Nah back in the old days, everyone would heal themselves, thankfully they removed spam healing.
Armour: You'll want armour with +10 agility, and +10 armour(if you can swing it). With AC fixed, +armour really helps, but personally I still count the +10 agility as more important on the item. You may also want DSM of particular types to help you resist, keep in mind that you may get stuck with them on if you're cursed. However, if you're in a curse free zone, switching DSM's is a viable resist type, though quite heavy.
Also, bags of great holding are invaluable. They can store an extremely large number of items(based on weight), and cut down the weight of the items while they're in the bag. My stone giant has around 10 bags of great holding, and they're so handy.
As for weapons, you'll probably end up using a lot of mithril swords. Diamond swords are preferable if you can find a smith, but generally mithril swords are easier to acquire. Elemental blade scrolls can be handy, but apparently they wear your weapon out fast, so don't use them too freely.