Quirp
2011-07-20, 05:38 PM
The Binder
The binder is a class from WotCīs Tome of Magic. Pact Magic is widely regarded as the most functional concept from this book. The binder is very versatile and can fill many roles in a party. Since he can bind different vestiges each day his role can change from day to day.
The role of the binder can change from day to day. You may not be able to change your feats, but at least you are able to change your primary class features every day. Still you are better suited for some roles. Binders make great party faces, good meat shields (especially at early levels), good melee fighters and decent blasters. They can debuff enemies and can even replace the skill monkey or backstabber of a party to some degree. They can function as a healer, magic item creator or arcanist (the last one can be very expensive, since you will heavily rely on items).
What you get: d8 HD, 2+Intmod Skill points, good will and fortitude saves, medium BAB
What you get at higher levels: pact augmentations (small extra bonuses to attack, saves, initiative, hit points, damage, damage reduction or resistances), immunity to fear/negative levels/energy drain, slippery mind, mind blank, some bonus feats from a limited, but useful list
Attributes (example: 32 point buy melee/special attacks)
Strength: If you want to go into melee combat, this is an important attribute. You can dump it otherwise. (14/8)
Dexterity: Governing your initiative, AC, ranged (and some melee) attack rolls and many skills this attribute has many uses. It is good to have a decent score, but not necessary. (12/12)
Constitution: The higher this score is, the better. If you plan on using ranged attacks and ranged special attacks a lot you do not need, but still profit from a high score. (16/16)
Intelligence: You get few skill points. To increase your versatility more would be better, so try to not dump this attribute (although you can do this and still be an effective member of a group). (12/14)
Wisdom: You already have a strong will save. Just try not to get a negative modifier. (10/10)
Charisma: This attribute governs your save DCs and binding check. You probably want at least a good score in this attribute. Binders, who just want to hit things with a stick, can live with a lower score. (14/16)
Races
{table]Human| A bonus feat and extra skill points. As always a great choice.
Dwarf| The constitution bonus is welcome, but the charisma penalty hurts. You should only choose this race, if you donīt care for your saving throw DCs. (Desert, Dream and Gold Dwarfs are top choices though)
Elf| The weapon proficiencies may be useful, but dexterity isnīt that important for most binders and the constitution penalty hurts. (Wild and Desert elves are better)
Half-Elf| If you want to make a party face, half-elf is a decent choice. Remember that you can get a lot of bonuses on your social skills as a binder, so the small bonuses from half-elf might become unimportant at later levels.
Half-Orc| For a melee binder this can be OK, but is rarely the best choice.
Gnome| A good choice, since you always need more constitution. (Desert, Forest and Whisper gnomes may be even better for some builds)
Halfling| You neither get nor lose anything important. (Shoal and Water Halflings are really good) [/table]
Feats
There are some binder specific feats in the Tome of Magic. I will just give you a quick summary of what I think of them. Other feats you might want to take are different for every character. You can just choose the feats that supplement your role best or grant a maximum of versatility.
{table]Bind Vestige, Improved Bind Vestige and Practiced Binder| Feats for those, who do not want to spend levels on the actual class, but still get some binding ability. Some can give a really nice bonus (Ronove grants a nice feather fall effect and at low levels Savnokīs Armor is great)
Defense against the Supernatural| This is not worth one of your feat slots.
Empower Supernatural Ability| A nice ability, but only once per day.
Enlarge Supernatural Ability| I wouldnīt take the metamagic feat, I wouldnīt take this feat.
Expel Vestige| This feat can greatly enhance your ability to adapt to different situations, by allowing you to exchange one vestige during your adventuring day.
Rapid Pact Making| The top feat, if you like to use Expel Vestige, but ask your DM, if the time to draw the seal is reduced as well.
Extend Supernatural Ability| Most of your abilities last long enough or can be used at will. You will probably not need this feat.
Favored Vestige| If you plan to bind the same vestige every day, this is a good feat that qualifies you for better feats.
Favored Vestige Focus| If your favored vestige grants abilities that allow a saving throw, this just made them harder.
Rapid Recovery| This is a great feat, especially, if your favored vestige grants more than one ability with a cool down.
Ignore Special Requirements| This might unlock a combo of vestiges inaccessible otherwise. It is also just easier to hide your source of power, if you can bind all vestiges in a closed room and donīt have to go outside.
Improved Binding| An almost mandatory feat for any binder below level 17. Remember that you need 4 ranks in intimidate.
Skilled Pact Making| This feat improves your binding check, but half the fun is playing out your failed checks.
Sudden Ability Focus| Like Ability Focus (MM), but only once per day and on any ability you choose. Probably not worth it.
Supernatural Crusader| At later levels this will affect almost all enemies. The bonus is quite small, though.
Supernatural Opportunist| This will probably see use at higher levels. It might be useful.
Widen Supernatural Ability| Once per day widen one of your abilities. Only take this, if you live on Ysgard and want to kill a lot of mooks with your first combat action each day.[/table]
List of Vestige
Acererak Lv.5
{table]Detect Undead| If you have to find out who the vampire is in a big room full of people this is really good. In the standard adventuring day this can only be used to get information about the type of enemy you are facing and a knowledge check from your resident cleric can do the same and give you more information.
Hide from Undead| Getting past undead (especially the mindless variety, since those get no save) can save you from some trouble, but since it affects only you this ability wonīt be terribly useful when you are adventuring in a group.
Lichīs Energy Immunities| The first really good ability. Being immune to two energy types is pretty cool. With the binderīs pact augmentations this can make you nearly immune to all sorts of energy attacks.
Paralyzing Touch| This ability seems to be OK, but it is only usable every five rounds and allows a save every round. A weak Save or Lose, but when it works it can be deadly (unlikely).
Speak with Dead| Like Detect Undead and (to a lesser degree) Hide from Undead this can be useful in a mystery/detective story kind of game. If you ask the bodies of the guys you just killed you might find out some interesting details about the next room in the dungeon. This ability can be nice to have in any game, but really shines in a few situations (when you have to find your keys for example).
Undead Healing| This ability is good. Like the immunities you already got this can make for a real surprise for enemies. If you have a Dread Necromancer in your group you are a lucky guy, because free healing is something everybody wants.[/table]
Acererak is a vestige that gives you some immunities and one nice divination. The other abilities are really situational. This one is nice as an addition to other vestiges, but not a good vestige all by itself.
Agares Lv.4
{table]Earth and Air mastery| The bonus is not high enough to be meaningful.
Earthshaking Step| A nice ability in melee combat. Many warriors have a bad reflex save and when you are not good enough to trip them this can give you an edge. Making a dragon fall on his knees before you is always a good thing, except when he survives the battle. This hits your friends, too, so be careful. It can lead to film like scenes, when the bad guys try to climb a cliff you are standing on.
Elemental Companion| At least it can carry your stuff or work as a trap detector. Too weak for combat and the one hour recharge time sets the trap detector plan on fire.
Fear Immunity| Immunities are a good thing. Fear is not that unusual, so this is a good immunity to have. Some binder levels give you the same though, so this is not that good.
True Speech| A limited tongues. Nice when you have to listen to guys, who speak other languages.[/table]
Agares has only one really useful ability. Thatīs not good. When you are first able to bind him you will not be able to bind more vestiges. One ability for the whole day is not enough to make binding this guy worth your time.
Amon Lv.1
{table]Darkvision| You get darkvision. This can be useful, if you forgot to bring a wizard with a light spell or a torch.
Fire Breath| A nice breath weapon that scales well. Fire damage is often resisted though, but especially at low levels this ability can seriously damage your opponents. At higher levels it is a nice filler during your other once every five rounds abilities.
Ram Attack| A good ability for early level charges. Later this is not that strong, especially since the damage doesnīt scale.[/table]
Amon has really few abilities. Darkvision can be useful, if you donīt have it already and the fire breath is a nicely scaling attack, but that is not enough at higher levels.
Andras Lv.4
{table]Weapon Proficiency| You are able to use some nice weapons, but you donīt get them. At middle to high levels getting appropriate weapons can be really expensive. Either you choose one of these weapons and always bind Andras or you use a weapon you are already proficient with.
Mount| Wizards get to summon a horse as a first level spell. Yours is better, but not much. Sadly this cannot be used to find deadly traps more than once.
Saddle Sure| You can ride your horse now. A +8 bonus is a good thing, if you have to or want to ride into battle.
Smite Good or Evil| A good smite attack usable every five rounds. This makes for a good attack against many enemies for a melee orientated binder.
Sow Discord| This is not nice, but you donīt want to be nice to your enemies. Nothing is funnier than seeing the face of a wizard, when his meat shield hits him in the face. Using this on enemy rogues is especially effective.
Sure Blows| A useful bonus feat for any melee character. This one is usable on more than one weapon, too, so this is good.[/table]
Andras can be useful for melee characters. His 5-round-abilities are good and he has more good and some mediocre abilities. This guy can be worth it, if you are a focused melee fighter. He comes pretty early, so he is a good choice for the focus vestige of a KotSS.
Andromalius Lv.3
{table]Jesterīs Mirth| It is worse than Acererakīs paralyzing touch and therefore most often not worth your time. It targets the Will save, which is better than fortitude.
Locate Item| If you want to know in which direction the thief with the red shoes has run this is helpful. Otherwise it is just a useful divination. It is a free action to use, so it doesnīt cut into your actions per round.
See the Unseen| Seeing invisible things is good. Doing it all day long is better.
Sense Trickery| If your DM likes to rob your characters blind he will do it with or without this ability. This can be useful in the right kind of game with the right DM. It gives a nice bonus to several skills an adventurer might use from time to time.
Sneak Attack| More damage is always nice. This wonīt make you a really good backstabber, but by using Assassins Stance and perhaps Craven you could pile up a nice amount of precision damage[/table]
Andromalius needs the right kind of binder to be useful, but since you get so few skill points the role of the skill monkey is not really yours.
Aym Lv.1
{table]Dwarfen Step| If you want to run around in armor heavier than light this is good for you. I like it especially when combined with Savnokīs armor, but the Tooth of Savnok might be better at later levels.
Halo of Fire| Nice if you want to set something on fire, pretty useless otherwise.
Improved Sunder| Not the most useful feat all around.
Medium armor proficiency| If you always wanted to fight in mithral full plate this is for you.
Resistance to Fire| We like free resistances, although this one is pretty low.
Ruinous Attack| With this you wonīt need an adamantine tool to break through walls. Everybody loves to do that and being able to do it with your spoon is even better.[/table]
Aym is a nice low level vestige and can be nice to give some passive bonuses, when you want to use heavy armor. She is also the top vestige to break out of a prison cell.
Balam Lv.5
{table]Balamīs Cunning| I hope you like rerolls. This gives you enough, all day long. A really nice panic button.
Icy Glare| I donīt think this gaze attack is meaningful when you get it. If you often fight really tough monsters over a long time or a lot of mooks this attack can contribute.
Prescience| A nice passive boost to some important things. Insight bonuses are sometimes hard to come by so this is nice.
Weapon Finesse| Itīs a free feat. If you have a high dexterity you might want to take this feat anyway.[/table]
Balam is a nice defensive vestige. You might want to look elsewhere for some active powers for your binder to focus on. If you have a slot free, bind Balam.
Buer Lv.4
{table]Buerīs Knowledge| The bonus is too small to be really meaningful, but a free knowledge check is OK if you want to help the resident sage.
Buerīs Purity| Immunities are good. These ones are situational very useful, but there are not so many monsters that use poisons and diseases (ask your DM if this applies to ravages and afflictions).
Delay Diseases and Poisons| If your group is hit with these attacks they donīt suffer the drawbacks until you are in a safe place. This can be a life saver, but wonīt come up that often.
Fast Healing| Out of combat healing. Everybody wants it, you get it for free. Not the worst method to get it.
Healing Gift| Not only are your healing needs already covered, but you can cover the needs of your allies, too. Not the fastest healing ability, but faster than mass lesser vigor on small groups. This is good to have, but when you want to cover the role of a healer one of your vestige slots canīt be used for things that are more useful in combat.
Track| The skill bonus you get is not high enough to make a good tracker, but at least you can assist your groupīs tracker.[/table]
Buer is a good way to get out of combat healing, but since you can bind only a limited number of vestiges you wonīt have the room for this one. If you have the slot free (or your group is lacking a healer), take Buer.
Chupoclops Lv.6
{table]Aura of Despair| There is a reason optimizers like some levels of hexblade and paladin of tyranny in some builds. Reducing the saves of your enemies is a good thing to do, at least a part of your group will love you for it.
Ethereal Watcher| This ability greatly enhances your mobility. Walking through the castles wall, remanifesting and killing the captain of the guard can be very effective. Remember that you can see on the material plane while you are ethereal.
Ghost Touch| This is a free +1 bonus on all your weapons and situational really useful.
Poison Bite| I really donīt know where the poison in the name comes from. This is not a strong extra attack, but it is a free attack on a full attack.
Pounce| Every melee wants pounce and there is a reason for it. You want this.
Soulsense| This would be a good ability, if the range wasnīt so low.[/table]
Chupoclops| Melee binders take this. Pounce, a nice aura, an extra attack and ethereal watcher makes for a good all around package.
Dahlver-Nar Lv.2
{table]Mad Soul| The immunities this grants are hard to come by, but rarely useful. If you often fight enchanters this can save you, perhaps. When you donīt get confused, but the party fighter does and hits you this doesnīt really help.
Maddening Moan| Every five rounds one round of daze. Daze is a strong condition, one round is often too short. This hits your allies so be careful.
Natural Armor| If you have a high constitution score this can be really good. Armor class is not the best thing you can get though. The dragon will probably still hit you.
Shield Self| This ability is strong. If you can make the caster in the enemyīs team fail his save against this he is probably dead.[/table]
Dahlver-Nar is a nice low level vestige for those that want to play tank. At later levels you will probably have better vestiges to bind.
Dantalion Lv.5
{table]Awe of Dantalion| If the big giant in front of you canīt full attack you this can be a good thing. If your wizard is hiding behind your back you should probably take the hit. And donīt forget that your target shouldnīt survive the round or he will still come for you.
Dantalion Knows| This is a boon for every knowledge monkey. Put a point in every knowledge skill and suddenly you know something about everything.
Read Thoughts; This can be useful, but probably wonīt be it in many situations. One full round is simply too much.
Thought Travel| Teleportation effects are often very good. This one is pretty limited, but still useful if you find yourself bound.[/table]
Dantalion can be nice to have because of his bonus to knowledge skills and his teleportation ability. All by himself he is pretty limited, so always bind a more active vestige with him. Together with Naberius he is the backbone of the social binder.
Eligor Lv.7
{table]Chromatic Strike| A nice source of low bonus damage. Nothing special at this level.
Eligorīs Skill in the Saddle| Two bonus feats and if you want to fight while mounted they are good.
Eligorīs Strength| A +4 untyped bonus to strength is really good for any melee fighter.
Eligorīs Resilience| A bonus to your natural armor is OK, but at this level you should probably want something more special.
Heavy Armor Proficiency| Armor is expensive at this level, if it shall be useful.[/table]
Eligor is only useful to a few specific builds and the abilities he grants are not good enough for a seventh level vestige.
Eurynome Lv.4
{table]Animal Friend| Useful in any situation where you have to deal with animals. This is nice to have if you want to calm an angry guard dog, a deinonychus or a dire bear.
Damage Reduction| This is not high enough to rely on in combat, but at least it protects you from caltrops.
Eurynomeīs Maul| You can summon and use a huge warhammer. If you are small or smaller this ability is hilarious. The warhammer is OK and in settings where it is hard to get a magic weapon this is really good.
Poison Blood| This poison deals hit point damage and isnīt useful (you normally donīt want to be swallowed or bitten).
Water Dancing| You can walk on water. Thatīs cool, but rarely useful.[/table]
Eurynome is one of the vestiges that makes the binder a good candidate for VoP-builds. Otherwise she grants mediocre abilities. Animal Friend can be really good, but especially at higher levels you donīt meet many animals.
Focalor Lv.3
{table]Aura of Sadness| A nice aura although the range is really limited.
Focalorīs Breath| A very limited ability. Blindness for one round is not enough for a once-every- five-rounds ability.
Lightning Strike| A nice ability. The damage isnīt very high, but being able to use this all day long is good. Use it to break down doors or as a filler between your stronger abilities. This can become your standard attack in not too hard fights.
Water Breathing| Situational useful, but can be a real life saver.[/table]
Focalor is solid for a third level vestige. Some of his abilities are still useful at higher levels, but you should try to get some stronger 1/5 rounds abilities.
Geryon Lv.5
{table]Acidic Gaze| This ability deals not enough damage to be good against strong foes. If you have to kill a group of mooks, though, this can be good.
All-Around Vision| Useful if you fight many rogues. Bonuses on spot and search are always welcome.
See in Darkness| A really good kind of darkvision since it has no range limit.
Swift Flight| A bit too limited to be of great use against flying foes, but still useful. This can easily save you in several situations. Remember that you can run while flying or at least take a double move.[/table]
Geryon can be nice to supplement your other vestiges, but all by himself he isnīt that good.
Haagenti Lv.2
{table]Confusing Touch| This is a strong ability. Getting an 8th level spell from a 2nd level vestige is good. The confusion has a scaling duration so this is OK.
Immunity to Transformation| Few monsters and even fewer PCs get this ability. If it comes up this is really the best thing to have and there are many transmutation spells out there that want to hurt you.
Shield Proficiency| Free proficiencies are nothing great, but usable.
Weapon Proficiency| Proficiency with some axes .. see above.[/table]
Haagenti starts strong, but one good and one situational useful ability donīt make this vestige a top choice.
Halphax Lv.8
{table]Damage Reduction| An actually useful amount of DR. Few monsters use adamantine weapons, but beware of high level NPCs and binders that bound Aym.
Halphaxīs Knowledge| A huge boost to two skills. Knowledge is always good and when you have to attack a stronghold a siege weapon can be useful.
Imprison| This can easily reduce the number of enemies you have to face at once, but at this level many enemies have really high fortitude saves.
Iron Wall| Battlefield control. Everybody likes it.
Secure Shelter. Block of passages and sleep in security. More battlefield control and useful out of combat.[/table]
Halphax is a good choice for many binders. His DR improves the odds of survival and his other abilities let you control most fights. Plus now you can not only glue a halfling to a beholder, but also bind a gnome to your soul.
Haures Lv.6
{table]Inaccessible Mind| A strong immunity that is often useful to have.
Incorporeal Movement| If you have ever walked through the conjurerīs summons to hit him on the head you know this is good. Sadly it does not enhance the other abilities of this vestige.
Major Image| There is no situation where an illusion is not useful. Creative binders can have lots of fun with this ability.
Phantasmal Killer| A SoD usable every five rounds. This is not the best one around, but can still be useful.[/table]
Haures is good for a mage-like binder. Two 1/5 rounds abilities one of which is really good start to fill downtime in combat. The Inaccessible Mind feature is of no use at really high binder levels, but those who took levels in KotSS will enjoy it their entire career.
Ipos Lv.6
{table]Cold Iron Claws| A nice natural weapon, but when you use those you canīt use a handheld weapon. Perhaps good if you specialize on natural weapons.
Flash of Insight| True seeing is good, but the duration is really limited. This can still be good.
Iposīs Influence| If many of your abilities allow a save this improves the DC. As a binder you should be happy to get this.
Planar Attenuation| If you travel to other planes of existence you probably have the means to protect yourself. Still situational useful.
Rend| Some extra damage with your claws. This is OK, but not great.[/table]
Ipos has a strange mixture of abilities. He grants things that allow you to fight in melee, but improves the special abilities of other vestiges. He is usable with most other vestiges, but there will often be better choices that specialize on one way to deal with problems.
Karsus Lv.3
{table]Heavy Magic| This is not really great, since the save DCs of most magic items are so bad that this wonīt save them.
Karsusīs Senses| A fast detect magic effect is nothing to sneeze at, but still nothing great.
Karsusīs Touch| A touch range dispel can often be useful, although some range would have been nice.
Karsusīs Will| Everybody loves UMD and now you donīt have to make a check. Sadly some of the best spells for wands are not on the Sor/Wiz spell list.[/table]
Karsus grants some abilities that rely heavily on magic items and not everybody has those. He can still make for a fine trap monkey against magical traps and provide your group with some arcane spells if they lack a dedicated arcanist.
Leraje Lv.1
{table]Hide Bonus| This is not great. Perhaps useful at first level.
Low-Light Vision| I havenīt seen this come up that often. Elves are still not considered good although they have this.
Precise Shot| Every Archer wants this feat. Not having to spend a feat on this is a good thing.
Ricochet| Perhaps you can kill two mooks at first level now. Later this is just not good enough.
Weapon Proficiency| You can use a bow now.[/table]
Leraje might be OK for a first level binder who wants to fight with a bow, but not otherwise.
Malphas Lv.2
{table]Birdīs Eye Viewing| A really good power to scout ahead. On your free days you can use it to learn more about the country/your surroundings.
Invisibility| A good ability to remain hidden. Since this is also usable in combat at later levels you not only see everything, but are not seen yourself, too.
Poison Use| If you really want to use poison this ability is good. Few people want to use poison though, so this ability is most often useless.
Sudden Strike| Not the best version of precision damage and a small amount of it, too, so this is a little bit extra, but you shouldnīt rely on it.[/table]
Malphas is a nice vestige at low levels and even at later levels at least his two good abilities remain useful.
Marchosias Lv.7
{table]Death Attack| This ability isnīt useful when an assassin gets it, and it isnīt useful, when you get it.
Fiery Retribution| This ability is really limited. If you have to kill all members of a thieves guild though this is a great thing to have.
Smoke Form| This can be useful to escape from some nasty situations.
Silent and Sure| A meaningful bonus to two skills. If this wasnīt a competence bonus it would create some scary stalkers. At least it makes you competent.[/table]
Marchosias grants some nice abilities, but since he is a seventh level vestige they could be better. Some of the lower level vestiges grant better abilities.
Naberius Lv.1
{table]Disguise Self| At least you can have some fun with this ability or hide the signs of your vestiges.
Faster Ability Healing| An important part of most hellfire warlock builds. This ability makes ability damage much less scary.
Naberiusīs Skills| Since you get no bonuses to the chosen skills they will probably of no great use. You can still get some important skills like tumble and at least try to use them. Combining this with Dantalionīs bonus on knowledge skills can make you a decent sage or user of knowledge devotion.
Persuasive Words| This ability is mediocre. The improvement makes it much better, but comes really late.
Silver Tongue| A part of many Diplomancer builds this ability is nice to have if you are the party face.[/table]
Naberius has several abilities that are useful for many non binders. He is good vestige to bind, if you only dipped into the class. For a full binder he is slightly less impressive.
Orthos Lv.8
{table]Blindsight| This is a good ability that greatly enhances your senses in combat. The range is quite low though.
Displacement| Stacking miss chances is considered a good thing and 50 % are a good amount of it.
Whirlwind Breath| One of the best breath weapons you can get as a PC.
Whispering Wind| ..whatever. This ability is pretty weak at this level, but the rest easily makes up for it.[/table]
Orthos is a strong vestige and is useful for almost any binder. Just take him and profit.
Otiax Lv.5
{table]Air Blast| This is good if you have many sources of extra damage like sneak attack, too weak otherwise.
Combat Reflexes| A free feat and it is a good one, if you have a good dexterity score.
Concealing Mist| 20 % miss chance is good enough for me. It is nothing great, but useful in every combat.
Open Portal| Weird, but I like this free cantrip. If you have nothing else to do with your swift action.....
Unlock| Now you can get past some of the locks a wizard would have to cast knock at. Still an adamantine hammer could prove as useful.[/table]
Otiax has some strange powers, but together with some other vestiges you can build a pretty nice rogue with him.
Paimon Lv.3
{table]Dance of Death| A nice ability for a dexterous melee fighter. It would be even better, when you had a source of skirmish (gestalt?).
Paimonīs Blade| Weapon proficiencies and weapon finesse with these weapons. If you have a high dexterity and want to use Paimon most of the time the investment into a magic rapier could be worthwhile.
Paimonīs Dexterity| A +4 untyped bonus to the stat you rely on, when you use this vestige. This is good.
Paimonīs Skills| Together with the dexterity bonus the skill bonus on tumble is usable. Perform (dance) is not that useful.
Uncanny Dodge| This is useful.
Whirlwind Attack| This is not the best feat in the game, but useful if you fight large amounts of mooks.[/table]
Paimon grants six abilities. Thatīs more than many other vestiges and some of them are quite good. Sadly none of the abilities scale, so they are a bit less effective at later levels. Paimon is still a solid vestige for any melee binder.
Ronove Lv.1
{table]Cold Iron and Magic Attacks| This might sometimes be useful to overcome DR.
Far Hand| When the strength score of this wasnīt so low it could be useful.
Feather Fall| I love this ability, but it is only situational useful.
Ronoveīs Fist| Fighting unarmed, while you could use an enchanted weapon is not the best idea. Usable for style reasons at first level.
Sprint| More speed is good, but nothing too special.[/table]
Ronove could be a nice first level vestige, if the strength of far hand would at least start at 10. At least you can fall better than a 20th level monk with a level 1 vestige.
Savnok Lv.2
{table]Call Armor| Those who like heavy armor will always find use for this vestige. The enchantments are not bad. Since this power is attainable with two feats the best use is on big monsters the DM has given new feats. Full plate for everyone!
Heavy Armor Proficiency| This is necessary to use the armor you can summon to full effect.
Move Ally| Benign Transposition is considered a good thing and you can do it all day long.
Savnokīs Armor| The DR is not enough to really be useful against big bruisers, but it might add up, when you have many fights per day and limited healing capability.[/table]
Savnok is easily accessible and remains useful over a long time. His call armor ability says nothing about what happens, when you remove it, so sell as many as you want.
Shax Lv.6
{table]Freedom of Movement| This is a strong ability that makes grapplers almost useless, unless they know that you get this ability only once every five rounds.
Immunity to Electricity| That blue dragon looks much less scary now. A good ability.
Storm Strike| Some extra damage on one melee attack is welcome, but only if you have no other use for your swift action.
Swim Speed| If you are in a water based campaign this is useful.[/table]
Shax can be useful in the right environment and freedom of movement is good, but Acererak grants more immunities and comes earlier.
Tenebrous Lv.4
{table]Deeper Darkness| Good for hiding purposes, but in many situations a big globe of darkness will be easy to spot.
See in Darkness| The best darkvision available and without a range limit.
Touch of the Void| A nice source of bonus damage, but only accessible every five rounds.
Turn/Rebuke Undead| Not the best ability around, but turning undead is OK. You can use this to power divine feats, if you have some.
Vessel of Emptiness| This is a good ability. Immediate teleportation is nice.[/table]
Tenebrous is good for your security, but has only limited offensive capabilities.
Zagan Lv.6
{table]Aversion| This is a good ability to keep some heavy hitters at bay.
Improved Grapple| The size increase is the big point here. Now you can grapple at least a bit better.
Scent| A nice ability, but quite short ranged.
Constrict| Now you can even deal respectable damage with a grapple check.
Snake Bane| Very situational. If you lead a raid against the resident Yuan-Ti cultists this is good.[/table]
Zagan transforms you into a respectable grappler and grants some nice abilities. In conjunction with other vestiges he can be quite effective.
Online Vestiges
Zceryll Lv.6
{table]Alien Form| You get a template with some nice bonuses. This alone is better than some low level vestiges.
Alien Mind| Some useful immunities and a save bonus. A good defensive ability.
Bolts of Madness| A ranged touch attack that allows a save, but the effect is great.
Summon Alien| A great ability that gives you access to many spells as spell-like abilities of your summons.
Telepathy| Telepathy and mindsight are both great abilities.[/table]
Zceryll is a vestige that pushes the binder up a tier. In my opinion it is just too strong, since many higher level vestiges are weaker. The author seems to have searched for all great abilities out there to put them into one vestige (seriously: daze, outsider type, immunities, DR, mindsight, summons). If you are cheese resistant just bind this vestige, since you will never regret it.
Vanus Lv.6
{table]Fear Aura| You get a fear aura that might even be useful.
Free Ally| A nice ability. Your allies will love you for it.
Noble Disdain| At the levels you get this ability most enemies will have more, not fewer hit dice then you.
Vanusīs Ears| A useful bonus on listen checks.[/table]
Vanus gives you some useful abilities, but lacks offensive abilities. If you have a very active vestige bound, Vanus might be a solid choice for a remaining free slot.
Arete Lv.4
{table]Psionic Boon| You get some power points, but they wonīt last long.
Resistance| A nice bonus, but it doesnīt stack with a cloak of resistance.
Damage Reduction| A useful amount of DR of the best variety.
Repletion| You get some psionic powers to use your power points with.[/table]
If this vestige got more power points, it could be useful. But since you get only 13, you will run out of uses of your abilities after a short time.
The Triad Lv.6
{table]Psionic Boon| You get 15 power points.
Call to Mind/Empathy/Detect Hostile Intent| You get access to the three psionic powers in the title of this ability
Psicraft/Diplomacy/Sense Motive Bonus| You get a bonus on those three skills. It might help, if you want to be the party face.
Bardic Knowledge| This ability isnīt great, but can be situational useful.
Smite Evil| This ability is OK, but only usable three times per day. If you want to rely on this one you should use Andras.
Weapon Proficiency| The proficiency with all exotic weapons is the big deal here.[/table]
This vestige grants a crazy mix of abilities. It grants so many of them that it might be worth it. Binding more psionic vestiges is a good way to boost your amount of power points.
Abysm Lv.8
{table]Psionic Boon| 21 power points this time
Overpower| You get a lot of psionic powers known (astral construct is one of them), but you still need more power points[/table]
A lot of powers known and some power points. Where did the rest of its abilities go? For an 8th level vestige this is not enough.
Astaroth Lv.4
{table]Angelic Lore| This ability isnīt great, but can be situational useful.
Astarothīs Breath| This is a breath weapon with an unusual effect. The nausea condition is strong, but targeting the fortitude save is difficult at later levels.
Honeyed Tongue| A competence bonus on several skills improve your ability to be the party face.
Master Craftsman| Together with your groups caster you can now create any item you need, without relying on them to spend their feats on item creation. This is great, when your group supports item creation during the game.
Word of Astaroth| A nice ability in and out of combat.[/table]
Astaroth is a great vestige with abilities that can be used in many situations, supporting the primary roles of a typical binder: face/secondary sage with special abilities for combat situations
Desharis Lv.6
{table]City-Dweller| a rarely useful ability combined with a nice bonus on two skill that will become useful if your game takes place in civilized areas.
Infinite Doors| If this wasnīt once per day only, it would be a good ability. It can still save you in some situations or bring you to the door of the BBEG in the dungeon, since that one is always in a room with a close door.
Language of the City| Just hope you only want to talk to humanoids. This ability isnīt bad.
Smite Natural Soul| A smite that targets many creatures. This can be useful against the right enemy.
Spirits of the City| A great ability as long as there are enough objects to animate around.[/table]
Desharis grants a lot of abilities that donīt really fit together. He can still be useful as long as you stay in a somewhat civilized environment.
Ahazu Lv.3
{table]Ahazuīs Abduction| An ability similar to daze, but targets that save once are immune for 24 hours. Spending an action to remove a creature from combat for one round can be worth it.
Ahazuīs Touch| Unholy Blight every five rounds. This can be good, if you face non-evil enemies.
Blindsight| A new sense is a good thing to get.
Void Mind| This ability can be useful, but is very situational.[/table]
Ignore Special Requirements is a must, when you have the feat this vestige is a solid choice, especially for evil binders.
Ansitiv Lv.7
{table]Blasphemy| Blasphemy three times a day is a decent ability.
Divine Resistance| This amount of spell resistance can sometimes be helpful.
Fire Immunity| Immunity to some elemental damage is always a good thing to get.
Thrall to Demon| This ability can be useful to get a spell from another domain, if you are a cleric and really need it.[/table]
Ansitiv grants several useful abilities and can be a good choice for evil binders.
Ashardalon Lv.8
{table]Ashardalonīs Greed| A divination effect and huge bonuses on two skills are good even at this level.
Ashardalonīs Presence| Many creatures are immune to fear, but otherwise this can be useful.
Ashardalonīs Vigor| A useful amount of temporary hit points, but it is not refreshable and therefore probably used up quickly.
Ashardalonīs Heart| Some nice and useful defensive abilities.[/table]
If you already have enough active abilities, this vestige can round up your build nicely.
Astaroth (Diabolus) Lv.4
{table]Blackflame| Fireball three times a day is not that great, but if you are an Anima Mage, half vile damage on all your fire spells can be really good.
Divination| A really good divination spell, but sadly usable only once.
Serpentine Tongue| Huge bonuses on two skills, much greater than the normal bonuses at this level.
Silvered Touch| Useful if you need to get through DR.[/table]
For an Anima Mage this vestige is great, otherwise it is just good.
Cabiri Lv.4
{table]Arcane Eye| A really useful ability for scouting purposes.
Far-seeing Gaze| If you are able to cast scrying spells, they are suddenly much harder to resist.
Seer in Darkness| Darkvision and low-light vision are always good to have.
Visions of Terror| A bad spell and only three times per day isnīt that great.[/table]
This vestige can be worth it, if you really want to get information about a specific place or person.
Kas Lv.4
{table]Blinding Strike| With a weapon with a high critical threat range this ability can be devastating. Of course it makes battling undead easier, too, so this is a really good ability.
Bluff Bonus| A small bonus on a useful skill, but if you want to use it a competence bonus is probably the easiest one to get.
Kasīs Protection| A nice ability and against undead it becomes great.
Undead Reaper| If you fight undead, being able to use any weapon is really useful.
Weapon Proficiency| Some proficiencies, but nothing that stands out.[/table]
Kas is a really great vestige, if you plan to go undead hunting.
Primus Lv.3
{table]Divine Structure| This ability will rarely apply and if it does it isnīt great.
Lawful Attacks| This ability will probably see use and grants at least some bonus damage.
Primusīs Order| This is a strong ability and it even effects creatures immune to mind-affecting effects.[/table]
Only one really good ability is not enough to create a strong vestige.
Vestige Cominations
When you can bind several vestiges at once, you probably want to look out for those that complement each other, so you can fill your chosen role more effectively.
The combinations I can think of are listed below, together with the roles you can fill with them.
{table]Combat Medic| Buer and either Savnok or Vanus (or both) can help you fill this role. Buerīs use is obvious, while Savnok and Vanus can be used to get allies out of dangerous places.
Cavalry| Andras and Eligor are the vestiges to bind, if you want to fight from a mount. For the knight in shining armor add Savnok. Chupoclops might be a good way to get pounce.
User of Natural Weapons| Amon, Chupoclops and Ipos add new natural weapons, while Ronove adds better unarmed strikes.
Arcanist/Mage| Focalor adds blasting ability, Karsus gives you the ability to use wands and staffs and Astaroth adds a debuffing breath weapon and crafting abilities. Halphax can be used to (re)form the battlefield and Haures grants you the ability to use illusions. Zceryll grants summoning and telepathy.
Weapon Master| Binding the Triad gives you proficiency with all weapons, Andras adds the improved critical feat for all weapons and Paimon gives you some combat maneuvers. Balam can be added for some minor bonuses and staring at enemies coldly, while Chupoclops adds pounce.
Face| Naberius, Astaroth, the Triad and Desharis or Dantalion can grant you superior talking power.
Skillmonkey| Naberius, Malphas, Andromalius, Otiax and Marchosias add skills, skill replacements, the ability to sneak and scout and precision damage. If you want to find and disable traps Zceryll and Karsus are good choices.
Tank| Dahlver-Nar, Savnok, Arete and Orthos (for the miss chance) can improve your ability to tank.
Outdoors Man| Eurynome, Buer, Desharis and perhaps Shax can help you to fill this role.[/table]
Multiclassing as a Binder
Binder is a great dip. Like the domains of a cleric a binders available vestiges can grant him many different abilities. When you want to stay in the binder class for more than one level the class itself has several points, where it is most beneficial to drop out. If you loose several effective binder levels, try to use abilities without a saving throw and those that donīt scale with your level.
{table]Level 1| the standard dip, you can choose from all first level vestiges, if you spend a feat you can choose from all first and second level vestiges
Level 6| immunity to fear and you can bind Paimon (for those that love dance of death for their skirmishers)
Level 8| you can bind two vestiges at once
Level 10| with improved binding you can bind 6th level vestiges, those are great
Level 14| you can bind three vestiges at once
Level 15| with improved binding you can bind 8th level vestiges, those are also great[/table]
I will just present the first and second level vestiges that are available to you, when you only dip into binder and the powers I think can be useful with a low binder level.
{table]Amon L1| one more natural attack and darkvision may be useful for some builds, setting things on fire is also useful (the damage is probably useless at later levels)
Aym L1| you get fire resistance, a fire shield effect, adamantine attacks, two bonus feats and you are not hindered by armor
Dahlver-Nar L2| hard to come by immunities and a bonus on natural armor
Haagenti L2| immunity to transformation and some proficiencies (shield and axe)
Leraje L1| precise shot, a hide bonus, low-light vision, bow proficiencies and Ricochet (whatever it is good for)
Malphas L2| you get a scouting bird and 1d6 sudden strike
Naberius L1| disguise self at-will, fast healing of damaged or drained abilities, constitution modifier skills can be used untrained and take 10 on bluff and diplomacy (you can even make rushed checks without taking a penalty)
Ronove L1| improved unarmed strike, feather fall and a speed bonus
Savnok L2| heavy armor proficiency, limited range benign transposition as a standard action and the ability to summon a masterwork full plate[/table]
Prestige Classes
{table]Anima Mage| The caster/binder hybrid class has some really nice class features, but since there is no other class that advances arcane casting and soul binding have to choose one side you favor. Since the abilities you get improve your casting abilities you should probably focus on them.
Knight of the Sacred Seal| The best prestige class for any binder that wants to fight his enemies with a sword in his hand. This short class grants full base attack bonus and short of some immunities and some pact augmentations you only gain from using it.
Scion of Dantalion| If you really like to use this vestige this class improves its abilities, but grants the same BAB as the binder.
Tenebrous Apostate| A divine casting/soul binding hybrid class that loses one level of each and only provides some limited class features. If you want to fuel your divine feats with your vestige granted turning ability you can do it, but the class itself is a bit weak, when not used with a fast casting progression class. When you use the adaptation for anima mage this class is a top choice to end your build with
Witch Slayer| This class does not progress your soul binding class feature, but is a good class for anyone who wants to kill those with magical abilities. It has full BAB and two good saves and works with almost any melee class. Since it provides some charisma synergy this class can fit on some binder levels. It is only five levels long, so you can still reach 8th level vestiges.[/table]
The binder is a class from WotCīs Tome of Magic. Pact Magic is widely regarded as the most functional concept from this book. The binder is very versatile and can fill many roles in a party. Since he can bind different vestiges each day his role can change from day to day.
The role of the binder can change from day to day. You may not be able to change your feats, but at least you are able to change your primary class features every day. Still you are better suited for some roles. Binders make great party faces, good meat shields (especially at early levels), good melee fighters and decent blasters. They can debuff enemies and can even replace the skill monkey or backstabber of a party to some degree. They can function as a healer, magic item creator or arcanist (the last one can be very expensive, since you will heavily rely on items).
What you get: d8 HD, 2+Intmod Skill points, good will and fortitude saves, medium BAB
What you get at higher levels: pact augmentations (small extra bonuses to attack, saves, initiative, hit points, damage, damage reduction or resistances), immunity to fear/negative levels/energy drain, slippery mind, mind blank, some bonus feats from a limited, but useful list
Attributes (example: 32 point buy melee/special attacks)
Strength: If you want to go into melee combat, this is an important attribute. You can dump it otherwise. (14/8)
Dexterity: Governing your initiative, AC, ranged (and some melee) attack rolls and many skills this attribute has many uses. It is good to have a decent score, but not necessary. (12/12)
Constitution: The higher this score is, the better. If you plan on using ranged attacks and ranged special attacks a lot you do not need, but still profit from a high score. (16/16)
Intelligence: You get few skill points. To increase your versatility more would be better, so try to not dump this attribute (although you can do this and still be an effective member of a group). (12/14)
Wisdom: You already have a strong will save. Just try not to get a negative modifier. (10/10)
Charisma: This attribute governs your save DCs and binding check. You probably want at least a good score in this attribute. Binders, who just want to hit things with a stick, can live with a lower score. (14/16)
Races
{table]Human| A bonus feat and extra skill points. As always a great choice.
Dwarf| The constitution bonus is welcome, but the charisma penalty hurts. You should only choose this race, if you donīt care for your saving throw DCs. (Desert, Dream and Gold Dwarfs are top choices though)
Elf| The weapon proficiencies may be useful, but dexterity isnīt that important for most binders and the constitution penalty hurts. (Wild and Desert elves are better)
Half-Elf| If you want to make a party face, half-elf is a decent choice. Remember that you can get a lot of bonuses on your social skills as a binder, so the small bonuses from half-elf might become unimportant at later levels.
Half-Orc| For a melee binder this can be OK, but is rarely the best choice.
Gnome| A good choice, since you always need more constitution. (Desert, Forest and Whisper gnomes may be even better for some builds)
Halfling| You neither get nor lose anything important. (Shoal and Water Halflings are really good) [/table]
Feats
There are some binder specific feats in the Tome of Magic. I will just give you a quick summary of what I think of them. Other feats you might want to take are different for every character. You can just choose the feats that supplement your role best or grant a maximum of versatility.
{table]Bind Vestige, Improved Bind Vestige and Practiced Binder| Feats for those, who do not want to spend levels on the actual class, but still get some binding ability. Some can give a really nice bonus (Ronove grants a nice feather fall effect and at low levels Savnokīs Armor is great)
Defense against the Supernatural| This is not worth one of your feat slots.
Empower Supernatural Ability| A nice ability, but only once per day.
Enlarge Supernatural Ability| I wouldnīt take the metamagic feat, I wouldnīt take this feat.
Expel Vestige| This feat can greatly enhance your ability to adapt to different situations, by allowing you to exchange one vestige during your adventuring day.
Rapid Pact Making| The top feat, if you like to use Expel Vestige, but ask your DM, if the time to draw the seal is reduced as well.
Extend Supernatural Ability| Most of your abilities last long enough or can be used at will. You will probably not need this feat.
Favored Vestige| If you plan to bind the same vestige every day, this is a good feat that qualifies you for better feats.
Favored Vestige Focus| If your favored vestige grants abilities that allow a saving throw, this just made them harder.
Rapid Recovery| This is a great feat, especially, if your favored vestige grants more than one ability with a cool down.
Ignore Special Requirements| This might unlock a combo of vestiges inaccessible otherwise. It is also just easier to hide your source of power, if you can bind all vestiges in a closed room and donīt have to go outside.
Improved Binding| An almost mandatory feat for any binder below level 17. Remember that you need 4 ranks in intimidate.
Skilled Pact Making| This feat improves your binding check, but half the fun is playing out your failed checks.
Sudden Ability Focus| Like Ability Focus (MM), but only once per day and on any ability you choose. Probably not worth it.
Supernatural Crusader| At later levels this will affect almost all enemies. The bonus is quite small, though.
Supernatural Opportunist| This will probably see use at higher levels. It might be useful.
Widen Supernatural Ability| Once per day widen one of your abilities. Only take this, if you live on Ysgard and want to kill a lot of mooks with your first combat action each day.[/table]
List of Vestige
Acererak Lv.5
{table]Detect Undead| If you have to find out who the vampire is in a big room full of people this is really good. In the standard adventuring day this can only be used to get information about the type of enemy you are facing and a knowledge check from your resident cleric can do the same and give you more information.
Hide from Undead| Getting past undead (especially the mindless variety, since those get no save) can save you from some trouble, but since it affects only you this ability wonīt be terribly useful when you are adventuring in a group.
Lichīs Energy Immunities| The first really good ability. Being immune to two energy types is pretty cool. With the binderīs pact augmentations this can make you nearly immune to all sorts of energy attacks.
Paralyzing Touch| This ability seems to be OK, but it is only usable every five rounds and allows a save every round. A weak Save or Lose, but when it works it can be deadly (unlikely).
Speak with Dead| Like Detect Undead and (to a lesser degree) Hide from Undead this can be useful in a mystery/detective story kind of game. If you ask the bodies of the guys you just killed you might find out some interesting details about the next room in the dungeon. This ability can be nice to have in any game, but really shines in a few situations (when you have to find your keys for example).
Undead Healing| This ability is good. Like the immunities you already got this can make for a real surprise for enemies. If you have a Dread Necromancer in your group you are a lucky guy, because free healing is something everybody wants.[/table]
Acererak is a vestige that gives you some immunities and one nice divination. The other abilities are really situational. This one is nice as an addition to other vestiges, but not a good vestige all by itself.
Agares Lv.4
{table]Earth and Air mastery| The bonus is not high enough to be meaningful.
Earthshaking Step| A nice ability in melee combat. Many warriors have a bad reflex save and when you are not good enough to trip them this can give you an edge. Making a dragon fall on his knees before you is always a good thing, except when he survives the battle. This hits your friends, too, so be careful. It can lead to film like scenes, when the bad guys try to climb a cliff you are standing on.
Elemental Companion| At least it can carry your stuff or work as a trap detector. Too weak for combat and the one hour recharge time sets the trap detector plan on fire.
Fear Immunity| Immunities are a good thing. Fear is not that unusual, so this is a good immunity to have. Some binder levels give you the same though, so this is not that good.
True Speech| A limited tongues. Nice when you have to listen to guys, who speak other languages.[/table]
Agares has only one really useful ability. Thatīs not good. When you are first able to bind him you will not be able to bind more vestiges. One ability for the whole day is not enough to make binding this guy worth your time.
Amon Lv.1
{table]Darkvision| You get darkvision. This can be useful, if you forgot to bring a wizard with a light spell or a torch.
Fire Breath| A nice breath weapon that scales well. Fire damage is often resisted though, but especially at low levels this ability can seriously damage your opponents. At higher levels it is a nice filler during your other once every five rounds abilities.
Ram Attack| A good ability for early level charges. Later this is not that strong, especially since the damage doesnīt scale.[/table]
Amon has really few abilities. Darkvision can be useful, if you donīt have it already and the fire breath is a nicely scaling attack, but that is not enough at higher levels.
Andras Lv.4
{table]Weapon Proficiency| You are able to use some nice weapons, but you donīt get them. At middle to high levels getting appropriate weapons can be really expensive. Either you choose one of these weapons and always bind Andras or you use a weapon you are already proficient with.
Mount| Wizards get to summon a horse as a first level spell. Yours is better, but not much. Sadly this cannot be used to find deadly traps more than once.
Saddle Sure| You can ride your horse now. A +8 bonus is a good thing, if you have to or want to ride into battle.
Smite Good or Evil| A good smite attack usable every five rounds. This makes for a good attack against many enemies for a melee orientated binder.
Sow Discord| This is not nice, but you donīt want to be nice to your enemies. Nothing is funnier than seeing the face of a wizard, when his meat shield hits him in the face. Using this on enemy rogues is especially effective.
Sure Blows| A useful bonus feat for any melee character. This one is usable on more than one weapon, too, so this is good.[/table]
Andras can be useful for melee characters. His 5-round-abilities are good and he has more good and some mediocre abilities. This guy can be worth it, if you are a focused melee fighter. He comes pretty early, so he is a good choice for the focus vestige of a KotSS.
Andromalius Lv.3
{table]Jesterīs Mirth| It is worse than Acererakīs paralyzing touch and therefore most often not worth your time. It targets the Will save, which is better than fortitude.
Locate Item| If you want to know in which direction the thief with the red shoes has run this is helpful. Otherwise it is just a useful divination. It is a free action to use, so it doesnīt cut into your actions per round.
See the Unseen| Seeing invisible things is good. Doing it all day long is better.
Sense Trickery| If your DM likes to rob your characters blind he will do it with or without this ability. This can be useful in the right kind of game with the right DM. It gives a nice bonus to several skills an adventurer might use from time to time.
Sneak Attack| More damage is always nice. This wonīt make you a really good backstabber, but by using Assassins Stance and perhaps Craven you could pile up a nice amount of precision damage[/table]
Andromalius needs the right kind of binder to be useful, but since you get so few skill points the role of the skill monkey is not really yours.
Aym Lv.1
{table]Dwarfen Step| If you want to run around in armor heavier than light this is good for you. I like it especially when combined with Savnokīs armor, but the Tooth of Savnok might be better at later levels.
Halo of Fire| Nice if you want to set something on fire, pretty useless otherwise.
Improved Sunder| Not the most useful feat all around.
Medium armor proficiency| If you always wanted to fight in mithral full plate this is for you.
Resistance to Fire| We like free resistances, although this one is pretty low.
Ruinous Attack| With this you wonīt need an adamantine tool to break through walls. Everybody loves to do that and being able to do it with your spoon is even better.[/table]
Aym is a nice low level vestige and can be nice to give some passive bonuses, when you want to use heavy armor. She is also the top vestige to break out of a prison cell.
Balam Lv.5
{table]Balamīs Cunning| I hope you like rerolls. This gives you enough, all day long. A really nice panic button.
Icy Glare| I donīt think this gaze attack is meaningful when you get it. If you often fight really tough monsters over a long time or a lot of mooks this attack can contribute.
Prescience| A nice passive boost to some important things. Insight bonuses are sometimes hard to come by so this is nice.
Weapon Finesse| Itīs a free feat. If you have a high dexterity you might want to take this feat anyway.[/table]
Balam is a nice defensive vestige. You might want to look elsewhere for some active powers for your binder to focus on. If you have a slot free, bind Balam.
Buer Lv.4
{table]Buerīs Knowledge| The bonus is too small to be really meaningful, but a free knowledge check is OK if you want to help the resident sage.
Buerīs Purity| Immunities are good. These ones are situational very useful, but there are not so many monsters that use poisons and diseases (ask your DM if this applies to ravages and afflictions).
Delay Diseases and Poisons| If your group is hit with these attacks they donīt suffer the drawbacks until you are in a safe place. This can be a life saver, but wonīt come up that often.
Fast Healing| Out of combat healing. Everybody wants it, you get it for free. Not the worst method to get it.
Healing Gift| Not only are your healing needs already covered, but you can cover the needs of your allies, too. Not the fastest healing ability, but faster than mass lesser vigor on small groups. This is good to have, but when you want to cover the role of a healer one of your vestige slots canīt be used for things that are more useful in combat.
Track| The skill bonus you get is not high enough to make a good tracker, but at least you can assist your groupīs tracker.[/table]
Buer is a good way to get out of combat healing, but since you can bind only a limited number of vestiges you wonīt have the room for this one. If you have the slot free (or your group is lacking a healer), take Buer.
Chupoclops Lv.6
{table]Aura of Despair| There is a reason optimizers like some levels of hexblade and paladin of tyranny in some builds. Reducing the saves of your enemies is a good thing to do, at least a part of your group will love you for it.
Ethereal Watcher| This ability greatly enhances your mobility. Walking through the castles wall, remanifesting and killing the captain of the guard can be very effective. Remember that you can see on the material plane while you are ethereal.
Ghost Touch| This is a free +1 bonus on all your weapons and situational really useful.
Poison Bite| I really donīt know where the poison in the name comes from. This is not a strong extra attack, but it is a free attack on a full attack.
Pounce| Every melee wants pounce and there is a reason for it. You want this.
Soulsense| This would be a good ability, if the range wasnīt so low.[/table]
Chupoclops| Melee binders take this. Pounce, a nice aura, an extra attack and ethereal watcher makes for a good all around package.
Dahlver-Nar Lv.2
{table]Mad Soul| The immunities this grants are hard to come by, but rarely useful. If you often fight enchanters this can save you, perhaps. When you donīt get confused, but the party fighter does and hits you this doesnīt really help.
Maddening Moan| Every five rounds one round of daze. Daze is a strong condition, one round is often too short. This hits your allies so be careful.
Natural Armor| If you have a high constitution score this can be really good. Armor class is not the best thing you can get though. The dragon will probably still hit you.
Shield Self| This ability is strong. If you can make the caster in the enemyīs team fail his save against this he is probably dead.[/table]
Dahlver-Nar is a nice low level vestige for those that want to play tank. At later levels you will probably have better vestiges to bind.
Dantalion Lv.5
{table]Awe of Dantalion| If the big giant in front of you canīt full attack you this can be a good thing. If your wizard is hiding behind your back you should probably take the hit. And donīt forget that your target shouldnīt survive the round or he will still come for you.
Dantalion Knows| This is a boon for every knowledge monkey. Put a point in every knowledge skill and suddenly you know something about everything.
Read Thoughts; This can be useful, but probably wonīt be it in many situations. One full round is simply too much.
Thought Travel| Teleportation effects are often very good. This one is pretty limited, but still useful if you find yourself bound.[/table]
Dantalion can be nice to have because of his bonus to knowledge skills and his teleportation ability. All by himself he is pretty limited, so always bind a more active vestige with him. Together with Naberius he is the backbone of the social binder.
Eligor Lv.7
{table]Chromatic Strike| A nice source of low bonus damage. Nothing special at this level.
Eligorīs Skill in the Saddle| Two bonus feats and if you want to fight while mounted they are good.
Eligorīs Strength| A +4 untyped bonus to strength is really good for any melee fighter.
Eligorīs Resilience| A bonus to your natural armor is OK, but at this level you should probably want something more special.
Heavy Armor Proficiency| Armor is expensive at this level, if it shall be useful.[/table]
Eligor is only useful to a few specific builds and the abilities he grants are not good enough for a seventh level vestige.
Eurynome Lv.4
{table]Animal Friend| Useful in any situation where you have to deal with animals. This is nice to have if you want to calm an angry guard dog, a deinonychus or a dire bear.
Damage Reduction| This is not high enough to rely on in combat, but at least it protects you from caltrops.
Eurynomeīs Maul| You can summon and use a huge warhammer. If you are small or smaller this ability is hilarious. The warhammer is OK and in settings where it is hard to get a magic weapon this is really good.
Poison Blood| This poison deals hit point damage and isnīt useful (you normally donīt want to be swallowed or bitten).
Water Dancing| You can walk on water. Thatīs cool, but rarely useful.[/table]
Eurynome is one of the vestiges that makes the binder a good candidate for VoP-builds. Otherwise she grants mediocre abilities. Animal Friend can be really good, but especially at higher levels you donīt meet many animals.
Focalor Lv.3
{table]Aura of Sadness| A nice aura although the range is really limited.
Focalorīs Breath| A very limited ability. Blindness for one round is not enough for a once-every- five-rounds ability.
Lightning Strike| A nice ability. The damage isnīt very high, but being able to use this all day long is good. Use it to break down doors or as a filler between your stronger abilities. This can become your standard attack in not too hard fights.
Water Breathing| Situational useful, but can be a real life saver.[/table]
Focalor is solid for a third level vestige. Some of his abilities are still useful at higher levels, but you should try to get some stronger 1/5 rounds abilities.
Geryon Lv.5
{table]Acidic Gaze| This ability deals not enough damage to be good against strong foes. If you have to kill a group of mooks, though, this can be good.
All-Around Vision| Useful if you fight many rogues. Bonuses on spot and search are always welcome.
See in Darkness| A really good kind of darkvision since it has no range limit.
Swift Flight| A bit too limited to be of great use against flying foes, but still useful. This can easily save you in several situations. Remember that you can run while flying or at least take a double move.[/table]
Geryon can be nice to supplement your other vestiges, but all by himself he isnīt that good.
Haagenti Lv.2
{table]Confusing Touch| This is a strong ability. Getting an 8th level spell from a 2nd level vestige is good. The confusion has a scaling duration so this is OK.
Immunity to Transformation| Few monsters and even fewer PCs get this ability. If it comes up this is really the best thing to have and there are many transmutation spells out there that want to hurt you.
Shield Proficiency| Free proficiencies are nothing great, but usable.
Weapon Proficiency| Proficiency with some axes .. see above.[/table]
Haagenti starts strong, but one good and one situational useful ability donīt make this vestige a top choice.
Halphax Lv.8
{table]Damage Reduction| An actually useful amount of DR. Few monsters use adamantine weapons, but beware of high level NPCs and binders that bound Aym.
Halphaxīs Knowledge| A huge boost to two skills. Knowledge is always good and when you have to attack a stronghold a siege weapon can be useful.
Imprison| This can easily reduce the number of enemies you have to face at once, but at this level many enemies have really high fortitude saves.
Iron Wall| Battlefield control. Everybody likes it.
Secure Shelter. Block of passages and sleep in security. More battlefield control and useful out of combat.[/table]
Halphax is a good choice for many binders. His DR improves the odds of survival and his other abilities let you control most fights. Plus now you can not only glue a halfling to a beholder, but also bind a gnome to your soul.
Haures Lv.6
{table]Inaccessible Mind| A strong immunity that is often useful to have.
Incorporeal Movement| If you have ever walked through the conjurerīs summons to hit him on the head you know this is good. Sadly it does not enhance the other abilities of this vestige.
Major Image| There is no situation where an illusion is not useful. Creative binders can have lots of fun with this ability.
Phantasmal Killer| A SoD usable every five rounds. This is not the best one around, but can still be useful.[/table]
Haures is good for a mage-like binder. Two 1/5 rounds abilities one of which is really good start to fill downtime in combat. The Inaccessible Mind feature is of no use at really high binder levels, but those who took levels in KotSS will enjoy it their entire career.
Ipos Lv.6
{table]Cold Iron Claws| A nice natural weapon, but when you use those you canīt use a handheld weapon. Perhaps good if you specialize on natural weapons.
Flash of Insight| True seeing is good, but the duration is really limited. This can still be good.
Iposīs Influence| If many of your abilities allow a save this improves the DC. As a binder you should be happy to get this.
Planar Attenuation| If you travel to other planes of existence you probably have the means to protect yourself. Still situational useful.
Rend| Some extra damage with your claws. This is OK, but not great.[/table]
Ipos has a strange mixture of abilities. He grants things that allow you to fight in melee, but improves the special abilities of other vestiges. He is usable with most other vestiges, but there will often be better choices that specialize on one way to deal with problems.
Karsus Lv.3
{table]Heavy Magic| This is not really great, since the save DCs of most magic items are so bad that this wonīt save them.
Karsusīs Senses| A fast detect magic effect is nothing to sneeze at, but still nothing great.
Karsusīs Touch| A touch range dispel can often be useful, although some range would have been nice.
Karsusīs Will| Everybody loves UMD and now you donīt have to make a check. Sadly some of the best spells for wands are not on the Sor/Wiz spell list.[/table]
Karsus grants some abilities that rely heavily on magic items and not everybody has those. He can still make for a fine trap monkey against magical traps and provide your group with some arcane spells if they lack a dedicated arcanist.
Leraje Lv.1
{table]Hide Bonus| This is not great. Perhaps useful at first level.
Low-Light Vision| I havenīt seen this come up that often. Elves are still not considered good although they have this.
Precise Shot| Every Archer wants this feat. Not having to spend a feat on this is a good thing.
Ricochet| Perhaps you can kill two mooks at first level now. Later this is just not good enough.
Weapon Proficiency| You can use a bow now.[/table]
Leraje might be OK for a first level binder who wants to fight with a bow, but not otherwise.
Malphas Lv.2
{table]Birdīs Eye Viewing| A really good power to scout ahead. On your free days you can use it to learn more about the country/your surroundings.
Invisibility| A good ability to remain hidden. Since this is also usable in combat at later levels you not only see everything, but are not seen yourself, too.
Poison Use| If you really want to use poison this ability is good. Few people want to use poison though, so this ability is most often useless.
Sudden Strike| Not the best version of precision damage and a small amount of it, too, so this is a little bit extra, but you shouldnīt rely on it.[/table]
Malphas is a nice vestige at low levels and even at later levels at least his two good abilities remain useful.
Marchosias Lv.7
{table]Death Attack| This ability isnīt useful when an assassin gets it, and it isnīt useful, when you get it.
Fiery Retribution| This ability is really limited. If you have to kill all members of a thieves guild though this is a great thing to have.
Smoke Form| This can be useful to escape from some nasty situations.
Silent and Sure| A meaningful bonus to two skills. If this wasnīt a competence bonus it would create some scary stalkers. At least it makes you competent.[/table]
Marchosias grants some nice abilities, but since he is a seventh level vestige they could be better. Some of the lower level vestiges grant better abilities.
Naberius Lv.1
{table]Disguise Self| At least you can have some fun with this ability or hide the signs of your vestiges.
Faster Ability Healing| An important part of most hellfire warlock builds. This ability makes ability damage much less scary.
Naberiusīs Skills| Since you get no bonuses to the chosen skills they will probably of no great use. You can still get some important skills like tumble and at least try to use them. Combining this with Dantalionīs bonus on knowledge skills can make you a decent sage or user of knowledge devotion.
Persuasive Words| This ability is mediocre. The improvement makes it much better, but comes really late.
Silver Tongue| A part of many Diplomancer builds this ability is nice to have if you are the party face.[/table]
Naberius has several abilities that are useful for many non binders. He is good vestige to bind, if you only dipped into the class. For a full binder he is slightly less impressive.
Orthos Lv.8
{table]Blindsight| This is a good ability that greatly enhances your senses in combat. The range is quite low though.
Displacement| Stacking miss chances is considered a good thing and 50 % are a good amount of it.
Whirlwind Breath| One of the best breath weapons you can get as a PC.
Whispering Wind| ..whatever. This ability is pretty weak at this level, but the rest easily makes up for it.[/table]
Orthos is a strong vestige and is useful for almost any binder. Just take him and profit.
Otiax Lv.5
{table]Air Blast| This is good if you have many sources of extra damage like sneak attack, too weak otherwise.
Combat Reflexes| A free feat and it is a good one, if you have a good dexterity score.
Concealing Mist| 20 % miss chance is good enough for me. It is nothing great, but useful in every combat.
Open Portal| Weird, but I like this free cantrip. If you have nothing else to do with your swift action.....
Unlock| Now you can get past some of the locks a wizard would have to cast knock at. Still an adamantine hammer could prove as useful.[/table]
Otiax has some strange powers, but together with some other vestiges you can build a pretty nice rogue with him.
Paimon Lv.3
{table]Dance of Death| A nice ability for a dexterous melee fighter. It would be even better, when you had a source of skirmish (gestalt?).
Paimonīs Blade| Weapon proficiencies and weapon finesse with these weapons. If you have a high dexterity and want to use Paimon most of the time the investment into a magic rapier could be worthwhile.
Paimonīs Dexterity| A +4 untyped bonus to the stat you rely on, when you use this vestige. This is good.
Paimonīs Skills| Together with the dexterity bonus the skill bonus on tumble is usable. Perform (dance) is not that useful.
Uncanny Dodge| This is useful.
Whirlwind Attack| This is not the best feat in the game, but useful if you fight large amounts of mooks.[/table]
Paimon grants six abilities. Thatīs more than many other vestiges and some of them are quite good. Sadly none of the abilities scale, so they are a bit less effective at later levels. Paimon is still a solid vestige for any melee binder.
Ronove Lv.1
{table]Cold Iron and Magic Attacks| This might sometimes be useful to overcome DR.
Far Hand| When the strength score of this wasnīt so low it could be useful.
Feather Fall| I love this ability, but it is only situational useful.
Ronoveīs Fist| Fighting unarmed, while you could use an enchanted weapon is not the best idea. Usable for style reasons at first level.
Sprint| More speed is good, but nothing too special.[/table]
Ronove could be a nice first level vestige, if the strength of far hand would at least start at 10. At least you can fall better than a 20th level monk with a level 1 vestige.
Savnok Lv.2
{table]Call Armor| Those who like heavy armor will always find use for this vestige. The enchantments are not bad. Since this power is attainable with two feats the best use is on big monsters the DM has given new feats. Full plate for everyone!
Heavy Armor Proficiency| This is necessary to use the armor you can summon to full effect.
Move Ally| Benign Transposition is considered a good thing and you can do it all day long.
Savnokīs Armor| The DR is not enough to really be useful against big bruisers, but it might add up, when you have many fights per day and limited healing capability.[/table]
Savnok is easily accessible and remains useful over a long time. His call armor ability says nothing about what happens, when you remove it, so sell as many as you want.
Shax Lv.6
{table]Freedom of Movement| This is a strong ability that makes grapplers almost useless, unless they know that you get this ability only once every five rounds.
Immunity to Electricity| That blue dragon looks much less scary now. A good ability.
Storm Strike| Some extra damage on one melee attack is welcome, but only if you have no other use for your swift action.
Swim Speed| If you are in a water based campaign this is useful.[/table]
Shax can be useful in the right environment and freedom of movement is good, but Acererak grants more immunities and comes earlier.
Tenebrous Lv.4
{table]Deeper Darkness| Good for hiding purposes, but in many situations a big globe of darkness will be easy to spot.
See in Darkness| The best darkvision available and without a range limit.
Touch of the Void| A nice source of bonus damage, but only accessible every five rounds.
Turn/Rebuke Undead| Not the best ability around, but turning undead is OK. You can use this to power divine feats, if you have some.
Vessel of Emptiness| This is a good ability. Immediate teleportation is nice.[/table]
Tenebrous is good for your security, but has only limited offensive capabilities.
Zagan Lv.6
{table]Aversion| This is a good ability to keep some heavy hitters at bay.
Improved Grapple| The size increase is the big point here. Now you can grapple at least a bit better.
Scent| A nice ability, but quite short ranged.
Constrict| Now you can even deal respectable damage with a grapple check.
Snake Bane| Very situational. If you lead a raid against the resident Yuan-Ti cultists this is good.[/table]
Zagan transforms you into a respectable grappler and grants some nice abilities. In conjunction with other vestiges he can be quite effective.
Online Vestiges
Zceryll Lv.6
{table]Alien Form| You get a template with some nice bonuses. This alone is better than some low level vestiges.
Alien Mind| Some useful immunities and a save bonus. A good defensive ability.
Bolts of Madness| A ranged touch attack that allows a save, but the effect is great.
Summon Alien| A great ability that gives you access to many spells as spell-like abilities of your summons.
Telepathy| Telepathy and mindsight are both great abilities.[/table]
Zceryll is a vestige that pushes the binder up a tier. In my opinion it is just too strong, since many higher level vestiges are weaker. The author seems to have searched for all great abilities out there to put them into one vestige (seriously: daze, outsider type, immunities, DR, mindsight, summons). If you are cheese resistant just bind this vestige, since you will never regret it.
Vanus Lv.6
{table]Fear Aura| You get a fear aura that might even be useful.
Free Ally| A nice ability. Your allies will love you for it.
Noble Disdain| At the levels you get this ability most enemies will have more, not fewer hit dice then you.
Vanusīs Ears| A useful bonus on listen checks.[/table]
Vanus gives you some useful abilities, but lacks offensive abilities. If you have a very active vestige bound, Vanus might be a solid choice for a remaining free slot.
Arete Lv.4
{table]Psionic Boon| You get some power points, but they wonīt last long.
Resistance| A nice bonus, but it doesnīt stack with a cloak of resistance.
Damage Reduction| A useful amount of DR of the best variety.
Repletion| You get some psionic powers to use your power points with.[/table]
If this vestige got more power points, it could be useful. But since you get only 13, you will run out of uses of your abilities after a short time.
The Triad Lv.6
{table]Psionic Boon| You get 15 power points.
Call to Mind/Empathy/Detect Hostile Intent| You get access to the three psionic powers in the title of this ability
Psicraft/Diplomacy/Sense Motive Bonus| You get a bonus on those three skills. It might help, if you want to be the party face.
Bardic Knowledge| This ability isnīt great, but can be situational useful.
Smite Evil| This ability is OK, but only usable three times per day. If you want to rely on this one you should use Andras.
Weapon Proficiency| The proficiency with all exotic weapons is the big deal here.[/table]
This vestige grants a crazy mix of abilities. It grants so many of them that it might be worth it. Binding more psionic vestiges is a good way to boost your amount of power points.
Abysm Lv.8
{table]Psionic Boon| 21 power points this time
Overpower| You get a lot of psionic powers known (astral construct is one of them), but you still need more power points[/table]
A lot of powers known and some power points. Where did the rest of its abilities go? For an 8th level vestige this is not enough.
Astaroth Lv.4
{table]Angelic Lore| This ability isnīt great, but can be situational useful.
Astarothīs Breath| This is a breath weapon with an unusual effect. The nausea condition is strong, but targeting the fortitude save is difficult at later levels.
Honeyed Tongue| A competence bonus on several skills improve your ability to be the party face.
Master Craftsman| Together with your groups caster you can now create any item you need, without relying on them to spend their feats on item creation. This is great, when your group supports item creation during the game.
Word of Astaroth| A nice ability in and out of combat.[/table]
Astaroth is a great vestige with abilities that can be used in many situations, supporting the primary roles of a typical binder: face/secondary sage with special abilities for combat situations
Desharis Lv.6
{table]City-Dweller| a rarely useful ability combined with a nice bonus on two skill that will become useful if your game takes place in civilized areas.
Infinite Doors| If this wasnīt once per day only, it would be a good ability. It can still save you in some situations or bring you to the door of the BBEG in the dungeon, since that one is always in a room with a close door.
Language of the City| Just hope you only want to talk to humanoids. This ability isnīt bad.
Smite Natural Soul| A smite that targets many creatures. This can be useful against the right enemy.
Spirits of the City| A great ability as long as there are enough objects to animate around.[/table]
Desharis grants a lot of abilities that donīt really fit together. He can still be useful as long as you stay in a somewhat civilized environment.
Ahazu Lv.3
{table]Ahazuīs Abduction| An ability similar to daze, but targets that save once are immune for 24 hours. Spending an action to remove a creature from combat for one round can be worth it.
Ahazuīs Touch| Unholy Blight every five rounds. This can be good, if you face non-evil enemies.
Blindsight| A new sense is a good thing to get.
Void Mind| This ability can be useful, but is very situational.[/table]
Ignore Special Requirements is a must, when you have the feat this vestige is a solid choice, especially for evil binders.
Ansitiv Lv.7
{table]Blasphemy| Blasphemy three times a day is a decent ability.
Divine Resistance| This amount of spell resistance can sometimes be helpful.
Fire Immunity| Immunity to some elemental damage is always a good thing to get.
Thrall to Demon| This ability can be useful to get a spell from another domain, if you are a cleric and really need it.[/table]
Ansitiv grants several useful abilities and can be a good choice for evil binders.
Ashardalon Lv.8
{table]Ashardalonīs Greed| A divination effect and huge bonuses on two skills are good even at this level.
Ashardalonīs Presence| Many creatures are immune to fear, but otherwise this can be useful.
Ashardalonīs Vigor| A useful amount of temporary hit points, but it is not refreshable and therefore probably used up quickly.
Ashardalonīs Heart| Some nice and useful defensive abilities.[/table]
If you already have enough active abilities, this vestige can round up your build nicely.
Astaroth (Diabolus) Lv.4
{table]Blackflame| Fireball three times a day is not that great, but if you are an Anima Mage, half vile damage on all your fire spells can be really good.
Divination| A really good divination spell, but sadly usable only once.
Serpentine Tongue| Huge bonuses on two skills, much greater than the normal bonuses at this level.
Silvered Touch| Useful if you need to get through DR.[/table]
For an Anima Mage this vestige is great, otherwise it is just good.
Cabiri Lv.4
{table]Arcane Eye| A really useful ability for scouting purposes.
Far-seeing Gaze| If you are able to cast scrying spells, they are suddenly much harder to resist.
Seer in Darkness| Darkvision and low-light vision are always good to have.
Visions of Terror| A bad spell and only three times per day isnīt that great.[/table]
This vestige can be worth it, if you really want to get information about a specific place or person.
Kas Lv.4
{table]Blinding Strike| With a weapon with a high critical threat range this ability can be devastating. Of course it makes battling undead easier, too, so this is a really good ability.
Bluff Bonus| A small bonus on a useful skill, but if you want to use it a competence bonus is probably the easiest one to get.
Kasīs Protection| A nice ability and against undead it becomes great.
Undead Reaper| If you fight undead, being able to use any weapon is really useful.
Weapon Proficiency| Some proficiencies, but nothing that stands out.[/table]
Kas is a really great vestige, if you plan to go undead hunting.
Primus Lv.3
{table]Divine Structure| This ability will rarely apply and if it does it isnīt great.
Lawful Attacks| This ability will probably see use and grants at least some bonus damage.
Primusīs Order| This is a strong ability and it even effects creatures immune to mind-affecting effects.[/table]
Only one really good ability is not enough to create a strong vestige.
Vestige Cominations
When you can bind several vestiges at once, you probably want to look out for those that complement each other, so you can fill your chosen role more effectively.
The combinations I can think of are listed below, together with the roles you can fill with them.
{table]Combat Medic| Buer and either Savnok or Vanus (or both) can help you fill this role. Buerīs use is obvious, while Savnok and Vanus can be used to get allies out of dangerous places.
Cavalry| Andras and Eligor are the vestiges to bind, if you want to fight from a mount. For the knight in shining armor add Savnok. Chupoclops might be a good way to get pounce.
User of Natural Weapons| Amon, Chupoclops and Ipos add new natural weapons, while Ronove adds better unarmed strikes.
Arcanist/Mage| Focalor adds blasting ability, Karsus gives you the ability to use wands and staffs and Astaroth adds a debuffing breath weapon and crafting abilities. Halphax can be used to (re)form the battlefield and Haures grants you the ability to use illusions. Zceryll grants summoning and telepathy.
Weapon Master| Binding the Triad gives you proficiency with all weapons, Andras adds the improved critical feat for all weapons and Paimon gives you some combat maneuvers. Balam can be added for some minor bonuses and staring at enemies coldly, while Chupoclops adds pounce.
Face| Naberius, Astaroth, the Triad and Desharis or Dantalion can grant you superior talking power.
Skillmonkey| Naberius, Malphas, Andromalius, Otiax and Marchosias add skills, skill replacements, the ability to sneak and scout and precision damage. If you want to find and disable traps Zceryll and Karsus are good choices.
Tank| Dahlver-Nar, Savnok, Arete and Orthos (for the miss chance) can improve your ability to tank.
Outdoors Man| Eurynome, Buer, Desharis and perhaps Shax can help you to fill this role.[/table]
Multiclassing as a Binder
Binder is a great dip. Like the domains of a cleric a binders available vestiges can grant him many different abilities. When you want to stay in the binder class for more than one level the class itself has several points, where it is most beneficial to drop out. If you loose several effective binder levels, try to use abilities without a saving throw and those that donīt scale with your level.
{table]Level 1| the standard dip, you can choose from all first level vestiges, if you spend a feat you can choose from all first and second level vestiges
Level 6| immunity to fear and you can bind Paimon (for those that love dance of death for their skirmishers)
Level 8| you can bind two vestiges at once
Level 10| with improved binding you can bind 6th level vestiges, those are great
Level 14| you can bind three vestiges at once
Level 15| with improved binding you can bind 8th level vestiges, those are also great[/table]
I will just present the first and second level vestiges that are available to you, when you only dip into binder and the powers I think can be useful with a low binder level.
{table]Amon L1| one more natural attack and darkvision may be useful for some builds, setting things on fire is also useful (the damage is probably useless at later levels)
Aym L1| you get fire resistance, a fire shield effect, adamantine attacks, two bonus feats and you are not hindered by armor
Dahlver-Nar L2| hard to come by immunities and a bonus on natural armor
Haagenti L2| immunity to transformation and some proficiencies (shield and axe)
Leraje L1| precise shot, a hide bonus, low-light vision, bow proficiencies and Ricochet (whatever it is good for)
Malphas L2| you get a scouting bird and 1d6 sudden strike
Naberius L1| disguise self at-will, fast healing of damaged or drained abilities, constitution modifier skills can be used untrained and take 10 on bluff and diplomacy (you can even make rushed checks without taking a penalty)
Ronove L1| improved unarmed strike, feather fall and a speed bonus
Savnok L2| heavy armor proficiency, limited range benign transposition as a standard action and the ability to summon a masterwork full plate[/table]
Prestige Classes
{table]Anima Mage| The caster/binder hybrid class has some really nice class features, but since there is no other class that advances arcane casting and soul binding have to choose one side you favor. Since the abilities you get improve your casting abilities you should probably focus on them.
Knight of the Sacred Seal| The best prestige class for any binder that wants to fight his enemies with a sword in his hand. This short class grants full base attack bonus and short of some immunities and some pact augmentations you only gain from using it.
Scion of Dantalion| If you really like to use this vestige this class improves its abilities, but grants the same BAB as the binder.
Tenebrous Apostate| A divine casting/soul binding hybrid class that loses one level of each and only provides some limited class features. If you want to fuel your divine feats with your vestige granted turning ability you can do it, but the class itself is a bit weak, when not used with a fast casting progression class. When you use the adaptation for anima mage this class is a top choice to end your build with
Witch Slayer| This class does not progress your soul binding class feature, but is a good class for anyone who wants to kill those with magical abilities. It has full BAB and two good saves and works with almost any melee class. Since it provides some charisma synergy this class can fit on some binder levels. It is only five levels long, so you can still reach 8th level vestiges.[/table]