Hawk AC with 30 armor class too powerful?

[DrkMagusX]

The character is a druid 4 wiz 3 arcane hierphant 4 with a hawk animal companion familar. His armor class is 25 then with dodge and mage armor its up to 30.

Is this too powerful or is it balanced for a 10th level campaign?

The character will disarm enemies from a range and the hawk will fetch said weapon. Its next feat will be mobility then knocking it to a 34 ac when attacks of op. For movie out a threaten square.

If the enemy loses his sword or weapon does he no longer get a attack of opportunity?

[Spuddles]

That AC is fine at that level, esp considering that your hawk can't do much of anything besides be annoying to a relatively small subset of enemies.

If the disarmed enemy has quickdraw, they can draw a side arm as a free action. If they're wearing a spiked gauntlet, they get an attack, too.

Consider using heat metal to disarm foes.

[Blueiji]

If the enemy loses his sword or weapon does he no longer get a attack of opportunity?

You can only make attacks of opportunity with unarmed strikes if you have the Improved Unarmed Strike (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedUnarmedStrike) feat.

[Big Fau]

AC 30 at 10th level (29 against non-Dodge targets) is nice, but not overpowered against level-appropriate enemies. Mooks will have a hard time hitting it.
AC is starting to become a irrelevant line of defense at this level. Miss chances are where it's at.
Shared spells wear off if the familiar moves more than 5ft away from the master.
If a Wizard/Druid/Arcance Hierophant is focusing on disarming enemies, then either the player is holding back or he genuinely does not know how powerful he can be.
Disarming doesn't work against enemies with natural weapons. Most enemies around 10th level will have at least claws or bites, unless they are humanoid.


As a theurge, this character is significantly weaker than he could potentially be (since he doesn't have Wildshape and is missing 3 or 4 caster levels on either side of his classes). A non-humanoid/monstrous humanoid with decent Spell Resistance is going to shut him down almost completely unless his spells are SR: No.

[DrkMagusX]

The character is design to be a support character. I didn't want to build him to challenge the party's melee people.

The hawk with a high int could effectively scout and its high spot is useful.
With a 10 str its max load is 50lbs. I believe if I keep weight below it could lift me. I don't usually make uber minmax characters lol.

the base character will be a halfling. He will be throwing more weapons than shooting.

would the hawk be able to drop items ontop of enemies . Beads of force could be fun.

[TuggyNE]

With a 10 str its max load is 50lbs. I believe if I keep weight below it could lift me.

That doesn't actually work, unfortunately; you can't fly with more than a light load, and a light load for a Tiny creature with 10 Str is just 16 lbs.

[DrkMagusX]

Ok I was going by the book saying they can lift their maximum load.

Sorry didn't know it was different for flying creatures.

[Flickerdart]

At level 10, a creature that cares about hitting AC will have +10 BAB, at least +7 from an attribute, and probably a +3 weapon, hitting your hawk 50% of the time. Anyone actually trying will hit more often than that.

[Spuddles]

At level 10, a ce=reature that cares about hitting AC will have +10 BAB, at least +7 from an attribute, and probably a +3 weapon, hitting your hawk 50% of the time. Anyone actually trying will hit more often than that.

Example (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/giant.htm#fireGiant)

[eggynack]

So the animal companion's only role is basically to fly around and not be hit? That might actually be a bit underpowered. Ideally, you want an animal companion that can eat face. This is because they're relatively disposable, and more importantly because D&D incentivizes offense a lot. If the hawk isn't doing anything but picking up weapons that you disarm, the hawk could have an AC of infinity and not be particularly overpowered. If you used that hawk as a crazy meat shield, it'd be more powerful, but there's very little to stop the enemy from just walking a bit to the left before walking forward and stabbing you in the face. So, basically, you're fine on the animal companion front.

[Eldariel]

Shared spells wear off if the familiar moves more than 5ft away from the master.

This only applies to shared spells tho. If you cast the spell on the companion as a separate casting instead of having it affect the both of you, it can move anywhere and be fine. Given we're talking about level 1 slots with a Theurge, that's hardly to be an issue.

[Ceaon]

We can't really answer if AC 30 is too powerful when we don't know the power level of your prospected opponents or allies.

But in most campaigns, a hawk animal companion probably won't be the thing that makes people yell "that's overpowered!"

[Arc_knight25]

Just a thought. Would this build benefit from 1 level of Beastmaster? +4 to your animal companion lvl (1 from the lvl and 3 from the class featue)? Just need 8 ranks in Handle Animal, 4 Survival and Skill focus: Handle Animal.

[Gnaeus]

No. Beastmaster is bad here. Arcane Hierophant is better. If you want to burn feats improving your pet, companion spellbond is a winner, as is Natural Bond. Natural bond adds 3 to its level without reducing your casting, and doesn't even drop a feat compared with beastmaster, which requires that skill focus. Companion Spellbond lets you share spells from 30 feet away, which is awesome for making your pet unhittable (with stuff like mirror image) or actually dangerous (by letting it share touch attack spells or things like polymorph.)

[Flickerdart]

Enspelled Familiar increases Share Spell range to a mile (but is Dragon content).

[Arc_knight25]

It would only be a 1 level dip into Beastmaster. The skill points to get into it shouldn't be a problem. And if your a human the feat is just a 1st lvl write off. And if you want your spell casting back, Practised spellcaster will get those levels back for either druid or wizard. Take it twice if you want both classes to be casting at full. So the animal companion part at lvl 12 (for this build if the character took beastmaster at lvl 12 and had Natural bond) Would have an effective animal companion lvl of 15 at lvl 12.(4 druid, 4 beastmaster, 4 arcane Heirophant, 3 natural bond) You could easily get yourself a powerful animal companion by taking an alternative companion. If the giant eagle is only Lvl-3 you would have a lvl 12 Giant eagle at lvl 12. And still have the bonuses for it being a familiar.

[danzibr]

But in most campaigns, a hawk animal companion probably won't be the thing that makes people yell "that's overpowered!"
That's overpowered!

Personally, unless it's dishing out mad damage and overshadowing the other party members I say it's not a problem at all.

[awa]

a quick look at the srds cr 10 monsters show that most can hit your bird on a 10+ so not overpowered

also as the monk threads will attest to just being hard to kill does not make you powerful

[Gnaeus]

It would only be a 1 level dip into Beastmaster. The skill points to get into it shouldn't be a problem. And if your a human the feat is just a 1st lvl write off. And if you want your spell casting back, Practised spellcaster will get those levels back for either druid or wizard. Take it twice if you want both classes to be casting at full. So the animal companion part at lvl 12 (for this build if the character took beastmaster at lvl 12 and had Natural bond) Would have an effective animal companion lvl of 15 at lvl 12.(4 druid, 4 beastmaster, 4 arcane Heirophant, 3 natural bond) You could easily get yourself a powerful animal companion by taking an alternative companion. If the giant eagle is only Lvl-3 you would have a lvl 12 Giant eagle at lvl 12. And still have the bonuses for it being a familiar.

This is still bad advice.
1. Your DM may not rule that Natural Bond will work this way. Natural Bond states that it will never make your effective druid level exceed your character level. It is your DM's call as to whether this specific language overrides the general rule that you can apply bonuses in the most advantageous order.

2. Assuming that it works the way you say, it is still a bad deal.
:
I. Thou shalt not give up caster levels.

II. Wieldest thou thy two-handed weapon with alacrity; but two weapons shalt thou not wield, excepting that thou hast a source of bonus damage such as Sneak Attack.

III. Doubt not the power of the Druid, for he is mighty.

IV. Avoid ye the temptation of Gauntlets of True Strike, for they shall lead thee astray down the Path of Non-Rule Cheese.

V. Thou shalt not give up caster levels. Verily, this Commandment is like unto the first; but of such magnitude that it bore mentioning twice.

Your advice means giving up casting on both sides of the progression. Practiced spellcaster only adds to caster level, not spells per day.

At level 12 (which he is discussing) he suggests that you could get a level 12 giant eagle. I say that with his advice you CAN'T have a 9th level giant eagle sharing Bite of the Weretiger and Stoneskin because you haven't gotten your 5th level druid spells because you have gone off track.

More importantly, you never get 9th level spells with his build. Who care that the pet has a couple less HD, if it means that your pet can never share your Shapechange.