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So, the Shadow Caller in UI was is one of those archetypes where I just had to put the book down and build one out. The flavor (at least, to me) is sooo cool! BUT! It's saddled with some almost-crippling drawbacks. Now that I've played it through level 1, I need to decide whether to stick with it and how to address some of the archetype's shortcomings.
The character I've been playing so far goes something like this:
Marian: Hellspawn Tiefling - female (Almost Human, Soul Seer)
STR: 8 DEX: 16 CON: 12 INT: 12 WIS: 18 CHA: 8
Traits: Two-world Magic (Touch of Fatigue), Trustworthy (Diplomacy)
Feats: Weapon Finesse, (Spell Focus: Necromancy, Piranha Strike, Spell Pen)
Hubert: Shadow Phantom - ????
STR: 12 DEX: 14 CON: 13 INT: 7 WIS: 10 CHA: 13
Feats: Weapon Finesse, (Power Attack, Cornugon Smash, Toughness)
The goal is to make something of a frontline damage/intimidator with a support/debuffer/face close behind.
Here's some things I'm not sure about:
- Two-world magic - yes or no? I could drop 1000g to pick up Touch of Fatigue with an ioun stone, freeing up the trait for other things (armor expert or perception-in-class both come to mind). Alternatively, I could forget Touch of Fatigue altogether. I kinda want it as an at-will thing to do, but I'm not sold on it.
- Defenses. My Phantom is a Dex-based Eidolon, so I'm not worried about...him?...it?...Instead, I'm a little worried about my PC. She only has light armor and moderate dex, so her AC stalls out around 24 or 25 with Shield and some cheap magic items. Playing through level 1 showed me just how often baddies take that 5ft step over to me. If I drop Two-world magic or Spell Focus, I could go for a mithral breastplate. Worth it?
- Movement. The Shadow Caller rules were written with the common 'me and my pet move at the same time' initiative shortcut in mind. They don't really work otherwise. Short of 10ft shimmies, how do I deal with movement at tables that prefer to handle pet turns by the book?
- Magic items on incorporeal Phantoms. Quick rules question: do phantoms keep their equipment on while incorporeal? A Dex build is pretty gear-dependent and it would suck to have my Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists drop to the ground every time I have Hubert peek through a door.
- Intimidating Phantom? Is there something better I could do with my Phantom? Cornugon Smash is fun, but it comes online late-ish and his Intimidate, while good, never quite reaches auto-success territory. What other fun things have you seen a Phantom/Eidolon build towards?