The idea of a character where the companion gets most of the action and the PC is mostly there for support has been done before, off course, but I was interested to see what I could do with it. There's been a couple of threads about aasimar oracles of nature lately, but personally I don't much like the severely limited companion selection that gives. Thus, here is my take. I'm still trying to decide if I actually want to play this character.
I chose a velociraptor because:
a) With enough buff spells it gets the highest damage of any companion, as all that starts to matter is the number of attacks.
b) Medium size is a big boon, both because it's more practical than large, and because it gives more opportunities to cast the awesome animal growth spell.
However, if you're up for switching at some point, a velociraptor is pretty bad until level 7. Before then, a spinosaurus would be a lot better, and can be ridden from level 1 (although it's hard to see where you'd sit).
I chose a halfling druid/pathfinder savant because:
a) Being able to ride your companion allows you to stay in touch range of your companion much more easily, and position the companion where you want it, rather than having to rely on tricks. I would still dismount after a round or two to be able to cast more freely.
b) The halfling druid favored class bonus is brilliant, bascically giving three save traits every four levels.
c) Despite all the other options, druid still seems the best animal companion framework to me.
d) Pathfinder savant gives a few key extra buff spells to make the build awesome, as well as a great UMD boost.
With that out of the way, here is my build:
build:
6 menhir savant druid / 4 arcane savant / x druid
Halfling, favored class druid, use favored class bonus for animal companion saves.
Outrider alternate racial trait
Ability scores (20 pts):
str 12-2, dex 12+2, con 14, int 10, wis 17, cha 8+2
All increases to wis.
Traits: magical knack, helpful
Esoteric magic spells:
8. heroism from bard list as 3rd level spell
9. greater invisibility from summoner list as 4th lvl spell
10. divine power from cleric list as 5th lvl spell
Companion: spinosaurus at levels 1-6, velociraptor at levels 7+
Put ability increases in int, then con, then str
Feats:
1. power attack
2. iron will
5. improved unarmed strike
8. dragon style
10. improved natural attack: talons
13. step up
Equipment:
Hide armor, light wooden shield and some token weaponry for the halfling.
Darkleaf cloth hide barding for the animal (mithral chain is cheaper and equivalent, but seems inappropriate for a druid, even if the companion wears it)
Holy amulet of mighty fists (use greater magic fang for numerical bonus)
Possibly one or two campaign specific bane amulets for common non-evil enemies. (I should be able to switch the amulets in two or three move actions)
Standard stat and save boosters.
Metamagic rods: lesser extend, extend, lesser quicken, quicken
Some wands (CLW, protection from evil, versatile weapon, lesser restoration)
So, any advice? I'm still somewhat on the fence as to how to deal with DR. I've got /magic and /good covered, and apart from that I'm thinking I'll just have to punch through. The extra 2d6 from the amulet should help with that, and combined with a cast of strong jaw I should be able to get decent damage through, I think. Another option would be to get a holy amulet and a +3 amulet (for cold iron/silver DR), and get the rider to switch them out as needed.
I also had a lot of difficulty deciding on spells for esoteric magic, so I'm very much open to some advice on that. In the end, the long duration and bonus to saves of heroism, the defensive power of greater invisibility, and the big numerical bonus and extra attack of divine power seemed like a good combination to me. I know divine power is commonly considered not that great for a battle cleric, but considering this character won't also have access to divine favor, cannot easily wear boots of speed and has 5 primary attacks, it seems like it may well be the single best buff spell in the game in this case.
Finally, any ideas on how to get the most out of the scroll master ability of the pathfinder savant? There must be some spells out there that suddenly become awesome when you can cast them from a scroll at your own caster level.
You basically can't deal with DR outside of grapple. Eldritch claws feat gets silver, if that is the main one that comes up for some reason.
You want lower level spells that you don't have to be in melee to use. Vomit swarm is awesome, for example. Scrolls are mostly too expensive for this trick to be huge though. Basically any CL dependent spells.
My PFS roguey druid has a velociraptor companion. Buffed will indeed EAT anything without damage reduction rather quickly.
You can't take power attack as your first feat, as you don't have a bab of +1 at 1 hd. Just switch it with iron will.
Dragon style is indeed fun.
Since you're focusing so much on the critter, you shouldn't mind getting it an amulet of mighty fists anyway rather than blowing 5 greater magic fangs. Once you get +3 you can ignore cold iron and silver. ALternately you can get the elemental (acid shocking frost) enchantements and turn a pounce into a roaving fireball.
Even focusing on the critter wildshape is important. Its incredibly versatile if you know how to use it: DOyle currently sits on the raptors head in bat form, playing sonar.
Aspect of the wolf is a sick spell to cast on the critter: hitting is often a little rough, a swift action takedown can add +4 for ripping into a prone opponent.
I don't see what you're getting out of pathfinder savant.
@ blashimov: I'm not sure I understand the relation between DR and grapple.
@ BigNorseWolf: You're right that I want an AoMF anyway - I was just thinking that holy (and then holy+elemental) might be better than a straight +X, and then combine it with maybe two castings of GMF (one for all attacks, one for the primary attack). But at +3 level that means I either cannot deal with /good DR, or I can't deal with /silver and /cold iron, which is why I was thinking about getting both and swapping them out.
I'm taking pathfinder savant to get some additional buff spells, basically. The druid list has a few very good ones, but I felt that to really make the velociraptor competitive with fighters and the like at higher levels, it needs an extra boost that the druid spell list cannot give it.
