Hey Everyone!
I have been researching a lvl 11 Druid(6)/Monk(5) Character for a campaign I'm jumping into, and I have learned a lot. Especially from these forums!
I've got a pretty good idea how the character is going to turn out, however I'm having some issues with optimizing my companions. My Druid is an archetype 'Pack Lord' and my goal is for my companions to be skill oriented rather than fighting (though they may need to help from time to time).
For example, I have lvled my Baboon companion to 4 so that he can get disable devices with the ability increase to his intelligence.
My small cat would do recon/hunting (stealth)
And my Raven would do aerial scouting/bombarding
**My real issue is finding Feats for them. There is a segment in the animal companion section that reads:
There are feats just for animals. Here are a few:
Jumper, Lithe Attacker, Master of Your Kind, Narrow Frame, Stable, Gallop, Sure Footed, Valiant Steed
When it says "here are a few" that makes me feel that there are more to find. But when I look for them I can't find them. Pluse (using d20pfsrd.com) when I look at the category chain it tells me they are in general feats, but I can't find them there either.
Is there a comprehensive list of feats specifically for companions out there?
Also, even though I have an idea about my companions I am open to suggestions of optimizing them if anyone have some suggestions!!!
Here is the standard list of feats available to an animal companion:
Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Armor Proficiency (light, medium, and heavy), Athletic, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Natural Attack, Improved Overrun, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Run, Skill Focus, Spring Attack, Stealthy, Toughness, Weapon Finesse, and Weapon Focus.
I am using an elephant in my current game, and the combination of natural armor and Armor Proficiency (light) has turned her into quite a tank. I recommend against trying to turn your baboon into a skill monkey (pun). With only 1 skill point per hit die, they are better off putting skill points into things that could help save them from dying, such as Perception and Swim. Increasing Intelligence up to 3 allows putting points into any skill but you are still limited to 1 point per HD and it doesn't make any of them class skills. The baboon will never be as skilled as a PC. The major reason to raise it up to 3 is so that you can take -any- feat. Meaning, you won't be restricted to the list above.
As for choosing a baboon, I recommend going with an ape instead. It has a better Dexterity, a climb speed, and will be able to contribute to combat. The only thing a baboon has going for it is that it remains small, and I only mention that is for role-playing purposed. An ape normally advances from medium to large, but there is an animal companion option to keep it at its original size and instead grant it a +2 bonus to Str and Con (which is not as good of an option). If you want a companion who can use Disable Device, I feel like you'll be fighting an uphill battle. If you want a small companion, you might have fun with the dire rat. Its not very powerful, but it has a climb speed and a swim speed. Or the badger, which has a burrow speed. Or the bird, which has a massive fly speed.
Also, make sure you take the Boon Companion feat.
Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Armor Proficiency (light, medium, and heavy), Athletic, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Natural Attack, Improved Overrun, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Run, Skill Focus, Spring Attack, Stealthy, Toughness, Weapon Finesse, and Weapon Focus.
Those are the feats that are listed in the animal companion section, correct? I had found those, sorry for not mentioning that in the original post. The ones that I quoted are a part of some larger list, that I am having difficulty finding.
And thanks for the suggestions! 'Boon Companion' is a definite must. I might even try and convince my GM to use the 3rd party feat 'Boon Pack' which affects more than one companion and stacks with Boon!
So more details about my character creation method. I like to theme my characters after something; this druid/monk is an Ace Ventura parody. Which is why I went with the Baboon. For flavor it's going to be a big Capuchin. and since I'm not just dipping into monk, but going closer to 50/50. Focusing on Wild Shape, natural and bonus AC, Flurry, and my skills spread out in knowledge section. That's why my animal buddies are supposed to help me in the other factors.
I don't think I realized the part where 3 int let's you pick any feat, that will defiantly help me out. I'd still like to see if I can find out where these other mystery 'Animal Feats' are though, just so I don't over look anything ;)
As long as you don't use your ACs for combat, you should be fine.
Remember that they won't scale that much if you go 50/50. At level 20 we're talking only 10 levels of AC, which spread are 4/3/3.
That's only 4 Skill Points and 4 HD. It's not enough high enough to get checks that are worth. Some DM will argue that you can't use Disable Device with only 3 INT as well.
If you don't use them for combat remember that you're relying on your Wildshape to do damage while using 2 Medium BAB classes, unless you go Unchained Monk. And you Wildshape forms won't be as powerful as straight Druid.
AFAIK animal-only feats came into PF with the Animal Archive player companion and I don't know of any added after it. The full list from Animal Archive is:
Critical Conduit (familiar), Extra Item Slot (non-humanoid shape), Familiar focus (familiar), Jumper (non-humanoid), Lithe Attacker (animal or magical beast), Master of Your Kind (familiar), Narrow Frame (animal or magical beast), Spell Sponge (familiar or AC), Stable Gallop (animal or magical beast), Sure-Footed (quadruped animal or magical beast), Valiant Steed (animal or magical beast).
They should all show up individually on d20pfsrd and the Archives of Nethys. I don't know a good way to search for them as a category on either site.
They should all show up individually on d20pfsrd and the Archives of Nethys. I don't know a good way to search for them as a category on either site.
Now don't I feel silly! Look at them, right there on the main Feat page!
I appreciate the info too, I may not go full 50/50. Honestly, the animals are more for flavor than anything ;) Most of my concentration was going into combining the 2 classes viably. Both my other animals can serve me well just based on their tricks I'll give them.
Even though they're mainly there to make my parody more accurate, I hate missing a chance to make them stronger!
Hopefully with 'Boon Companion' My little monkey will help me for longer.
If the animal is just a sidekick, why not use the Leadership feat to pick one up as a cohort? Since its an accessory instead of a combat drone, maybe your GM will let you give your monkey as many hit dice as the feat allows. There's nothing overpowered about that, and it will have a better chance of surviving high level play. Plus, you can focus on whatever combo of classed you want and its hit dice will be based on your character level instead of your druid level.
If the animal is just a sidekick, why not use the Leadership feat to pick one up as a cohort?
Cohorts are separate from your animal companion correct? I could pay for Awaken and then take the Leadership feat! Thus having an extra animal buddy, but without sacrificing druid lvls.
Genius!