Eidolon Advice / Questions

[Jaxon5]

So a bit of research has shown me a bunch of threads related to this one, but you know how it is; some are really old, some ask slightly different questions than you want answered, etc, so I thought to make my own.

The summoner I want to play is a young, spiky haired blond kid who's eidolon looks suspiciously like a large, stuffed tiger. The kid's name is Galvin...

Anyway, the tigerish eidolon, Fobbes, is obviously bipedal. In my mind, I want him to be wielding a greatsword, but if that's not the best option, I'm willing to consider others.

So the first question is, how does a weapon wielding eidolon stack up to a natural attack one? Can I still pounce with a weapon? Can I still make followup natural attacks with an offhand claw after my main weapon attack? Is the greatsword the best weapon choice? Currently HeroLab is saying Natural Attacks Allowed = 2 of 3 (1 left). Does that mean I can make a weapon attack, then 2 offhand claw attacks? Or just 1? I do know that the claw would be considered a secondary attack if I'm wielding a weapon.

So far I've come up with a lvl 1 eidolon with Toughness and simple and martial weapon prof so I can use the greatsword (I used the feat which gives you an extra evolution point at lvl 1).

If I shouldn't use weapons, can you recommend feats/evolutions? If weapons are good, can you suggest future feats/evolutions? At least for a couple lvls.

Thanks for reading. Any help is much appreciated.

[Dasrak]

Jaxon5 wrote:

So the first question is, how does a weapon wielding eidolon stack up to a natural attack one?

Not quite as good, but good enough.

Jaxon5 wrote:

Can I still pounce with a weapon?

Yes, but your eidolon must be quadrupedal to gain the ability to pounce. D20PFSRD doesn't seem to be properly listing the prerequisite for some reason.

Jaxon5 wrote:

Can I still make followup natural attacks with an offhand claw after my main weapon attack?

If you're using a greatsword, then no. If it's a one-handed weapon then you can make your offhand claw attack (and any other natural attacks you may have) as a secondary natural attack. You could always give him an extra set of arms, but I'd imagine that doesn't fit your concept ;-)

Jaxon5 wrote:

Is the greatsword the best weapon choice?

It's good enough.

Jaxon5 wrote:

Currently HeroLab is saying Natural Attacks Allowed = 2 of 3 (1 left). Does that mean I can make a weapon attack, then 2 offhand claw attacks? Or just 1?

If means your eidolon has two natural attacks, and you could gain up to one more through evolutions if you wish. This has no bearing on whether you can use them in conjunction with your greatsword, merely how many natural attacks your eidolon is allowed to have in total.

Jaxon5 wrote:

I do know that the claw would be considered a secondary attack if I'm wielding a weapon.

If you are wielding a weapon, natural attacks always count as secondary attacks.

Jaxon5 wrote:

If I shouldn't use weapons, can you recommend feats/evolutions? If weapons are good, can you suggest future feats/evolutions? At least for a couple lvls.

Either approach is fine. If you want to go with weapons, it's usually better to gain proficiency via feats rather than with evolutions. Evolutions are usually more valuable than feats.

[Jaxon5]

Jaxon5 wrote:

Can I still make followup natural attacks with an offhand claw after my main weapon attack?

Dasrak wrote:

If you're using a greatsword, then no. If it's a one-handed weapon then you can make your offhand claw attack (and any other natural attacks you may have) as a secondary natural attack. You could always give him an extra set of arms, but I'd imagine that doesn't fit your concept ;-)

Okay, but don't I have the option of claws on my feet which I could use as a secondary attack as a biped?

Jaxon5 wrote:

Is the greatsword the best weapon choice?

Dasrak wrote:

It's good enough

Okay, but would I maybe do better with duel wielding? Or a longsword maybe with the offhand claws?

Jaxon5 wrote:

If I shouldn't use weapons, can you recommend feats/evolutions? If weapons are good, can you suggest future feats/evolutions? At least for a couple lvls.

Dasrak wrote:

Either approach is fine. If you want to go with weapons, it's usually better to gain proficiency via feats rather than with evolutions. Evolutions are usually more valuable than feats.

Does that mean I should wait until I can take the simple and martial weapon training as regular feats? Or are they only available as evolutions?

[Derklord]

An Eidolon can select any feat it qualifies for. And yes, taking weapon prof as a feat is generally better, as evolution points are often in shorter supply. The boon of the evolution is that you can change is every level - if you find a nice weapon of a different type, that's easier to fix if you used the evolution.

Good and fitting evolutions for natural attacks: Ability Increase, Bite, Energy Attacks, Improved Natural Armor (surprisingly cheap), Grab, Rend, Skilled. Large if you feel that fits the theme. If allowed, Bite selected twice (text doesn't state it, but one of the examples selected it five times).
I'd strongly advice against Improved Damage, the increase is way too small unless you get your Eidolon to huge size.

Good and fitting evolutions for weapon: Ability Increase, Improved Natural Armor, Reach (if your GM allows it to work for the weapon, the text is vague), Skilled; Large.

Technically, you can apply claws to your one pair of legs, but that rather goes against the spirit. Maybe a slam as a kick, though.

[Dasrak]

Jaxon5 wrote:

Okay, but would I maybe do better with duel wielding? Or a longsword maybe with the offhand claws?

Eidolons that go the dual-wielding route are generally best off with lots and lots of arms. That probably doesn't fit your build very well. With only two weapons, it's probably not worth it.

As for mixing longsword and claw, not really. The overall damage of a claw+longsword attack is almost exactly the same as a single greatsword attack, but since the claw is a secondary natural attack it takes an attack penalty that the sword does not.