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Thread necromancing for newer tips in handle animal checks in 3...2..1

One of the best animal handlers at level 1 is an eidolon with the Skilled evolution, a high-charisma familiar with the Skilled evolution (via the Evolved Familiar feat), or a halfling's or human's high-charisma animal companion with the Skilled evolution. (Halfling or human is required to boost intelligence, via the Caretaker or Eye for Talent alternative racial trait, respectively. On that note, taking the Precocious Companion archetype would further boost the companion's intelligence at level 4.)

The inquisitor is the most Paizo-only animal-friendly class at level 1. The inquisitor can get:
- a permanent animal companion via the Sacred Huntmaster archetype
- a permanent mount via the Chivalry inquisition
- multiple permanent purchased animals (e.g. tiger/jaguar/giant vulture/dire bat/giant gecko...) via the Rich Parents trait
- a familiar via the Familiar bond or Wasp Familiar feats, noting that the House of the Green Mother Pupil trait can qualify one for Familiar Bond
- multiple 1-hour duration horses (Dangerously Curious trait + scrolls of Mount)
- multiple 1-round duration monsters or animal allies (scrolls again, noting that SNA I includes an intelligent mite)

Essentially, you (the inquisitor) could handle one purchased animal, while your intelligent monkey animal companion handles another, while your familiar handles another, while your purchased pseudodragon handles another. An 18-strength grabbing jaguar costs only 100 gp (hunting cat), and the pseudodragon costs 200 gp, so that's only 600 gp expenditure so far. You could thus have an army of 4 jaguar-mounted warriors at level 1. ... furthermore... remember that Ride, including directing a mount to attack, is a free action! This means you could "ride-attack" with a mounted creature while using Handle Animal to get an unmounted creature to attack. This is where the Mount scrolls could be further beneficial - or additional purchased animals, such as Bison, which cost only 75 gp.

If you wanted, you could swap out Sacred Huntmaster for Monster Tactician. Instead of a permanent animal companion, you'd have a 3+wis/day Summon Monster SLA - further mixing things up. (I prefer the permanence of the companion, though.) Oh, and of course you could use a spell slot to summon a monster the old-fashioned way.

...

Outside of Paizo, the Shaper Psion may be the best level 1 "animal-friendly" class. The companions would not be true animals, but Astral Constructs (sculpted to be just like animals). The Advanced Constructs feat - which a Psion can get "for free" via its level 1 bonus psionic feat - allows summoning for hours/level (converting to rounds/level should combat begin), and the feat should, as written, apply to uses of Power Stones. So, with the Rich Parents trait, a level 1 Shaper Psion could buy 36 Astral Construct power stones, equating to 36 different "animals," each for 1 hour. Furthermore, unlike most of the creatures mentioned above, Astral Constructs can fly, and a character could take Boost Construct with his/her level 1 general feat to boost the size of the construct. That ultimately allows for a medium-size flyer with decent strength - a perfecting flying mount for a small character wanting to play a full caster with skills as opposed to, say, a summoner. Plus, the variety of the constructs adds much flavor. ... If the character were human or didn't care about Boost Construct, s/he could take Scribe Scroll, doubling the Astral Constructs to 72.

If the shaper is also a Dual Disciple archetype with the Egoist (psychometabolism) discipline, then the shaper can also turn him/herself into a mount/animal! Minor Metamorphosis is a level 1 spell for an Egoist. Furthermore, that power can be used on a psicrystal with Share Powers - an option easily obtained via a feat (and remembering the Psion gets a bonus feat at level 1) - all allowing for much mixing and matching. Add to all this that the Shaper can use Ectoplasmic Creation, for free, to conjure 1 cubic foot of organic material for anything, and there is quite a lot the Shaper can do at level 1.

The Nightmare Constructor archetype of the psionic Dread class might be even better than the Shaper because it can get an eidolon-like Nightmare annnnd use Astral Construct power stones via Use Psionic/Magic Device (taking Dangerously Curious for the class skill). The drawback with this option is that the Nightmare Constructor does not qualify for the Advanced Constructs feat, and so the Astral Constructs are all only for 1 round/level.

Note that the Shaper can still also take feats like Wasp Familiar, Familiar Bond, and Evolved Familiar, too.

Another stand-out option, particularly for a flyer, is the Totem Spiritualist. While far weaker generally than the inquisitor or shaper, the spiritualist provides a distinct benefit for paizo-only games: a flying companion that is portable. It's portable insofar as it can be housed in the character's consciousness. It still lacks the intelligence of another companion that can do the same, however: the eidolon.

There are other options, too - too many to list... Springing to mind is the Promethean Alchemist, who gets a 10 strength small flying homunculus and can make creative uses of Craft Construct. Another is the draconic druid, which is fairly weak but allows for Noxious Bite at level 3. A vanilla Paladin is good for its Divine Bond mount, too, because it's "unsummonable" and intelligent - and qualifies the character for the Monstrous Mount feat at level 5. Level 3 is the key level for any character with a familiar, including any class character with Variant Multiclassing (witch or wizard), as a Maule archetype familiar is perfect for transforming for social situations/scouting and then for combat/mounting (for a small character).

Halflings can make the best knights, due to their small size and the Caretaker trait (boosting intelligence).

Finally, there's Spheres of Power.

I have played druids for years, and would like to share some lessons I have learned from experience.

First, let me debunk the weight myth. Weight is really a non-issue, because any smart druid with a flying mount will have Ant Haul prepared. Ant Haul is a level 1 druid spell that triples a creature's carrying capacity for 2 hours at level 1.

Second, I can now list the real disadvantages that I know of through experience of playing a druid. I list them in order of importance:

1. A flying animal companion cannot realistically attack effectively (or do anything other than fly, really) while mounted and in the sky. This is BY FAR the number 1 biggest disadvantage, and you really don't think about it much until you find yourself in that saddle... When I had a snake, my snake could attack and grab (and later constrict) to wonderful effect, while I ran around doing other things - and I had a purchased basic riding dog for non-attacking movement. Experience taught me that an enemy grappled by my snake was as good as dead. It was like having a fighter cohort - I felt like two players almost, not one. When I had a dire bat, my bat's contribution to combat paled in comparison. Yes, I was in the sky, which is a huge advantage for me, but at the expense of basically "sacrificing" my companion. It felt as though I'd simply taken a domain that included the "Fly" spell. I felt like one player, not two. The only thing the bat was ever good for, besides aerial movement, was blindsense. I kept the bat for the "cool" factor, though I knew a crocodile, for example, would have been better.

2. Smart opponents. This depends largely on the DM, but I think it's 100% fair for my DM to have a cleric cast the Orison Create Water (2 gallons, 25-foot range at level 1) all over my baby roc's wings. Daze, an arcane Cantrip, can be devastating. A simple crossbow hit can seriously disrupt flight, not to mention spells like Ray of Enfeeblement. Particularly strong against animal companions are will-save spells, notably Color Spray, Cause Fear, and Silent Image. Animals, even druid companions, are easily frightened by the sudden image of a dragon. ... and if a scared roc goes flying in the opposite direction at max speed, the druid on it can't easily fall off to stay in the arena. I've even seen an enemy ranger use Wild Empathy to ground a flyer, and a magus use Lock Gaze to cause a roc to hit a tree. Every spell I've mentioned is a level 1 or level 0 spell...

3. Going underwater (surprisingly not yet discussed) can be an issue for flyers. No flying companion has a swim speed or Hold Breath and all flying companions have low CON compared to other animal companions. Plus, the druid typically puts zero ranks into the companion's Swim skill because the druid used the 2 ranks available for Fly and Perception. Now, any smart druid with a flying mount should have Touch of the Sea (or Air Bubble, or both - both level 1 druid spells) prepared - which are good spells for character players, too. However, each of those spells lasts only 1 minute at level 1, and my experience has been that any session involving swimming typically includes more than one swimming section Example: in a dungeon, there's an underwater passage -> cast Touch of the Sea and swim through underwater tunnel to next passage -> venture on foot through tunnels for 30 min. until coming to another underwater passage! A level 1 druid gets only 1 level spell per day, 2 per day including the wisdom bonus spell. If the druid prepares Ant Haul and Touch of the Sea, it's a big sacrifice. Chances are, the druid has not prepared Touch of the Sea and can't afford or find the scroll or wand and, therefore, the flyer can't swim. Even in Pathfinder Society, the 2 prestige points will more likely be spent on a wand of Cure Light Wounds or on armor with a low armor check penalty.

4. Difficulty underground (already discussed). The spell Reduce Animal can help, but that is a level 2 druid spell. A druid gets few spells per day compared to clerics, oracles, wizards, sorcerers... So saving slots for Ant Haul, Touch of the Sea, and Reduce Animal becomes a major pain, especially for any druid who would like to cast offensively.

5. A flying animal companion is overall weaker than ground animal companions in terms of AC/HP/attacks/damage. The baby roc has decent AC, but lacks scent, darkvision, tremorsense, etc. A unique aspect of having an animal companion is being able to have a special ability like blindsight, and all a roc has is low-light vision. The bat has blindsense, but is absolutely pathetic in terms of AC/HP/attacks/damage. I put this disadvantage last because, in real gameplay, the issue isn't the animal's weakness - it's the fact that the animal is simply too occupied serving as a mount to be able to do anything more useful (disadvantage #1 above).

All in all, if a druid wants a flying companion, having a good one requires major sacrifices (spell slots, having a companion good at combat, special animal abilities, and general companion availability for anything other than mounting)... And after all that, "Cause Fear" hits and away the flyer and druid go... LOL