Healing Personified (3.5e Optimized Character Build)

Introduction
Summary::A cleric using only core material can make a passable healer sufficient for most adventuring parties. However, with carefully selected feats and a couple of prestige classes, your healing spells can far surpass the normal limits.

Race and Templates
Human

Classes
Cleric, Hierophant, Combat Medic, Contemplative

Spells, Powers, Items
All spells of the healing subschool, particularly cure spells

Progression
Starting scores using the elite array: str 8, dex 13, con 14, int 10, wis 15, cha 12

At level 20: Final Class Progression::Cleric 5 / Combat Medic 5 / Contemplative 8 / Hierophant 2

Highlights
There are many feats that boost your healing spells based on their spell level. With this build, you can automatically maximize and quicken cure spells, and empower them as well as long as they are not of the highest level you can cast. Magic of the land requires a successful knowledge (nature) check, so I'd recommend investing skill points in that beyond what's required for prerequisites.


 * Just as an example, by level 6 you can cast two Cure Moderate Wounds in a single round (one quickened for free), each healing exactly 22 HP for up to 44 healing per round.

Further Optimization
Nothing of note.

Side Notes
Contemplative is completely optional; some other choices for classes include Celestial Mystic (Book of Exalted Deeds), Divine Oracle (Complete Divine), Fist of Raziel (Book of Exalted Deeds), Prophet of Erathaol (Book of Exalted Deeds), Radiant Servant of Pelor (Complete Divine), Sacred Exorcist (Complete Divine), or Sentinel of Bharrai. In fact, you could choose just about any prestige class that gives almost full spellcasting. However, note that you may have to take out or rearrange feats to qualify for these classes. (The first two feats that can go are Magic of the Land and Augment Healing, followed by Prophecy's Shaper.)

You can actually flip this build around, and use many of the abilities with Inflict rather than Cure spells, allowing you to cast automatically Maximized Quickened inflict spells.

Limitations
The Mournland and other areas where healing spells are limited or do not work will limit your abilities strongly.

DM Counters
(Note by Edwin:) ''Make sure the player doesn't cheat with spontaneously casted cure spells. Metamagic abilities (like the Hierophant's Faith Healing or the Radiant Servant of Pelor's Supreme Healing) turn spontaneously casted spells into full-round actions. Use this to keep the player off balance: Swich between encounters that require a wide range of divine utility spells, and encounters where heavy healing is needed. When it is hard to determine how many cure spells are required for the day, the effect of Faith Healing and Supreme Healing are minimised.''

''If the healer prefers to stay back from the action and cast healing spells at range, use spells that block his line of effect, such as Wall of Force, or traps that for instance closes a door in his face. After a few encounters, the healer should have learnt to keep up.''

Actually, none of the healing-focused prestige classes are truly all that powerful, so don't be too hard on the player.