Viable healer apart from Priest? (Dwarf company)

[jancz]

I have a plan to make 6 dwarf company but I am not very fond of the dwarf Priest idea, is there another suitable class for healing, paladin maybe? is he capable healer?

 

I plan on having

 

1. row: Dwarf Chanter as a tank (buff/debuff) + Dwarf Paladin as a second tank (buff + possibly heal) 

2. row: Dwarf Fighter DPS with a Pike + Dwarf Berserker DPS with a Pike

3. row: Dwarf Cipher DPS with Blunderbuss (hunting bow early game) + Dwarf Ranger DPS with warbow and Boar companion

 

I want to play it more on roleplaying since I love dwarfs but I also want to make them efficient and capable in their respective fields 

 

do you experience players think this will work? 

 

thanks for reactions    and advice 

 

p.s. still don't know which of them will be my PC though :D

[Kaigen42]

Paladin can provide supplemental healing through Lay on Hands, but doesn't have enough broad healing to replace a Priest. On my PotD run I got sufficient healing out of a Paladin + Druid, but I don't know how well you'd take a Dwarven Druid if you don't like a Dwarven Priest. And there's no substitute for the Priest's powerful debuff protection for some fights.

 

If you do run a Paladin tank, though, it should be your PC, as that'll be the only way to improve its Faith and Conviction bonuses to defense.

[b0rsuk]

A godlike character is good at healing, but that won't be an option here.

 

Paladins are decent healers, and Kind Wayfarers the best among them because of their talents (AoE heal on Flames of Devotion and on killing an enemy). Note Kind Wayfarers hate Deceptive and Cruel behavior, you get minuses for that. If you go with a paladin, it's best to make him your PC, that way you get higher Faith&Conviction bonuses.

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Paladin

 

Chanters have minor area healing (Ancient Memory, Beloved Spirits)

 

The best single-target healing comes from paladins (Shieldbearers especially) and Ciphers I think - Tactical Meld ? If you want to maximize healing from Lay on Hands (paladin), you want high Might and Intelligence.

 

Wait a second ! Druids are great for healing ! You have at least 3 spells which heal in an area, and druids are decent in melee (5 health per level, spells that bootst melee and spiritshift).

Edited April 23, 2015 by b0rsuk

[mazeltov]

Dwarven Might synergizes with all primary and secondary Pally heals, as well as healing scrolls, potions (powerful gulping?), and healing spells from Spellbind items.

 

Draining weapons can act as a secondary source of healing.

[Shar]

Druids are definately the second best healer with an aoe healing spell every second spell level.

 

Wayfarer paladin is also very strong healer throughout the first half of the game, with on demand aoe heal and another aoe heal procs on killing blow.

However the effectiveness of its heal drasticly diminishes as your party gains level.

Which means if you rely on it being your only healer you will need a party that is self-sufficient in the later half of the game. which means you will need draining weapons on tanks that do damage, and preferably a cipher with the powerful late game heal "Pain block".

[jancz]

you are making me reconsider the priest  

 

I'd have to put him instead of the ranger, but I wanted Boar companion name Rupert

 

anyway I will come up with some plausible explanation for a dwarven priest, which mean the paladin doesn't have to be a healer, so he can be tank + buffer just like the chanter

 

is there a posibility to have different PC than the paladin? how does it affect his bonuses?

[Kaigen42]

A Paladin who is the PC gets bonuses to his defenses from having the right dispositions (from conversation choices) depending on his order. The difference between the base Faith and Conviction, which is all a hireling will ever get, and the maxed Faith and Conviction that the PC can get is +6 Deflection, +12 Fort/Ref/Will.

 

If you really don't want to have a Priest, you might be able to get by with potion chugging. Your tanks won't have any super important active abilities that would get in the way of gulping down potions. You can craft potions even in the field from ingredients that you can gather or buy in quantity, so it should work. I haven't tried it because I have a thing about using consumables even when they're readily available, but the game showers you with so much money and ingredients that it shouldn't put a damper on your resources. Just prioritize getting the Botanical Garden and Curio Shop up when you get the Stronghold so you have an extra supply.

 

Edit: You can even mimic the Priest's AoE heals with scrolls, provided you have a character with decent Lore and a high Might score (now if only you could make Prayer Against Treachery scrolls).

Edited April 23, 2015 by Kaigen42

[MadDemiurg]

Tbh I never found much use for priest heals. They are not that strong and damage prevention is always better as it doesn't tap into your health reserves. That been said, priest buffs and CC are great. Not irreplaceable, but great.

Edited April 23, 2015 by MadDemiurg

[CriticalFailure]

I don't think anyone has mentioned it, but the difficulty you're playing on may play an important part. If you're not playing on the hardest ones and your party has decent defences and can kill stuff fast enough, you may not need a lot of healing anyway.

 

Considering the passive regen of fighters, you could just put yours on the frontline instead of the chanter.

[Enexemander]

Druids make great healers. It helps to give them a reach weapon so they're behind the front line as most of their healing spells center on the druid itself.

My last playthrough was without a priest the entire time and I had zero issues just using Hiravais to thow heals when needed.

In truth, in hard mode and below you don't need a healer at all if you use cc and debuffs to their full potential.

[MadDemiurg]

I did just fine without heals on PotD as well. I had a priest, but I used healing spells like 2-3 times throughout the whole game. Better cast a seal and take no damage than save it and try to fix the damage done with heals later. I also think Druids are better healers actually. They heal more overall, their heals are just over time. This might be seen as a con, but can be also used to your advantage by casting them preemptively.

Edited April 23, 2015 by MadDemiurg

[Tvättbjörn]

If you're playing with custom characters you don't really need a healer, even on PotD. I have played with fighter+paladin tanks, a barbarian and three rogues (no godlikes). A good fighter can pretty much stay alive with self-healing, especially if you add a draining weapon and maybe retaliation. Paladin and healing gloves was plenty to keep the others alive. That's even without any strong cc. If you start to add cipher(s) to the mix you should have even less trouble.