I'm torn between 4 options of building a summoner-like character
The things I want are BC, damage, batman style versatility, and redirecting damage to expendable pawns.
The 4 builds to accomplish this are as follows
1. 1/2 Elf Master summoner (master)
master:
1. Eldritch heritage (arcane)
2. augment summoning(free)
3. superior summoning
5. Evolved summoning
7. Summon good monster
Rings of summoning affinity (TBD)
There is a rules question about whether the evolutions level requirements are affected by the master summoner archetype.
If they are then the eidolon becomes either a flying wand wielder. And the master becomes a thin wrapper around lots of castings of the highest SM X.
If they aren't then there's a good argument to be made that even a 1/2 kali(quadraped + pounce + rest of points into limbs) eidolon is still stronger than a stock fighter. Consider using EXP(Aklys) and multi-weapon fighting or monks robes + amulet of mighty fists for damage. Trip and large evolution for attack bonus. To overcome DR simply stock up on masterwork silvered, cold-iron weapons/gauntlets, use lesser evolution (magic attacks). Then using fiendish, celestial,resolute, and entropic on Summons.
2. Stock summoner (stock)
stock:
I'd go with a full on kali build with EWP(aklys) + multi-weapon fighting. Pounce(1) + limbs(2) ad nauseum.
See this for DPR analysis of eidolon
Sadly the eidolon is so much stronger than the summons and the easist way I can get a summon out for versatility is by being reckless with the eidolon and killing him, he really loses out on the batman aspect.
This is the best option for action economy however.
3. Human Arcanist (occulstist)
arcanist:
This build focuses on batman versatility of quick study and evolved summoning, while maintaining the batman wizard feel of his parent class. Based on my calculations if I were willing to eat 1 of my highest level spell slots, 1 of my second highest level spell slots, 1/2 of my 3rd highest spell slots, and all but one of the rest. I should be able to get about 4 SM [max] / day but I can only have one active at a time. At 7th level this increases at +1 casting / day. I overtake the summoner at level 12 in the number of castings / day. This encourages using only 1 / encounter and casting a different SM x to solve emergent problems means burning through more spell slots lowering your spell endurance. I figured it was ok seeing that the lower level spells are rarely used level 9+
Level Feats Exploits
1 spell focus(conjuration), augment summoning Conjurer's focus (1 arcane point / summon monster level as a standard action)
2
3 Evolved summoning Potent Magic
4
5 Superior summoning quick study
6
7 Leadership/extra exploit(familiar(scorpion(valet))) Planar Contact
8
9 Improved Init Item crafting(craft wondrous item)
10
11 extra exploit(metamagic knowledge(quicken spell)) Greater Metamagic Knowledge (Sickening Spell)
12
13 Craft rod school understanding(foresight)
14
15 extra exploit(Bloodline development(arcane bonded item, dagger)) shift caster
16
17 dazing spell Alter Enhancments
4. Halfling wizard (with the Academae Graduate feat and Alchemical Preserves)
wizard:
Why halfling? Low level solution to the fatigue from Academae Graduate is found in Alchemical Preserves (cheap jelly, standard action eliminates completely fatigue).
If starting at a higher level then the Cord of Stubborn Resolve and human is the obvious answers
I'd go conjurer for the increased duration and obvious slots for Summon monster.
This option gives the best batman but must consume spell slots for the spell he wants to spam. Pearls of power work but might be too costly to keep upgraded.
On the summoning spectrum we have
1. 5+cha(master) of the highest summons,
2. 3+cha(stock) but exclusive with the beastly and better eidolon
3. x times per day(arcanist) bought by expending lower level spells
4. Pure prepared(wizard) but where pearls of power work and emulate the arcanist but costing money instead of slots
on the batman spectrum (read has the widest array of problem solving spells and options in his belt):
1. master's spell list and eidolon are good but not stellar,
2. stock has eidolon's +1 attack / level (not batman, but solves many combat problems quickly where normal casters would slow down combat with tangles, webs, tentacles, and gasses),
3. arcanist has quick study (1 round to swap out prepared/known spell casting as sorcerer),
4. wizard (nuff said).
One of the big problems that the middle 2 people have are that they can only have 1 summon spell out at a time. stock summoner rarely would use his summons and becomes a thin wrapper around his eidolon, and occultist trying to be batman can easily cast SM [max] as standard on round 1 of every combat, but then his entire SM utility list is locked down to that choice he made. The master and wizard don't suffer the same but pay different prices. Master pays with having the summoners spell list and a pocket eidolon. Wizard pays with needing to consume spell slots for SM (he may be the least hurt due to the sheer number of slots he can prepare).
A DM's decisions could make one option clearly worse than others. Like banning Leadership, ruling that master summoner's eidolon's evolutions' class level requirements are affected by the archetype, Academae Graduate is banned or my body no longer reacts to the jelly, or that a kali build is too powerful, or that I would be overshadowing the front-line fighters, or that master summoner is simply banned.
What are your thoughts between these 4 builds? Mostly I'm looking at reducing this list down to just 2 builds that hinge on how much I'm willing to sacrafice batmaning for raw damage
The arcanist can still use his spell slots for summons if you ever feel you need more than one set up at a time. I'm really not a fan of flooding the field anyway though. Even if you are really prepared, it can still slow the game down. The other players like taking turns too.
For versatility, I prefer the arcanist. You have good summoning and all manner of 9th level casting available to you.
The wizard still has a problem of summon duration, especially at the low levels.
An occultist cannot have more than one summon monster spell active in this way at one time. If this ability is used again, any existing summon monster immediately ends.
This does seem to allow the arcanist to do full round casting for the cases when he needs to call upon some other spell/feature of his summons while his tanks don't go pop. The arcanist does seem to have enough lower level prepared spells.
What level range are you talking about here? I feel lower levels are much more favorable to the Summoners and higher levels more favorable to the full casters.
I haven't even joined a group. I'm mostly just theorycrafting. I wanted some good-ole wisdom from the masses if my ponderings were biased towards standard action SM, 9th level spells, and such. I think that the "in this way" conditional takes the choice down to just master summoner for low level and times when the team needs more front-line meat, and arcanist for higher level play and if no need for lots of meat.
I think the Occultist wins out. By sacrificing spells, you will get the most summons per day and 9th level spells without spending a single gold piece. Grab a familiar and Imp. Familiar feat to have a buddy cast buffs spells from wands to further boost the power of your summons.
Also take the Evolved Familiar feat, if it is allowed.
IF you want to flood the field with summoned critters, sorcerer or druid are the best bet. HOWEVER, most groups and GM's do not like this. So only do this if you get buy in from every single player and GM.
I have a sorc that keeps his highest level spell known as summon monster whatever. But I normally only cast it once each combat. I know another guy that has it known at every level. When the group wants him to, he can really create a small army.
I have seen your option 2 done a few times where the eidolon is mount/scout/skill monkey. So it is always dismissed when a fight looks likely. The a summoned monster is cast at the start of each combat. Then no one cares if it gets flattened. But then you may want to just do a master summoner.
Summoners aren't really great at batman though. But you can have an excellent UMD and a bunch of low level wands for a decent batman effect.
Wizard's tend to not be that great at summoning since they usually don't want to prepare enough of them.
Arcanist may be the best compromise between the 2.
I think the Occultist wins out. By sacrificing spells, you will get the most summons per day and 9th level spells without spending a single gold piece. Grab a familiar and Imp. Familiar feat to have a buddy cast buffs spells from wands to further boost the power of your summons.
Also take the Evolved Familiar feat, if it is allowed.
It seems that occultist is the winner here.
Because it's my thread I'm fine with allowing the conversation to transition into what you'd do with evolved familiar. It seems quite a bit of a feat investment. The benefits are great, but can you help me or direct me to guides that explain why.
I'd guess that skilled(UMD) is why you'd take evolved familiar. is that because you'd get a higher chance of casting from better wands, or does the familiar gain your ability to cast wizard wands w/o rolls due to the spells being on your spell list? Is this the recommended way of shoring up the cost of consuming your lower level spell slots for summon monster SLA, namely paying for the lower level buffs you were going to cast but ate instead, and getting a familiar to cast them for you as they are always helpful?
Sorry, I meant Evolved Summons. It lets you apply any 1pt evolution to a summoned monster. If you summon multiple monsters with one cast, it apples to all of them. 1 point evolutions include:
Reach, Skilled (+8 to any skill instantly), (Improved) Bite, Climb Speed, Bleed damage, Gills, Magical Attacks, mount, etc.
Basically, it turns every summoned monster into a unique utility spell.
Notice that I take this feat at level 3.
Also note that I take either leadership or familiar at level 7. I'm assumming that if leadership was banned that I'd also swap out craft wondrous item for familiar and use my level 7 slot for improved familiar. Seeing that I want to go for batman and staying pure neutral for the fiendish/celestial/entropic/resolute templates on my summons is a huge option that would go away if I had any alignment than true neutral, I don't think the Imp is even possible. Or can you take imp and be neutral? Does the familiar have to use UMD to cast from a wand?
I'm having a hard time finding a guide that explains the ins and outs and best options. I've read the wizard guides and they don't touch on the mechanics much.
If I've read correctly you take the familiar exploit, improved familiar feat, pick something with a high cha and opposable thumbs and the ability to speak, take ranks in UMD, buy and hand your familiar a wand of low level buffing and he simply uses UMD (using his own cha) to cast from the wand. Why is improved familiar required in this chain, or is it the cheapest way to get a high cha/UMD bonus?
Sorry, I meant Evolved Summons. It lets you apply any 1pt evolution to a summoned monster. If you summon multiple monsters with one cast, it apples to all of them. 1 point evolutions include:
Reach, Skilled (+8 to any skill instantly), (Improved) Bite, Climb Speed, Bleed damage, Gills, Magical Attacks, mount, etc.
Basically, it turns every summoned monster into a unique utility spell.
Its not QUITE that crazy, but its still useful.
"If you summon more than one creature with a single spell, only one creature gains this evolution."
The familiar uses your skill ranks or its own. Which ever is higher. So you would need to take some ranks in UMD. However, the Faerie Dragon casts as a sorcerer, so it can use and of the sorc wands without UMD. I think there is a pixie-ish familiar that already has a decent UMD, but I can't remember the name.
I have seen people take the evolved familiar to give their wand familiar an extra +8 to UMD. But since the familiar is not the focus of your build, I would recommend against it.
Why is improved familiar required in this chain, or is it the cheapest way to get a high cha/UMD bonus?
It's used because the requirement for a wand is that you hold it and speak the command word. While animal familiars eventually are able to speak with their master and animals of their kind, it doesn't mention that the majority of them gain a language. However, the improved familiars clearly have the ability to speak languages, often multiple. It is also a ruling that PFS utilizes and many of the forum suggestions follow the rules of the organized play simply as a baseline. If you find a GM willing to change the way that works (like allowing the speak with master qualify as a language), obviously this changes things.
Also, as others have mentioned, some of the improved familiars have caster levels of their own and thus would not need to roll to activate a wand.
I guess I had been used to the raven having the ability to speak and thus qualified for casting. I see that the language(x) is effectivly required. One more question on that line: Can the fairy dragon cast from a wand with 3rd level spells? I know the rule is that the spell needs to be on your spell list, but do you need to be of the right spell level? It would seem broken that a 1st level wizard could cast SM 9 if he somehow got a wand of it. I would have thought that this would have been exploited more commonly if it was possible. If not then that restricts the dragon familiar to autocasting 1,2 level sorcerer spells, and UMD all other wands.
Spell trigger items only require that you have the spell on your spellcasting list. Thus Rangers and Paladins can use wands from level 1 on, and the Faerie Dragon would be capable of using any spell on the Sorcerer spell list since it casts as a 3rd lvl Sorcerer.
If it's legal in your world Master Summoner is by far the best; you can crank out death-armies of creatures that last minutes/level 10+(1 / 4 levels) or so per day. There is a reason it is banned in PFS :). Having an Eidilon trap-monkey is icing on the cake).
After that, Summoner (Still does it 9 times per day, and with spell-using summons they kinda break it; the game neither expected standard action summons nor summons that stick around for minutes / level... and after about level 7 the summons are better than the Eidilon), then probably Cleric (good support, can summon at least alignment-matching guys as a standard action, and with the Glory domain can radiate heroism to them for extra goodness).
