I am interested in making/playing a flank buddy summoner, and would like the character to be optimized, if such a term can apply to a concept that starts well outside of traditional bounds. Basically I want a fighter that is good enough with a sword to do acceptable damage, and has a high enough ac to not be constant liability.
My current thoughts are: Half Elf Fighter 1/ Summoner 19. As a first level fighter I will get access to more weapons and armor, full BAB, and the bonus feat. My primary Stat would be Dex with just enough charisma to get me access to spells, so probably 14. Feat wise I intend to take Weapons Finesse and Dodge/Toughness. At second level I would take Dervish Dance. So with the half Elf I can take two favored classes, so I don't miss out on the hp at level one, and I can regain some of the points for my eidolon that I missed out on by dipping into fighter. I toyed with going Bard at level one and just taking Dervish Dancer at the outset, but I didn't want to have tow levels of 0 BAB.
Does this build look okay for what it is? is there a better way to build my concept of a fighter with his scary pet Hell Hound?
I am interested in making/playing a flank buddy summoner, and would like the character to be optimized, if such a term can apply to a concept that starts well outside of traditional bounds. Basically I want a fighter that is good enough with a sword to do acceptable damage, and has a high enough ac to not be constant liability.
My current thoughts are: Half Elf Fighter 1/ Summoner 19. As a first level fighter I will get access to more weapons and armor, full BAB, and the bonus feat. My primary Stat would be Dex with just enough charisma to get me access to spells, so probably 14. Feat wise I intend to take Weapons Finesse and Dodge/Toughness. At second level I would take Dervish Dance. So with the half Elf I can take two favored classes, so I don't miss out on the hp at level one, and I can regain some of the points for my eidolon that I missed out on by dipping into fighter. I toyed with going Bard at level one and just taking Dervish Dancer at the outset, but I didn't want to have tow levels of 0 BAB.
Does this build look okay for what it is? is there a better way to build my concept of a fighter with his scary pet Hell Hound?
No matter what you do, the Eidolon is going to be your primary source of damage. So, really, splashing anything isn't optimal.
How do you plan to take a feat at 2nd level with your proposed set up? You have no new feats at 2nd level...
Just go straight summoner. Take weapon finesse at 1, dervish dance at 3. Then like, iono, toughness, arcane strike, or whathave ya. Or dodge, combat expertise, whatever.
Just stay alive, so, a high dex is good, especially since you're planning to turn that offensive too. You can wear light armor, so get Celestial Armor when you get a chance, and be plenty tanky.
The whole 'flank buddy' concept is a little diferen than you might imagine it, or seem to be trying to implement. You are the flank buddy. Not the pet. Focus on ways to boost your Eidolon's attacks, and you'll pull this style off much beter.
Consider a Helpful (for aiding another goodness), Look at the Teamwork feas, they'd be pretty awesome for the flank buddy style... Butterfly's Sting could be nice.
/shrug
If I don't take fighter than I also have to burn a feat for weapon proficiency. I, erroneously, believed the summoner got a bonus feat... Wishful thinking. So would I be better off taking fighter two levels? Switch from half elf to human for the extra feat?
Don't take any fighter levels.
You can do perfectly well as a melee combatant without dipping fighter.
One of the preferred methods would be a reach build using a longspear. With just combat reflexes and power attack (and maybe a starting strength score of 16), you can deal damage, serve as a circle of pain 25' across, and not have to worry as much about getting smacked. It also gives the opportunity to serve as a melee combatant and spell caster in the same turn since you can fall back to AoO's to do damage while you summon or buff.
Also, if you just have to get another weapon proficiency, you could just take the alternate racial trait for half elves to get any weapon proficiency you want. Admittedly, a human would also be a good choice since the extra skill point is much appreciated with the 2+int classes.
For armor, you will have a bit of trouble since you cannot go over light category without messing with your spells. But of course mithral armor solves that particular problem, but it typically needs medium armor proficiency to not interfere with your attacks.
Of course, that is 'typically'. There is a small trick to allow you to freely use mithraled medium armor without actually having medium armor proficiency. This is because the the penalty for nonproficient armor use is having the Armor Check Penalty applied to attack rolls. But if ACP is 0...the penalty is 0. So using mithral and the armor expert trait (or other, similar abilities that can reduce ACP by 1 or more), you can wear a mithral breastplate without any problems.
I'd go with the half-elf weapon training alternate ability, it gives you exactly 1 free weapon proficiency of your choosing. A nice reach weapon would be pretty handy.
Don't take any fighter levels.
That looks like a great guide! However I could only access the first two pages, are the others completed?
That looks like a great guide! However I could only access the first two pages, are the others completed?Don't take any fighter levels.
They're PDF's. You may have to make sure your adobe reader is updated or use a different browser.