DaltonTrigger
2013-09-16, 09:30 AM
I'm playing a character that's probably laughably inefficient, because he's cool. :P
So far he is rogue 3, ranger 1, and I plan to go with the falconer and trapper archetypes because having an animal companion and being able to spontaneously lay down traps seem a lot better than really, really weak spells given my non-ranger level advancements and my low wisdom score.
I'm planning to advance ranger levels from here until end game. My character is going to be built mostly like an archer, but has weapon finesse, two weapon fighting, and the 2d6 sneak attack so that if he is forced into melee he can deal some respectable damage with knives or bladed gauntlets or whatever. Of course if I can blind or stun an opponent, having that 2d6 sneak attack damage on my already awesome archery will just be icing on the cake.
As you may have guessed, this character is built less to be super-optimized for one form of combat, and built more to be a character that is adept at everything but masters nothing. Flavor is also important to me.
So this brings me to my animal companion, the bird. It's going to be a few levels before it's truly useful, since the falconer animal companion only has 1/2 HP until level 4, and I need to take Boon Companion to make up for my rogue levels. That's fine.
The question is, what should I take for animal companion feats? Primarily, I want the bird to play a supportive role in combat. I don't want it on the front line, soaking hits and trying to be DPS (because its damage blows). However, I do want it to join me if I'm attacked--with the Attack, Defend, and Flank trick, if an enemy engages me in combat, the bird will automatically engage to provide me the flanking bonus I need to defend myself.
I've considered the dodge/mobility/spring attack combo, which is feat intensive but would let the bird get in combat without suffering AoOs, which is kind of a big deal since animal companions aren't smart enough to avoid them, usually.
There's also weapon finesse/agile maneuvers possibly, but even though the bird is seemingly dex-based, its dex isn't THAT much higher than its strength (especially after it gets the strength boost at level 4) so I just don't know here. It's another 2 feats to sink just to slightly improve the to-hit on a creature whose damage is, frankly, negligible. Though, agile maneuvers could be nice, because I could teach the bird the 'disarm' trick and have it selectively snatch the wands/staves/bows from enemy archers and mages.
What are some possible feats that could allow me to either:
1. Make the bird deal some viable combat damage without dying,
or
2. Further utilize it as a support rather than combat companion. Could it, for instance, be taught to grapple or blind opponents so I can further utilize my sneak attacks, and would its chances of success be worth the effort against an opponent my level?
I'm thinking that the best combat use of the bird would be to provide flanking for me if I'm pressured into melee, and use combat maneuvers to disable enemy mages whenever possible, to take advantage of its mobility and lack of direct combat power.
Another question is, if you were a DM, would you consider it reasonable to create metal 'claws' for a falcon? Like mithril claws it can wear on its talons to gain the advantage of penetrating DR?
So far he is rogue 3, ranger 1, and I plan to go with the falconer and trapper archetypes because having an animal companion and being able to spontaneously lay down traps seem a lot better than really, really weak spells given my non-ranger level advancements and my low wisdom score.
I'm planning to advance ranger levels from here until end game. My character is going to be built mostly like an archer, but has weapon finesse, two weapon fighting, and the 2d6 sneak attack so that if he is forced into melee he can deal some respectable damage with knives or bladed gauntlets or whatever. Of course if I can blind or stun an opponent, having that 2d6 sneak attack damage on my already awesome archery will just be icing on the cake.
As you may have guessed, this character is built less to be super-optimized for one form of combat, and built more to be a character that is adept at everything but masters nothing. Flavor is also important to me.
So this brings me to my animal companion, the bird. It's going to be a few levels before it's truly useful, since the falconer animal companion only has 1/2 HP until level 4, and I need to take Boon Companion to make up for my rogue levels. That's fine.
The question is, what should I take for animal companion feats? Primarily, I want the bird to play a supportive role in combat. I don't want it on the front line, soaking hits and trying to be DPS (because its damage blows). However, I do want it to join me if I'm attacked--with the Attack, Defend, and Flank trick, if an enemy engages me in combat, the bird will automatically engage to provide me the flanking bonus I need to defend myself.
I've considered the dodge/mobility/spring attack combo, which is feat intensive but would let the bird get in combat without suffering AoOs, which is kind of a big deal since animal companions aren't smart enough to avoid them, usually.
There's also weapon finesse/agile maneuvers possibly, but even though the bird is seemingly dex-based, its dex isn't THAT much higher than its strength (especially after it gets the strength boost at level 4) so I just don't know here. It's another 2 feats to sink just to slightly improve the to-hit on a creature whose damage is, frankly, negligible. Though, agile maneuvers could be nice, because I could teach the bird the 'disarm' trick and have it selectively snatch the wands/staves/bows from enemy archers and mages.
What are some possible feats that could allow me to either:
1. Make the bird deal some viable combat damage without dying,
or
2. Further utilize it as a support rather than combat companion. Could it, for instance, be taught to grapple or blind opponents so I can further utilize my sneak attacks, and would its chances of success be worth the effort against an opponent my level?
I'm thinking that the best combat use of the bird would be to provide flanking for me if I'm pressured into melee, and use combat maneuvers to disable enemy mages whenever possible, to take advantage of its mobility and lack of direct combat power.
Another question is, if you were a DM, would you consider it reasonable to create metal 'claws' for a falcon? Like mithril claws it can wear on its talons to gain the advantage of penetrating DR?