Familiars and Wands

[Ponce]

Hey all. I plan on taking Improved Familiar and getting an Imp at level 7 with a sorcerer. The DM is letting me choose the feats the Familiar has (as an Imp he has 3 HD and thus two feats). I've decided to choose Magical Aptitude and Skill Focus (UMD). My character will then invest ranks in UMD and the familiar can make use of them. The feats combined with the ranks should allow for relatively good use of wands, thus doubling my actions in combat. I will later grab Enhance Familiar and Fortify Familiar to keep him from dying, maybe a tiny mithral chain shirt. Are there any other suggestions you have that would keep the familiar from dying and increase its proficiency with the wands? Maybe he can inherent my old cloak of charisma...

[Riffington]

Hey all. I plan on taking Improved Familiar and getting an Imp at level 7 with a sorcerer. The DM is letting me choose the feats the Familiar has (as an Imp he has 3 HD and thus two feats). I've decided to choose Magical Aptitude and Skill Focus (UMD). My character will then invest ranks in UMD and the familiar can make use of them. The feats combined with the ranks should allow for relatively good use of wands, thus doubling my actions in combat. I will later grab Enhance Familiar and Fortify Familiar to keep him from dying, maybe a tiny mithral chain shirt. Are there any other suggestions you have that would keep the familiar from dying and increase its proficiency with the wands? Maybe he can inherent my old cloak of charisma...

Greater Mage Armor until you have the armor for him (share it with him).
Improved Toughness could help both of you, since he has half your HP.

[Temp.]

Are there any other suggestions you have that would keep the familiar from dying and increase its proficiency with the wands?

Stay adjacent to your familiar no matter what happens.

Also, I've found it helps to keep the Familiar buffing/acting in a support role more than it does to load it up with high-level scrolls and Imbued spellcasting. Whenever I've used a flashy attention-grabbing familiar, the DM's smashed it almost immediately. Whenever I've taken a subtler approach, I've gotten away with it. YMMV.

Also, the Loremaster (DMG) and Wild Mage (CAr) get UMD on their class lists. I'll look for some other options that don't lose caster levels.

[Ponce]

My issue with making heavy use of share spells is that I no longer get to make good use of his invisibility and high maneuverability. Imp Toughness sounds good though. Loremaster would be pretty tough with a sorc, and wild mage is.. ehhhh... its certainly workable, I'll have to consider that carefully. The UMD + full casting may well be worth it. I suppose ultimate magus is also an option but that diverges from my original build significantly. Thanks for the replies guys!

[Bayar]

Dictum Mortuum's handbook to familiars is what you need http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=875062.

It specifically says how to make your own sentry turret.