For flavor reasons I'm trying to build a ranged Goblin Alchemist with no legs. I'd like to have a mount at level 1 that I can keep throughout the campaign (best of friends). If I wanted an exotic mount (like a giant beetle), could I take my first level as a Hunter and then switch to an Alchemist archetype with an Animal Companion going forward (like Winged Marauder)?
The Hunter Animal Companion entry reads:
"If a character receives an animal companion from more than one source, her effective druid levels stack for the purposes of determining the companion’s statistics and abilities."
(Note that the design team discourages players from having more than one companion creature at a time, as those creatures tend to be much weaker than a single creature affected by these stacking rules, and add to the bookkeeping for playing that character.)
Which is why they made archetypes that specifically do this. : /