SOME ODD THINGS ABOUT HEALERS


* Every weapon or skill that healers can take to expert is either directly or at 
least anecdotally related to healing.

* Their starting scalpel is indeed a poor weapon yet is worth training to expert 
since knives offer by far their best ranged attack. And a crysknife is a very 
capable weapon in reserve to your quest artifact.

* Should you choose to play them that way, healers begin with every spell 
they'll need for the game, although obtaining a spellbook of Cure Sickness could 
be useful.

*Alternatively, healers can reliably cast all level 1 and 2 spells unskilled by 
XL9 with no robe and wearing GoP, assuming no other metal armor.

* Stone to flesh is most valuable when you forget it at 20K moves and gain
confusion on demand at the earliest possible point.

* Given their poor initial strength and gear, keeping your pet(s) and yourself 
healed is critical. Fortunately, healers are better and earlier equipped for 
this than any other role.

* It is probably a mistake to wear anything early that interferes with your 
ability to heal yourself.

* Healers have a special class of nemeses in the early game: monsters that 
regenerate as quickly or faster than a +0 scalpel can do damage. These include 
imps, homunculi and all lycanthropes. That's why healthy pets are important, as 
are advancing knives, identifying enchant weapon, being fast and, best of all, 
obtaining Gauntlets of Power.

* Healers are simultaniously the most powerful and most restricted spellcasters 
in the game. In fact, it could be argued they aren't spellcasters at all. Just 
healers.

* Healers tend to use their stethoscope compulsively and know all its tricks.

* Leather drums should be avoided since you can't use a stethoscope if you are 
deaf. Surprisingly, a depleted drum of earthquake no longer has this effect.

* Healers rarely have to burn a wish for dragon scale mail since every level of 
their quest is crawling with dragons. Reflection, a wand of undead turning and a 
tinning kit could all be useful. Especially reflection.

* Healing the damage you have received is a complement to the damage you can
inflict. This makes The Staff of Aesculapius a far more effective weapon than 
the numbers might suggest.

* It is not uncommon for a healer wielding The Staff to finish fighting a large 
number of monsters and find themself at full HP without having casted or 
quaffed.

* Somewhat off-topic, The Staff is a forgiving intelligent artifact. It will of 
course blast any neutral non-healer that wields it but then will immediately 
begin to repair the damage it has caused.

* Healers are quite literally and in every facet of their game, all about 
healing...


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