Question: What's the rest of the team like? Are YOU the frontline, or are there fighter/paladins/tanks so you can be the secondary line?
Some general points before a smarter poster shows up:
- Familiars have 1/2 a Wizard's HP and would make a lousy tank.
- At level 6, it's a toss up between Monstrous Physique and Beast Shape.
- Amulet of Natural Armor and Rings of Deflection are needed to boost your AC. Mage Armor is an hours/day buff, so you should remember that +4.
- Don't forget Mage Armor. That's a buff that is always worth it.
Monstrous Physique lets you turn into Monstrous Humanoids, who can cast spells and wield weapons. PFS states you need to own the Bestiary for whatever you want to transform into. I usually hear the four-armed gargoyle is a popular pick.
Beast Shape II will let you pounce, so turn into the largest cat you can and charge into enemies to get a full attack with your natural weapons.
Also: Are you planning to use the Wizard's other spells? If all you plan to do is transform, you should look into the Metamorph Alchemist. All they can do is transform with Alter Self and Monstrous Physique but they have better BAB and can wear light armor. It may be more up your alley.
Start by asking yourself this question: What do I want my character to be good at?
That'll drive all your build decisions. Why did you choose a wizard? Why did you choose the transmutation school? If you like the idea of wizard-tanking, then yes you can get by on a 16 Int and will want to beef up your physical stats. Polymorph spells don't care how high your casting stat is (unless you're using them offensively, but that's another issue).
If pre-buffing is out of the question, you may want to consider how to improve your first-turn buffing. Best way is to quicken a buff as a swift action and polymorph as a standard. With only casting 3rd-level spells and below, you're limited to just quickened cantrips-- and even then only with tricks like the Magical Lineage trait. So that'll have to wait a few levels.
For feats, I'd recommend metamagics like Quicken Spell (later) and Extend Spell for longer polymorphs and quick buffs. For other character options, I suggest you look at the Enhancement subschool of Transmutation-- I think it'll be more useful to you.
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Polymorph spells don't care how high your casting stat is (unless you're using them offensively, but that's another issue).
Do keep in mind that if a spell like Beast Shape gives you an ability with a save DC like Poison, it uses Beast Shape's DC instead of the creatures. So your Int mod and feats like Spell Focus: Transmutation will apply.
@Matt, that sounds like an awesome campaign. The front line will probably be you and whatever summoned monster the Conjuration wizard whips up, so there are two critical things you'll need to overcome.
1. Wizards have low hp. With a d6 hit die, you're going to be hurting. You'll want a high Con and the Toughness feat to have any chance of surviving toe-to-toe full attack trading, plus whatever AC buffs and Mirror Image/Displacement style spells you can fit in.
2. Wizards have a low BAB. You'll need to compensate with a sky-high Strength mod and other bonuses to hit, such as an Amulet of Mighty Fists. Try to get Flanking, Prone, and other situational advantages as well.
Both of these disadvantages can be circumvented by taking the Eldritch Knight prestige class, if you're so inclined. It costs two spell level's worth of casting, but in a party full of wizards it may be a good call.
Also, in a party full of wizards, see if you can get some of the other guys to buff you up. Say on the first round you cast Beast Shape and then the other guys cast Haste, Bull's Strength, Displacement, and Heroism, well now you're gearing up to be a proper juggernaut!
I would recommend this guide to figure out the rest. Good luck!
http://rpgbot.net/pathfinder/characters/polymorph.php
DIpping into Ranger or Fighter may be a good idea - you get Martial Weapon Proficiency, +2 BAB and either 2 bonus combat feats (Fighter) or skill points, Cure Light Wounds wands and a combat style feat (Ranger).
If you plan to become an Eldritch Knight, I would look into dipping into those classes.
Improved Initiative (so you can get to the front line quickly)
Toughness (More HP please)
Combat Expertise (Get the Threatening Defender trait to reduce the -1 penalty to 0. It's a free +1 AC whenever you attack)
and maybe Great Fortitude to deal with poison.
Note that a familiar grants the effects of most of these abilities.
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Okay, grab a scorpion familiar, put your free enchantment bonuses into con, dip a level into fighter and grab toughness. After that try and grab weapon focus and improved initiative. I would also recommend going human, you want the extra feat and skill point since I'd recommend fav class bonus into HP.
And I would recomened grabing a weapon and going the monstrous humanoid/giant route. It'll be cheaper to upgrade as well.
Oh! Don't forget the Arcane Strike, too. An easy damage boost that will work with all of your natural attacks and get you past magic DR, which will help in the early game.
I would suggest more Strength over Dex. The abjuration wizard should be buffing your defenses, anyway.
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Arcane Strike is good, but remember that both it and the Transmutation (Shapechanger) ability to grow a natural weapon use up your swift action.
If you want a really spicy build, Wizard/Abyssal or Draconic Bloodrager/Eldritch Knight lets you take the Blooded Arcane Strike feat to both grow claws and auto-arcane strike whenever you bloodrage. So for ~8 rounds per day, you could cast Beast Shape II to transform into a Giant Octopus, enter a Bloodrage for +4 strength, use your swift action to grow a gore attack, then attack with an Arcane Strike'd Bite/Claw/Claw/Gore/Tentacle/Tentacle/Tentacle/Tentacle/Tentacle/Tentacle/T entacle/Tentacle whammy. Bam!
Here is an example of a melee transmutation wizard tactic:
Level 5 Transmutation Wizard - Half-Orc
S: 20 D: 14 C: 14 I: 14 W: 8 Ch: 10 (20 pt half-orc, +2 STR from wizard school)
Trait:
- Magical Lineage: Shocking Grasp
- Wayang Spell Hunter: Shocking GraspRacial Trait:
- the one that gives a Bite AttackFeat:
- Spell Focus: Evocation
- Spell Specialization: Shocking Grasp (3rd)
- Quicken Spell (5th)
- Intensify Spell (wizard 5)Arcane Bond:
- Amulet of Spell Storing (used to store a CL 7 Shocking Grasp spell)Opening round of combat:
- Move Action: Move Up To A Foe
- Swift Action: Cast Quickened Shocking Grasp
- Standard Action: Bite12d6 lightning + 1d4 bite + 7 STR
That's one big bite!
It's probably better to use the quickened grasp as a normal touch attack instead of discharging it via the bite. The touch is way easier to land.
In general, the low attack bonus is the main weakness of polymorph wizards. I'd prefer an amulet of mighty fist +1 or +2 instead of the once per combat spell storing.
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Ah, touch attacks are a good thing to consider. Though in keeping with a Transmutation wizard, I would take Spell Focus: Transmutation (which applies to all Poison and breath weapon DCs as well) and go for Disfiguring Touch or the excellent Calcific Touch. Lots of big things have low touch AC and Dex; with this, you can even turn mighty dragons to stone.
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The first round buff... I have not found much way around that.
Contingency spell (6th level) and Quicken Spell help you get off buffs without wrecking your action economy at higher levels. At lower levels, your only real option is to get better at scouting so you can prebuff before combat.
Also @Matt, the starting feats for my Bloodrager 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight X ended up like this:
1 Extra Rage
2W Scribe Scroll
3 Toughness
5 Arcane Strike
6W Multimorph
7 Weapon Focus: Claws
7EK Combat Reflexes
9 Blooded Arcane Strike
11 Improved Initiative
11 EK Weapon Specialization: Claw