potential with nothing to show for it, as a good offensive casting or battle cleric / FvS build is also a great healer.

[Boombastic]

Healbot = divine who only heals (and maybe buffs). By taking a fighter splash & using melee weapons, you have automatically upgraded(?) yourself to the status of "battle cleric."

The point is that a cleric or FvS who only heals is about as useful as a sorc or wiz who only buffs; i.e., you are missing out on the classes' full potential with nothing to show for it, as a good offensive casting or battle cleric / FvS build is also a great healer.

well I guess you are right. Yeah, there is no real place in the level scheme for heal bots, unless you have friends that don't mind that you're basically on auto follow the entire time. I still consider myself a "heal bot" on my cleric, because I am a healer first, melee/spell dps secondary.

[Lalangamena]

Hi so i am looking at making a heal bot but i can't decide what class to make. I am about to unlock 32 point build and have favor soul unlocked through points.

Whats the pros and cons to each of them, and what is the recommended class to heal bot build for raiding.

cleric is a better healer, cleric can heal even when he is tripped and held via aura. and have more versatility in spell choices.

fvs is much better offencive caster ( WF FVS are very good melee also) with good mobility ( jump/wings), it can also heal.

[Candela90]

As a fvs lover myself all pros by going FvS:

- more sp
no explanation needed. yup, cleric have like infinite healing, cause of aura (even tho when u get torc and 2x conc opp item it hardly matter that much). So both can heal party well on end game content.
But if u want to solo more mana > bursts when it comes to killing mobs, that are not undeads.

- wings
What can i say ? Just flyyyyy!

- offensive caster prestige that gives you
A) 2 spell penetration and +2 DC (its decreasing the saving throws, attack, and armor class of nearby enemies by 2, also lowers spell resistance by 2) - so basically just that that ure standing by mobs make them weaker.
B) 30% additional damage with spells that deal fire, physical, or untyped damage
C) archon that kicks for like 70 on tick, around 170-200 on crit. 20 sp for 5 minutes. Not BIG dmg, but does dmg too. While lvling really usefull. And oh! Its shiny Maybe stupid thing for most of content, but e.g. Rainbow in the Dark, quest where the only one light is staff that one of party members have to hold <- archon lights your way.
D) they get the crown. They can pass crown to someone else. If FvS (if u didnt pass the crown) or person with crown get hitted there a chance(10%) the monster will suffer : , increasing their vulnerability to light and alignment-based damage by 10%, and decreasing their fortification by 10%. This debuff stacks up to 5 times.
Its great for bosses (yes it works for them) Cause when u pass it to the tank, or whoever can have agro you will most probably make boss to even 50% light damage vulnerable and have 50% less fortification.
So melee will be able to crit, rogue to sneak attack a lot better, and your Seaering Light/Diving Punishment will do a lot more dmg.


- jump as a class skill
You can laugh, But this is really usefull.

- free feats that gives you
A) 3 choosen resistances, that never wear off
B) u get to choose your faith what gives u profiency with one weapon, and enhancements to boost damage with them, if u wanted to go melee. Additionally if u choose your faith u can get e.g.
- free taking off death penalty (which is also a heal hitting for 1K hp, so more than most of us have).
- free raise dead spell

- capstone
+2 charisma, so technically only 29 SP, but u need to invest less in charisma in all build, cause u really only need 19 (id get 22 at least, to net get helpless at casting when u get charisma decrease).
And 1 free spell (dependant on choosen faith earlier)
- Invisibility - usefull but for what clickies are. Dont take it.
- Command Undead - just dont.
- Shield - dont also.
and better points:
- Cure Light Wounds
If u get maximie, empower only it will hit for 80-90 on non crits and 170+ on crits. Its enought to keep up tank with 170%+ heal amp, and good enought to keep yourself for completely free in most cases. Image if u add Empower Healing to it .
- Searing Light
If u builded yourself as a caster u probably did that for max Blade Barrier, and Divine Punishment Damage, and ofc instant kills like implosion destruction slay living etc But DP is a light spell - just as Searing Light - so u probably already have boosts for it. When u maximize and empower it youcwill probably get around 200-300 dmg on non crits, 400+ on crits. For completely free.

- free DR
Dependant on your race. But almost nothing can overcome silver/cold iron or what else fvs get DR.

- FvS get base higher reflex save (cleric - 6, fvs - 12).
Both can get it high, but with the same gear fvs always will be this 6 on plus. Reflex save IS important. Even on non0evasion character taking half damage on save is better than taking full on failed save.





So to sum up, I really prefer playing FvS.
I think its better for pure caster (because of prestige and more sp to kill, cause lets be honest...when u solo u hardly need to heal yourself if ure caster... u keep mobs away).
I think its better for pure melee also. Because of free feats giving profiency and enhancements for damage (and because of coming soon fvs pre for melee).
But I also think that caster > melee fvs right now.


Ofc I dont think cleric is worse. Its just different.
For sure Id like to get bursts. The thing is they work even in beholder anitmagic field. And I honestly hate it on mine fvs. But I honestly miss it only there.
Clerics heals/cures mostly hit for more. (even tho I dont care bout that ause mine mass heal hits for 450+, and mine friends cleric mostly hits for 650+, on crits I get 700-900, they get 1k and more.... but lets be honest, most of players have hp between 400-600. You probably wont let them get lower as a healer than 20% of their health, so 450 heals the bar perfectly. If u heal a tank u can use free fvs capstone + heal to get for free boost to 550-600 per round)

I think cleric is a lot safer to multiclass and I love clonk idea.
Cleric will be also good melee if pure. Cause cleric can just fight comfortable without doing mass heal brakes, anbd heal with aura, or bursts from time to time.
Also cleric is amazing dps vs undead (but at end game u hardly see undeads...)
Oh and ofc DI capstone, helping survive, but from what I now its not used that often.
And cleric gets +1 wisdom over fvs via enhancements. (in my mind + 0,5 DC is hardly a lot compared to offensive caster fvs pre)

So yeah. Thats all.
And like others said. Healbot is waste of spot.
Dps + keeping party up is what u should do.

As an offensive caster ull have a lot better dps at end game (I mean swinging for 60 dmg vS instant killing or casting DP on boss that on 3rd stack gives on non crits 400-500 dmg, on crits 800 to 1k+)
BUT as offensive caster u will play nany bot to around lvl 12, when u get Blade Barrier, Divine Punishent and later more offensive spells.

As a melee you will have easier lvling way, but will have less dps than a caster on end game.


Sorry post is so long but I felt as a lot of aspect being fvs and cleric were avoided ;p.
And I feel attatched to divine classes .



Edit: Did I really created this wall of text? Ups...

[avothepaladin]

so after reading the posts and talking one of my friends that have had 20's for a while i think i am just going to make a cleric monk then after that i am just going to make a fvs to see which i like better

thanks to everyone for being helpful

[decease]

best heal bot are fvs.. they get almost double sp..

[good_ole_corwin]

best heal bot are fvs.. they get almost double sp..

Yeah, no... Well built capped cleric will have about 2k SP, well built capped FvS about 3k SP (usually more like 2900), thats not exactly double. And more importantly, 25% extra boost from empower healing, aura and burst >>>>> 1k-ish SP as far as healing is concerned.

That said, clerics are better group healers, thanks to their free AoE stuff and better mass heals, while FvS with Sovereign Host capstone are better tank healers, when its a well built tank and youre not stuck with a WF barb hatetank that will respond with the question "Healer's friend who?". *shivers*