celestial elemental-mauler

[talast]

One of my players asked me this:

Can an aasimar take a class that let's him have a familiar, then take the improve familiar feat to get an elemental, then take the racial feat celestial servant to make a celestial elemental out of it. And also make the elemental into a mauler archetype?

I have looked over all the books in question and don't seem to see that prevents the player from doing that.

I do believe that the player is considering doing that with the eldritch guardian fighter archetype. With an earth elemental, I can't help but think it might be to over powering.

Aside from the question at the top, anyone has any thoughts on this?

[Chess Pwn]

Mauler loses speak with kind, improved familiars lose speak with kind, thus unless Paizo says otherwise, you can't take Mauler on an improved familiar.

[talast]

Chess Pwn wrote:

Mauler loses speak with kind, improved familiars lose speak with kind, thus unless Paizo says otherwise, you can't take Mauler on an improved familiar.

Thank you. That is what I needed.

[Oddman80]

Wouldn't it meet RAW if he had a celestial earth elemental mauler that lost the ability to speak Terran (it's only known language)?

[Imbicatus]

Oddman80 wrote:

Wouldn't it meet RAW if he had a celestial earth elemental mauler that lost the ability to speak Terran (it's only known language)?

No. Speak with Animals of Its Kind is a specific familiar ability. Improved familiars lose that ability, as do maulers. It's like taking two class archetypes that replace the same feature.

[Oddman80]

As to the original point, though... The combination is hardly OP, considering it takes 4 feats to pull off (lose 2 feats for archetype, use two for the familiar upgrades). I can think of quite a few 4 feat combos that would be more powerful than this.

Leadership + anything...
Weapon Focus + TWF + Enforcer + Imroved Critical (grab a pair of Kukris and the blade of mercy trait) make everyone you hit shaken for the entire encounter, and a 30% of making them frightened

[talast]

Oddman80 wrote:

As to the original point, though... The combination is hardly OP, considering it takes 4 feats to pull off (lose 2 feats for archetype, use two for the familiar upgrades). I can think of quite a few 4 feat combos that would be more powerful than this.

Leadership + anything...
Weapon Focus + TWF + Enforcer + Imroved Critical (grab a pair of Kukris and the blade of mercy trait) make everyone you hit shaken for the entire encounter, and a 30% of making them frightened

yes, it does cost 4 feats (assuming one does want to put the celestial template on the earth elemental. personally I would not). but the ability to let your celestial earth elemental wearing full plate and runs around with half of the teamwork feats is staggering.

let's take a level 10 eldritch guardian with the mauler earth elemental (assuming we over look the speak its own kind thing):

small earth elemental, 16 str, +6 NAC.
at 3rd level and every 2 levels beyond that, he gains a +1 str. so at level 10, that's +4 str. total out to 20 str.
also the 3rd level mauler ability let it grow to size medium, it states when in medium form, gain +2 str. in addition to any size increase modifier. Small to medium is +4 str. so now the earth elemental has 26 str.

Throw him a fullplate, base of 10, -2 for dex penalty, +9 armor, +6 NAC = 23 ac +5 for level adjustment = 28 ac

So you got an earth elemental with (possibly earth mastery), +10 bab, +8 str, +8 damage with 2 x slam, +6 power attack= 2 x slam +18 (1d8+14) or +19 (1d8+15) with earth mastery

depending on how you look at it, the player can argue the earth elemental can use martial weapons, and if that's true, the elemental can use whatever you are specialized and focused in. And if you got the teamwork trip concept going, as well as the teamwork opportunist going, it's a DPS machine.

just in case you haven't noticed, all that is on the familiar, we haven't even look at the fighter yet. the whole concept is like playing 2 characters that are almost identical twins