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I am looking at building an Eidolon, specifically to be for grappling. The Grab ability seems like a no-brainer. But I'm trying to decide on the Eidolon's base form. Serpentine seems appropriate, partly because you can get constrict, but upon review, Aquatic looks good because of the higher strength. I was also looking at the Final Embrace feats from Ultimate Combat, but it looks to be less than optimal due to the fact that the Eidolon's Constrict evolution only works with the Eidolon's Grab, so the only benefit from taking Final Embrace is the ability to constrict creatures up to its own size.
At first level I am considering taking the Extra Evolution feat for my Human Summoner, having the Increased Ability Score Evolution (Str) and the Grab Evolution. This will give the Eidolon a +9 to Grapple at first level. The Eidolon's feat at first level is a bit of a poser. Is it worth getting Improved Unarmed Strike in order to access Improved Grapple at 3rd level for the +2 to Grapple? Or am I better off with Power Attack, Toughness, Improved Natural Armor or something else? I will also be saving up Evolution Points until 8th Level for the Large Evolution, so no more evolutions until then unless I take more Extra Evolution feats.
Thoughts?
Rather than a grab build I built something that I call the "Trip Monkey."
Evolve extra heads on a quadruped and give them all bite attacks, then take the trip ability. Each bite gets a chance to trip for free with no penalty if you fail. The opponent falls down, tries to get up free AoOp and another trip attempt. It is kind of harsh on the first few levels, but eventually it gets really scary. Add in a touch of enlarge person and you should get a +4 size bonus and a +1 Str bonus to each trip attempt, along with reach. Every opponent will be on the ground trying to get back up and getting bit the whole time. Not to mention, having an enemy tripped is like giving the entire party a +4 to hit, and a free attack of opportunity when the enemy decides to stand.
Final Embrace opens up Final Embrace Horror and Final Embrace Master, which makes the whole deal totally worth it if you are grapple focused.
Constrict victims of your size, penalize their stats (reducing the chances of escaping), AND deal double constrict damage? YES PLEASE!
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Yes, tripping is pretty awesome. The concept of the character and his Eidolon is one that suits grappling better. Thanks for the info though, I will definitely file that away for the future.
The Final Embrace Horror feat also requires Ability Focus (Constrict), which is a terrible feat tax. Ability Focus doesn't help constrict in any way. For the Eidolon, I can't get either the Constrict or the Grab ability for free from the Final Embrace feat, so the only benefit I'm getting is the Constricting creatures up to its size. I was going to forget Constrict entirely and just focus on the actual grapple and maybe some of the grappling feats from Ultimate Combat, going with an Aquatic base form for the strength.
Also, what to do with my extra feat? Another Extra Evolution for Improved bite damage on the Eidolon?
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Yes, tripping is pretty awesome. The concept of the character and his Eidolon is one that suits grappling better. Thanks for the info though, I will definitely file that away for the future.
The Final Embrace Horror feat also requires Ability Focus (Constrict), which is a terrible feat tax. Ability Focus doesn't help constrict in any way. For the Eidolon, I can't get either the Constrict or the Grab ability for free from the Final Embrace feat, so the only benefit I'm getting is the Constricting creatures up to its size. I was going to forget Constrict entirely and just focus on the actual grapple and maybe some of the grappling feats from Ultimate Combat, going with an Aquatic base form for the strength.
Also, what to do with my extra feat? Another Extra Evolution for Improved bite damage on the Eidolon?
Ability Focus (constrict) is not a feat tax. It's a clear and obvious error. Just ignore it until it gets fixed.
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Yo there. I'm also building a serpentine Eidolon, and have had quite a bit of trouble figuring out just what I want to do with it. Something to think about when building is the "Combat Reflexes" feat, which allows an Eidolon to basicaly thwap away anything that comes anywhere near it outside it's turn, especially given the high dex that serpentines have. Though it's much better suited for a "trip monkey", if you're gonna go serpentine, you're not gonna be the most powerful thing on the field, so perhaps you should consider shifting from that role to one of an awesome support. With the shield buddy feat, reach, and trip/grab, you can sit next to your summoner or any other character, and basically neutralize any threat that would come near, either knocking it on its glutes, or preparing to eat it when your turn comes. Those free CMD checks get really awesome when you can grab anything even when it's not your turn!
