Arcane trickster -find familiar

[nickl_2000]

If you have a wizard in the party, is it worth taking find familiar as that extra 3 level slot?

Is there really advantage in having 2 familiars in a party?

[kazaryu]

If you have a wizard in the party, is it worth taking find familiar as that extra 3 level slot?

Is there really advantage in having 2 familiars in a party?

I mean, theres literally an advantage :P

Specifically: An extra advantage per round. Really it depends on your party make-up. If theres a paladin in the party than its def worth it imo. So that both you and the pally can get advatage in the same round. If you dont have someone like that it loses some ofnits appeal, but just 1 other attack reliant champ keeps it viable. Out if combat it also means you have a partner that can help you do thief stuff. When you're on your own.

Idk if its optimal, but it certainly doesnt sound like a bad idea. Familiars are hella tight. And you even have the option if just..changing it out a few levels down the line if youre unhappy with it.

[Eldariel]

Familiars do a lot of stuff. You go underground with e.g. Mold Earth, your familiar can give you coordinates from the surface. They can see for you in the dark (if you pick an Owl, a Bat or whatever; and you can change the type of the familiar by casting the spell again), they can be enemy radars, they can be additional spotters, they can take a nightwatch, etc. This is in addition to their obvious combat benefit of guaranteeing that you, the Rogue, have an advantage. There can specifically be a situation where you need two familiars: if you take Haste for the double Sneak attack. This means you need your familiar to guarantee Advantage on your turn and then the Wizard's familiar can give you advantage on the readied action attack out-of-turn. This is actually fairly efficient damage-wise:
a level 9 Trickster hitting with e.g. Booming Blade and double sneak attack can do:
2d8 Booming Blade (+2d8 more if enemy moves)
5d6 Sneak Attack
1d6+5 Rapier damage

plus
5d6 Sneak Attack
1d6+5 Rapier (or ranged, e.g. Hand Crossbow) damage out of turn

For a total of 2d8+10d6+2d6+10 = average 61 damage on all hits (if the enemy doesn't move). Of course, this is tempered somewhat by the fact that you need to hit twice but with two proficient attacks at advantage, you aren't losing an awful lot with that. Of course, if you get a crit you also get to double almost all your damage, so the average damage is actually probably not all that far from reality. If the enemy does move they take an extra of average 9 damage for 70 total.

The second familiar is responsible for 5d6 or 17.5 of that damage, so it's rather significant (just shy of a third of your total damage).

[Quoz]

If you have a wizard in the party, have him scribe you a scroll. Or steal one. Or steal money and buy one. Get a few backups too.

Your unrestricted spell slot is a really important and limited resource. And while a familiar is awesome to have, you only need to cast the actual spell when it dies. But since you use the wizard spell list, you can cast any scrolls for wizard spells. Even in highly magic restricted campaigns getting 1st level spell scrolls shouldn't be that difficult.

[kazaryu]

If you have a wizard in the party, have him scribe you a scroll. Or steal one. Or steal money and buy one. Get a few backups too.

Your unrestricted spell slot is a really important and limited resource. And while a familiar is awesome to have, you only need to cast the actual spell when it dies. But since you use the wizard spell list, you can cast any scrolls for wizard spells. Even in highly magic restricted campaigns getting 1st level spell scrolls shouldn't be that difficult.

All of those are just shifting the cost...like, instead of having the spell always ready, its now more expensive to replace the familiar. Not neccisarily a bad thing, but not a direct improvement. Especially if this familiar is going to be going into combat and thus probably get killed fairly frequently.

[RogueJK]

Yes, a Familiar is worth getting, even if there's already one in the party. But as infrequently as you'll need to be casting the spell, teaming up with your Wizard to scribe scrolls if/when it's needed is a great option that helps save your very limited spells known.

Another option, if you're wanting Find Familiar and also wanting to be a little more versatile in your spellcasting, is to dip 1 or possibly 2 Wizard levels.

1 level in Wizard is a nice boost for an Arcane Trickster, granting you several more Cantrips and unrestricted 1st level spells known (be sure to get Shield, Absorb Elements, and Feather Fall to keep on tap for when they're needed). You also get the equivalent of 3 Arcane Trickster levels in spell slots for that 1 Wizard level. Plus you can now scribe and cast any 1st level Wizard Ritual spells, including Find Familiar. And Arcane Recovery is the equivalent of one additional 1st level spell slot per day.

Going to 2 levels in Wizard can also be a very solid choice for a melee-focused Elf/Half-Elf Arcane Trickster dipping Wizard 2 to pick up Bladesinger, which gives you a significant boost in combat situations. For a non-Elven AT, other Wizard Schools are less optimal than Bladesinger, and may not be worth further delaying your Rogue levels, but could be decent options. Conjuration could be nifty for a Rogue, for conjuring tools or kits out of thin air as needed. Divination gives you and your allies the chance to auto-succeed saves/attacks/skill checks, or for enemies to auto-fail their saves/attacks/opposed rolls, a couple times per day. War Magic gives you a nice boost to Initiative and a quasi-Shield spell that doesn't use spell slots and can also boost saving throws. Enchantment could be very handy in social interactions, especially since unlike a spell like Friends/Charm Person, the target of your Hypnotic Gaze ability doesn't specifically know they've been charmed or become hostile afterwards. Illusion's boost to the Minor Illusion cantrip could be good for a creative player.

[Chronos]

When I played an arcane trickster, there was a wizard in the party, and I still got plenty of use out of little Pterry. Two scouts is more useful than one, and I also did things like combining the familiar's eyes with my mage hand to do things in inaccessible places. But then again, I had the Ritual Caster feat, so the opportunity cost was lower than if I had spent a spell known on it. And it certainly didn't add as much marginal value as if there hadn't been another familiar, and I suppose that the Ritual Caster feat was also somewhat redundant with having a wizard (though I still didn't regret it, because it fit the character, and the wizard and I had different tastes in spells).

[Lyracian]

You also get the equivalent of 3 Arcane Trickster levels in spell slots for that 1 Wizard level.
You really don't as two thirds of the time you are rounding down. Levels 4 or 5 add 1.3 or 1.6 rounded to 1 caster level. You only get the extra caster level at 6,9,12, etc.

I like Find Familiar but do not think I would spend my Level 3 slot on it. Taking it at level 8 (since I can trade it out later), a level of Wizard of Ritual Caster/MI feats all seem better choices. The annoying thing about the level 3 slot is you can only change it for Enchnt/Illusion spells later.

The level of Wizard is really appealing for freeing up your spells known for 2nd and 3rd level spells. Getting a spell book with six spells is going to double your spells known at eighth level. Even if you can only prepare 3-4 each day you can take the rest as rituals. The downside, as will ass multiclass, is delaying your Rogue progression by a level.