Can a magus with improved familiar, a mauler familiar and a couple good familiar effecting feats wind up with a powerful combat pet or is this build weaksauce?
That's a vague question. Powerful compared to what? Weaksauce compared to what? Probably a better question regardless to ask in the advice forum. Flagged the post to be moved there.
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You likely wouldn't be able to get the Mauler archetype on an Improved Familiar because Improved Familiars don't get 'speak with animals of their kind' and the Mauler archetype can only be applied to familiars which have that option.
That said, plenty of people have made effective combat familiars by applying Mauler to regular animal familiars. Use the search box towards the top of the left column to search on 'Mauler familiar' and you'll find plenty of examples.
Improved Familiars can't be Maulers, since they lose "Speak with Animals of Their Kind ."
Pick a cat or fox, take the feat that lets you give your familliar an evolution for more natural attacks, and the one for more hp. There's even an archtype, the Beastblade, dedicated to this.
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Improved Familiars can be useful even when they aren't engaged in melee. Give them a wand of Glitterdust, Haste or Enervation.
I gave my Magus a Quasit. Invisibility + Tiny-sized = Useful Scout. In combat he'd zap me with buff wands while I focused on offense.
Extra action economy is incredibly valuable.
One quick thing: your question sounds like you're trying to combine the Improved Familiar with the Mauler Archetype. This isn't legal, as Improved Familiar gets rid of the ability to speak with creatures of their own kind (as a Supernatural Ability, I'm sure your Ignan speaking Fire Elemental can still speak Ignan).
That said, I don't see a reason to not get a familiar, such as either a Mauler or Protector, to aid them in combat. I'd probably go Protector, since from what I've heard, Magi are notoriously glass cannons.
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It is more an advice forum question than a rule forum question.
@Anonymous Warrior
A mauler isn't impressed by fancy words—only furious battle. A mauler can't speak, even if it's a type of creature that normally could.[/quote+
At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, a mauler's Strength score increases by 1. As a result of this ability, the familiar's Intelligence score remains 6; a mauler can never have an Intelligence score higher than 6."Remain 6". Some of the improved familiars have double (or more) that intelligence. I am unsure if it should drop to 6 or not.
Battle form seem a bad bargain for creatures that are smaller than small.
@Zolanoteph
Honestly I would look very carefully the available options before doing this. Most familiars don't know or even can't wield manufactured weapons and their natural attacks are relatively weak.
Unless you can find a way to increase them beyond the simple strength increase when you reach level 10 or more, it seem to me that your familiar will become more and more a liability than an asset.
It is more an advice forum question than a rule forum question.
@Anonymous Warrior
A mauler isn't impressed by fancy words—only furious battle. A mauler can't speak, even if it's a type of creature that normally could.[/quote+
At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, a mauler's Strength score increases by 1. As a result of this ability, the familiar's Intelligence score remains 6; a mauler can never have an Intelligence score higher than 6."Remain 6". Some of the improved familiars have double (or more) that intelligence. I am unsure if it should drop to 6 or not.
Battle form seem a bad bargain for creatures that are smaller than small.
@Zolanoteph
Honestly I would look very carefully the available options before doing this. Most familiars don't know or even can't wield manufactured weapons and their natural attacks are relatively weak.
Unless you can find a way to increase them beyond the simple strength increase when you reach level 10 or more, it seem to me that your familiar will become more and more a liability than an asset.Respectfully, you missed my primary point. My primary point is you can NOT combine the Mauler Archetype with Improved Familiar.
"This ability replaces speak with master and speak with animals of its kind."Improved Familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature's type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).Thus, both options eliminate Speak with Other Creatures of their Kind, and can't be stacked.
My suggestion was in favor of choosing an Archetype, my personal preference going towards Mauler or Protector. Magi are often feat starved, and getting an Improved Familiar only aggravates that.
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Curious, when I wrote my post only the first post from Anonymous Warrior was visible, now I see several posts before his.
Improved familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature's type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).
I hadn't checked the feat, as the improved familiar lose the ability to speak with its kind, the people that say that a improved familiar can't take the mauler archetype are right.