I've been digging through the forum for recommendations and opinions on the Drake Companion from Legacy of Dragons and it seems the main consensus is that its trash. It's certainly not powerful out of the gate, but I think its strength lies in its customization options.
For example, the drake gets every skill except Acrobatics, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, and Sleight of Hand, and Profession as class skills. With the Drake Powers, you can give it Scent, flight, powerful mental capacities, elemental damage, natural weapons that count as magic weapons. This means you can have a scholarly companion that can use wand, scrolls, and identify monsters; or a stealthy aerial assassin, or heavy DPS that bypasses resistances, or a bloodhound that hunts down clues. Basically, you can customize to be exactly what you want it be.
Now, the obvious drawback is that it doesn't really come online until about level 5 when you've got your first two drake powers and the size increase. However, I feel like the biggest complaint about the Drake Companion comes from the martial classes that either give up a boatload of class features or get a watered down version of the companion rather than from the Drake Companion itself, particularly the Cavalier. Giving up both Tactician and Banner for a "mount" that can't be mounted until the level 13 is poor design, imo, and even I can't polish that turd. However, it does open up options for the class that it wouldn't otherwise have.
Ultimately, I feel like people are looking at it to be an Animal Companion in combat when it's not supposed to be. There aren't any animals that get the Craft skill (and Master Craftsman to make magic items) or a bite that effects incorporeal creatures. Gotta play to the Drake Companion's strengths instead trying to make its weaknesses strong, imo.
Basically it's a tougher familiar. Heavy DPS is not going to be early - 9th or 13th level I think. The only resistance the natural attacks bypass easily is magic, which an animal companion can match and exceed with the Eldritch Claws feat. One attack which has ghost touch is nice but not something to build around. The only magic item they'll wear is one amulet or ring only which is actually worse than either a familiar or an AnC.
A shaman taking cleric buff spells might be able to make that DPS work at level 9.
As far as crafting goes keep in mind they're greedy and not entirely under the control of their 'charges'.
So yes, possibly a scholarly familiar type with a better ability to take a hit than most such. You're paying well above a fair price for that even for a shaman or druid.
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Keep in mind that in PFS, the rules for Animal Companions wearing magic items is much more restrictive - so at least one of the issues with Drake Companion is somewhat neutralized there.
They're still pretty trash considering what you could have instead, but if you're willing to GM credit it up to the levels at which they're actually decent, you could make a decent one.
familiar's are better craft helpers than the drake. They can be as smart and use all the skill too.
It should have just had scaling stat bonuses like every other pet option, and let the size be an added bonus with the obvious price of being harder to get through doors.
But no, they made every stat boost directly tied to size. Which means it gets actively crippled by archetype options that limit size so it can serve as a minor melee buddy/mount.
They could have just made this 'eidolon for nonsummoners, but we are locking in the base form and only giving you a few specialized evos'. If it did that (ie- keeping over arching scaling stat mechanics and such), then people would love it. People love the idea of getting a cool monster buddy, it is just that they don't want it to be garbage.
Drakes can also take the Eldritch Claws feat, which frees up a Drake Power, lol. Also, having a built-in Ghost Touch attack isn't really something you build around; it's something you take for when you fight ghosts while building attack/damage which works on everything else that's not incorporeal.
I'm not comparing them to familiars because familiars don't get their own feats, their HP is half of their master's, and the Drake Companion is overall better than a base familiar. Also, only the Shaman gets a familiar.
And I'm not talking about the drake as a "craft helper." I'm saying that the drake, who can actually take its own feats and is not limited to Animal Feats, can craft mundane items on their own (and magical items with the Master Craftsman/Craft Magic Item feats).
Like I said, their main drawback is that they start off very weak. At level 1, they've got no damage (1d3-1 is pretty much 1 damage per turn) and immunity that doesn't really matter because there isn't really much that's going sleep/paralyze you at level 1 (you might run into some fire damage, though). They do get Darkvision and speech, so they make make decent scouts due their Tiny size and massive Stealth bonus.
And, by charge/druid level 5, they've got their first size increase, two feats, and two Drake Powers. Depending on what you've picked, they're on par with most Animal Companions. Compared to the wolf, the drake is only down by 2 HP (assuming half hit die per level), it's up +1 BAB, its immunities are actually starting to matter, and it has its special movement plus breath/breath plus scent/land speed plus two other speeds/magic weapon plus 8 INT/however you want to build it. The Animal Companion is going to have 1 feat and 1 hit die over the drake, but it's not really that much better, especially considering that one hit die doesn't give them much more HP on average. Even if the animal has a climb or swim speed, the drake gets both Climb and Swim as class skills has 2 more skill points per hit die than an Animal Companion (technically, the drake has 6 skill points + Int, but they start with a -3 Int mod).
Overall, I think people should look at everything the Drake Companion can do. If you compare it to the Ape and say that it can't DPR like an Ape, you're right. If you compare it the Wolverine and say it can't tank like a Wolverine, you're right. However, neither of those get a breath weapon, flight, energy immunity, and Darkvision.
Someone did and in depth comparison to a large vulture companion. Showing what the drake got over the animal companion. And how long it took before the drake was getting close to the animal companion. It made me feel that if I wanted a good flying ally I'd pick the vulture.
I'm not comparing them to familiars because familiars don't get their own feats, their HP is half of their master's, and the Drake Companion is overall better than a base familiar. Also, only the Shaman gets a familiar.
Er ... what?
Wizards and witches also get them by default, pretty much every other arcane casting class has an option for them, and event a lot of non-arcane classes can grab one via archetypes. Not to mention any character in the game has access to the Familiar Bond feat.
I think Xaimum means of the classes that get drake archetypes.
I'm not comparing them to familiars because familiars don't get their own feats, their HP is half of their master's, and the Drake Companion is overall better than a base familiar. Also, only the Shaman gets a familiar.Er ... what?
Wizards and witches also get them by default, pretty much every other arcane casting class has an option for them, and event a lot of non-arcane classes can grab one via archetypes. Not to mention any character in the game has access to the Familiar Bond feat.
Squiggit got it.
And which arcane class has an archetype that trades their familiar for a Drake Companion? None of them (the Shaman is a divine caster). The Druid, Cavalier, Ranger, and Paladin can get Animal Companions or equivalents that get traded out for a Drake Companion with an archetype from Legacy of Dragons.
I think Xaimum means of the classes that get drake archetypes.
Okay, that makes a bit more sense.
Someone did and in depth comparison to a large vulture companion. Showing what the drake got over the animal companion. And how long it took before the drake was getting close to the animal companion. It made me feel that if I wanted a good flying ally I'd pick the vulture.
The Giant Vulture starts of with flight and 1d8 bite. An air drake starts off with a Glide power and (effectively) a 1 damage bite and tail attack. The drake also gets Darkvision, speech, and massive stealth bonus for being Tiny. 7th level (when the vulture gets its first upgrade), it's now Large with a 2d6 bite and +8 STR (20 STR base), along with being able to carry a medium creature. By level 7, the air drake can have flight, two attacks at 1d4 with a base 12 STR, and either a breath attack, burrow speed, or scent (none of which the vulture will ever have). The drake's only Small size, but that means it still gets a good Stealth bonus plus more skills and access to feats that the vulture can't have (such as teamwork feats).
So, the drake isn't a good direct combatant compared to vulture, but the vulture won't be able to take teamwork without bumping its INT up to 3 and even then that's with GM discretion. The vulture will never get Scent or immunities or land speed above 10ft (which in caves where it can't fly could be fatal). Meanwhile, the drake can be crafted to fit what ever type of campaign you're in. They'll still have comparable HP, but if the drake won't be a good tank, then play to its strengths. The vulture will never be as good of a scout as the base drake with no powers, so have it scout and grant flank to allies. There's not a single Animal Companion that can Use Magic Device, so maybe that should be in the drake's strategy: fly around with a wand of Scorching Ray and zap enemies from the sky? The vulture can never do that.
I'm not seeing much consistency.
It's worse than an AC at X, but it can do Y.
it's worse than a familiar at Y, but it can do X, and not all drake classes can get familiar from class.
Like, if you want a pet to UMD then get an improved familiar, some of those are even casters and don't need UMD. If you want a combat pet (which is mostly what the drake is replacing) then you'd want an AC.
So sure, if you super duper love the weak breath weapon or need them immune to sleep spells go for drake. I just know that I don't see any "strength" of a drake that makes it worth getting.
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I'm not seeing much consistency.
It's worse than an AC at X, but it can do Y.
it's worse than a familiar at Y, but it can do X, and not all drake classes can get familiar from class.Like, if you want a pet to UMD then get an improved familiar, some of those are even casters and don't need UMD. If you want a combat pet (which is mostly what the drake is replacing) then you'd want an AC.
So sure, if you super duper love the weak breath weapon or need them immune to sleep spells go for drake. I just know that I don't see any "strength" of a drake that makes it worth getting.
ACs and Familiars also don't eat up a ton of class features; making them even bigger drains. Drakes are jobbers.
Though a druid can pick up a familiar from some of their domains. Crocodile, Monkey, Serpent, or the Leshy Warden archetype.
Regarding familiars getting their own feats: a courtly hunter gets what is essentially a familiar/AnC cross with the best features of both (including feats) & several archetypes allow you to give some feats to the familiar. An improved familiar using wands (or a raven if allowed) doesn't need feats so much anyway.
Regarding familiars getting half their owner's HP: that's plenty for say a bloodrager, and/or there's Mauler's Endurance or the figment archetype.
A drake crafter is an interesting idea, but they're independent creatures who do not acknowledge you as their master, they're greedy, and you can expect to pay more than cost price IMO. If you want them to tank they can't take advantage of the stuff they craft or th feats used to do so.
Flight is something that a drake gets by level 7 minimum. Many flying animal companions can tank better at that point (see Chess Pwn's mention of the comparison with a vulture), and even some improved familiars can too. The breath weapon is fairly forgettable, darkvision is available to most improved familiars or to AnC's whose master takes the Monstrous Mount or Celestial Servant feats. Immunity to fire comes with vulnerability to cold & vice versa, immunity to sleep/paralysis is rarely important.
Would you like to design a drake companion over some level/level range for some role or roles and have me make a comparison to show you? Name the level or level range (not too large, please) and the roles to be filled and I'll try. Schrodinger's Drake Companion is never going to be convincing.
I'm not seeing much consistency.
It's worse than an AC at X, but it can do Y.
it's worse than a familiar at Y, but it can do X, and not all drake classes can get familiar from class.Like, if you want a pet to UMD then get an improved familiar, some of those are even casters and don't need UMD. If you want a combat pet (which is mostly what the drake is replacing) then you'd want an AC.
So sure, if you super duper love the weak breath weapon or need them immune to sleep spells go for drake. I just know that I don't see any "strength" of a drake that makes it worth getting.
Your argument boils down to "There's something out there can outdo the drake at one thing with right set of feats, so there's no point in playing with a drake." My point is that the drake is more backloaded and comes into its own at later levels, along with giving flexibility that the Animal Companion can't match.
Also, you can't have both a familiar and Animal Companion at once, so if the drake can fulfill the role of two different types of companions, that proves my point about their versatility.
Though a druid can pick up a familiar from some of their domains. Crocodile, Monkey, Serpent, or the Leshy Warden archetype.
Regarding familiars getting their own feats: a courtly hunter gets what is essentially a familiar/AnC cross with the best features of both (including feats) & several archetypes allow you to give some feats to the familiar. An improved familiar using wands (or a raven if allowed) doesn't need feats so much anyway.
Regarding familiars getting half their owner's HP: that's plenty for say a bloodrager, and/or there's Mauler's Endurance or the figment archetype.
Let's save the drake vs familiar comparison for another thread. It's really only applicable to the Shaman, in terms of this topic, and I'd like to keep it focused.
A drake crafter is an interesting idea, but they're independent creatures who do not acknowledge you as their master, they're greedy, and you can expect to pay more than cost price IMO. If you want them to tank they can't take advantage of the stuff they craft or th feats used to do so.
Diplomacy checks, the fact that you've raised it since it was hatchling, and the fact that you're the one providing the supplies should count for something. Also, the assumption is that you haven't been abusing it.
Flight is something that a drake gets by level 7 minimum. Many flying animal companions can tank better at that point (see Chess Pwn's mention of the comparison with a vulture), and even some improved familiars can too. The breath weapon is fairly forgettable, darkvision is available to most improved familiars or to AnC's whose master takes the Monstrous Mount or Celestial Servant feats. Immunity to fire comes with vulnerability to cold & vice versa, immunity to sleep/paralysis is rarely important.
This again, proves the drake's strength is its versatility. You have to take a feat to some of the things a drake can do, but you can't do it all with those.
Would you like to design a drake companion over some level/level range for some role or roles and have me make a comparison to show you? Name the level or level range (not too large, please) and the roles to be filled and I'll try. Schrodinger's Drake Companion is never going to be convincing.
Charge level 7
"Attack dog" cold drake
STR: 12
DEX: 15
CON: 14
INT: 4
WIS: 10
CHA: 7
Fort: +7, Reflex: +7, Will: +5
HP: 6d12, AC: 20 (+2 Dex, +1 Size, +7 Natural)
Speed: 20ft, Burrow 10ft
Bite: +9, 1d6+1 plus 1d6 cold; Tail Slap: +3, 1d4
Skills: Acrobatics +5 Climb +7, Linguistics +1, Perception +5, Swim +7, UMD +7
Languages: Common, Draconic
1- Feat: Improved Natural Armor
2-
3- Drake power: Burrow, Feat: Weapon Focus- Bite (Drake power: Breath Weapon)
4-
5- Attribute: Con
6- Feat: Improved Natural Attack
7- Drake power: Energy Bite
I'll come up with something better when I have more time. I kind of just threw that together off the top of my head.
ACs and Familiars also don't eat up a ton of class features; making them even bigger drains. Drakes are jobbers.I'm not seeing much consistency.
It's worse than an AC at X, but it can do Y.
it's worse than a familiar at Y, but it can do X, and not all drake classes can get familiar from class.Like, if you want a pet to UMD then get an improved familiar, some of those are even casters and don't need UMD. If you want a combat pet (which is mostly what the drake is replacing) then you'd want an AC.
So sure, if you super duper love the weak breath weapon or need them immune to sleep spells go for drake. I just know that I don't see any "strength" of a drake that makes it worth getting.
My point is that the drake is more backloaded and comes into its own at later levels, along with giving flexibility that the Animal Companion can't match.
I think this hammers out my two big issues with Drakes. Getting a Drake Companion at all comes at a heavy price in class features, and the Drake is, at best, a very slow burn to reach its full potential.
Let's say I want to play a Drake Rider Cavalier. Admittedly, a Knight riding on a dragon sounds awesome, so why not?
Except that it turns out I won't actually be able to ride that Drake until level 13, when it finally gets big enough. And unless it's the air subtype, it'll be level 15 before I can actually ride on that drake while it's flying. I could speed that up a bit by taking air subtype and a small race, but that leaves me with a lot of restrictions on what I can roll with ... and even this best-case is still only coming online at level 11.
So, for a concept that might not come online until level 15, I'm giving up ... Expert Trainer, plus all the Banner and Tactician abilities. That's a lot of class features to lose. Especially since level 15 is fairly close to the endgame for most Paizo APs, let alone the fact that many groups I've been in run into inevitable schedule/RL issues before things get that far.
Bottom line, it feels like I'm paying too much for a mount I might never even get to use.
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Let's save the drake vs familiar comparison for another thread. It's really only applicable to the Shaman, in terms of this topic, and I'd like to keep it focused.
Not really.
As avr pointed out, the druid can take a familiar instead of an animal companion if they take the right domain (eg serpent) - which also gives them spell slots. Or they can be a draconic druid and lose not just the animal but also wild empathy, woodland stride, venom immunity, a thousand faces, and timeless body. And Dragon Shape is weaker than Wild Shape.
The paladin can take chosen one for a familiar, with Improved Familiar automatic at 7th level, in the long run giving up just the mount. The drake paladin archetype not only trades the mount but also channel energy, aura of justice, aura of righteousness, and a good chunk of their smite evil and mercy.
If the drake companion just replaced the animal companion, I would consider it basically balanced. But all of the archetypes give up the animal companion plus other significant class features. No thanks!
Even valued at the same as the animal companion/familiar the progression is a bit odd - it's a good scout at low levels but not much else (since Int and Cha are still low), then at mid-high levels it becomes a middling combatant, mostly useful for flanking, gets steadily worse at scouting, but potentially better at other forms of utility. It's almost like having a familiar for a few levels before it becomes an animal companion. Weird.
Matching it as is ... I assume the burrow speed is important so we start with a badger. If we take the Totem Guide archetype it can speak with its master.
Badger Totem Guide Animal Companion, level 7
"Attack badger"
STR: 16
DEX: 17
CON: 17
INT: 3 (raised at 4 HD)
WIS: 12
CHA: 10
Fort +8, Reflex +8, Will +5
HP 6d8 + 24, AC 21 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, +4 armor (mithral chain shirt))
Speed: 30', Burrow 10', Climb 10'
Bite: +7, 1d6+3; 2 Claws: +7, 1d4+3
Raging (6 rounds/day) Bite: +9, 1d6+5; 2 claws +9, 1d4+5, Fort +10, Will +7, AC 19, HP 6d8 + 36
Skills: Acrobatics +7, Climb +12 (can always take 10, retains dex bonus while climbing), Perception +5 (low-light, scent), Swim +5, Survival +5, Heal +2
Feats: Toughness, Iron Will, Blind-Fight
Link, Share Spells, Guidance at-will, allows master to spontaneously cast detect animals or plants (1st), augury (2nd), helping hand (3rd) by sacrificing a prepared spell of equal or higher level, speak with master or with other badgers.
Not immune to cold, true, but also not vulnerable to fire damage which is more common IME. Slightly faster, better combat stats especially when raging. Scent, low-light and blind-fight can substitute for darkvision and help vs. invisible enemies. Better skills except UMD, but the drakes isn't yet very useful.
No breath weapon but I said I wasn't impressed by that. It has some random other abilities including Share Spells which is actually useful.
Of course, as an animal companion it costs much less in character resources than a drake.
Edit: are those the skill ranks for the drake rather than totals? That makes more sense, so the skills are slightly in the drakes favour.
Didn't think we were factoring in items...
"Attack dog" cold drake
STR: 12
DEX: 15
CON: 14
INT: 4
WIS: 10
CHA: 7
Fort: +6, Reflex: +7, Will: +6
HP: 6d12, AC: 20 (+2 Dex, +1 Size, +7 Natural)
Speed: 20ft, Burrow 10ft
Bite: +9, 1d4+1 plus 1d6 cold; Tail Slap: +3, 1d4
Skills: Acrobatics +5 Climb +7, Linguistics +1, Perception +5, Swim +7, UMD +7 (18 spend skill points; 36 minus 18 for -3 INT)
Languages: Common, Draconic
1- Feat: Improved Natural Armor
2-
3- Drake power: Burrow, Feat: Weapon Focus- Bite (Drake power: Breath Weapon)
4-
5- Attribute: Con
6- Feat: Resistance Mastery (Resist 10 of chosen energy or +2 to all saves)
7- Drake power: Energy Bite
There goes a patch to the fire vulnerability. And when not dealing with fire attacks (or dealing with cold attacks), the drake can chose +2 to all saves or resistance to whatever energy type they might face.
If you want you use Blind-Flight:
"Attack dog" Aether drake
STR: 12
DEX: 15
CON: 14
INT: 4
WIS: 10
CHA: 7
Fort: +7, Reflex: +7, Will: +5
HP: 6d12, AC: 19 (+2 Dex, +1 Size, +6 Natural)
Speed: 20ft
Bite: +8, 1d4+1; Tail Slap: +3, 1d4
Skills: Bluff +1 (3 ranks), Climb +5, Linguistics +1, Perception +4, Stealth +10, Survival +7 Swim +5, UMD +7 (18 spend skill points; 36 minus 18 for -3 INT)
Languages: Common, Draconic
1- Feat: Dirty Fighting (Drake power: Magic Attacks)
2-
3- Drake power: Scent, Feat: Blind-Fight
4-
5- Attribute: Con
6- Feat: Moonlight Stalker
7- Drake power: Aether Bite
Thanks to Scent, Moonlight Stalker works in magical darkness, magical fog, and just about anywhere except underwater.
But, here's a version of the drake crafter:
"Magecrafter" Earth drake
STR: 12
DEX: 15
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 12
CHA: 9
Fort: +7, Reflex: +7, Will: +5
HP: 6d12, AC: 20 (+2 Dex, +1 Size, +7 Natural)
Speed: 20ft, Burrow 10ft
Bite: +8, 1d4+1; Tail Slap: +3, 1d4
Skills: Climb +5, Craft + 14, Linguistics +1, Perception +10, Know: Arcana +4, Know: Planes +9, Know: Religion +9, Stealth +10, Swim +5, UMD +9 (36 spent skill points)
Languages: Common, Draconic
1- Feat: Skill Focus: Craft (Drake power: Burrow)
2-
3- Drake power: Intellect, Feat: Master Craftsman
4-
5- Attribute: Cha
6- Feat: Craft Wonderous Item (or Craft Arms and Armor)
7- Drake power: Keen Mind
You can swap out Keen Mind for a Breath Weapon, lol.
I gave the badger a suit of nonmagical (tho' special material) armor. If we agree a budget we could do more there, but I think buying a suit of armor is basic enough that any sensible master should do so for their animal companion once it reaches full size.
Master craftsman has a prereq of 5 ranks in Craft so isn't available until the level 6 feat, which means CWI or CMA&A comes at level 9 or later.
Dirty Fighting is quite limited in what it can act as a prereq for. Feint feats and so Moonlight Stalker isn't on that list.
Resistance Mastery gives +1 saves or one energy resistance 5, (not +2 or 10) but admitttedly that would often be enough to patch that hole in the cold drake's defences. It does take 10 minutes to switch it to anything else.
Back later.
From Dirty Fighting:
Special: This feat counts as having Dex 13, Int 13, Combat Expertise, and Improved Unarmed Strike for the purposes of meeting the prerequisites of the various improved combat maneuver feats, as well as feats that require those improved combat maneuver feats as prerequisites.
I guess it doesn’t as Combat Expertise for Moonlight Stalker, but technically it would for Moonlight Stalker Feint. I stand corrected.
For Resistance Mastery, Hero Lab is saying that the bonuses go up every +3 base Fort, but pfd20srd doesn't say it. I'm also letting a friend hold on to my copy of the Magic Tactics Toolbox, so I can't check the official source.
The main reason I want to stay away from items is due to the fact that a reasonable is also going to cast spells on their companion regardless of what it is and that's rabbit hole we could fall down for weeks.
As for availability for CWI/MA&A, the feat retraining option from Ultimate Campaign works to get it at Charge Level 7.
The main reason I want to stay away from items is due to the fact that a reasonable is also going to cast spells on their companion regardless of what it is and that's rabbit hole we could fall down for weeks.
And items are really only relevant in as far as they give one companion a unique advantage no other companion could duplicate—otherwise it become more about who can find the best items rather than which companion is better.
That said, the drake's frequent size-changing is a mild disadvantage, since it means he'll outgrow gear several times over his career.
Armor is an advantage to a badger over a drake - drakes won't wear armor at all. Items, too - a drake will wear one amulet or one ring only, a badger gets more options. I understand there's some more restrictive rule in PFS but armor/barding is certainly still allowed there.
I don't think a mundane set of armor is really the same as delving into the item & spell lists, and in any case between share spells and the animal-only buffs on the druid list, buffing is advantage badger. Items could go either way.
Retraining works, OK.
I haven't ever bought the Magic Tactics Toolbox so can't check the hard copy there myself.
From Dirty Fighting:
Special: This feat counts as having Dex 13, Int 13, Combat Expertise, and Improved Unarmed Strike for the purposes of meeting the prerequisites of the various improved combat maneuver feats, as well as feats that require those improved combat maneuver feats as prerequisites.I guess it doesn’t as Combat Expertise for Moonlight Stalker, but technically it would for Moonlight Stalker Feint. I stand corrected.
This isn't true. It doesn't work for Moonlight Stalker Feint. Feinting isn't a combat maneuver. So improved feint and things that require it like Moonlight Stalker Feint don't get the special exception or interact with this feat.
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I'm not excited with the crafting build for several reasons.
1) Retraining takes extra resources, and is an optional system which some GMs do not use especially if it's part of a planned attempt to manipulate your level progression (examples A, B - see caveat 2, C, and myself).
2) Crafting is commonly houseruled to be less advantageous, either by reducing the discount provided by crafting or making it more difficult.
3) Crafting using cohorts is particularly contentious - GMs that allow crafting as written will still sometimes place limits on a cohort's willingness to craft at cost for a PC. Given that the drake description says they "enjoy accumulating hoards of shiny treasure" and "are fairly lazy," there's a lot of room for a GM to argue that the drake is not going to spend a lot of time crafting, or will demand payment beyond materials, reducing the discount you get.
4) Master Craftsman is a pretty limited form of crafting. You get to make items using one craft skill. That's weapons (but not bows), or bows, or armour/shields, or a subset of wondrous items up to GM interpretation with a generous interpretation being "clothing = gloves, belts, cloaks, robes, shirts, vestments, and hats." You'll have more trouble meeting item prerequisites than a crafter, and having spent all your feats and drake powers on crafting your Craft skill is still only equivalent to the Spellcraft of a 7th level Wizard with 18 Int and no other skill investment.
So there's a lot of places where a GM is likely to restrict this build's utility, whether with houserules or just interpreting ambiguous issues unfavourably.
And your best case scenario is a 50% discount on 2-3 significant items, which based on the way prices scale generally buys you an extra +1 on those items until the normal budget allows for +5 or higher magic armour or weapons (level 12ish), at which point you can get an extra +2. Which again is an underwhelming benefit given how long it took you to get there and the rest of the stuff you gave up.