Eldrich Heritage Feat Question again...

[MyraMistweave]

Okay so my char picked up the Eldrich Heritage of Arcane.

They are a Wizard but didn't previously possess a familiar as they are an Elf and I'd switched out the Arcane Bond for Spell Bond. (Option from the Races Guide).

Now that they are a wizard picking up a familiar with the Eldrich Heritage feat (at level 9) would the familiar count as a level 7 caster (Total character level -2 as the feat says). Or would it work as the Arcane base power words it and Wizard levels stack making it a familiar as a level 9 caster total?

I think it would work as a 9th level but I'm sort of uncertain given it's given from a feat that states total level -2.

Thanks for any answers/thoughts.

[Roberta Yang]

Actually, I would guess that you don't get a familiar at all. The game goes out of its way for several effects, including that Arcane bloodline effect, to say that you can't have both a familiar and a bonded object. These were written before the ARG so they don't explicitly mention the possibility of spellbonding, but the intent seems clear: you're not allowed to have two different familiar-esque magical bonds.

[MyraMistweave]

It's not a bonded object. It's a spellbinder Elven Wizard from pg 25 of the Race Guide. The description of Spell Bond in that book doesn't specifically state you cannot have a familiar as well. It stands to reason since they went out of their way in a previously printed book that they would in a book printed later...it could also be a typo.

[Umbranus]

Assuming it warks at all to get a familiar in addition to whatever it will work at -2.
So in your case your familiar would be level 7.

You don't have a familiar from your wizard so there is nothing the familiar from eldritch heritage could stack with.

[Benly]

My inclination is to say that you get the level 7 familiar. You can make a RAW case for either a level 7 familiar or a level 16 familiar, and 7 seems a lot closer to the feat's intent. Look into the Boon Companion feat to bring your little buddy up to speed.