The animal ally set of feats. What you need is
Nature Soul:A prerequisite. It is one of those minor skill boosting feats, works on knowledge(nature) and survival. level 1 or 3 is best.
Animal ally: Level 5 at the earliest, since it needs at least level 4.
Boon Companion: makes it so your companion isn't 3 levels behind and easily turned into hamburger. Level 7 at the earliest due to the other feats.
There is also a feat chain to grab a familiar. If you simply want a flank buddy... well, it can work in 2 feats (iron will and familiar bond). But that would obviously be far weaker, and riskier, than grabbing an animal companion. Even with more feats to improve it... it just doesn't advance besides a few numbers. It never gets feats... without multiclassing. At which point, you might as well forget familiar bond and take that instead.
For about the same number of feats you could grab a familiar. Iron Will to Familiar bond to Improved Familiar Bond. And Iron Will isn't a bad get for the Slayer as they don't have a high will save. If you want the Familiar to be more helpful in combat, you could give it the mauler archetype. If you don't care if it's very helpful at all, you don't even need Improved Familiar Bond.
For about the same number of feats you could grab a familiar. Iron Will to Familiar bond to Improved Familiar Bond. And Iron Will isn't a bad get for the Slayer as they don't have a high will save. If you want the Familiar to be more helpful in combat, you could give it the mauler archetype. If you don't care if it's very helpful at all, you don't even need Improved Familiar Bond.
But there are problems with a familiar.
First, is health and replacement. An animal companion is generally more durable than a familiar, even with the slayer's higher HP. You might solve that with that one feat that applies to maulers... but that implies 2 more feats (improved familiar and the hp feat). Also, when a familiar dies, it needs money to replace, which animal companions don't.
Also, familiars can't get feats normally. They don't actually advance in HD (as shown by NPC familiar statblocks that have been published). You would likely need 2 eldritch guardian fighter levels to solve that problem... and then we get back to the multiclass issue, and also forced to ask 'why bother with the feats to get familiars when you get one anyway?'. Without feats, the familiar is mostly restricted to just being a flank buddy.
are they wanting a combat pet or just a pet? going the familiar route can get a +4 to will saves if they are okay with a hedgehog.
You can't combine Improved familiar with the mauler archetype. The mauler hp feat is pretty good if you go mauler though.
But the thing is that companion feats aren't as big of a win as they sound. By level 8, the companion will only have 7 hit die and 5 BAB. The Familiar meanwhile will have the slayer's 8 BAB and half the slayer's hit points, which should be fairly high. So, while the companion will have a few more feats, the familiar will have the equivalent of 3 weapon focuses in comparison. And this difference becomes more and more outstanding. At level 20 the companion will only have 12 BAB, while the Familiar would have the Slayer's full 20 BAB.
You can't combine Improved familiar with the mauler archetype. The mauler jo feat is pretty good if you go mauler though.
Ah, I conflated the names for improved familiar and improved familiar bond. As in the upgrade feat to familiar bond that gives it the parts needed for mauler.
Obligatory: Brawler, brawler, brawling. Maybe we should buy Paizo a thesaurus for christmas?
are they wanting a combat pet or just a pet? going the familiar route can get a +4 to will saves if they are okay with a hedgehog.
Yeah, we really need to know what the player actually wants. If it's just a pet, then you don't even need the final feats like boon companion or Improved familiar bond, though those are still good picks, if you've already gone that far in.
And is there a specific kind of animal the player wants? Because if they want a fox, they need to go one way, but if they want a lion, they need to go the other.
And is there a specific kind of animal the player wants? Because if they want a fox, they need to go one way, but if they want a lion, they need to go the other.
Is there a feat I missed after Animal Ally that grants a big cat?
Is there a feat I missed after Animal Ally that grants a big cat?
And is there a specific kind of animal the player wants? Because if they want a fox, they need to go one way, but if they want a lion, they need to go the other.
No, I think I just goofed. So, that's a point against animal ally. Your player has to want one of the picks from that fairly short list.
Do you mind if this trained dog is a pug? This will cut a feat if you reflavor a rat or something;
Do you mind if this trained dog is a pug? This will cut a feat if you reflavor a rat or something;
If I were to reflavor anything to a dog, it'd probably be a fox. What's really weird is that there are rules sources that reference dog familiars, but none have actually been added to the game.
animal ally gets a wolf, so that's probably your best option for a wolf.
You can't combine Improved familiar with the mauler archetype. The mauler hp feat is pretty good if you go mauler though.
you can if you just get a fiendish, etc, version of your old familiar, basically just make sure the chosen improved familiar is still animal typed.
at their level, I believe the familiar would gain DR and energy resistances quite substantial, along with a small amount of spell resistance.
improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind
Even if you get a fiendish X it still can't speak with other creatures of it's kind and thus can't be a mauler.
improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind
Even if you get a fiendish X it still can't speak with other creatures of it's kind and thus can't be a mauler.
oh, I see I misread a part of that line. lame.
I misread it so that if their type is animal it ALSO doesn't lose it's ability to speak with animals of it's kind. Been a while since I looked at this, since I never get familiars. Sorry.
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If your character is Orc/Half Orc, you could pick up the Beast Rider feat (not to be confused with the Beast Rider archetype) instead of Boon Companion. It only boosts the AC by 2, leaving you still one level behind, but it gives you some good options you can use instead of the standard list.
Prerequisites: Animal companion or mount class feature, character level 7th, half-orc or orc.
Benefit: Select one of the following creature types: elephant, pteranodon, rhinoceros, stegosaurus, or triceratops. Add this creature type to your list of possible animal companions or mounts. When summoning a creature of the selected type to serve as a mount or companion, treat your effective druid level as if it were two levels higher (to a maximum of your character level). If the creature is large enough for you to ride, it gains the combat training general purpose (see Handle Animal) at no cost.
If you can get a familiar that can take any archetype, consider the Figment archetype. Although it only gets 1/4 (vice 1/2) of your hit points, its death in combat just means that you lose your familiar until the next morning.