OK my friend is going to try reffing for the first time and he is running us in the Rise of the Runelords AP. He is going to have 6 players so 6 characters in the group.
So far we have:
Half Elf Cavalier of the Sword (sister to...)
Half Elf Summoner (Me, brother to the Cavalier above)
Halfling Oracle (more unspecified as of yet)
Cleric (no more details)
Half Elven Bow focus Ranger (His daughters first character ever)
Player 6 has not specified her selection yet.
So I am not looking to play a 'wierd' Summoner. He is going to be a meleeing summoner who is going to try and work as a team with his Eidolon and his sister. Yes I know it is not 'optimal' but neither are any of the other characters/players/ref so I am not too worried.
His stats are 10 Str, 18 Dex, 14 Con, 18 Int, 14 Wis, 20 Cha. (Ref starts with a very generous point system).
So far I have taken Weapon Finesse and Martial Weapon Proficiency: Rapier as my feats for level 1 (GM gives a bonus feat to everyone at level 1).
I have given Outflank to the Eidolon for it's feat and the Cavalier has it as her Cavalier Team Feat.
I will be concentrating solely on buff spells and healing for my eidolon so I have little need for any real metamagic exept perhaps Entend Spell later on.
The concpet is a bravo type character (high Charisma, studded leather armor, rapier, Charming Trait, etc) who is sort of scrawny and always getting in trouble (that his bigger but younger sister inevitably has to get him out of) with a flair for magic and huge honking war dog (his Eidolon, think of the Mabari Warhound from Dragon Age:Origins) that he melee's with as a team. When he and his sister are together they work as a dangerous Trio.
I already have my spells figured out through level ten so I don't really need advise there.
What I need advise on is how to do a decent melee setup with this character and what teamwork feats work well. The player of the sister character and I want to try the teamwork feats since we grew up 'on the streets' and often fought off predators together.
Any advise from anyone who has done something like this would be extremely appreciated. With the D8 HD and the Cleric BAB track and light armor, it is not hard core melee material but it can be a good flanker and skirmisher. But I have never player a character like this so I am looking for properly flavored idea's.
Thanks in advance.
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1. Personally, I wouldn't take the same Feat as the Cavalier provides, it's something of a waste of resources. I mean, yeah, it'll apply even when the Cavalier isn't using Tactics, but when they are (i.e. when the situation's really bad), it's wasted. You'd be better off arranging for both the Cavalier and the Eidolon to have a Feat that's complementary. Say, have them both with Outflank, but have the Cavalier's Tactician grant Precise Strike, or some such.
This requires more coordiantion, but, well, these are Teamwork Feats.
If the Cavalier doesn't want to use their Feat like that right now, save it as an idea for later and get the Eidolon a non-teamwork Feat, maybe acquiring Teamwork Feats together as they level.
As for your character, I reccomend, if you're going to all the trouble to get a dex-based melee Summoner, firstly, don't waste a Feat, get the Ancestral Arms alternate Racial Trait for Half Elves (you weren't going to multicalss anyway) and pick up either an Elven Curveblade (very appropriate) or a Scimitar. If you go scimitar, it's so you can pick up Dervish Dance at level 3 (a Feat that lets you add Dex to damage), and you'll be stuck using a dagger or something in the meantime. Personally, I'd go Curveblade.
For your second Feat, grab Combat Casting. Every melee caster ever needs it.
I am currently running a melee summoner build, as a halfelf too.
I took proficiency with the Falcata with my racial trait, Ancestral Arms or something.
I placed the racial bonus in STR and I dumped WIS to 7. CHA 13 I think, figuring to get items before I cast 3rd level spells.
Important milestones:
Lvl 6: You can now Dimension Door your Eidolon. Take your turn first, moving into position, then use your standard action to bamf in you Eidolon and let it full attack.
Level 8: Go Large with your Eidolon.
Level 10: You get 2 Evo points to use on your Summoner. Take claws on your feet and hands and pack up the Falcata.
If you can scrounge a bite attack by being raised by orcs, take that too.
Get Reach on minimum one of your Eidolon's attacks ASAP. The Reach evolution applies to Both claws in a set.
Always stay within the Eidolon's reach, the shield bonus it grants from level 4 is amazing for your AC and saves.
Of course you get the Black Tentacles. And Haste. Haste is yours early.
Use spells for buffing, forget spells that require the target to save.
A strong early item is a Wand of Extend Spell, for your Mage Armor for the Eidolon. - Boost Eidolon AC as much as you can.
Give your Eidolon a personality. Pick important skills that fill a role in your party, it is quite the skill monkey. Grabbing Scent and the +8 racial bonus to Survival can be very useful.
Wear matching badass bandanas. Give them out to the rest of the party too. No need to advertise what you and your Eidolon truly are to those who do not understand such things anyway. - And, truly, everyone looks great in a badass bandana.
Good luck!
About Combat Casting... just don't do it. Melee and spellcasting don't mix. Paying feats to buff a spell list that has very few offensive spells seems counter productive to grabbing more melee feats.
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If you want to make a somewhat optimized melee summoner, go a medium sized race. This is my human summoner at level 1 with 20 point buy.
Ability Scores:
STR 16 (+2 bonus applied here)
DEX 13
CON 16
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 12
Skills:
Knowledge (arcana): 1
Knowledge (local): 1
Spellcraft: 1
Feats:
Dodge
Arcane Strike
Spells known:
Level 0
Detect Magic
Read Magic
Light
Message
Level 1
Enlarge Person
Mage Armor
Avoid the debuffs since they will not work nearly as well with a low starting CHA. 12 CHA means pumping CHA at every ability score boost. Use the longspear for reach and easier flanks. At level 1, the Summon Monster SLA with eagles are pretty damn good. This build served me well. Be prepared to have the eidolon be killed enough times as they can't take too much damage. Instead, do as much damage or cause havok as possible with the eidolon, and then use your Summon Monster SLAs to clean up. I picked the quadruped, but any form will work. Serpentine is usually considered the weakest.
I made the character this way because I feel the summoner itself must be able to contribute due to the low amount of spells, plus the medium BAB and HD gives it solid fighting power. Of course, you want to do the DEX route but DEX does nothing for damage unless you go Finesse + Piranha Strike. Being melee, but unable to do damage is a bad place to be. AC will get hit with a few tries, so it's better to kill them. I prefer to be able to do it myself because every character needs to be able to handle himself mechanically first, and then think about group dynamics.