|
Hello All,
I'm looking for advice on a PFS build, 20pt buy, for a character that is focused on maximizing her familiar pet to be the strongest part about her. I'm already thinking of Aasimar for adding the Celestial template to my familiar. I'm also wondering if multiclassing Bard would be helpful in boosting my familiar's abilities to be more powerful. Please feel free to add any suggestions on how to make a pet focused Witch.
|
|
I was unable to find the Con casting swap in APG and UM. I figured Witch would be good with the Arcane spell list they get and with taking the one feat that gives +4 levels to the familiar I would be able to go Bard or something to help give benefits while in the back of the fight.
@TGMax - You think a Summoner/Druid multiclass is best or you mean one of those two would be best?
I'm trying to figure what I could do best either pure or multiclass to have a highly effective pet in in PFS.
I know there's plenty of classes like Paladin, Ranger (Hawk Ranger), Druid, Witch, Summoner, Wizard, and Sorcerer that all get pets but I have no clue which one would have the best pet. Another factor is the size of the pet that can cause issues within a PFS game and the spell selection (Divine/Arcane/etc) that is available to me in which I can use to buff/assist my pet.
Are there classes or prestige classes that advice pets if I decided to pick a supporting class? Any suggestions/builds/ or advice on which class is best or multiclassing would be great.
EDIT: One question would be "Would a Beast-Bonded Witch that gives feats to a Familiar eventually be stronger than a Druid's or Summoner's pet by 11th level? If so when would they start overpowering a Druid/Summoner's pet in and out of combat?
I had a Witch with a Dire Rat familiar and... just don't use a familiar as a combat creature! It will hurt. A lot.
|
|
I'm kind of worried about a Summoner in PFS.
The eidolon cannot be sent back to its home plane by means of dispel magic, but spells such as dismissal and banishment work normally. If the summoner is unconscious, asleep, or killed, his eidolon is immediately banished.
Seems that my Eidolon could get dismissed, banished or I could get knocked unconscious or put to sleep and my pet and I would both be out of the fight.
I know Animal Companions are in the same boat if I'm unconscious or asleep as I can't do handle animal checks when I'm not awake/alive so the pet would only be doing the last command I instructed it to (attack x target, or defend me, etc). I guess the AC has the benefit of not being able to be dismissed/banished though.
Seems both of these cause problems if the enemy can knock me out, put me to sleep, or kill me. I'm assuming a Familiar would still be intelligent and available to attack targets and to use a wand/potion from my inventory to heal me, stabilize me, or bring me back to life. Am I wrong here?
I just know PFS can be brutal sometimes and being knocked out personally or having an eidolon that gets banished/dismissed somewhere in the beginning of the fight really ruins me for that fight.
|
|
Well I am glad you mentioned the Summon Eidolon spell as I missed that. Using the Summon Monsters ability/spells would require me to own the corresponding Bestiary to summon those within a PFS game (at least at my local PFS area)
Can Eidolons use command word magic items or wands/scrolls like a familiar with the ability to speak or UMD?
A druid IMHO. They have quite a few animal buff spells. Animal Growth and Strong Jaw comes to mind.
(Edit: That is, they are second best to the Summoner, which is a class designed around its pet. And don't discount the Wild Caller, they make for excellent Kali build Summoners, which is a contender for highest DPR there is)
The arbiter familiar is pretty much unkillable. I don't know how combat ready it is, but death is not a threat. The imp has a lot of neat tricks and resistances.
I actually plan to have my witch become my familiar full time next level (7) via the familiar melding spell. I haven't seen anyone do this, but it sounds like it should be fun.
|
|
Is there any good ways to acquire a lot of hitpoints as a witch/wizard/etc or a way multiclass into something with higher hitpoints per level without giving up familiar levels? Trying to see if there's a way to boost the hp of a familiar a reasonable amount as I'm interested in seeing how decent some of the Improved Familiars would be.
|
|
*Bump* I'm interested in some of the Improved Familiars and the Animal Archive books in making a decent Familiar pet. Any suggestions? I'm assuming Beast-Bonded Witch, Aasimar with Celestial Servant to add Celestial Template to familiar, and picking an improved familiar with resists, possibly one with some form of self heal, at will invisibility, or regeneration.
(Not sure how many have attempted to apply the celestial template to an Improved Familiar via Celestial Servant, but if it works that'd be one nice way to give it a boost. Also contemplating using a feat or two to add evolutions to the familiar for additional goodness.
This wouldn't be an epic build but it would be for roleplaying fun and to at least be a reasonable/decent build as I don't want to create a useless character in PFS.
Any of you familiar experts out there feel free to chime in.
@Sitri - Interesting concept, whats the advantages of using familiar melding?
@Leisner - What is a Kali build btw? It looks like if I go Wild Caller I'll net 3 extra Evo points by the time I reach max lvl (12), but lose out on some decent evos though.
Mainly just to be an imp. I have never seen anyone play one. I like stealthy support type casters anyway, and the imp looks like it will be good at that job.
Also, unless you have several feats lined up I don't know I would take the beast bonded. I started out with it when I thought I would have to take lots of extra item slot feats (Mike cleared up that is not the case for a handful of improved familiars) and I realized I was basically just giving away a hex (or was it a feat and a hex, I can't remember) for nothing. I would really like the level 10 power, but I can't say I can justify the earlier losses for what I get in those 2 levels.
|
|
From what I'm understanding Improved Familiar lets you pick from those available by 1 alignment step away.
Improved Familiar
This feat allows you to acquire a powerful familiar, but only when you could normally acquire a new familiar.
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a new familiar, compatible alignment, sufficiently high level (see below).
Benefit: When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed below are also available to you. You may choose a familiar with an alignment up to one step away on each alignment axis (lawful through chaotic, good through evil).
This means a player could pick an imp or other "evil" aligned familiars as long as the player isn't evil alignment and as long as the player isn't using this for some reason to commit evil acts and justify it within a PFS game correct?
|
|
Well from what I found out you can be within 1 step unless the Improved Familiar specifically has an alignment requirement. Fairy Dragons are off limits unless you have a boon for them.
A few questions that still remain:
1) An Aasimar can apply Celestial Servant (Celestial Template) to any Improved Familiar he has? (I'm unaware of any restrictions but a Celestial Imp would be a pretty conflicted individual)
2) Spells like Polymorph, Alter Self, Beast Shape, etc all work on Improved Familiars UNLESS they are Outsiders or have immunity to Polymorph? (which I assume immunity makes them immune to the other altering spells, ie. Alter Self, Beast Shape, etc.)
3) I can swap out an Improved Familiar's feats IF I own Animal Archive which provides alternate feats available if I so desire?
Yes on the one step from an evil familiar giving you access to it and yes to swapping out feats and yes to the polymorphing (though some can do it themselves). I am not familiar with the celestial template trick off the top of my head.