Pact Wizard (FF) - Conjuration / Summons Specialist PFS Build Advice

[Red Griffyn]

Before we begin, there are two Pact Wizards. One from HHH (Haunted Hero's Handbook) the other from FF (familiar folio). Only the "FF" archetype is PFS legal.

The premise of using the Pact Wizard (FF) archetype is so I can get the free improved familiar feat at level 7. This gives me access to the Lyrakien azata familiar, who can in turn use the Traveler’s Friend (Su) ability once per day to remove exhaustion or fatigue from my wizard. The wizard will 'acquire' this status by using the Acadamae Graduate feat to summon creatures as a standard action and likely failing his fortitude saves. The feat is described in the link below:

http://archivesofnethys.com/FeatDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Acadamae%20Graduate

That gives me 1-3 failed standard action summons in the day without having to worry too much about the consequences until I can get my Fortitude save to a reasonable level.

As well, if I drop 7 ranks in UMD (off my headband), the Lyrakien azata familiar will have an effective UMD of 19 = 7 (ranks) + 5 (Charisma) + 2 (untyped - used wand previously) + 2(Competence from MSW Tool) + 3 Circumstance (Circlet of Persuasion). Thus he will auto complete any wand check at Level 7 and only have a 10% chance of misfire if he's never used the wand. The azata also has constant detect magic/evil to make up for my opposition school selections. Up until level 7 I'll use a greensting scorpion for +4 to Initiative, which will be replaced by improved initiative at L7 when my familiar 'grows up'.

For things to do outside of combat, I have made this PC hyper INT skill focused and swapped the important parts of Diplomacy and Bluff to INT (using Student of Philosophy). This way he can supply knowledge checks and face with ease.

In combat I plan on throwing out a summons, conjuration control spell (stinking cloud, create pit, web, glitterdust, grease, or black tentacles), or giving out buffs/protection (proc from evil, proc/energy resist, haste, etc.).

Is there anything I missed for this build? Would you think Opposition research or superior summoning would be more important at L9?

I feel defensively I have pretty bad:

1 - AC: ideally won't need to buff this since I'll be cowering behind things, but I plan on having 1xvanish and 1xmirror images for dire circumstances. The teleportation school also lets me get out of grapples or other nasty things.

2 - HP: FCB is going to HP at every level. I don't have room for toughness.

3 - Bad saves (improved with Fate's Favored/Lucky Horseshoe/Cloak of Resistance/Heroism). I think some of them will be orange/green depending on what is up on my PC.

Build Details:

Wizard (Pact Wizard (FF)) X

Race
1 - Samsaran (have a boon from GMing)

Racial Traits
1 - Shards of the Past (Diplomacy and Bluff, gives additional +2 to each so my wizard can be a face).

Traits
1 - Fates Favored (to combine with lucky horse shoe to boost saves)
2 - Student of Philosophy (Diplomacy/Bluff off Int)
3 - Resilient (+1 Fort, extra trait from chronicle)

Stats (Level 1) - 20pb
STR - 7
DEX - 14
CON - 12 (14 - 2 Racial)
INT - 20 (18 + 2 Racial)
WIS - 13 (11 + 2 Racial)
CHA - 7

Stats (Level 11) - 20pb
STR - 7
DEX - 18 (14 + 4 Belt)
CON - 14 (14 - 2 Racial + 2 Ioun Stone)
INT - 26 (18 + 2 Racial + 2 Level + 4 Headband)
WIS - 13 (11 + 2 Racial)
CHA - 7

Schools:
1 - Teleportation

Opposition Schools
1 - Enchantment (I really only miss heroism from this list).
2 - Divination (wand of heightened awareness, everything else isn't a big dieal).
3 - Necromancy (loss of false life hurts, but I'll hide at the back).

Feats (F)
1F - Elongated Cranium (Ovoid Compression) - +2 to INT Skills
1F(C) - Spell Focus (Conjuration)
1(X) - Familiar
3F - Deific Obedience (Irori) - +4 to all knowledge skills. Would have been worshiping Magdha if it wasn't for campaign clarifications.
5F - Augmented Summoning - buffs summons
5F(C) - Acadamae Graduate - Summons as a standard action (requires fort save or be fatigued, but my improved familiar can help with that).
7F(C) - Improved Familiar - Lyrakien azata
7F - Improved Initiative - to replace familiar bonus from improved familiar
9F - Superior Summoning or Opposition Research (Enchantment - to get heroism back)
10F(C) - Superior Summoning or Opposition Research (Enchantment - to get heroism back)
11F - Greater Spell Focus (Conjuration)

[cavernshark]

You can't have a Lyrakien Azata familiar and also worship Irori. Irori is LN and you'll need to be within one alignment step to mechanically worship and receive benefits. Lyrakien Azata are chaotic good. Their stat block calls out that they only serve chaotic good masters which overrides the more general Improved Familiar rule of within one step on each axis.

It really wouldn't make much sense anyway.

As for your main build -- I don't really understand why you're doing Pact Wizard as opposed to just Conjuration wizard. The bonus level 7 feat is hardly a big deal, you'd only lose Improved Initiative, which while great, isn't really an end-all-be-all. In contrast, you lose a whole school.

The real strength of Pact Wizard is the aura class feature and sacred summons as a wizard bonus feat. You don't seem to be using that. It would give you access to a subset of standard action summons without the academae graduate feat and the hoops you're trying to jump through to deal with fatigue. Incidentally, Academae Graduate isn't a wizard bonus feat, so you coulnd't pick it up at 5 like you are anyway.

If you're going to do Pact Wizard, I'd play to its strengths and shoot for Sacred Summons. If you want to go the Academae Graduate route, I'd just go regular conjurer and rework your feat selection a bit.

[Red Griffyn]

The pact wizard archetype has the following statement:

"Pact (Ex): A pact wizard enters into a bargain with an extra-planar being in order to gain increased wizardly powers. At 1st level, he selects a patron belonging to one specific subtype of outsider for which there exists an improved familiar option (such as devil or azata). The pact wizard can select a subtype of outsider even with a diametrically opposed alignment; in this case, the patron being offers the pact in an attempt to tempt or redeem the pact wizard."

Azata is even called out as an example, so the archetype allows an aura to be different from my alignment for the mechanical purpose of having a CG familiar and a LN alignment. I would state this is more specific than the familiar specific statement and thus makes it okay.

So the big weakness to the Academae Graduate feat is that I need to make a fortitude save or become fatigued. Wizards have a slow fortitude save progression, so even at L7, it'll be at best +8 (2 luck + 2 resistance + 1 stat + 1 trait + 2 from class) against a DC of 15+spell level. So for L3 summoning spell that's a 50% chance of becoming fatigued. Doing it again is another 50% chance of becoming exhausted. So it is highly likely that I'll be experiencing those conditions and from my research there isn't a good or cheap way to resolve these conditions beyond wasting lesser restorations.

The improved familiar provides that means remove fatigue/exhaustion after listening to it play once per day. So that worst case scenario that allows me 3 uses of a standard action summon (2 fails to exhausted, followed by the song) and one more summons to fatigued. If I roll well then I can put out 4-5 standard action summons per day, which is pretty good when combined with my other conjuration spells for battlefield control. Unlike sacred summons these can be anything in the summon monster list.

Sacred summons LE has a wider spread of applicable summons, but the choices are mediocre, LG has some better options, but again lacking a lot of options without summon good monster feat, while CG means waiting to SMV (i.e. PFS retirement) to even use it. The sacred summons feat is largely a trap compared to Academae Graduate.

Beyond that the improved familiar azata gives UMD of any wand (buff/heal people or grease things), a 95% chance of aiding in every knowledge check (+8 in each and grows as I put more ranks into it), true speech in case you don't have a language, constant detect evil/magic, and 1/day silent image (drop a "fake" obscuring mist while shouting the passphrase to the party so they get a +4 to disbelieve it). So you basically get a massive upgrade for the cost of another school. There is also a minor benefit to "appearing" CG but actually being LN. That means any enemies looking for a specific target will be guffawed by me as they try to smite chaos or smite good on me. I'm sure it'll work both ways.

Flavour wise it is also fun to be a wizard who has made pact with outsiders to gain power. It feels very authentic and Harry Dresden to me.

After looking at the schools, I honestly don't see myself using Enchantment/Necromancy/Divination except to cast heroism on myself to bump saves, so I'll opposition research it later on.

As for the bonus feat the wizard class states:

"Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing those feats."

So unless there is some PFS FAQ or clarification I'm unaware of I can pick up any feat I qualify for.

[cavernshark]

I admittedly missed the exemption in the Pact (Ex) power, though you did cut out a key clause: "A pact wizard whose alignment shifts away from the chosen outsider subtype, who grossly abuses his familiar or any outsider of the chosen subtype, or who commits egregious acts against the alignment of the patron loses all the benefits of this archetype (but keeps the additional opposition school) until he receives an atonement."

You might not find it problematic for a lot of GM's, but being LN with a CG familiar might get a bit dicey if a GM is paying attention. It's in Paladin Code territory at that point. Just something to consider.

And I'll also be damned at the wizard bonus feats. I played a wizard for 3 years and never noticed that last line. Definitely would have changed some choices I made.

Regardless, I still think Pact Wizard just trades away a school for a bonus feat to only end up needing to use another to feat to buy back that school you lost. It's kind of a waste aside from fluff. I'm not arguing that Sacred Summons is perfect, but at least you'd be losing a school for 7-9 levels and getting some benefit from it. It's not like Pact Wizard gives you an Azata any sooner.

If you're really set on Academae Graduate, an Emissary Familiar with the community domain gives you a 1/day remove fatigue and still sort of acts like a divine "pact."

[cavernshark]

Actually, wait no. You're reading bonus feats wrong.

"Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing those feats."

"Those feats" refers to "the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels" from the previous sentence. It's clarifying that only the Wizard bonus feats are from the above categories. It's weirdly written, I'll grant you, but there'd be no point for any of the additional text at all in this ability if you read it the way you are.

[Red Griffyn]

Well the same argument can be made in reverse. There is no need to specify that any class can't take any feat they qualify for at odd levels. I think the subject of the paragraph is clearly the bonus feats. Thus the subject of the last sentence is the bonus feats, not the normal progression feats.

I agree I can see your interpretation as well. If they had used a semi colon to clearly link the two clauses I'd be inclined to agree with you. As it stands I'd assign it to the more relevant subject of the paragraph as a separate thought/sentence.

[Gray Warden]

Red Griffyn wrote:

Well the same argument can be made in reverse. There is no need to specify that any class can't take any feat they qualify for at odd levels. I think the subject of the paragraph is clearly the bonus feats. Thus the subject of the last sentence is the bonus feats, not the normal progression feats.

I agree I can see your interpretation as well. If they had used a semi colon to clearly link the two clauses I'd be inclined to agree with you. As it stands I'd assign it to the more relevant subject of the paragraph as a separate thought/sentence.

What would then be the point of saying that Wizards can select metamagic feats, item creation feats or Spell Mastery as bonus feats, if they can select ANY type of feat (so including metamagic, item creation and Spell Mastery)?

Wizards' bonus feats can be selected only to get metamagic feats, item creation feats or Spell Mastery. It has been like that since the Core Rulebook came out. It doesn't matter how you interpret it, this is the ruling.