So i have been kinda toying with the idea of a hunter tanky type char.
Basically i would try to make my animal companion as tough and offensive as possible.
have to be human
so i would take the divine hunter archetype . i would go with a neutral deity , so i could go with a fiendish template .
i was thinking of the growth domain , the community or protection domain
i would take the eye for talent human trait
for feats
1-spirits gift DR/5 ( fast healing or blur after 5 )
3-evolved companion ( armor attack or reach)
5- Bolstered Resilience ( cord of stubborn resolve )
i was thinking a boar cause of the high Ar and ferocity that would work well with fast healing
any other ideas?
Stack on the Primal Companion archetype. Add evolutions to your 'mon. Cal it Mega Fluffy with the evolutions active and Fluffy the rest of the time.
Celestial is generally considered better than Fiendish I think, because Smite Evil is more commonly used than Smite Good.
For companions, you generally want something that either has one really big attack that you can Vital Strike up (anklyosaurus, for example), or Pounce (Allosaurus is, I believe, mathematically the best Pouncer). Primal Companion can tilt things by giving you access to evolutions for things like Pounce, but it's still saving you points.
Bolstered Resilience is... eh. Not great, honestly. Using Cords means you're not using a stat-boosting item too.
Until the companion gets it, Pounce is the ability you want from Evolved Companion. If they never gain it, well that is how they can.
Celestial will typically be more useful. Lose fire resistance, gain acid and electricity. DR is more commonly bested by foes, but smite will be useful more often. This also enables you to go with Erastil for the diety. He has the domains you are looking at. He also gives the feathered animal domain, and it is a fair option for a Hunter, more perception and a stronger companion.
Typically, the number support a higher damage output instead of a higher resistances. As such, I fully endorse Velociraptors as the animal companion as the top animal companion. 5 primary attacks with Outflank can be nasty. That said, ferocity and fast healing is a great combination.
Dafydd wrote: Until the companion gets it, Pounce is the ability you want from Evolved Companion. If they never gain it, well that is how they can.
Celestial will typically be more useful. Lose fire resistance, gain acid and electricity. DR is more commonly bested by foes, but smite will be useful more often. This also enables you to go with Erastil for the diety. He has the domains you are looking at. He also gives the feathered animal domain, and it is a fair option for a Hunter, more perception and a stronger companion.
Typically, the number support a higher damage output instead of a higher resistances. As such, I fully endorse Velociraptors as the animal companion as the top animal companion. 5 primary attacks with Outflank can be nasty. That said, ferocity and fast healing is a great combination.
thnx for the advice guys
what do you all think of getting body guard and in harms way feats for the AnC? the idea is that it would take hits for the other chars in the party?
i was thinking the feather domain simply for access to the fly spell
growth would be for the enlarge person that would work on the AnC.
protection would give me shield , that i could use on the AnCc.
Dafydd wrote: As such, I fully endorse Velociraptors as the animal companion as the top animal companion. 5 primary attacks with Outflank can be nasty. Forgot about the raptor. That thing is a close competitor with the Allosaurus... though personally, Large size + Grab + the extra 7 Strength leans me to the bigger dino. Both are awesome though.
Kefler wrote: thnx for the advice guys
what do you all think of getting body guard and in harms way feats for the AnC? the idea is that it would take hits for the other chars in the party?
i was thinking the feather domain simply for access to the fly spell
growth would be for the enlarge person that would work on the AnC.
protection would give me shield , that i could use on the AnCc.
Eh, they're not useless feats, but cover your basics like Armor Training first. Generally you want to avoid getting into the situations where you'd be forced to use them, so they're niche pieces.
On the subject of Bodyguard though: check out the Animal Companion archetypes. The Bodyguard archetype is a pretty nice piece-- though it gives up Share Spells, which kind of bites, some of its gains are awesome-- like a pseudoFerocity, for example.
I do not care for Bodyguard and In Harm's Way. Both are just bad options imo, for anyone, not just an AnC. If it made the attack have to beat your AC, then it would be something, however the way it is worded, the AnC could have an AC in the 40s and protecting the wizard who is hit with an 11.
Dafydd wrote: I do not care for Bodyguard and In Harm's Way. Both are just bad options imo, for anyone, not just an AnC. If it made the attack have to beat your AC, then it would be something, however the way it is worded, the AnC could have an AC in the 40s and protecting the wizard who is hit with an 11.
do you think the domain and template are worth losing all the teamwork feats of the regular class?
Well, it is a bit of a toss and can really depend on your GM and their style.
Personally, I like to not be caught in the surprise round. So I personally would keep the teamwork feats and do the bodyguard archetype/lookout cheese combo platter.
In case you or other readers do not know the combo:
The Bodyguard Archetype (for animal companions) allows them to always act in the surprise round, even if they otherwise couldn't.
Lookout teamwork feat allows you to act if your ally with the feat can.
Since the AnC gains the feat, and always gets to go in a surprise round, so do you.
Now, theoretically, you can still do this even with the Divine Hunter archetype. It is just a little more resource intensive. Additionally, the feather subdomain does improve your initiative IF you act in the surprise round. However, I have found that the surprise round rules are largely ignored by GMs. Either they say you spot the foes so there is no surprise round or they get the surprise and you do not.
The celestial template is very powerful, and gets stronger as you do. If you face lots of undead and/or evil outsiders, the smite can be very powerful. However, it is a 1pd ability, so very limited. Additionally, what makes the smite good makes the DR not good, as the things you smite will be able to bypass it.
So, both are good choices, so whichever you prefer.
I do really like the bodyguard archetype i just hate losing the share spells ability and multiattack .
these feats and abils seem like a crazy combo to :
Broken Wing Gambit (Combat, Teamwork)
You feign weakness, making yourself a tempting and distracting target.
Prerequisite: Bluff 5 ranks.
Benefit: Whenever you make a melee attack and hit your opponent, you can use a free action to grant that opponent a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls against you until the end of your next turn or until your opponent attacks you, whichever happens first. If that opponent attacks you with this bonus, it provokes attacks of opportunity from your allies who have this feat.
Paired Opportunists (Combat, Teamwork)
You know how to make an enemy pay for lax defenses.
Benefit: Whenever you are adjacent to an ally who also has this feat, you receive a +4 circumstance bonus on attacks of opportunity against creatures that you both threaten. Enemies that provoke attacks of opportunity from your ally also provoke attacks of opportunity from you so long as you threaten them (even if the situation or an ability would normally deny you the attack of opportunity). This does not allow you to take more than one attack of opportunity against a creature for a given action.
Vengeance Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when an enemy adjacent to him hits an ally with a melee or ranged attack. The ranger can make a single melee attack at his highest base attack bonus against the creature who attacked his ally.
Having a companion with one really strong attack and these abils seems really good
Looks crazy good, but you need a very good healer around to help with your constant "Come Hit Me" attitude. Remember that teamwork feats only work as long as you have team mates with them. So if your broken wing gambit fails, and you get hit hard, you loose more then just a body in the battle.
It is also 2 picks, so it would not be fully online till level 6. Additionally, there are issues revolving around the skirmisher tricks. Such as they can select them, but gain no ability to use them.
IMO there are better teamwork feats.
Improved Spell Sharing kinda regains share spell.
Seize the Moment allows you to double up on the AoO you can take on a foe. EX: You crit the foe, Outflank grants an AoO to your allies, Seize the moment lets them take another AoO cause you scored a crit. This can lead to a lot of crits bouncing back and forth.
Pack Flanking is a must. It lets you be adjacent and still get flanking bonuses.
I would suggest asking if you could use one of the animal and terrain domains that the druid gains access to(it says that nature-themed characters should gain access and Hunter is the one I believe would qualify the most) with that take one of the domains that gives you a familiar so you can have two animals that are your friends.
Helcack wrote: I would suggest asking if you could use one of the animal and terrain domains that the druid gains access to(it says that nature-themed characters should gain access and Hunter is the one I believe would qualify the most) with that take one of the domains that gives you a familiar so you can have two animals that are your friends. i actually thought of this with the swamp domain so i could channel heal my AnC and myself , if i took animal soul
i just noticed the cool thing about a raptor is it can take the battle cry feat!
although if i did that i am sure my GM would make me make the raptor sound every time the pet used the feat :)
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