Hi there cool people of Skyrim,

I'm thinking of starting my 2nd character as a pure Healer. A guy who doesn't hurt others, you know, at least directly. Obviously, I'll find myself a partner early in game to protect me while receiving my heals. So far the Skills I see myself using are Healing & Healing Hands because these 2 are the most cost effective healing spells, are these just it? And maybe some Wards? Does anyone actually use Wards?


Has anyone tried this?
How did it go?
Any comments/suggestions are welcome.


I do not intend to use any offensive skills though, so Conjuration and all those dark magic Necromancy & Illusion stuff is out; punching with my fist is as far as I'll go. I'll be a pure Healer who is looking to join Stormcloaks and see it through (complete it because I havn't done any Civil War quests on my first). Also want to avoid this Dragonborn thing if possible, just be a normal guy, joining army for a good cause or something.. got knocked on the head pretty hard when I was crossing the border.

So you're going to have your followers do all the work?

Correct.

Well then, here's a suggestion to you.

Apparently, followers do not level up anymore at the time you get them, meaning they are fixed at the level you are which at the time of aquiring them.

If you plan do to this, I suggest getting to about 40 first. Unless you want a tough challenge, hey go for it.

I like the idea myself.

I thought Followers level with the player in term of Health, Stamina, & Magicka, but not Skills. And for Melee Skills, the damage only increase by 0.5% a level? So I thought that's negligible?

Oh ok then.

My Follower levels up with me, it's probably just random complainers.

However, you have to start the Main Quest to be able to complete the Civil Quest chain.

My Follower levels with me also.

I had a discussion about playing as a pacifist in the Oblivion forum. There's a link to a discussion by someone who did it that I found very helpful. One thing I remember is how important the Paralyze spell was. I'll see if I can find the link. Found it: Discord's pacifist build: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?511632-Where-I-Play-Oblivion-(as-a-Pacifist)

I wanted my first Skyrim character to be more of a Healer but it turns out I'm mostly healing my Follower and some NPCs see healing as an attack. I wish that didn't happen because I'd like to try that Healer build at some point. I can do it late game now...she's done enough killing and is just sick of it, etc. We'll see.

Is it just the Main Quest in Whiterun that is required?
Where in the Civil Quest requires this? damn, I thought I could get away with just being a simple guy in Skyrim, lol.


I'll have a look at your link. Thank you, Kicenna. It's nice to hear at least someone have tried
Do you remember which type of NPC see healing as an attack? I've actually tested it a bit and it seems Werewolves will treat Healing Hands directed at them as an attack, are there others as well?

well fists can do a fair amount of damage with the one handed perk that adds gauntlet damage to the equation. Take enchanting, smithing, and alchemy up really high and you can pretty much be any character type you want. I don't see the reason behind this build though... from a moral standpoint using companions is no different then using a bow, fists, summoning a dremora, or using illusion to get them to fight each other.

I would not invest in restoration school directly except for the perk to heal your stamina with your health. I'd enchant armor to reduce the cost of restoration to zero, allowing you to use grand healing and the most powerful ward spells for an unlimited time period. Y

I believe one that reacted badly was the traveling bard, name escapes me, maybe Tolsgar? Interesting, maybe he's a werewolf and that's why he travels? I stopped trying it after a few reacted badly so I wouldn't have to reload. I think guards are fine with it. I don't think Healing Hands or Heal Other heals the ill people we run into in an infirmary tent or temple or the warrens in Markarth. This is a skill I'd like to see have more meaning...healing others. It would be nice, but not necessary, to even earn a Septim or two for doing it...for a noble, for example and free to the poor. Maybe a speech option for no charge or the fee. It would be a nice touch.

I wanted to heal the sick soldiers in the tents... but it doesn't wrok. And I can't heal sick people in the temples either. It would be nice if you could... go on a healing quest to learn how to heal different ailments.

One of the problems with trying to be a pure healer is that the enemy will not ignore you, so you end up playing a tank that cannot fight back, at least some of the time.
I found it got old fast.
Whilst you can make unarmed worthwhile offensively I don't think it would feel right, for me at least.

It doesn't help that you can also heal certain enemies by mistake too, you need good aim!

Good luck clearing out dungeons and/or finishing the main quest

Followers do level, but most have a max level of 30-50. J'Zargo may go up to 81. See the linked doc at: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:J%27zargo

I'd like to try a Healer class too, but I think I'd take Illusion over pummeling someone with my bare hands.

Most likely I'd choose Imperial, for the Speech and Restoration boosts.

Alchemy would make sense from an RP perspective, but that may take more patience than I have.

Heavy armor & Smithing for the defensive protection, perhaps, for both me and my follower?

Gosh, looks like I'm gonna need some kind of offensive spells? Can Staff shoot something off them?
I picked it up once on my Warrior and couldn't do anything with it, but summon an Atronach with its enchantment or something?
How is the Staff used?

I wish you could, too. I tried playing a healer, but Lydia died and I would get killed. Plus my thief instincts tend to take over.

Look at the school of Illusion for spells that don't kill but can give you time to run the other way so you can play as pacifist as possible. Invisibility will let you hide as will a high Sneak skill. If you use a staff, you have to fill soul gems to recharge the staff and that involves killing. There are Calm and Fear spells, Paralyze and so on. Check into those and see how they can fit what your character wants to do.

I linked a three-parted video series in my thread, below in my signature.

Perhaps you'd like to play a classic Final Fantasy White Mage? They were allowed to attack despite being a healer. I'm not sure if you like modeling your characters after other fictional characters, but perhaps you could take a few hints from Rosa of FF 4? http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Rosa She was rocking with a bow and healing at the same time, and as far as I know, is probably one of the most powerful White Mages within the Final Fantasy mythos. It's totally your call, but it's probably how I'd handle being a healer.

Corect me if I'm wrong, but what if you lose your followers? I ended up without mine after I was flown to Skuldafrn, although tthat may be a bug. I'm really intrigued by this healer method.

Thank you for the Staff comments, Kicenna. I never knew that before, at least it's something to avoid.
I was thinking about that and Conjuration, but then I heard Conjuration in this game is related to Necromancy and messing with people's head isn't something I really like.


Thank you, Xalxitz. Your video is very intriguing. Is the character still alive and questing? I'm not so good at sneaking, I was thinking something like if someone is trying to kill me, I'll just heal myself/my team through it without hurting my enemies and let them die at the mercy of something else.


I feel cornered in. The mindset of using a Bow is really to take down an enemy before he sees you. I think the only tool I have left is a Shield?
Shield & Healing combination? Bashing/Pushing away someone with a Shield is merely self defense, even though it could accidentally kill them. It's got this Disarming Bash, too, which should be great. But the big problem is going to be my Stamina. Not to mention that both Shield & Spells, for some unknown reasons, are scripted to Left Hand.. so switching between these two are going to be very very frustrating which could lead to urge of killing..

I think he will make more videos about Felix the Peaceful Monk.
(All videos I linked in my thread don't belong to me, I just linked them there, so everyone can watch them)

Hmm, perhaps you could train in illusion far enough to use the Invisibility spell. Alternatively, you could make invisibility potions using alchemy. Of course, this is assuming you don't mind sneaking around.
What else? Hmm, in the Destruction school, there are cloak spells for each of the three elements that only harm people who come too close.

Hmm... I remember while I was low level in Fallout New Vegas, I'd follow the caravans for fire support until I was leveled high enough to support myself on my own. Perhaps you could try something similar?

I was planning to do this. I was going to use Restoration, for obvious reasons, Alteration for defense, and Illusion for crowd control. I think Illusion is the key here because it gives you a way to get rid of enemies without fighting them.