Valet familiar on a multiclassed Ranger and Teamwork feats.


Advice


So for fluff reasons, my current character is now Ranger8/Wizard1. I went for the valet familiar archetype since I also have Craft Wondrous Items (I know, I know), and noticed that the Teammate ability is pretty neat. (A valet is considered to have all the teamwork feats its master has.)

My current train of thought circles around the teamwork feat

Target of Opportunity:
Benefit: "When an ally who also has this feat makes a ranged attack and hits an opponent within 30 feet of you, you can spend an immediate action to make a single ranged attack against that opponent. Your ranged weapon must be in hand, loaded, and ready to be fired or thrown for you to make the ranged attack."

I have already made plans for creating a Greater Hat of Diguise, polymorphing my familiar into a small humanoid and giving her Bracers of Archery so that she can wield a bow and trigger Target of Opportunity.

When the feat mentions "hit", would an attack which overcomes the enemy's touch AC suffice, or is "hit" pathfinder lingo for "attack which overcomes AC"?

I'm also interested in the feat

Harrying Partners:
Benefit: "When you successfully use the aid another action to improve the Armor Class or attack roll of an ally who also has this feat, the benefit from aid another lasts until the beginning of your next turn."

Is there any way to grant a ranged Aid Another action? I could enter melee with my familiar, but that's something I want to avoid.

Answers or new ideas to use my familiar is much appreciated!


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"Hit" means that you equaled or exceeded their AC.

Check out the feat Covering Fire. Your familiar could aid another an ally and you would get the bonus as well. Can only use it to aid another their AC, though.


Ah, thank you. That means I should get her firearms to target touch if I want Target of Opportunity to be viable.

Covering Fire is an option, but I'm more likely to have her enter melee combat with Harrying Partners instead. +2 to all my attacks is more attractive than +2 AC.


Aid another would only work when the familiar is in melee with the monster and the monster is in melee with you. See the Aid Another text.


Aid Another wrote:
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action.

I am very probably being on the frontlines since I got more hp than our two casters combined. So that's not a very big problem. But do I need to be armed with a melee weapon for the enemy to be "engaged" in melee combat with me? Or is the enemy the only one who needs to be splitting my head with a greataxe?

I got spiked gauntlets so I'm technically in melee combat however one defines "engaged", but for future reference, if your ally needs to be fighting the enemy; can I aid someone who is unable to fight? (For instance paralysed/stunned)


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Those work.


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Most familiars are Tiny. This means they must enter the opponent's square to attack, and so provoke an AoO. Thus it would be wise to only do this while the hat is in use.

Your familiar has 1/2 your hit points, and probably a decent AC. They could mix it up with defensive fighting from a flanking position. The defensive fighting gets +2 (+3 w/enough acrobatics skill). If they are small, they loose less Dex, so their AC might be OK. Mage Armor can help them as well.

For attacking from a distance, there are some things that are Ranged Touch rather than Ranged AC. See Tanglefoot Arrow for a good choice. [They get entangled 2d4 rounds even if they save.]

/cevah


Tangleshot Arrow is exactly what I need! Now I don't have to deal with the -4 nonproficiency penalty for firearms, or worry about misfire.

The hat of disguise makes my familiar lose her natural armor, but I've already invested in a mithral breastplate for +6 to ac, and intend to cast Shield on her before fights.

Since Target of Opportunity isn't an ATTACK of opportunity, my familiar can go Total defense for +6 dodge every round, and when I trigger the feat for her, her attack triggers the feat for me.

Add Ironskin and a friendly caster with Stoneskin and... BAM. 38 AC, 10DR and +12 Attack against touch.

It's gonna cost me around 18k, but luckily I got Craft Wondrous Items.


Bestow Weapon Proficiency is not a Ranger spell, but is Wizard 2. Lasts 1 minute per level. Solves the non-proficiency issue. For 4,500 gp, get a wand that the familiar could UMD or you could use on it.

You do need to watch out for time limits on the hat. It used to be that such were considered continuous until you told them to change. PF makes them last for far less, using the CL of the item as though casting the spell. I don't agree with this, but most do. :-( It just takes a standard action every so often to renew the duration.

Besides Shield, you should look at Shield Companion (AA), and Shield Companion (ACG).

/cevah


Instead of the wand for 4,500 gp, I think I'll just get Lesser Bracers of Archery for a continuous duration.

And I didn't know that there might be a time limit on the hat.
3 minutes is still quite the amount of time for a combat encounter, so I guess I'll treat my familiar as always re-activating the hat until combat starts. That should work.

Lastly. Damn. I had looked into shield other and was considering buying a wand for it. Shield Companion* makes that a whole lot cheaper! Shield Companion* is less useful since I'll probably always use my swift/immediate for Target of Opportunity.

Thanks for the responses, your advice have been very helpful! (same goes to you, Korlos!)

Edit: I realized i just said "Shield Companion" twice. I meant that the higher level spell requires an immediate action to trigger, which I often won't have.


The AA version is a reduced target list version of Shield Other. It has no swift/immediate action options.
The ACG version does nothing until you spend the swift/immediate action.

Very different mechanics for different situations.

The Bracers of Archery, Lesser cost only 5,000 gp, so that is definitely better as long as you only want it for a bow.

Improved Familiar opens up some options, and some not only have hands, but even have bow proficiency. [Sprite.]

/cevah


Yes, the spells are essentially the same, but still quite different. And since they both last for hour/Cl, It could be a point to cast the higher level one just to have that extra option available.

I've looked into Improved Familiar, but it requires an Arcane caster level of atleast 3. I've got a Divine cl of 7 and an Arcane of 1, so that isn't an option.

But it is definitely something I'll consider for future characters, since magical knack + dip would make you qualify.


The higher level one only has one option. Swift/Immediate action to take all HP damage. It does not have the 1/2 damage option of the other spells.

/cevah


Ah, I just assumed that they would stack.
So that I could chose if I want to take the full damage or just half. I'm aware that the AC and Saves bonus won't stack, but the effects of both spells should stack, right?


Don't see why you cannot use both to take 1/2 damage & spend an action to take full damage. But it needs two spells.

/cevah

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