So with the help of everyone i was able to hash out my Ranger, "Serafin". Everything is in place to make him out to what i hope ends up being a very productive ranger.
so now i need help understanding and building his Wolf AC. As some who read my previous post, this is a vanilla ranger. no archetypes/multiclass. i can use feats/equipment, etc.. from any book
i will not be riding my wolf as a mount. my goal is for him to be a flanking partner for the group, and help w/tracking/survival scenarios. assist with his own attacks, but not a primary front line fighter, not until i switch hit from range and jump into melle.
i've added my current prospective build to give insight. thanks for the help! first game is scheduled for monday, so please send as much info as you can! the only thing i know, is i need, boon companion in here somewhere so my AC can function at the same lvl as myself.
HELP!
Alternate racial trait: fleet foot>>sure footed
Other (story/social) trait:
1:
2:
lvl 1 feat: power attack
favored enemy: humans
lvl 2: archery combat style feats: precise shot
Lvl 3: quick draw > switch from bow to sword, as a free action
lvl 4: nothing.
lvl 5: deadly aim> –1 penalty on all ranged attack rolls to gain a +2 bonus on all ranged damage rolls
favored enemy:
lvl 6: many shot > shoot 2 arrows simultaneously. at this time shooting 4 arrows as one full attack
lvl 7: big game hunter
lvl 8: nothing.
lvl 9: improved critical> great sword
lvl 10:
You don't need Boon Companion per se to have a good, functional Animal Companion. Make sure you save up some money during the first 4 levels so you can buy some protective stuff for your wolf. If you feel you do absolutely need Boon Companion, you'll just have to suck it up and get that feat instead of a combat feat, simply can't have it all. Also don't forget that your Animal Companion gets a feat too, so giving it Dodge is probably a good idea.
In my opinion, it's better to drop Quick Draw (since being able to swap weapons as a free action isn't really that spectacular of an ability and will only come up circumstancially... not worth a feat imo, you can still switch weapons during a move action which is enough most of the time).
So get Deadly Aim instead of Quick Draw and use the opened up feat slot at level 5 to get Boon Companion.
That is what I would do if I were you.
Then again, my personal feelings are that Boon Companion is a bit of an overpowered feat. (I mean come on, they might as well introduce a feat called "Go a level up"... this is Pathfinder RPG not Munchkin)
But I guess that's just me!
I'm a little confused on your character. Switch hitter, Halfling cool so far.
Feats:
1)power attack great
2R)Precise shot- now you can range attack into melee, is that what you want?
3)Quick draw- not needed, but ok- since you are a switch hitter you don't need to draw your sword and move up to your target. So, use your move action to switch. Full attacks aren't needed until you hit 6.
5)Deadly Aim- bow's power attack, great- I'd get it earlier if possible.
6)Many shot- Ok, you get an extra arrow on your first shot, and you get a second shot for 6 BaB. Where is the 4th shot coming from?
My suggestions for your animal companion:
Effective druid levels:
1)Combat Reflexes
2)Dodge
5)Mobility
8)Combat Patrol
So, the wolf gets 1 attack, his bite. This deals damage +1-1/2 times str. The key to getting the most out of this is attacking more than one time per round. Combat reflexes is best at doing this since a wolf is going to have good dex and he will be tripping opponents forcing them to get up (provoking attacks of opportunity). Dodge and mobility are there as prereqs for combat patrol, but provide solid bonuses as well. Combat patrol give you a guardian, anything running at you now provokes an attack of opportunity and will likely trip on its way.
In order to take Combat patrol you will either need to give your animal companion a +1 int as it levels or take the Bodyguard archetype
I'm a little confused on your character. Switch hitter, Halfling cool so far.
Feats:
1)power attack great
2R)Precise shot- now you can range attack into melee, is that what you want?
3)Quick draw- not needed, but ok- since you are a switch hitter you don't need to draw your sword and move up to your target. So, use your move action to switch. Full attacks aren't needed until you hit 6.
5)Deadly Aim- bow's power attack, great- I'd get it earlier if possible.
6)Many shot- Ok, you get an extra arrow on your first shot, and you get a second shot for 6 BaB. Where is the 4th shot coming from?My suggestions for your animal companion:
Effective druid levels:
1)Combat Reflexes
2)Dodge
5)Mobility
8)Combat PatrolSo, the wolf gets 1 attack, his bite. This deals damage +1-1/2 times str. The key to getting the most out of this is attacking more than one time per round. Combat reflexes is best at doing this since a wolf is going to have good dex and he will be tripping opponents forcing them to get up (provoking attacks of opportunity). Dodge and mobility are there as prereqs for combat patrol, but provide solid bonuses as well. Combat patrol give you a guardian, anything running at you now provokes an attack of opportunity and will likely trip on its way.
In order to take Combat patrol you will either need to give your animal companion a +1 int as it levels or take the Bodyguard archetype
i may have a few misprints. only been playing a yr. so, i thought......many shot gave a total of 4 arrows, 2 and 2, not just 2 on the first attack. good catch, thanks!
Having played a switch-hitter, I can attest to the fact that Quick Draw is overrated. You can move and draw your sword as a free action so it's not needed unless you plan on drawing more than one weapon...take Titan's feat swap suggestion.
suggestion taken
That said, Boon Companion is amazing. Definitely get it at 5.
i will
For your wolf, concentrate on it's tripping ability. This will greatly aid your party by granting not only +2 for flanking, but +4 for enemy being prone.
exactly how does the tripping work? is it the result of a successful "bite attack"?
Weapon Focus:bite as it's first feat, then increase its intelligence at level 4 so it can take any feat you can think of.
investigating into diff feats
Whatever you do, do NOT have it take the Armor Proficiency feats. Just use barding with zero armor check penalty.
my understanding is barding is animal armor, w/o needing proficiency? i've read some other posts, suggesting taking the AP, and hanging a mithril chain mail shirt on the beast. as this sounds awesome, how much more AC does it actually provide?
other question, how do i heal my AC? does it benefit from channel energy like the rest of the part will? or can i have it drink a bowl of healing potions? thanks.
If you are not proficient with an armor type you get an armor check penalty based on the armor. This will most noticeably affect your attack. For example lets look at some armors:
Leather armor has an armor check penalty of 0, thus no effect on your attack.
Studded leather has an armor check penalty of 1, thus -1 to your attack.
Chain Shirt has an armor check penalty of 2 thus -2 to your attack.
It's not over though. Making an armor masterwork means you reduce the armor check penalty by 1, thus:
MW Studded leather has an armor check penalty of 0, no effect to your attack
Even better, mithral reduces armor check penalties by 3, thus
Mithral Chain Shirt has an armor check penalty of 0, thus no effect on your attack.
Now look at cost. once your wolf is large (level 7) his armor(barding) costs 4 times what normal armor does.
Med cost of 0 armor check armors/barding:
Leather: 10g
Masterwork studded leather: 175g
Mithral chain shirt: 1,100g
Large:
Leather: 40g
MW studded leather: 700g
Mithral chain shirt: 4,400g
Studded leather should be good until it hits large size, even alright at that point. When 4,400 is cheap to you grab some mithral then start looking to add +'s to it.
exactly how does the tripping work? is it the result of a successful "bite attack"?
Well from the beastiary
Trip (Ex) A creature with the trip special attack can attempt to trip its opponent as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity if it hits with the specified attack. If the attempt fails, the creature is not tripped in return.
So the bite has to succeed then the wolf rolls again to attempt to trip. But it can't get tripped if it fails.
Focusing on improving trip isn't that easy since you can not take improved trip (need 13 int). That being said they are decent at tripping. At 8 they have a CMB of 5 BAB + 6 str +1 large so +12 CMB CMD's seem to be around 26 for a CR8 so he may not be able to trip bosses without some help, but multi bad guy fights he can be effective.
Animal companions are healed the same way player characters are.
If you are not proficient with an armor type you get an armor check penalty based on the armor. This will most noticeably affect your attack. For example lets look at some armors:
Leather armor has an armor check penalty of 0, thus no effect on your attack.
Studded leather has an armor check penalty of 1, thus -1 to your attack.
Chain Shirt has an armor check penalty of 2 thus -2 to your attack.It's not over though. Making an armor masterwork means you reduce the armor check penalty by 1, thus:
MW Studded leather has an armor check penalty of 0, no effect to your attackEven better, mithral reduces armor check penalties by 3, thus
Mithral Chain Shirt has an armor check penalty of 0, thus no effect on your attack.Now look at cost. once your wolf is large (level 7) his armor(barding) costs 4 times what normal armor does.
Med cost of 0 armor check armors/barding:
Leather: 10g
Masterwork studded leather: 175g
Mithral chain shirt: 1,100gLarge:
Leather: 40g
MW studded leather: 700g
Mithral chain shirt: 4,400gStudded leather should be good until it hits large size, even alright at that point. When 4,400 is cheap to you grab some mithral then start looking to add +'s to it.
exactly how does the tripping work? is it the result of a successful "bite attack"?Well from the beastiary
Trip (Ex) A creature with the trip special attack can attempt to trip its opponent as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity if it hits with the specified attack. If the attempt fails, the creature is not tripped in return.So the bite has to succeed then the wolf rolls again to attempt to trip. But it can't get tripped if it fails.
Focusing on improving trip isn't that easy since you can not take improved trip (need 13 int). That being said they are decent at tripping. At 8 they have a CMB of 5 BAB + 6 str +1 large so +12 CMB CMD's seem to be around 26 for a CR8 so he may not be able to trip bosses without some help, but multi bad guy fights he...
great info! appreciate all the details.
Just a side note- If you are a halfling switch-hitter ranger, have you considered using a halfling sling staff rather than a bow & sword? Feats and enchantments for it will apply to both its melee and ranged attacks, and you don't ever have to worry about quick-draw or anything like that.
yes i've considered it, but reading through many posts debating the fact if the halfling sling, is entitled to actual sling feats, decided against going that route. in my interpretation, of course it's a sling. a sling, attached to a club. but a sling first and foremost. being that i'd rather not cross swords w/the GM about this, i've opted against it. got to pick your battles. plus, the bow/sword combo works in my character theme and overall grand picture.