I am considering a Synthesist Summoner for an upcoming Reign of Winter game. It is a 20 point buy (cant dump anything lower than 8 including racial adjustments).
I am considering 3 main options for my race:
Half-Elf with Ancestral Weapon: the FC bonus is oh-so-sweet and immunity to sleep can help with witches (ive heard its a theme) or Cold-honed to help with moving in snow.
Pyromaniac Gnome with Master Tinkerer: awesome ability score bonus, solid SLAs, the ability to make weapons and be proficient, and people shouldn't call foul for gnome.
Truespeaker Scion of Humanity Idyllkin or Emberkin Aasimar: great ability bonuses, solid FC bonus, and resistances which can be bumped to 7 with Unscathed.
I plan to use the "Slugger" build so weapon proficiency is a big must. With the Aasimar I would probably make him Shoanti and give him Shoanti Tattoofor Earthbreaker proficiency.
Is a synthesist able/advised to dip into a martial class for proficiency/saves/bonus feats? I was considering 1 level for Mutation Warrior (bonus feat, fort save, and Mutagen 10/day) or 2 levels of Paladin.
I am starting at lvl 2.
Is the Aasimar's elemental resistances and extra ability score bonus worth the nod over a half-elf?
As I said before, this is for an Reign of Winter so having cold resistance is likely very nice.
Is the half-elf's sleep immunity a big deal? Or would I be better off switching it for
If I were to go with H/Elf I was planning on gaining Greatsword Proficiency and the following evolutions: Resistance(cold), Skilled (Perception), Bleed (Greatsword), and Reach (Greatsword)
If I were to go Aasimar I would probably go Emberkin with the following ability scores: 8,12,14,14,14,17 and he would use an earthbreaker via the trait I linked above. Evolution wise I would go with: Shadow Blend, Reach (Earthbreaker), and Skilled (Perception).
Half elf wins for the favored class bonus
any advice on either the elven immunities or cold-honed?
Do H/Elves sleep or trance? What i'm getting at is does my Eidolon ever have to actually go away?
I'd stick to elven immunities as you can simply take resistance to cold. The favored class bonus lets you get extra evolution points every 6 levels which is boss.
H/Elves sleep, only way I know of to reduce is ring of sustenance, but hey with that ring no dropping you Eidolon to eat to trip off to the jakes.
Well the big thing with Cold-Honed is the ability to move normally in ice/snow.... which based on the fact that RoW's Player's Guide give snow movement rules is probably a big deal...
Then again at 5 I'll have flight.
Is the FC bonus 1/6? I thought it was 1/4...
What is the best feat progression for a Synthesist?
I don't need Power Attack, the DM house rules PA and Combat Expertise are basic combat options
I was thinking:
1. Arcane Strike
3. Spell Focus: Conjuration
5. Augment Summoning
7. Riving Strike
9. Improved Fortitude
11. Resilient Eidolon
If I did go with the Aasimar, I would go with:
1. Arcane Strike
3. Riving Strike
5. Sunlit Strike
7. Spell Focus: Conjuration
9. Augment Summoning
11. Improved Fortitude
Never dip as a synthesist. Your BAB is dependent on your eidolon, so it's really hard for class features to make up for the loss of BAB, summoner level(some evolutions require a certain summoner level), and evolution points. One level dip for Cha to saves is rather tempting though.
Half-elf is best for favored class. They sleep.
The BAB was FAQ'd for Synthesist, your eidolon BAB only replaces summoner BAB your other classes add on to it.
Wait, so you mean
Level 4
Synthesis 1/ Gunslinger 3 for example
The Synthesist summoner while fused has a BaB of 1(eidolon)+3(slinger) = 4?
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Yes
FAQ
Summoner: Does a synthesist (page 80) use his own Hit Dice or his eidolon's Hit Dice for evolutions based on Hit Dice, such as Breath Weapon and Web? What about his BAB for making attacks?
The synthesist uses the eidolon's Hit Dice for the effects of evolutions, not his summoner Hit Dice or his total Hit Dice.
When fused, use the eidolon's BAB instead of the summoner's class BAB, and add in BAB from other sources as normal. For example, a fighter 19/summoner 1 normally has a total BAB of +19 (+19 from fighter, +0 from summoner), and when fused with his eidolon this increases to +20 (+19 from fighter, +1 from the 1st-level eidolon).
So would that FAQ plus magical knack make a 1-2 level dip worthwhile? For a weapon focused synthesist build?
For maximum Gamebreaking
Half Elf
Quadruped Eidelon- Take Pounce
Take Leadership when available, Take a Shining Knight Paladin Cohort with Spirited charge (massive damage boost when charging and works better than a cloak of resistance)
Kill boss encounters in 1 Round
Don't dip, the Buff spells and extra evolutions can make you immune to all elemental damage poison and Disease, give you an awesome AC and boost your to hit (Barkskin, Mage Armour, Shield, Heroism ) will be up pretty much constantly. You also get a swarm of attacks from natural weapons and Greatsword, your only real problem is people with very high ac, but they often can't hit you either.
Pretty much this will break all published scenarios quite nicely.