[3.5] Homunculus Familiar

[A.A.King]

Is an "Iron Defender" with 6 HD (max) a good familiar for a Wizard 5/Maester 4 with Improved Familiar + Craft Construct + Improved Homunculus, or are there better combat orientated familiars at that point?

[Yorrin]

combat orientated familiars

There's your first problem. I'm no expert on familiars, but having one in combat is probably the wrong way to do it. Pick up Wild Cohort instead if you need a minion in combat.

[Kazudo]

There's your first problem. I'm no expert on familiars, but having one in combat is probably the wrong way to do it. Pick up Wild Cohort instead if you need a minion in combat.

Animal Companions are better than Familiars.

The thing is, when a Familiar is taken out...Well, it gets nasty. Fast.



If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the sorcerer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per sorcerer level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, a sorcerer’s experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar’s demise or dismissal. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day.


While, for Animal Companions,



If a druid releases her companion from service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished.


So your familiar really shouldn't be a combatant if you can help it, because it hurts when they die. And Fortitude isn't exactly a key save for most casters.

[WinWin]

Some of the 'better' familiars have multi-purpose traits that means they can contribute to a variety of challenges (including combat) in a variety of ways.

Common traits for a powerful combat familiar include speech, the ability to manipulare objects and items, good skills and resistances. Dragon familiars, Elementals, Mephits, Coure Eladrin and Imps all boast at least some of these abilities.

A construct familiar has good resistances, but often lacks speech and a diverse skill set. One advantage of contruct familiars is that you can advance their HD, as they are magical items and can be improved.