I'm building a Roughrider fighter in a friend's game, but I'm uncertain how I should pick my mount so it won't end up dead within a round of combat. I would like a griffon, but I'm not at a high enough level for Leadership to kick in. I also have gone for the Mounted Combat and Indomitable Mount feats. What can I do further to have a reliable mount?
Before Leadership you're gonna need a lot of mounts. As your mount will not increase in HD/usefulness it will be one-shotted pretty much by every AE from lvl 4-7 in my experience.
Going for magic barding with extra effects might increase survivability but is a seriou money sink.
Any chance reconsidering your class? Ranger? Anything with effective druid levels does the trick.
Ruyan.