So i like the idea behind Promethean Alchemist, i like the companion and believe that just maybe the archetype can work. Though i might be losing my mind so who knows.
Problem being it takes the loss of bombs and mutagen hit.
So i'm racking my brain trying to figure out a working build that won't suck.
part of me thinks melee alchemist could somehow work. it still has extracts and discoveries to work with.
Anyone think of any ideas that could work?
The best way I've found to build it is to go full companion dongle. You need to play in a campaign with lots of downtime and ways to earn extra gp, something like Hell's Rebels or Kingmaker.
For combat, I just give the alchemist some ranged feats so he can support with a crossbow.
The Homunculus on the other hand becomes the best character in the party if you pump enough gp into it.
There's special upgrades that only homunculi can receive through Heal checks: [see 'Improved Homunculi' here]
And most importantly there's the rules for Building/Modifying Constructs here: [see 'Construct Modifications']
With these options combined, and enough time and money you can make a monster.
Suggestions include:
* Avoiding increasing its HD (as that's muddled rule-wise, and really up to GM calculation).
* Giving it acid breath, and the Noxious Bite, Flyby Attack, Ability Focus (Poison), Weapon Finesse(optional) and Vital Strike tree feats, and pumping its physical ability scores high. A dancing crowd-control damage dealer.
*Giving it a ton of SLAs through potions (you can use 10 more of the same one to give it an extra use per day) and pumping its Charisma up to turn it into a formidable low-caster.
*Taking the Chirurgeon (and/or Wasteland Blighter) archetype(s), along with Signature Skill (Heal) so you can also be a full healer out of combat. You'll already be using Heal to upgrade your Homunculus, so why not use it?
Something to keep in mind:
The more you upgrade, the higher the crafting DCs get, so try to plan for the most important upgrades you want first.
Can those rules be applied to the homunculus companion? i mean if they can awesome but i think it's intended for the familiar.
RAW it's a Homunculus, and the rules for improving homunculi work for any of them, regardless of whether they are familiars, regular, or the companion.
At low level, the homunculus is a great scout. It's small size, dark vision and flight is perfect for sneaking ahead. It also makes a great scout when camping as it doesn't sleep and again has great vision, so your party never has to worry about keeping watches.
In later levels, you can afford to do some of those construct improvements to it. But that's not an option in PFS so I don't think the archetype is worth it there.
i never do pfs anymore anyway, too many limits, too many issues with some things
So i have this idea where the alchemist acts support, i pick up a tumor familiar give it mauler.
and have it be battle buddies with the homunculus companion
Mauler is OK. There's one or 2 ways to make it worth it, but Tumor familiar is better for the protector archetype, imo.
i thought mauler was one of the good archetypes?
Mauler is a good archetype too. The protector just has a lot of synergy with the tumor familiar, because the tumor familiar with protector is basically a second hit point pool that also has fast healing.
But the tumor Mauler is pretty good too, because it can get out when fully healed and do its thing and then when combat is over it can re-attach and full heal up to full again just to pop back out and wreck stuff all over again. The reason I don't like doing this, is because the mauler really makes you want to take two levels of eldritch guardian to share your combat feats with it, because otherwise, it doesn't have much in the way of feats. You'll also want to take Mauler's endurance to give it more hitpoints.
So, the protector requires no investment for big rewards, while the mauler requires moderate to large investments for good rewards. And the mauler is best served by being paired with the eldritch guardian.
The best way I've found to build it is to go full companion dongle. You need to play in a campaign with lots of downtime and ways to earn extra gp, something like Hell's Rebels or Kingmaker.
For combat, I just give the alchemist some ranged feats so he can support with a crossbow.
The Homunculus on the other hand becomes the best character in the party if you pump enough gp into it.
There's special upgrades that only homunculi can receive through Heal checks: [see 'Improved Homunculi' here]
And most importantly there's the rules for Building/Modifying Constructs here: [see 'Construct Modifications']
With these options combined, and enough time and money you can make a monster.Suggestions include:
* Avoiding increasing its HD (as that's muddled rule-wise, and really up to GM calculation).
* Giving it acid breath, and the Noxious Bite, Flyby Attack, Ability Focus (Poison), Weapon Finesse(optional) and Vital Strike tree feats, and pumping its physical ability scores high. A dancing crowd-control damage dealer.
*Giving it a ton of SLAs through potions (you can use 10 more of the same one to give it an extra use per day) and pumping its Charisma up to turn it into a formidable low-caster.
*Taking the Chirurgeon (and/or Wasteland Blighter) archetype(s), along with Signature Skill (Heal) so you can also be a full healer out of combat. You'll already be using Heal to upgrade your Homunculus, so why not use it?Something to keep in mind:
The more you upgrade, the higher the crafting DCs get, so try to plan for the most important upgrades you want first.
This is exactly what I am doing (Kingmaker) and its working great (though I'm taking VMC Bard as well as Crossbow feats).
I made my Homunculus area control with a Fauchard instead of Vital Strike / Flyby (was banned).Chirugeon/Wasteland is sweet, swift action Break Enchantment and reverse Spontaneous Cures is wonderful.
As an additional thing though, Tumor familiar (Valet archetype) lets you double crafting speed, which is VERY good for Construct generation; as well as having Spring attack for harmless touch spells. So if you don't want a menagerie of pets, this is another option.
okay so far i have the support alchemist using chirgeon/wasteland . invest in heal skill and get signature skill.
homunculus on melee using improve homunculus rules to upgrade at later levels
tumor familiar protector for the wall or mauler if it's a flying thing.