What is the best way?
My character plans on being the following
Arcanist 6, Evangilist 10, Loremaster 4
I plan on taking Skill Focus (arcana)
So I have 2 ways to get him the Familiar, either eldritch Heritage or Exploit Familiar
Both have plus and minuses to it...
With the limited information you've provided, and assuming you're unwilling to change anything so far, Eldritch Heritage will provide a 16th level Familiar by level 20, as opposed to 15th by taking the Familiar Exploit. That single level doesn't make that much of a difference though so I would base my choice on which limited resource you would rather spend on it. Even so, you might wish to make the other choice because of timing, unless you have access to retraining.
There are some alternatives you might wish to consider though. There's another feat chain that provides a familiar (don't know the names... I'm guessing Familiar Bond?). In terms of feat cost it is inferior to Eldritch Heritage (though the prerequisite Iron Will is better than SF: Arcana) but it'll allow for a full 20 levels worth of familiar.
There's an archetype for the Arcanist that provides a familiar from the get go but it also changes the spelllist from sor/wiz to witch.
Finally, you could opt to take a level of Sorcerer or Wizard and use the corresponding Arcanist exploits to add your Arcanist and 9 of your Evangelist levels for the bloodline or school (in case of sorcerer you might want to look into bloodline familiars so you aren't stuck with Arcane which is an otherwise pretty bad bloodline for an Arcanist).
Finally, if you have access to VMC rules it might merit consideration too.
There are many more but those I've either forgotten or I fail to see the appeal for what I assume will be a 'God-Wizard' version of the Arcanist.
Honestly, I believe you're likely aware of those options and have already discarded them, but just in case you had not...
Skill Focus in a KS is needed for Loremaster as well, Arcana makes the most sense from a character POV
well it's level 18 (20-2) on heritage. Yah I was hoping for more this is why this choice is bad...I see pluss and minus on both...
Not overly interested in a God version...going a little gish very JOAT honestly
well it's level 18 (20-2) on heritage. Yah I was hoping for more this is why this choice is bad...I see pluss and minus on both...
I misremembered. Honest mistake. That said, no, neither is bad. Though, now that I think about it, you might not want to deal with the CHA requirements for Eldritch Heritage (though I enjoy a little CHA on my Arcanist it is far from necessary, even dumpable if you're so inclined).
Have you determined which other feats and exploits (and secrets!) you want to take and when? Doing so might make it much easier for you to cut this particular knot. If you post it here I, and maybe some others, might be able to give you some better advice on the matter, too.Ha! A sneak edit! Well, I can do that too :p I'm aware of the prerequisite for Loremaster, which is exactly why I initially mentioned my assumption you wouldn't want to change your build ;)
Damn! Another one! Though I don't know the reference if you want to go with a gishy sort of Arcanist I hope you didn't select the archetype that gives you a blackblade as it is incompatible with a familiar no matter how you'd obtain it.
I'me assuming you don't want to go in that direction too much though because you optd for Loremaster over Eldritch Knight. If you somehow forgot about that Prestige Class and still want to take it you might want to look into the Eldritch Guardian archetype for the fighter for a dip.
Going extra AC (or feat) and BAB for Secrets
Right now thinking exploits: Arcane weapon, universalist school, counterspell, extra metamagic, extra craft item, dimensional step, Increased channel-wrong name- +2 CL/DC
Feats: Breadth of xp, arcane weapon, Amateur Investigator, Studied combatant, Craft item, skill focus
JOAT= Jack of all trades...mostly a knowledge hound
we used 4d6 drop lowest. Rolled crazy good (12-16 range)
FTR, the other chain is Iron Will, Familiar Bond, and Improved Familiar Bond.
Or, depending on just what you want a familiar for, you can get a pseudo-familiar with no feats at all by paying someone 2050 gp to make an homunculus with your blood. (I love those little guys!)
NO AT on the arcanist
NO AT on the arcanist
What the heck does "NO AT" mean?
no archtype
So decided on the Eldritch Heritage. My reasoning is thus: My main issue with it was the level I would get it at. With the one level of "No arcanist" from evangelist I would be only one level behind with EH instead of the exploit. In some ways it is a poor decision, but I am leaning towards going to level 6 in arcanist first (Instead of 5) so the familiar shows up on the first level of Arcanist (A Spirit guide type thing)....