familiar optimisation(3.5)

[RagnaroksChosen]

So after re-looking at the familiar handbook... I wanted to play a caster that optimizes a familiar and that also is able to cast all the familiar enhancing spells. (fortify and enhance specifically).
the only things i could come up with is a battle sorc with
improved familiar, and all the familiar feats. with the dragon blooded sorc substitution for UMD.

or
sorc/druid/arcane herophinant.
but then realy im just agmenting an AC with the familiar spells and stuff...

I think the imagery of a sorc/wizard with a mephit familiar whos decked out in magic armour and is carrying a weapon.

Any ideas on how to optimise it... I was thinking hexblade but they don't have enough spells i think.

[deuxhero]

Be sure to take AH at level 5 via one of a number of tricks to get level 2 spells early. Normally cheese incarnate, but dual progression classes are bad enough that I would allow it.

[RagnaroksChosen]

oops forgot to mention little to no cheese.

though some of the early entry methods are ok.. but i'd rather not waste those feats..

I wounder if you could do hexblade x/druid x/AH...

[deuxhero]

Hexblades few advantages (full BAB and HD) are lost when you PRC out straight away.

While early entry is cheese, it's like cheese and the truenamer, it's cheesey, but it isn't playable otherwise.

[RagnaroksChosen]

i though AH wasn't that bad. i meen you can get dual 9's with it. well not with sorc but with wiz you can.

[deuxhero]

Isn't level 5 entry key for dual 9s?

[RagnaroksChosen]

no

you can loose 3 levels and still get 9s i believe. so as long as you on;y have 3 in each you should be good.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Just to clarify on the whole Arcane Heirophant shenanigans, the usual double-9s entry is Wizard 3/Druid 3/Mystic Theurge 2/AH 10/MT+2.

If you go this route, I would recommend picking up Natural Bond, to effectively mitigate the lose from MT. Turn into a Bear with your Bear familiar and use your bear arms for the greater good of bearing arms!


Bear.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

How much do you want to boost your AC? Because it's easy to end up with a pet that's tier 3-4, while you are on the level of an Adept.

For the best I can think of off the top of my head, Druid 3/Bard 4/Beastmaster 1/AH 10/Bard 2, with the Obtain Familiar and Natural Bond feats. At level 9, you count as a level 15 Druid and level 5 Wizard for purposes of AC and Familiar. Unfortunately, you cast as a Druid 4/Bard 4.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Just to clarify on the whole Arcane Heirophant shenanigans, the usual double-9s entry is Wizard 3/Druid 3/Mystic Theurge 2/AH 10/MT+2.

If you go this route, I would recommend picking up Natural Bond, to effectively mitigate the lose from MT. Turn into a Bear with your Bear familiar and use your bear arms for the greater good of bearing arms!


Bear.

Oh no. Somebody bring in the were-bear bear warrior + bear whatever build; the level of bear here is not enough!

[Stompy]

Thrice Dead Cat (and anyone else really):

Spoiler

Show

Hexblade is a bad choice in that it contributes very little to your main goal, and it has half casting.

If you don't like the dual 9 option, the other path I see is Druid1/Wizard3/Druid(again)3/AH10/MT3

You do miss out 4 levels total of wizard but you get a better jump on your animal companion and wildshaping (plus a little more HP and relevant skills) for optimal bear awesomeness.

If you want to go the Druid3/Sorc4 route, I recommend looking at this and then see if your DM will let you take the Fey Blood Feat. (The Druid/Sorc path however, kicks you in the spellcasting even more.)

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Oh no. Somebody bring in the were-bear bear warrior + bear whatever build; the level of bear here is not enough!

Stephen Colbeart V2
Anthropomorphic Werebear Bear Bear Totem Bear Totem Barbearian 1/Druid 4/Bear Warrior 1/Beastmaster 10/Filler X, where filler is either forced LA, racial HD, Primeval, Animal Lord: Bear, or whatever else. Use Beastmaster to net more bears and natural bond to keep them combat capable. Proceed to laugh at the hairless fools who attempt to stop Bearmagedon.

[deuxhero]

Unless you cheese your way into 2nd level spells.

[Zaydos]

What level range are you aiming at?

Arcane Hierophant is playable in a game with unoptimized wizards and sorcerers as early as well throughout really (I DM'd a game from 1 through 8 which had a sorcerer/dragonheart mage, a domain wizard, and an druid/domain wizard/arcane hierophant; they were all blasters though), but they really hit their stride around 12th+ (Nature's Favor reaches its peak, you have access to bite of the weretiger and polymorph, barkskin has peaked, etc). If the game is 9 to 15 then getting double nines won't matter (although +1 wizard casting might be worth -2 to animal companion). Without more than Nature's Bond + Barkskin + Enhance Familiar a Druid 1/Wiz 3/Druid +3/AH 5's tiger companion can be better than an unoptimized knight (I've seen it). By level 20 it will lag a bit without more spells but pounce makes a difference. With more spells (nature's favor which throughout that campaign I thought was a standard action to cast) it gets even better. If you do get Level 9 spells Nature's Avatar is also good.

I've never played or DM'd a game with optimized wizards (will soon ), and an AH with Practiced Spellcaster x2, Natural Bond, and Companion Spellbond was the most optimized character in both cases (the wizards went sans metamagic Scorching Rays, AoEs and Orbs of Fire). Or the beguiler (changed his alignment for Vow of Nonviolence for the +4 to save DCs).