Feat Suggestions for a Masters of Shadow's Shadow Elemental companion

[Yogibear41]

Looking for feat suggestions for the Shadow Elemental companion the Master of Shadow (from tome of magic) gets.

Anything that improves combat ability/being a protector of the Shadowcaster master would be great. Adding to the Shadow Elemental's own survivability would be nice as well too.

[daremetoidareyo]

The problem is that your familiar traits are completely removed by taking the shadow elemental.

Here's my suggestion: be a small race. Get bitten by an entomathrope. http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040621a

The bug for your entomathrope is tiny ectoplasmic vermin from ghostwalk. This covers you in ectoplasm, which is a ghost touch material, and thus you can ride your medium shadow elemental.

With a barbarian dip, you can take mounted fury http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031125a , which allows you to share your rage benefits with your mount. Extra rage let's you use it a few more times per day. If you're coming in as a sorcerer, take a dragonblood small race and white Dragon lineage can work instead of barbarian. From there, blazing berserker or a bear warrior dip will allow for rage shenanigans.

Going arcane heirophant before master of shadow might allow you to have a shadow elemental that behaves as your animal companion...but you have to be a theurge type...arcane heirophant dismisses your familiar and the Masters Of Shadows doesn't require that you actually have your familiar only that you have the Feats that pertain to your familiar. The arcane hierophant then has all normal abilities that pertain to your familiar apply to your animal companion. When you take that first level of Masters Of Shadows you affect your animal companion as if it were a familiar, thus turning it into a shadow.