My favorite healer was a combat medic, human rogue. Alternate human, take the Healer feat for the medkit heals. Rogue up to level two for bonus action disengage and dash, to be running around the battlefield patching people up. And expertise in medicine. And then for those first two levels you just keep screaming "I swear to WHATEVER GODS ARE LISTENING, you better not FUCKING DIE ON ME" Until a celestial patron takes notice. Take the rest of my levels in Celestial Warlock.
@sum body ikr? I personally don't see how someone who just spent 1-4 hours at a table with a DM just gets up and leaves without uttering a simple thanks. The DM does so much planning, lorekeeping, fact-checking, acting and story building for their group all the time, they deserve to have at least a table who can empathize and appreciate their work.
Made a healer dipped in divination wizard. The owl familiar can deliver touch heals at range, and the Portent can prevent crucial damage or conditions.
You wanna know why no one wants to play support/healer? You never thank them! Where is the thank for the 5th level cure wounds that I wanted to use on another spell? How about the fairie fire that helped you land all those blows? How about the Haste that saved your life? ALWAYS thank your supports people, they do so much for you. This applies to video games too.
If you are playing the healer and expecting thanks, you are in the wrong class. The idea of healer may not always be the pious helper who needs no thanks, but also remember, if you are healing others, they are taking the hits you could be taking. Did you thank them for that?
yeah played at a table where the newbie always played the cleric. cause just nobody plays the cleric. and truth be told i was sick of it. and when i played my paladin i made clear "i´m a paladin od vengeance. i´m chaotic evil there is a bastard i´m going to kill. i will not cast ONE spell this campaign. Except to bolster my smite to the ridiculous numbers a paladin can dish out" because i was just this fed up with being the healer. and it might have been a dick move but yep i let somebody kick the bucket. A chaotic evil paladin of vengeance doesn´t give a fuck if a temporary companion is too weak to fend for himself And that i chose this character that is pretty much the opposite of what i like to play is because of what you said. nobody respects the healer. it´s just a frustrating burden one must carry. And on the second campaign i clearly said i will not heal. I´m sick of being the healer. I´ll go melee. They talked me into a paladin well oath of vengeance it is. Most people will agree that this is not a support paladin. Oath of vengeance is a fucking pissed piece of armor that kills what it wants to kill. Haste is most of support this paladin will offer. (and haste was usually cast on me. well i cast it on me. Because that´s how i played this paladin. absolutely selfish. I have one goal, to kill the BBEG and that by any means necessary. They wanted the crybaby milkback cleric with a sword if i had to have one, they got the same kind of asshole in the game they were out of the game. No need to mention, that i wasn´t part of that table for long. The moment i found anotrher table i was gone)
@@terrybowman5870 dont kid yourself, almost all of those players would rather be doing nothing else but swinging their weapons wildly and not paying any attention to hp. If they didnt want to take hits they would be the healer, or they would stay home. Or they would try to talk/wiggle their way out of danger in the first place, which in that case a pious healer should be thanking them for.
Glad you all prefaced a few things about healing: - Blowing all your resources on healing is inefficient. - Don't top off like a video game. You're more of a combat medic than an mmo healer. - Things like damage prevention, temp hp, etc are all good ways to keep going without needing a heal. - Your character should be good at other things than healing and you wanna contribute to fights in other ways. Whether its battlefield control, flat out damage, etc. There's a reason some Clerics roll up in heavy armor and martial weapons.
I played my first character, a war cleric, like an overprotective mom. I’ll kiss your boo-boo’s, then I’m beating the assailant’s ass as well as every one else’s.
Think on this... A single level 1 slot can charm an enemy for an hour, or heal about what that enemy could do in a single hit. A single level 3 slot can take several enemies out of the fight on a single save, for a full minute, or it can heal about 36hp (if you have a full 6 allies nearby). Given any particular number of slots, heals are about the lowest value way of using them. Even just plain blast spells are usually a better value than healing. So, the only time that a heal truly justified, is when an ally is at zero. If you had a way to deliver a potion to that ally, that would work just as well as a spell. An invisible familiar (hello Warlocks) with hands (hello Imp/Quasit) can heal with fairly low risk, saving action economy and fairly efficient healing (potions can be stockpiled, spell slots cannot).
@@ChristnThms it's not always the PCs fault though. This only really happens at low levels(like level one or two) in my experience, but sometimes a PC is doing nothing wrong, yet still gets instant killed anyway.
I'm playing a human Divine Soul Sorcerer with Wizard ritual casting and the healer feats. I focus mainly on spot healing and battlefield control. My party still has no idea what class I am, because I haven't told them out of character. They think I'm a weird custom class, despite assurances from both me and the DM that I'm not. It's great :-D
I know this is an old comment but I’d love to get any advice how you were able to be a support/healer character as a sorcerer/wizard. I’m going to play a human wizard (with the healer’s feat) flavored to be like a doctor. How did you do it?
@@littleblueclovers Also late, I’d say Divination Wizard will be great because of portent. you can reduce damage that occurs by succeeding saves against damaging spells, failing enemy’s DCs to prevention such as hold person, and with suceeding death saves (I don’t know if that works but I’d check online).
I was very sad that Sorcerer wasn’t mentioned. With the combination of the sorcerer and cleric spell list, twin spell to double up your spells, distance spell to get your support spells out farther. They are extremely effective healers.
@@dach829 Evidently you don't know how the spell works. You become a beast WITH FULL HP. The cr of the beast is equal to the level of the character (or lower); level 7 Gives you a Mammoth.
Remember children, they can't kill you you kill them first. Your Wizard's best spell is Fireball. You don't need anything else. Only Fireball. Just Fireball. Just Fireball. Just Fireball.
I currently am playing an experienced explorer so he's always decked out for almost any situation. Other than that tho he ain't much use despite being a wizard.
You need a video for that? Isnt it just any class any race and then run around and yell helpful information to your allies and tell them how good a job they are doing
"If you cast Healing Word on the Fighter and before their turn comes around the orc comes up to them and hits them with a greataxe and knocks them down again, that was a complete waste of Healing Word." - Uhhhhhh, no it wasn't? You spent a 1st level bonus action spell to cost the orc it's action and prevent the two guaranteed failed death saves if that would have occurred if that greataxe collided with the Fighter while they were down instead. You probably just saved your fighter's life.
@Tyler Ford A) Having just looked through the entire Combat section of the DMG, no, it doesn't say anything like that. There isn't anything about it in the DMG either. Monster behavior - like many other things - is left up to the DM. B) Even if it did say something like that, it clearly wouldn't be a "rule" as it lacks specificity. What exactly is an "average" monster? Unlike the PHB and MM, which are pretty rules-dense, the vast majority of text in the DMG is not actually rules, but rather suggestions and advice for DMs about how to build an adventure and run the game, often presenting multiple different approaches to a certain topic. Even of the text that is actually rules text, a large percentage of THAT is optional. So if someone tells you "It says so in the DMG," you should question them on exactly WHAT it says. C) The question of whether or not the orc would still have attacked the Fighter while down is actually irrelevant here, because presumably it would have attacked SOMEONE. Even if it would have targeted someone else instead if the Fighter hadn't gotten back up, you've still nullified the orc's damage output for a turn with a single Healing Word. Again, not a waste.
@@bigdream_dreambig The orc attacking the fighter, wearing armor+shield, has a much greater chance of failing, than the orc attacking the wizard wearing his t-shirt and jeans. So over all, the party still benefits more from this than it would otherwise. Now that wizard doesn't have to roll concentration rolls, and instead gets to deal more damage, instead of curling up in a ball and bleeding to death. :D
@Tyler Ford The way that I handle it as a DM, presuming the monsters aren't assassins specifically hired to take down THESE PCs, is that the DEFAULT is that monsters will not attack PCs who are downed. PCs who take down Monsters don't usually continue attacking them after they're downed monsters if there are still active threats on the battlefield, and thus monsters should act the same way. Magical healing is a default for adventuring parties, but it is not *that* common in the greater world, which is why standard medicine is being used. HOWEVER, if PCs heal up a companion and they then stand back up to rejoin the combat, all bets are off if the monsters are intelligent (i.e., not an animal, construct, etc.). They may start focus-firing healers and/or doing coup de grace on downed opponents after that.
Monster behavior? `Stomp on their head until they're dead` ... most monsters want that visceral curb stomp moment ... and if they're evil, make them sound gleeful as they're doing it.
This is a hefty video, so here's some bookmarks for the key points. In addition, see below for two quick rules corrections: 3:15 Is a Healer Needed? 5:29 How healing in D&D 5e is not like healing in video games 6:21 Healing Mechanics, Hit Dice, and Short Rests 10:40 Comparing Cure Wounds and Healing Word 14:47 Inspiring Leader, Aid, and Dispel Magic 20:30 Healing Spirit 24:45 Polymorph 27:01 Classes for a Healer 27:50 Bards 30:01 Clerics 31:58 Druids 35:10 Paladins and Other Classes Corrections: #1 We incorrectly stated in this video that Mass Cure Wounds is a 3rd level spell. It is actually a 5th level spell, which makes it *even worse*. #2 We also said that Inspiring Leader grants temporary HP based on the target's Hit Dice, which is incorrect. It grants hit points based on your level.
@@dandelion_fritters Medicine skill, proficiency with Herbalism kit, Healer feat. Buy a Healer's kit and your Herbalism will let you craft potions of healing. That's what you can get with no magic.
Tip: don't forget that heals/buffs work on NPCs, too. Saw an old man with a broken leg? Cast cure on him! See some laborers? Cast Enhance Strength! Ignore party complaints of not "saving" spell slots and instead become the most popular philanthropist in any town.
One thing that was missed being mentioned that any character can take during character creation or downtime training is the optional rule utility of having proficiency in Cook's Utensils from XGTE. *Prepare Meals.* As part of a short rest, you can prepare a tasty meal that helps your companions regain their strength. You and up to five creatures of your choice regain 1 extra hit point per Hit Die spent during a short rest, provided you have access to your cook’s utensils and sufficient food. Although it doesn't provide too much mechanically, it is something that even completely magicless characters can do to help their teammates top off their hit points. Especially in those later levels where you will have more Hit Dice to spend. And being the team cook is a simple and effective method to add some roleplay elements; Whether you are playing a Barbarian that feasts to celebrate victorious battles, or a Monk fussing over whether everyone is maintaining their bodies with balanced meals.
If you really want to boost that even further, consider the Chef feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. An extra d8 whenever you use hit die on a short rest, and some treats to give a little bit of temp HP are never a bad thing. Especially early game, when you don't have many hit die, but also don't have a ton of HP, using 1 hit die and getting 2d8+con mod can make a huge difference without roasting your resources. I pair this with being a bard, so add in song of rest for an additional d6 or higher depending on level. 2d8+1d6+con mod at level 3 is on average 15+ HP for that 1 hit die. That's massive for characters that generally won't have more than 20-30 HP total. Considering that is applied to everybody in the party, you are looking at 60+ HP of healing per short rest for nearly no cost.
GOD I wish parties I was in were more attentive to hit dice. As soon as a combat's over when we're low on spell slots the healers *always* start trying to manually heal injured members. Like, save your slots man D: (i also feel this pain x2 because I'm running a warlock so I never have spell slots anyway cause no one wants to short rest)
When I'm playing a Warlock, I'm always very pushy about taking short rests. The rest of the party doesn't have to use their hit dice if they don't want to, certain races and classes can use their short rest to accomplish other utility things, and there generally is no reason not to take a short rest unless the current environment makes it impossible or there isn't anything to gain from it. Obviously don't go blowing all your spell slots in one encounter, especially since Eldritch Blast is on its own comparable to shooting a crossbow at low levels when spell slots are sparse, but if your party is not managing their short rest resources very well, you can push them on it. If they refuse to allow the healer to conserve spell slots or to allow you to recover yours, then that's kind of unreasonable, and you should definitely talk with your DM to see if a house rule could be set up to encourage your party to work together in a better way.
@@spaceangelmewtwo9074 Aye, the warlock isn't the only class who needs his short rest. If there's a fighter, he'll want his second wind and action surge back; a bard will want his inspiration dice; a druid will want his wildshapes or natural recovery of spell slots; a wizard his arcane recovery; and a cleric his Channel Divinity. That's all aside from hit dice healing, which if you have a bard, he has an entire class feature dedicated to improving.
I don't understand why people are so wary of an hour long short rest... I had to convince my party to let my lvl 2 fighter who got half his health taken down and used his second wind to rest before heading into a FUCKING GOBLIN CAMP in a group with no dedicated healer... It ended in me saying ok well I'm gonna fucking rest by this tree whether you guys want to leave me or not lol
@@miguelsuarez-solis5027 Well, it's actually more logical than the reverse problem, which is people wanting to long rest after every single fight so it takes us a week to clear a fairly small dungeon. It's like Yes, please, let's just sit here in this very dangerous area for the next 20 hours, please (I seriously wonder if some people have read the rule that you can only take one long rest per day). Or better yet, let's stop in the middle of chasing someone for a long rest and then resume the chase.
Grave domain clerics can prevent enemy crits and if they heal someone that is at 0 hp no roll is required as the maximum of the spell is gained. Not to mention a 30ft range spare the dying.
I have an Aasimar Grave Cleric and he is pretty clutch. One of the best spells for him to use is Life Transference. He takes half of the necrotic damage, and the party member who's down is up with 32 hp just like that.
Zeb Fischer yeah? I love it. That's the time they truly need it, when their character is fighting for their life. You also can be sure you're maximizing your efficiency :p
I played one in my last campaign and i found it to be the most useful Cleric because if my ally has a handful of hit points and i know even healing them the next hit they take will down them i can spend my turn dealing damage or performing an action. Then on my next turn after they make another attack and then take that additional hit and go 0 HP i can bring them up with 60 Hp from a fifth level cure wounds. That allowed us to make two more attacks and heal far better than any other cure spell i can think of for fifth level instant healing. Also crit removal ability is amazing in boss fights.
@@phatcavy98 How can you bring them to 60? A fifth level Cure Wounds heals for 5d8+Spellcasting Mod maximized, so 40 + Spellcasting Mod, even with 20 Wisdom that's 45 heal. What am I missing? Where does the extra 15 come from?
My Ranger teams up with the Bard to handle all the healing needs. Bard as the full caster has Healing Word, Greater Restoration, Mass Cure Wounds, Regeneration, and Raise Dead, while I have Cure Wounds and Lesser Restoration, so I handle the quick mid-combat pickups and early-mode debuffs, while they can handle the more grievous emergency stuff and burst healing. The rogue also helps out with their Healer's Kit and Healer feat.
Human cleric: Feat: Ritual Caster (Wizard): Find Familiar: Owl. Cast 'guidance', 'resistance' or 'cure wounds' through the familiar to any injured party member with 100 ft. Don't worry about the owl getting attacks of opportunity because of their ability 'flyby'.
Alternatively, you can take 3 levels of celestial warlock and use chain pact for gift of the ever living ones, and the 2 2nd-level slots for extra upcasted cure wounds or the mighty Healing spirit.
There aren’t many times when guidance needs to be cast and you can’t be adjacent. Healing word makes using cure wounds with this trick a little less valuable. The biggest thing you gain with this trick is casting a resistance at range which can be useful in combat. I’ve not been in a situation yet where I can spend the concentration to give one player +12.5% on a saving throw roll. But, I do imagine there are situations where that could be useful. However, if that’s your goal any paladin can do that for the whole party if they’re within 10ft. It’s a trade off .... but a healing focused paladin could be providing a 20% bonus to all saving throws for the whole party starting at level 6 with no need to spend an action. Resistance does average to 12.5% and only targets one ally and requires an action and uses concentration.
Life domain cleric one of my favorite tricks when the DM thought he had us on the ropes was to channel divinity and bring back up much HP as I could to the party then cast mass HW. Super easy way to cure 3+ people for a good amount of hit points. Also don't forget to cast death ward on yourself every morning!!
Grave Domain Cleric is also a really good healer if you want to look at it from the perspective of "No one in the party is going to die before I do" and "I'm going to debuff the enemy so that my allies can have an easier time". 1st level has the class feat "Circle of Mortality" which says any healing done to a creature at 0 hp, automatically uses the highest value. In addition, you get spare the dying for free and can cast it as a bonus action with a range of 30 feet. Domain spells you get are 1st: Bane, False Life 3rd: Gentle Repose, Ray of Enfeeblement 5th: Revivify, Vampiric Touch 7th: Blight, Death Ward 9th: Antilife Shell, Raise Dead A few options in the domain spells for dealing with enemies or ensuring that your allies can't die (like I said, not so much gonna keep the party topped up but no one is dying before the grave cleric does without their say so). Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave (A.K.A. Rogue's best friend) Choose a creature, until the end of your next turn, next time you or an ally attacks said creature, that creature is vulnerable to *ALL* of the damage from that attack, then the curse ends. Y'all were saying that being a healer you need to be able to contribute to the fight, I'd challenge you to find a better way for a healer to contribute some damage than giving your rogue or double smite stacking paladin double their damage rolled for free (The channel divinity has *NO* saving throw attached to it, it just happens when you say so) 6th level: Sentinel at Death's Door - As a reaction, if you or a creature within 30 feet of you gets crit, you can say nope, and turn it into a normal hit, also cancelling any effects triggered on a critical hit, a number of times equal to your wisdom modifier. 8th level: Potent spellcasting - Wisdom modifier for cleric cantrip damage. 17th level: Keeper of souls - When a creature dies within 60 feet of you, you or a creature within 60 feet of you regains hp equal to the dead creatures hit dice. Once used, can't be used until the start of your next turn (also note that it doesn't take a reaction, again, according to the ability it just happens when you say so). Grave Domain might not have been made to be the most amazing healer ever, but given the number of ways you can say no to death, reduce enemy damage output, add your own damage to the encounter, and still be able to pick up your generic healing spells if you want to, I'd say that the Grave Domain is a great choice to be the parties healer.
when the other party members had their hp in the single digits, my grave domain cleric would first finish them with an attack to get them at 0 hp and then heal them with higher slots for max healing
@@German-md1xc if you've ever seen the anime bungou stray dogs, that method sounds very much like the doctor's ability in the show. She's able to heal pretty much anything but in order to do so she has to inflict a fatal wound to them and heal them in the same moment, so she'd basically take a bone saw to their leg or something and go "this is gonna hurt" Then the next scene would show the patient glowing with health while trying to process.
Thank you for your insight. Much appreciated. I'm playing a cleric. I started to figure out that Aid is a very useful spell. I learned a lot of what my class should and should not be doing.
Thank you so much, I have been wanting to play the "Video game healer" and it just doesn't work, because ... Math. I think this is going to help our table a ton.
Haha after a very near TPK situation, my party has learned to appreciate my role as the healer. The Hexblade fell three times and was healed. The Bardbarian fell twice and was healed. The Rogue fell once and was healed, in addition to repeatedly receiving Guidance to pick very high DC locks. It's frustrating not getting to use my damage dealing spells, but the bonuses from Life Domain kick ass. Proficiency with medium armor and a decent DEX make him a hard target too, so risking an Opportunity Attack here and there for Touch spells is a decent gamble.
I totally agree. We are playing Storm Kings Thunder and I took a Storm Herald - Tundra Barb. Since we are fighting giants that almost never miss with my bonus action on every round I am distributing Temporary Hit points which have saved our lives on numerous battles. Out of our group which consist of a Paladin, Mage with Healers feat, and Ranger with Healing Word (from Mage initiate) and Goodberries my Barbarian is the most efficient healer. With the bonus action everybody around me gets the effect of a healing potion every 2 rounds and after the battle is over you run up to the rest of the members and top up their Temporary HP before your rage ends,
@@justanotherdayinthelife9841 reminds me of the time our level 3 warforged barb with 41 hp and 22 ac ran around the whole place after all four of us got dropped and he was the last guy left so he started running around doing medicine checks to stabilise us, good times
Im playing a dream druid controller for a similar reason. My party is fairly large, having 4 other people, so I took the healer feat to save me a couple spell slots aswell. So far its been working really well, save a couple slots for things like spike growth, healing spirit and party utilities like locate object, detect magic and purify food and drink. Also sometimes I even get to throw a moonbeam down :) lol
I totally agree. Due to a player being absent from my game for about eight weeks, I'm test driving an Aasimar Celestial Pact Warlock as an NPC for a bit. I really like the CPW. I built with no Eldritch Blast, but it works just fine without EB. I could totally see playing one as a long term character. They have plenty of effective healing and some really nice offense.
@@crimfan mine is a rogue(trickster)/warlock(celestial). I use EB as my real offense most of the time, and heal the party or get party members out of trouble while healing. My bane has been AOE spells and effects, but i survive most everything else easily.
@@terrybowman5870 I test built a straight CP Warlock. No EB meant lots of invocations for other things. Due to the theme of the character I took Speak with Dead and the language things. Pact of the Tome means a ton of cantrips. I also took Shillelagh and Greenflame Blade for a surprising melee punch. I'm sure in a charop sense, this is likely to be bettered, but it's really thematic and fits well as a support caster in a party who has some nifty primary damage/control spells via things like Wall of Light or Sickening Radiance. I generally prefer any NPCs to be really easy to run, which is why I thought Warlock was a good choice.
i feel like celestial warlock and divine soul sorcerer got missed out in this vid, they can pack a punch and heal due to having cleric and og class spells available
By the time you have Spirit Guardians, the Inflict Wounds spell isn't much better than attacking with a cantrip (unless you're attacking somebody that is paralyzed with Hold Person).
You also can restore your own spell slots the divine soul gets a bonus to healing the party. Also you can still pack things like fireball and cone of cold for a bit of additional damage when need be.
I'm doing Devine Sorcerer also, but Fierna Tiefling... kind of a cultist of a life & death god. Sacrificing higher spells to twin lower spells is so economical!
Doing the raw math the best healer in the game is still the life cleric, but the divine soul sorcerer is 2nd. Hell Id even say divine soul sorcerer is the bet support class in the game. Imagine not only polymorphing the dying fighter BUT also the dying paladin
Any character with 1 level of Life Cleric + Healing Spirit is basically the best healer. But I particularly like the Lore Bard/Life Cleric because you can proactively mitigate damage with Cutting Words/Counterspell, has some free extra healing with Song of Rest, and having maxed out Charisma naturally boosts Inspiring Leader.
@@M0ebiusNa man its no use using healing spells outside of combat. Thats a bad way to use ur spellslots. I do agree lore bard is a good support class but imho straight buffing a Divine soul can do better. Im playing both atm currently haha
Yannick D What you say is true for every healing spell in 5E except for Healing Spirit, particularly when you combo it with Disciple of Life. The spell lasts 10 rounds, healing for (1d6+4)x10 or 75 HP on average for EACH party member. That’s a 2nd level spell that heals more than a Heal spell at level 6, and virtually guarantees full health for the entire party each casting at tier 1 and 2 play. It’s ESPECIALLY good if you don’t have an hour to spare for short rest and allows the party to keep on powering through.
Yannick D It really depends on your dm. If they're the kind of one (or two max) encounter for long rest DM, then there's no use for healing spells outside of combat, but if they're grindier dms who have four, five encounters per long rest, you'll need that out of combat lifegain to keep on going.
Shepard can heal the whole party by level with a lv1 spell slot. Granted this does require more teamwork and coordination but you can out heal a life cleric at higher levels as long as your unicorn spirit is out.
Pedro Augusto De Oliveira Moreira played a Divine Soul Sorcerer (our only Caster and support). Was very hard until level 4, when I got Inspiring Leader. The first day it was worth 96 hitpoints... try healing that much xD my new fav feat!
I honestly would place the Divine Soul Sorcerer above the Druid as far as healers go. You get all the utility/buff spells from two of the largest spell lists in the game as well as access to 95% of the best healing spells. For my favorite healer build I prefer Life Cleric 2/ Divine Soul Sorcerer 18. Great armor, expansive spell choices, and lots of metamagic goodness.
I prefer Divine Soul 17/Life Cleric 1/Hexblade 2. You still get level 9 spells and improved healing, but you also have good at-will damage and nova potential.
@@M0ebius that's an interesting idea but then you lose out on the 18th level sorcerer ability. And it's not like you don't have enough ability to deal damage with access to the entire sorcerer spell list....
a few things, Greater Restoration can remove a curse as well, the Inspiring Leader feat gives temp hp equal to your lvl + Cha modifier and requires a 13 in Cha before to can take it
@@zynthio I had understood it as the number on your hit dice, which is wrong. When I usually hear people refer to hit dice, outside of summoning, it is their d6, d8, etc.
I am quite enjoying college of glamour bard for healing my party, especially at lower levels. Mantle of inspiration's temporary hit points has saved my party quite a few times as a mere bonus action (plus gives me the chance to roleplay my main action to be so magnificent, it saves the day). Also the chance for people to also use their reaction to relocate if they're in a bad position can be spectacular. Add the Mantle of Majesty's use of command to the spells for preventing an enemy dealing damage and you get situations where you can crowd-control your way to victory. You know you're living the bard life when you healing word an ally up, then pose so dramatically that the whole party are inspired to move with renewed vigour...
I played AD&D back in the late "70s, early "80s. I am finding it fascinating on how the game has evolved. We did play one campaign were one of two clerics was a dedicated healer. She made it clear at the beginning that is what she wanted. She played her character well, rarely engaged in combat, but instead kept the party healed and protected, using spells proactively. She definitely was a fun asset to the party.
@sum body It depends on the party size. In a large party, 1d4+5 to 6 targets is an average of (2.5+5)*6 = 45 HP for a bonus action 3rd level spell slot, vs. 3d8+5 (average 18.5) to one target for a 3rd level Cure Wounds. As a Life cleric, your healing spells do an extra 2+spell-lvl, so that would be an extra 5, making it heal for 11 to 14 per target (with 20Wis). That's an average of 75 HP across 6 targets. That makes Mass Healing Word *really* shine if you can catch most of the party in the 60 ft range (centred on yourself), same with other subclasses that buff your heal spells. If more than 1 person is at 0HP after a big AoE, it's amazing. OTOH, the small amount of HP (without class buffs to it) might not make the difference between someone surviving one more hit or not, depending on what you're up against, and it does scale poorly with upcasting (only an extra 1d4 per level). Mass Cure Wounds is better in a lot of ways (but only 30 ft radius at 60 ft range, vs. 60 ft range centred on self).
Summon Animals: "You summon fey spirits that take the form of beasts ... " fey creatures, not animals, and upon "death" they just return to their realm, so not really "undruidy" :)
I've used a Combat Medic build that is basically a human variant FIghter: Battle Master [ranged weapon] with the Hermit background, the Rally, Maneuvering Attack & Pushing Attack Maneuvers, a Healer's Kit and the Healer feat. They can get someone out of taking death saving throws with one hit point gains from their healing kit, decent once per long rest heals per use of Healer's Kit, Rally can bolster with a few extra temporary hit points, they can brew healing potions & antivenom, and use Pushing Attack to knock enemies which are in adjacent squares away from fallen allies to stave off double-fails on death-saving throws, or allow them to book it with Maneuvering Attack.
Life Transference from Xanathar's is an amazing spell for lots of healing. The Cleric can take it, but also surprisingly the wizard can take it as well. You take 4d8 necrotic damage but heal someone for double what you did to yourself. While that may seem like a drawback and it definitely is, but mostly back-line spellcasters will have this. It heals for 8-48 with an average of 32 which is a lot for only a third level spell. Additionally if you are a life cleric you add the extra heals and with the level 6 ability you heal yourself as well. My players have pulled this out in some dire situations and have turned combats 180 with a spell like this, great spell !
I started playing a Divine Soul Sorcerer some months ago, who then took levels in Celestial Warlock for story reasons. They’re actually a really nice healer and blaster caster combo, I’ve found. My planned 14/6 split lets me get 7th/3rd level spells, which should cover pretty much every healing spell I’ll need, and I’ll have 7d6 Healing Light die to spend too. It’s a really unconventional build, but after this vid I think I can pick up Inspiring Leader to really help out, after I get CHA to 20. I also think this particular build is the weirdest wizard, considering they started with Ritual Caster and are kinda nerdy.
I'm a rogue thief with the healer feat in my main campaign, so some recognition for the feat is much appreciated. Being able to stab a fool on a main action while healing as a bonus action (using a healing kit is using an item so a thief can do it in a bonus action) feels extremely good
You guys should do in depth videos on the sub archetypes of each class. Like hexblade warlocks etc it would be very helpful and provide you with plenty of videos
I have made to much homebrew to post it all in a comment. Instead, here's a link to it all in Google Drive. drive.google.com/folderview?id=1DDD-SiWKTZlRdTu7k29YOuy6BwRGZFxB Please feel free to give feedback! 😁
I like your look on preventive healer. Actually love support or heals chas myself, and often found myself in many clutch moments where I felt like my slots get used quite fast. So this has been pretty useful for me. :)
I think I'm too paranoid to be a dedicated support character. It's all well and good to be able to help your teammates, but what happens when you get stuck on your own? I find that I gravitate towards characters that can stand strong even when their teammates aren't around.
I'm happy that I talked with my healer before our campaign started. I play a wizard and we talked that I will take whatever group survivibility spells I have access to so our cleric can also cast a good chunk of their spell slots as blasty damage
One thing you have to think about when playing a celestial warlock as a healer is that cure wounds is actually really good cause you heal extra hit points when you upcast.
For emergencies yes, that automatic cast of CW at spell level 2 to 5 for most of their levels is good, but I feel like what they said about CW still applies. Celestial Warlock's level 1 and 10 abilities are where it really shines in the healing department. Lay on hands out to a range of 60 feet as a bonus action, and party wide temp HP at the end of every rest. These are great when you consider the fact that Warlocks are the class that depend the most on forcing the party to take multiple short rests and burn their hit die on self healing. Honestly warlocks should be saving their spell slots for Restorations, Remove Curse, and Revivify. Beacon of Hope too if they can talk their DM into the Boros Guild background spells.
Thank you for mentioning the MMO play style. I am running into that outlook all the time up here. Many simply do not understand why D&D is not more like their MMO... like really.
Man it’s like you guys always know what vid I need! Trying to create a Divine Soul Eladrin Sorcerer (innate Fey magic, flashes brief colors when calling on different emotions for spells) and struggling with the balance of cleric heals / sorcerer damage. Thanks for helping to clarify some of the different healing spells to help prioritize and make some decisions! Off to watch your Sorcerer vid again too!
I am learning tons from Dungeon Dudes about how to play this game intelligently. You are clear on your own stances but you also provide discussions amongst yourselves enough that the viewers never gets the pigeonholed version. Quality approved!
How to have the party always have a healer: make a healer NPC for a campaign or one shot that betrays them in the end. That way players will subconsciously lean towards healing within the party as opposed to relying on an NPC the GM has them tag along with
I play supports in almost every game not just dnd, just whatever game I'm playing where they are available, I've played hundreds upon hundreds of hours across countless supports. I'm really happy that you guys touched on how great supports play. Always 1 step ahead, think critically, resource management, I like to take some damage spells here and there and hell even whip out that battle angel sometimes for that sweet sweet "pre-emptive healing" should you kill something or get them within killing rage for your other dps to capitalize, also recognizing win conditions to control the flow of battle acutely will go far. Though I am newer to dnd universe so you did teach me a thing or two, I was catching that learning curve plating support here so thank you for that, I love utility, it tends to be a very unsung hero in several situations but it's based on the user and have already startedeaning more for utility and prevention though all sorts of shenanigans and buffs before healing in my dnd play
Fighters, Barbarians, and Paladins all have abilities that draw aggro via nerfing attacks not against them or forcing an enemy to fight them. Sure you can't keep permanent agro of a mob, but a boss or a few enemies? Totally doable.
Could be an interesting video... were you thinking theorycrafting or tactics? Battlefield control is definitely the most important part of being a tank in 5e, in my experience - managing chokepoints, and controlling where the actual melee is happening is key
Spells like command and compelled duel make tanking a lot closer to traditional tank roles, personally I favor a straight paladin or paladin mc for tanks because of such spells
Great video! I haven’t played a healer in D&D but I do play a Healer at my local Live Action Role Play (larp) and very early on it was a struggle because I couldn’t get the numbers out. Now mid way through progression I’ve tapped into more crowd control and buff spells and boy does it make a difference. You guys nailed it, it’s not necessarily about healing big numbers but it’s also about support and DAMAGE MITIGATION!
You mention the Lore Bard as being great for healing options, and I'd agree for out-of-combat healing (healing spirit), but I think the Glamour Bard is absolutely huge at disaster aversion with their level 3 ability Mantle Of Inspiration. Decent temporary hp to (probably) the whole party as a bonus action is nice (and lessens the need for Inspiring Leader feat since you can do it before each short rest and get your inspirations back if you're level 5+), but the free disengage movements can avert a ton of bad situations, kind of like a mini Scatter. If someone is getting overwhelmed, Mantle of Inspiration basically gives them an entire turn (disengage action + movement), PLUS temporary hp, as only PART of your bonus action. The relative abundance of bardic inspiration dice after level 5 makes it fairly easy to throw around preemptively, unlike using spell slots.
IMO, Healing word has 2 primary functions for 2 completely different types of builds: 1. Dedicated healer - it's an 'oh crap I can't get to him this turn' way of saving someone and/or hopefully buffering their HP to keep them up (much like what you guys mentioned - primarily for raising someone) 2. Non-Dedicated healer - It's a great way to self-heal or provide backup healing for those that tend to be using their actions for dealing damage/control/etc. but still want to be able to reach everyone on the field with the occasional heal, or hit themselves with it (like a mediocre lay on hands). I know that every character I build with access to it takes it, because it's too good of an 'oh crap' spell.
I'd say Healing Word is most useful at lower levels. My level 13 Life Domain Cleric has never used Healing Word (though does keep Mass Healing Word prepared) because typically if I need an 'oh crap' spell I have better options with Preserve Life channel divinity, Mass Healing Word, Mass Cure Wounds, or Heal. Healing Word is a great emergency revival spell but that's about all it's useful for.
One of the characters I am playing is a Dwarven 8th level Hunter Ranger/4th level War Cleric. Basically a front line badass that can heal and buff allies.
At level 6 your life cleric would be able to healing word at 60ft for 11.5-12.5 average while also doing an action or casting a cantrip or use cure wounds for 13.5-14.5 average (those totals assume the player cleric can use 3 points of healing). Those extra two points of healing aren’t all that exciting when you think about being able to also cast a cantrip. Hell, you could be throwing resistance on players for +12.5% saving throw while also healing. Damage prevention is functionally the same as damage healing.
Grave Cleric makes an amazing healer, especially if you build them tanky. First, they get spare the dying as a free cantrip with a 30 ft range and castable as a bonus action. They can also give max hp on heal spells if the friendly characters hit points dropped to zero. If you use life transferrence that equals 32 hit points of healing with a 30 ft range. Couple this with Vampiric touch and you can suck life force from enemies and then throw it to wounded allies.
Healers in video games and similar: You get healed! You get healed! You get healed! Everybody gets healed! Healers in 5e: Here's a vaccine so you don't die.
thank you so much for this advises, I am a newbie and I'm starting with a light domain cleric (that's for my lore) and I'm running out too fast of healing spells, but it's good to see that I can do even more with all of the spells I have. We have a paladin too, and he takes all the damage he can and I'm trying to find ways to stop or reduce the amout of damage the monsters or enemies can do to us, but didn't think about protecting them before the battles, and thanks to you I can see so much more posibilities, 'cuz, as you say, I don't have to heal someone that doesn't have recieve damage at all. Well, now I'll talk with the other party members to help me help them, we are: a paladin, a warlock, a fighter, a monk, a wizard, a ranger, an NPC barbarian, and me, a cleric. We used to have other 2 rangers but they left. Well, thank you so much for open my eyes to see this :)
Life Cleric 1/Dream or Shepherd Druid 3. Or Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard that takes Goodberry and Healing Spirit. Grabbing the feats Healer and Inspiring Leader for extra healing.
It is good, but actually using it in combat is only mildly effective at low spell levels at least. I find myself more tempted to throw down a spike growth over a large group of enemies to both deal and prevent damage. And having crucial healing occur their turn can be tricky if they arent able to move and are forced to move the spirit to them. But thats only coming from a level 7 dream druid, with no life dip yet.
@@zebfischer6088 as a monk, I've dipped into path of the grave. That 30 feet Spare the Dying is amazing, and thematically it fits with the Way of the Long Death. But I can see, if your master allows for the 10 d6s to the whole party for Healing Spirit, that +4 to each roll being very relevant from life domain. Also, Healing Word is a great way to keep everyone alive and kicking.
Awesome video. I was thinking a few weeks ago on not only how to become a dedicated healer, but also the challenge of not doing any damage in battles yet still become an effective contributor to the party.
For anyone who wants to see the drama of a character learning the hard way not to heal every scratch and bruise, I highly recommend the anime “Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash”. Mary’s backstory is so sad.
I’ve played healing roles for most of the campaigns I’ve been in. It was getting stale, but after the divine soul was realised, I was instantly exciting again. It’s really rewarding and the parties I’ve been in have always been grateful and friendly. Not to mention the role playing potential.
There's supposed to be a way to help other party members heal using the Medicine skill, but those mechanics aren't really called out in the PHB. Strangely, it's clearer how a poisoned or diseased character can recover on their own (the Recuperating Downtime activity) than how the Medicine skill might at least give Advantage on Constitution saves against disease or long-term poison. Can it be done as part of a short rest? A long rest? What's the DC for the Medicine check? Can Medicine ever help with spending hit die on a rest? How? Not saying the skill is useless, just pointing out that the mechanic needs to be defined if non-magical heals are going to be used. I came across this while theorycrafting how to make a somewhat effective Healer just using a background. Acolyte, Soldier, or Hermit with the Medicine skill, buy a healer's kit, proficiency with Herbalism and buy the Herbalism kit. You should be able at that point to stabilize a dying character withou a roll, diagnose disease or poisoning (discuss mechanics with DM) at advantage, help treat and give advantage on saves against poison or disease, have advantage to treat a limited set of wounds that keep damaging every turn without a Medicine check, and brew a steady stream of half-priced potions of healing for the Party. That might be enough to help get the party to 4th level and then take the Healer feat. It certainly doesn't hurt.
For stabilizing a character bleeding out... I think the best choice is always the Necromancy Cleric Cantrip: Spare the Dying... But that's just my opinion on the matter.
@@Xel963 Hey, a cantrip is great. But if nobody wants to take a class that would be able to cast it, the Healer's kit is the next best thing. My little thought exercise was an attempt to see how much you could accomplish before you started to cast spells, and I was a little surprised at how much you could squeeze out of just a background.
Thanks for this video! So useful as I'm about to play a cleric for the first time in a week! I'm playing an arcana cantrip monkey cleric :'D This was really useful for me to try to figure out how to play a cleric
I'm playing a mountain dwarf forge cleric with wisdom being my 4th lowest stat. STR and CON were boosted above it from racial and I put the one 18 I rolled into CHR. We play with a bonus 1st level feat, which I choose to be Inspiring Leader (thus the high CHR) and I have been casting Aid before every adventure. I managed to get Adamantine Plate and by dipping 1 level into fighter for the Defensive Fighting Style, I have a 24 AC at level 7. I'm giving our front line fighters and our rogue 11 temp hps plus the 10 from Aid, while the others still get the 11 from Inspiring Leader. I have rarely cast Cure Wounds in combat, instead using spell slots for Spiritual Weapon or Spiritual Guardians. The proactive approach has been doing wonders for our party going through Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Great video guys - keep the wonderful advice coming.
Ha! Meanwhile I'm playing a paladin of redemption taking damage for my party (mostly for our squishy elven bard) and then heal myself. Usually the bard and my paladin team up to heal the entire party.
I'm playing party healer, but, for the first time i'm not doing it as a cleric. Most of this video talks about things that I'm already doing. I'm glad I'm doing it correctly. There were also a few new ideas for me, too. Looking at you Polymorph and Inspiring Leader. Great video, guys. Thanks for posting.
Currently level 7 dreams druid and I love this feat. It currently is a more consistent level 2 cure wounds, but its basically free. I've saved so many spell slots, and thereby also my teammates using it.
I am currently playing a Wizard with the Healer Feat and about to start a campaign as a Druid with the Healer Feat. At low levels it is amazing and it has some scaling. Perfect if you want to be the secondary healer as a class like Wizard or Fighter who doesn't normally heal, or just to save your spell slots for other stuff. Very underrated feat imo.
@@thomaskirk9380 I like the idea of taking it on a wizard. Blasting from the backlines, then if an ally gets low they can fall back to you and without wasting a precious slot you can buy them a couple more rounds, preventing them from targeting you in the meantime
Pro tip: party members don't appreciate it when you use create undead instead of raise dead. It's not my fault that they didn't ask what type of cleric I was when I joined... In all seriousness though, necromancy focused clerics are great damage mitigators. Ray of enfeeblement blows any of the cure spells out of the water because the more damage an enemy does, the more damage you negate
How to be a healer in D&D: Step 1: Be a Life Cleric, because you don't want to do *ANYTHING ELSE* besides healing. Step 2: Take only healing spells, because you're the healer, don't branch out into a way that's fun. Step 3: Take tons of verbal abuse from _That Guy_ if you don't heal him every time he suicidally charges into a fight. *CONGRATULATION YOU'RE NOW DEAD INSIDE... I MEAN THE PARTY HEALER 🎉*
We have a That Guy barbarian. Hits everything to see what happens. I have to grapple him at least once a session to prevent mayhem. Then he wants to take a short rest to get HP back. SMH.
kyubii972 This is less about me, I've only played in a few games and non of my characters were healers, it more a call out of how some groups force someone to be "the white mage" the character that exists purely for healing and buffing the party, while not being allowed to express their character outside of that. It's a trend that doesn't seem super common in 5e since 5 of the 12 classes have access to healing spells and abilities across all of their archetypes, and Warlocks and Sorcerers can be healers if they take the proper archetype, and an Aasimar character has access to mild healing naturally, regardless of class.
Grave cleric gives life cleric a run for their money on healing. The ability to grant highest roll possible healing, to spare the dying from a distance as a bonus action, to cancel crits, and to heal out of turn when an enemy dies. Plus the great debuff domain spells they get. I think they might actually out shine Life domain if you’re trying to be more proactive in damage reduction.
This video has been amazing advice for my shepard druid in OOTA. I play a deep gnome who uses pebbles to cast spells and all my summons are piles of pebbles. I focus healing specials and strategies that you have given me and allowing our paladin to heal himself or cure madness. We have been flying through the camapign successfully. You guys help me make my all time favorite character. Thank you dudes
I just fucking love how people like you are so passionate about this. I fucking love it. I am currently working on a weird synth song that is really about a Curse of Strahd campaign that I played, and as I am singing some of the parts of the songs, I have a hard time not crying. It makes me so emotional.
Wow! Great video! Starting a new campaign and this was very timely since we don't have a dedicated healer- gave me lots of ideas~ thanks for the wonderful content guys!
Divine Soul Sorcerers though. You get a bunch of utility spells as a Sorcerer, you get all the Cleric spells, and you get things like Empowered Healing to reroll bad dice! And you get a bunch of high damage spells!
Mass cure wounds is a fifth level spell, not a third. They were thinking of mass healing word, which heals the same amount if people but only for 1d4 + casting mod. Which to be fair, emphasizes their point even more
I play a grave domain cleric with 3 levels of paladin oath of devotion. i call it the life or death cleric. With Resurrection and true Resurrection, i can bring someone back to life within 100 to 200 years. The paladin gives lay on hands and can remove some debuffs. i can do damage, heal and make zombies and skeleton.
