Hi there, for the first time in my 6 months playing D&D 4e, the GM has opened up a pathfinder campaign for us, Now this is all still new to me, and the Summoner piqued my interest, i would like some advice from players experienced on what to look out for, first a bit of my character (mechanical)
Note: GM rules for stats was 4d6 take highest 3 (reroll 1's) and no stats above 18 (including racial bonuses)
Raina (half-elf) Summoner 1
Str- 16
Dex- 17
Con- 14
Int- 14
Wis- 12
Cha- 18
Feat 1: Mounted combat/Skill focus (conjuration)
Spell 0: Guidance, Detect Magic, Message, open/close
Spell 1: Grease, Mage Armour
Weapons: Hand Crossbow & Long-spear
Eidolon (Quadraped)
Base Evo: Limbs (legs)(2), Bite
Extra Evo's: Claws (front legs), Improved Nat Armour, Pounce
Feat 1: Power attack
Now i can't decide on where i should go with this, should i go for a mounted summon build or do i stick with a buffing build and allow my Eidolon to dish out damage, what would you recommend for a first timer?
I prefer to let my Eidolon and summons do as much of the fighting for me as possible. It keeps you alive longer.
Question: Skill focus conjuration isn't a thing, so are you after spell focus, or is that your skill focus ability for being a half elf?
Next question: what books/rules from pathfinder is your GM allowing. There are some interesting options for summoner, especially being a half elf, that I think are great.
Another Question: the hand crossbow is an exotic weapon, so I don't think you are proficient with it, are you?
A couple of things I know I would change is I would not take mounted combat, and instead take Spell Focus(Conjuration) so my next feat can be augment summoning. I would also take the half elf favored class bonus that gives you extra evolution points for your Eidolon. The Ancestral arms alternate racial trait in advanced players guide, can give you proficiency in 1 weapon( which could be how you got the hand crossbow.) I would say take it, and choose longbow, that way you can shoot arrows on rounds you aren't buffing your Eidolon. It would give you something to do in combat, and keep you and your light armored self out of danger.
Mark_Twain007 wrote: I prefer to let my Eidolon and summons do as much of the fighting for me as possible. It keeps you alive longer.
Question: Skill focus conjuration isn't a thing, so are you after spell focus, or is that your skill focus ability for being a half elf?
Next question: what books/rules from pathfinder is your GM allowing. There are some interesting options for summoner, especially being a half elf, that I think are great.
Another Question: the hand crossbow is an exotic weapon, so I don't think you are proficient with it, are you?
A couple of things I know I would change is I would not take mounted combat, and instead take Spell Focus(Conjuration) so my next feat can be augment summoning. I would also take the half elf favored class bonus that gives you extra evolution points for your Eidolon. The Ancestral arms alternate racial trait in advanced players guide, can give you proficiency in 1 weapon( which could be how you got the hand crossbow.) I would say take it, and choose longbow, that way you can shoot arrows on rounds you aren't buffing your Eidolon. It would give you something to do in combat, and keep you and your light armored self out of danger.
Answer 1: Yea i meant spell focus on that part (misread it)
Answer 2: GM is following Core and advanced books only (need to ask if Ultimate books are included)
Answer 3: That was a mistype on my half, i meant to say light crossbow,
Thank you for your advice, so far is what i was originally going for, taking spell focus (conjuration) for augmented summoning later on, Ancestral arms sounds very handy indeed since I'm taking the favoured class for extra Evolution pts in later levels, the longbow does sound more beneficial compared to the light crossbow, any tips for a Quadruped Eidolon?
Your choice of feats and evolutions looks spot on. Remember that every level you can change your evolutions, you aren't stuck with them, so feel free to experiment. If you want maximum damage, eventually getting proficiency with a weapon so you have weapon attack and natural attacks on your full attack(Pounce!) will give you the most damage.
Wielding a manufactured weapon makes all your natural attacks count as secondary attacks, so at that point, you might be better off using tentacles instead of claws. At level 9 he gets multiattack, making the penalty for secondary attacks -2 instead of -5. If that sounds like a path you want to go down, use a feat for weapon proficiency and save evolution points for better stuff.
The reason I mentioned other books is there is a summoner archtype called wild caller from the Advanced race guide that I really like. It is only for elves and half elves, and you swap summon monster for summon natures ally, and you are restricted on some of the evolutions you can take, but you get an extra 1/4 evolution point per level, which combined with your half elf favored class bonus, is an extra point every 2 levels.
One last thing to think about, share spells, lets you enlarge person your Eidolon.
My first thought is the standard warning EVERYONE can do with when they look at summoner. It is fun, but, unless you take a lot of time to prep and get comfortable with it, running a half dozen things on the field can be bad. You eat up table time, hog the spot light, and often, the rest of the table do not like you for this.
That said, it is completely possible to make and play a summoner who does not fall into the stereotyped category all summoners get shoved in. Typically, this is done by making the Eidolon the "character" and the summoner little more then a life support system. Adding buff spells can make the summoner seem less like a life support system.
Building your pet, pounce is a must for a quad. It is just awesome. Bite is on the upper end of the damage spectrum. Other good attacks are sting, tentacle and claw (in that order).
Bite can have multiple shots via multiple heads (UM evolution, so double check it is allowed) and the 1.5 STR, which no other attack gets. It is also primary. Pull and Push go well with a long neck too. Poison and Grab to round out the AWESOMENESS that is bite.
Sting makes the most sense with reach, and multiple tails give you a lot of acrobatics bonus. Toss on poison (if it is a game with few poison resistant foes) to be dealing lots of additional damage via Con damage. Also Primary. Pull and Push with it too.
Tentacles have great damage but are secondary.
Claws get some awesome rending action. Also, buying additional limbs allow you to charge farther and pounce foes at greater distances. Good damage too.
Thank you both for your advice, they are very helpful, i think i will start of as a Centaur style Eidolon, wielding Lance's (each hand if able, if not then multiple limbs) for maximum damage.
Plan for future Evolutions: Limbs(arms)[x2*], Large, Improv Nat Attack.
This is what i plan on going with however i need to read up a lot more on evolutions, but i have not even reached level 2 yet but i want to plan it beforehand, any future help is appreciated :)
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