The character in my current campaign has recently died in battle(tanky fighter), and I'm planning on creating a Summoner to replace him that will fill roughly the same role. I'd like to focus on the Eidolon aspect of the classed with little to no usage of the Summon Monster SLA.
Here are the guidelines:
Level 7, 25 point buy, 75% average character wealth (17,625gp), average health at new levels, any sourcebook that can be accessed through d20pfsrd.com, no third party books.
Right now I need to choose 2 more feats and spend the rest of my gold.
Here are my current thoughts:
Male Half-Elf Summoner 7
CN Medium Humanoid (elf, human)
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Statistics
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Str 8, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 22
Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Extra Evolution, Extra Evolution, Skill Focus (Knowledge [planes])
Skills Knowledge (planes) +7, Linguistics +4, Perception +3, Ride +8, Spellcraft +10, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven
Other Gear Headband of alluring charisma +2(4,000), 13,625 GP
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Defense
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AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 59 (7d8+21)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +6
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities Summon Monster IV (9/day)
Summoner Spells Known (CL 7):
3 (2/day) Rejuvenate Eidolon, Restore Eidolon (DC 19)
2 (5/day) Evolution Surge, Lesser (DC 18), Haste, Restore Eidolon, Lesser (DC 18), Summon Eidolon
1 (6/day) Rejuvenate Eidolon, Lesser, Shield, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person (DC 17), Life Conduit
0 (at will) Guidance, Acid Splash, Open/Close (DC 16), Read Magic, Detect Magic, Mending
Eidolon
Quadruped
CN Medium Outsider
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Statistics
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Str 22, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +6; CMB +12; CMD 25 (29 vs. Trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round), Death from Above, Power Attack -2/+4
Skills Acrobatics +5 (+7 to balance, +9 jump), Climb +8, Escape Artist +5, Fly +16, Intimidate +2, Perception +4, Sense Motive +4, Swim +8
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[b]Defense
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AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+3 Dex, +10 natural)
hp 45 (+12)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +2 (+4 morale bonus vs. Enchantment spells and effects)
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft., flight (40 feet, good)
Bite (Bite) +12 (1d6+6/x2)
Claw x2 (Claws) +12 x2 (1d6+6/x2)
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Evolutions - 13
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2 pts.Ability Increase, Constitution
4 pts.Ability Increase, Strength x2
1 pt. Claws
2 pts. Flight (Wings)
1 pt. Improved Damage, Claws
1 pt. Improved Natural Armor
1 pt. Pounce
1 pt. Tail
The "Tail" and "Wings" evolutions are for flavor, as I really want the Eidolon to resemble a dragon. I did not take Energy Attacks or any of the specific resistances, because it seems that I should save those for the Evolution Surge spell so that I can stay versatile. All other evolutions are debatable.
One thought that I had was to spending my remaining 2 feats for Eldritch Heritage(Arcane) and Improved Familiar. I would take a Sprite familiar, and have it ride the Eidolon so that I could cast my buff spells from a safe distance. I'm not sure how well this would work out, so any advice is welcome.
What I really want to know is how many of you have made Eidolon focused Summoner builds, and what did you focus on. Am I going in the right direction? Are their feats that I am obviously missing? Please let me know. Any and all advice is welcome.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I plan to take the Half-elf 1/4 evolution point favored class bonus at every level.
Eidolon can be real monsters. Level 1 pounce with 3 natural attacks and your choice of effects to throw onto those attacks. Energy attacks and rend are both cheap and very effective.
You need to buy an AoMF for him so he can bypass DR or to spend feats on getting Eldritch Claws. If you fight a bunch of bad guys Holy(+2) isn't an awful enchant for bypassing DR and dealing some nice damage and with Eldritch claws you bypass most DR.
Have you considered not taking the tail evolution and instead saying you have a vestigial tail? The tail Evolution itself is pretty lackluster and its not an awful thing to ask for.
Just letting you know, since I dont know if you do know,Enlarge Person does not effect the Eidolon unless GM approved. I have found that out the hard way, Because the Eidolon is not a humanoid, it is an outsider. Even tho it can walk on 2 feet and look humanoid still does not make it one.
Quadruped are really nice. I tend to make a biped with tons of arms and deadly claws that rend.
@MrSin: Energy attacks are awesome, and I plan on using evolution surges to pick them up during most fights. I just didn't want to spend evolution points and get stuck with a specific element.
Truth be told, I'm not overly familiar with the DR rules, as the GM tends to calculate a lot of that for us. How does the amulet help overcome DR outside of adding to the damage done?
Also, what is a "vestigial tail". Is that like describing that he has one but that it just does nothing?
@Shfish: This is a really good point. I tend to focus a lot getting high bonuses so that I rarely miss. I can afford to go down to 20 STR though, as that is still pretty high.
@MrSin: Energy attacks are awesome, and I plan on using evolution surges to pick them up during most fights. I just didn't want to spend evolution points and get stuck with a specific element.
Truth be told, I'm not overly familiar with the DR rules, as the GM tends to calculate a lot of that for us. How does the amulet help overcome DR outside of adding to the damage done?
Also, what is a "vestigial tail". Is that like describing that he has one but that it just does nothing?
In order... Thats an okay idea. My brother plays a summoner and he saves it for flying himself. Flying seems to come up less than which energy is more useful.
DR negates so much damage per hit. So if you hit 3 times for 12/17/7 and the foe has DR/10 magic. You would do 2/5/0. If you had a +1 weapon or an effect that makes it magical you would deal full damage. Pounce Chargers and TWFers both suffer if they can't bypass DR. Some foes have more than one DR, such as DR/10 Silver and Magic. In this case you need to use both a silver and magic weapon to bypass the DR. other foes have DR 10/- which you can't bypass at all. Thers also DR/10 bludgeoning or slashing in which case you would have to deal either slashing or Bludgeoning. These are all examples, no idea if anyone actually has these.
Yes, its something that you describe but does nothing. My own summoner for instance had a 9 tailed armored fox for a summon. Instead of burning all my points on tails I just said he had 9 tails. The tail evolution and tail slap are just underwhelming
@Wilbur: I went to go look it up, but Shfish beat me to it. You bring up a good point though, I'll need to talk to my DM so that we are on the same page.
@:MrSin Ok, awesome! Thanks for all the info. How often does Silver come up? Should I just go for the Eldritch Claws?
@:MrSin Ok, awesome! Thanks for all the info. How often does Silver come up? Should I just go for the Eldritch Claws?
In my experience it comes up all the time. No idea what your DM throws at you though. On the other hand your DM might appreciate you not building one of those pounce chargers that trivializes encounters.
If you're interested, our party has a Half-Elven Summoner who uses his Eidolon as a combat mount and the two fight together as a single unit. The results are pretty spectacular...
If you're interested, our party has a Half-Elven Summoner who uses his Eidolon as a combat mount and the two fight together as a single unit. The results are pretty spectacular...
It sounds interesting, I'm curious to see what his build was.
I dug the idea of riding the eidolon, so I threw together a strength build. Thoughts?
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Renlar
Male Half-Elf Summoner 7
CN Medium Humanoid (elf, human)
Init +2; Senses bond senses (7 rounds/day), low-light vision; Perception +2
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 21
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 19
Feats Arcane Strike, Extra Evolution, Extra Evolution, Mounted Combat (1/round), Skill Focus (Ride)
Traits Heirloom Weapon (Proficiency) (Lance), Savannah Child (Ride)
Skills Perception +2, Ride +16, Spellcraft +11
SQ arcane training, eidolon link, elf blood, life link, maker's call (1/day), share spells with eidolon
Other Gear +1 Mithral Chain shirt, Lance, Headband of mental prowess (Int & Cha +2) (Ride), Backpack, masterwork (3 @ 20 lbs), Belt pouch (empty), Dungeoneering kit, deluxe, Mess kit, Waterskin, 1281 GP, 8 SP
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +2 shield, +2 Dex)
hp 52 (7d8+14)
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +7; +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities shield ally (+2 ac/saves); Immune magic sleep; Resist elven immunities, shield ally (+2 ac/saves)
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Lance +7 (1d8+5/x3)
Spell-Like Abilities Summon Monster IV (8/day)
Summoner Spells Known (CL 7):
3 (2/day) Rejuvenate Eidolon, Restore Eidolon (DC 18)
2 (4/day) Evolution Surge, Lesser (DC 17), Haste, Restore Eidolon, Lesser (DC 17), Summon Eidolon
1 (6/day) Rejuvenate Eidolon, Lesser, Shield, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person (DC 16), Life Conduit
0 (at will) Guidance, Acid Splash, Open/Close (DC 15), Read Magic, Detect Magic, Mending
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Eidolon
Male Quadruped
CN Medium Outsider
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +9
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Statistics
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Str 20, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 24 (28 vs. Trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round), Death from Above, Power Attack -2/+4
Skills Acrobatics +3 (+7 jump), Fly +16, Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +9, Stealth +12
Languages Common
SQ devotion +4, mount, pounce
Other Gear Amulet of mighty fists +1, Riding kit, exotic, You have no money!
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Defense
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AC 25, touch 13, flat-footed 22 (+3 Dex, +12 natural)
hp 45 (+12)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +2 (+4 morale bonus vs. Enchantment spells and effects)
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft., flight (40 feet, good)
Melee Bite (Bite) +10 (1d6+10/x2)
Melee Claw x2 (Claws) +10 x2 (1d6+10/x2)
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Evolutions - 13
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2 pts. Ability Increase, Constitution
2 pts. Ability Increase, Strength
1 pt. Claws
2 pts. Flight (Wings)
1 pt. Improved Damage, Claws
1 pt. Improved Reach, Claws
2 pt. Improved Natural Armor x2
1 pt. Pounce
1 pt. Mount
1 pt. Pounce
You may want a little less Cha and a little more con in your build since you're functionally a hitpoint battery for the eidolon.
Try the Wild Caller archetype; you lose some nice Eidolon evolutions but the extra evolution points, coupled with the Half Elf favoured class bonus, are magnificent.
You really don't need that much charisma...
Yea, I'm starting to see that. After having played a fighter I'm just used to capping a primary stat. I'm going to play around with some stat adjustments.
And if you want to do mounted combat, strength should be your primary ability score...
I really want to be focused on the Eidolon. Looking at mounted combat, I want to think of it as something I can do when I'm not focused on buffing, healing, or dispelling.
As silly as it sounds, I really don't want the character to be able to do too much. We play in a rather large group, so I am really looking to fill the niche of being as close to a tank as possible while letting other players have their chance to shine.
Have you considered a synthisist? With that you will create a real melee monster. (and consider a 1 level dip in Oracle of lore)
I have, and I decided against it for two reasons. This character has a story based relationship with his Eidolon, and I want to preserve that they are separate entities a majority of the time. I also like the action economy that having two separate entities provides. Our GM tends to throw a lot of debuffs and random encounters at us, and I want to be able to adapt and attack in the same round. Lastly, I really don't want to dip for another class simply because I'm trying to build an Eidolon focused summoner.
I would recommend Experimental Spellcaster, or anything that expands the number of spells you cast.
And even though you do start with an awesome amount of stat points, you do not need a 21 CHA at 7th level.
I started reading about Words of Power and I'm not sure I am ready for the complexity that it adds. That said, I REALLY like this idea, and I appreciate you calling it out. I'm definitely going to keep it on the table as it looks like there are a lot of beneficial personal spells I can make use of.
Try the Wild Caller archetype...
I honestly cannot count the number of times I have gone back and forth on this one. I think the decision came down to being able to use energy attacks(gm throws the most random stuff at us) and the flavor or having a breath weapon. I had a build where the Eidolon was monstrous, but it lacked utility and I had a feeling I was going to pay for it later.