I'm trying to decide which archetype would be best for my familiar. I'm playing a magus. I want something that will be useful frequently. I guess I just want to see what you guys have liked having and which you prefer. Is losing share spells worth it for the Emissary archetype? Would you say guidance at will is better than having the bodyguard feat and using aid another each round in combat? If I go with protector I can either switch the Ioun Wyrd's Dodge feat for Extra Item Slot and give him a belt of Dex to increase his AoOs and his AC. Let me know what your experience has been with either or both. I appreciate any input.
Hm, I really thought someone would reply by now. Are the Familiar archetypes just not good? Should I just get the basic familiar?
Familiars don't change a whole lot unless you go Mauler or Sage. Familiar's already have a lot of story relevance and they are another roll for Perception/Sense Motive.
Emissary is a bit too limited but can be useful. The once/day will save and the once/day cleric power could be useful, but so is delivering touch spells (mainly for ally buffs).
Protector is just asking for your familiar to die. A lot. It can be useful on a Cleric or anyone with Channel Energy, but on a Magus you have no way to heal the damage. You'd be trading away everything for sometimes getting +2 to AC. He still has to roll his Aid Another check. (Something it can fail with a natural 1 or just fail because he has a -3 to Str).
You could get a lot of mileage out of the Emissary archetype, depending on what power you choose. My favorite is Liberty’s Blessing from the Freedom subdomain. Remove any negative condition once per day, as long as it had a save originally.
Okay let me break down builds for the two and see what you all think. The first thing that I wanted to point out is that my GM is not the type to try and kill someone's familiar, so I am not worried about it being attacked directly very often at all (I know, there are still AOEs). Second is that the Ioun Wyrd can not be healed normally anyways since it is a construct, but I'm working with my GM on a homebrew way to take care of that. So here are the build ideas I have, let me know what you think (I will be a level 6 Magus):
Ioun Wyrd (Protector)
N Tiny construct
Init +4; Senses blindsight 30 ft.; Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+4 Dex, +3 Natural, +1 ring of protection, +2 size)
hp 24 *Half of my HP*
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +6
Immune construct traits
OFFENSE
Speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft. (average)
Melee slam +8 (1d4–3) *This is because of the familiar rules stating that familiars use their master's BAB and either Str OR Dex of the familiar (whichever is greater)*
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 4, Dex 19, Con —, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 5 *Belt of Dex +4, there is a table on PFSRD showing which magic items your familiar/ animal companion can equip*
Base Atk +4; CMB +1; CMD 11
Feats Extra Item Slot (Ring) *Traded out Dodge for this, ring of protection will be better than having dodge*
Languages Common (can’t speak)
Magic Items:
Belt of Dex +4 (I'm crafting it)
Ring of Protection +1
How I would play it:
With the Belt of Dex, it can use bodyguard 4 times a round, with a +8. This is a pretty consistent +2 to AC. I would also plan on casting Burning Gaze on it so that it can also attack during it's turn. I would only use Sheild Master to take half of the damage that it takes, I might use it far down the road when we have the same number of hit points. I don't think I would ever use In Harm's Way.
What I would lose with this build:
Alertness: Honestly, I think I can live without it.
Improved Evasion: What do you guys think of this? I mean I can see it being nice to have.
Deliver Touch Spells: I wasn't planning on having it fly all over the battlefield all of the time. I feel like this is also better for other classes than it is for Magus.
Speak with Animals of it's Kind: this will never come up...
Spell Resistance: Honestly I haven't dealt with SR very much, how bad would I miss it?
Ioun Wyrd (Emissary)
N Tiny construct
Init +2; Senses blindsight 30 ft.; Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +3 Natural, +2 ring of protection, +2 size)
hp 24 *Half of my HP*
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +6
Immune construct traits
OFFENSE
Speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft. (average)
Melee slam +6 (1d4–3) *This is because of the familiar rules stating that familiars use their master's BAB and either Str OR Dex of the familiar (whichever is greater)*
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 4, Dex 15, Con —, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 5
Base Atk +4; CMB +1; CMD 9
Feats Extra Item Slot (Ring) *Traded out Dodge for this, ring of protection will be better than having dodge*
Languages Common (can’t speak)
Magic Items:
Ring of Protection +2
How I would play it:
Guidance at will, +1 bonus to various options both in and out of combat an infinite number of times per day. This can be cast on other members of the party as well.
Share Will: I could see this being useful, but once per day is kind of limited. Also, if both fail both suffer the consequences could really suck.
Domain Influence: This one is kind of hard because of our setting, some bad people have blotted the "true religions" out of history. We are on the brink of them coming back but I am not sure which domains would be involved, which means this could end up being great or being terrible.
What I would lose:
Alertness: Again, not a huge loss.
Share Spells: No more Burning Gaze, or Shield...
Delivering Touch Spells: Again, I planned on keeping the little guy close, so this is nearly useless to me.
Honestly, I just don't want to keep him tucked away all of the time, but I do want to keep him close to me, preferably in the same square as me. If you guys see any errors let me know. Also please let me know which you think I should use. I just don't have a lot of experience with Familiars and some of the abilities. Thanks!
Familiars don't change a whole lot unless you go Mauler or Sage. Familiar's already have a lot of story relevance and they are another roll for Perception/Sense Motive.
Emissary is a bit too limited but can be useful. The once/day will save and the once/day cleric power could be useful, but so is delivering touch spells (mainly for ally buffs).
Protector is just asking for your familiar to die. A lot. It can be useful on a Cleric or anyone with Channel Energy, but on a Magus you have no way to heal the damage. You'd be trading away everything for sometimes getting +2 to AC. He still has to roll his Aid Another check. (Something it can fail with a natural 1 or just fail because he has a -3 to Str).
Would I not use it's Dex when using Aid Another since it is higher? It says in the Familiar entry that they use Str or Dex for natural attacks, whichever is higher. The aid another and bodyguard entries just say attack roll, so I would assume that I would use Dex rather than Str.
Also, can you expand on asking for it to die? Shield Master is not always in effect, I can use it when I want rather than every time. What about the archetype is deadly for my familiar? What are the big things I would be losing with the Protector?
There are spells which specifically repair constructs as if they were magically healed...
I found the spell you were talking about, it's a second level spell called Make Whole.
I'm also really excited to have a Wyrd as my familiar, it's gonna be pretty great.
The main benefits of the Ioun Wyrd is the Blindsight, flying Speed, and construct immunities.
It's a very good scout since Blindsight will reveal any opponent trying to use Stealth, while it ignores concealment from effects such as Invisibility. Coupled with construct immunities, most illusion with the exception of Glamers will automatically fail.
Instead of Make Whole, buy a wand of Infernal Healing. Fast Healing is a legitimate way of healing constructs.
I'd also reconsider dumping all that wealth into it. You could probably find easier ways to boost your own and your familiar's AC. Starting with buying barding for it.
Familiars don't change a whole lot unless you go Mauler or Sage. Familiar's already have a lot of story relevance and they are another roll for Perception/Sense Motive.
Emissary is a bit too limited but can be useful. The once/day will save and the once/day cleric power could be useful, but so is delivering touch spells (mainly for ally buffs).
Protector is just asking for your familiar to die. A lot. It can be useful on a Cleric or anyone with Channel Energy, but on a Magus you have no way to heal the damage. You'd be trading away everything for sometimes getting +2 to AC. He still has to roll his Aid Another check. (Something it can fail with a natural 1 or just fail because he has a -3 to Str).
Would I not use it's Dex when using Aid Another since it is higher? It says in the Familiar entry that they use Str or Dex for natural attacks, whichever is higher. The aid another and bodyguard entries just say attack roll, so I would assume that I would use Dex rather than Str.
Also, can you expand on asking for it to die? Shield Master is not always in effect, I can use it when I want rather than every time. What about the archetype is deadly for my familiar? What are the big things I would be losing with the Protector?
Despite the familiar entry, the Ioun Wyrd still uses Str for its stat block. Also aid another isnt a natural attack, so the familiar getting dex or str wouldn't help.
Protector is either killing your familiar (it is half your HP until level 11) and no way of healing it, except for your homebrew option. Make Whole is not on the Magus spell list and requires 10 minutes to cast. The other option is you not using anything but Aid Another. Which is a waste of an archetype.
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Stat block is for the creature as in when you fighting in the wild, it is not a familair stat block. When it becomes a familair, familair rules apply. It can use dex to attack.
Weapons are used for aid rolls that is why benevolent weapons exist. Therefore you can use dex with natural attacks for aid rolls endless some one has better rules citations.
Despite the familiar entry, the Ioun Wyrd still uses Str for its stat block. Also aid another isnt a natural attack, so the familiar getting dex or str wouldn't help.
The familiar entry trumps the Ioun Wyrd entry.
As I look through forums, it seems to me that when you use aid another you are using your weapon, meaning the natural attack that the Ioun Wyrd has.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rrea?Weapon-Finesse-and-Reach
Weapons are used for aid rolls that is why benevolent weapons exist. Therefore you can use dex with natural attacks for aid rolls endless some one has better rules citations.
Wow, the benevolent enchantment makes a huge difference, particularly the armor version that I can enchant it's barding with. This has the potential to make it's aid another attempts increase my AC by +7.
Thank you all for the things you have posted, I've learned a lot of helpful things.
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I have used several protectors and they are fine. Carry familiar satchel use the familair when you need to, have a potion around for them to drink. Pick something with a good fly speed so if the health gets low it can get away.
If the familair's health is getting low, have it ready an action to stop touching the pc of just top touching them on their turn. It's easy enough to stop when you don't want to use it.
For an enemy to target the familiar I would say they have to make a check to know what it is doing as the ability is a supernatural ability.
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I have used several protectors and they are fine. Carry familiar satchel use the familair when you need to, have a potion around for them to drink. Pick something with a good fly speed so if the health gets low it can get away.
If the familair's health is getting low, have it ready an action to stop touching the pc of just top touching them on their turn. It's easy enough to stop when you don't want to use it.
For an enemy to target the familiar I would say they have to make a check to know what it is doing as the ability is a supernatural ability.
Thank you for this, since the Ioun Wyrd doesn't need to breathe it could even fly into a bag of holding or something like that. Also, about having it let go:
Shield Master (Su)
At 5th level, whenever a protector or its master takes hit point damage, as long as the protector and its master are touching, its master can split the damage evenly between them as if under the effects of shield other.
Because of the wording I would assume it never has to let go, you can just choose for it to not take half damage from the attacks that hurt you. Has there been some errata or FAQ on this?
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It's a reasonable reading but it also invokes shield other which stopping is not optional. With shield other once sharing is started casting the spell it has to be stopped by moving out of range or dismissing the spell. Can, in this case, could be referring to initiating the ability from which point the shield other rules take over.
I have seen it read both ways. I think your reading is simpler and it is the one I run with.
It's a reasonable reading but it also invokes shield other which stopping is not optional. With shield other once sharing is started casting the spell it has to be stopped by moving out of range or dismissing the spell. Can, in this case, could be referring to initiating the ability from which point the shield other rules take over.
I have seen it read both ways. I think your reading is simpler and it is the one I run with.
I can see how both interpretations could be made. I guess the questions is what does "as if under the effects of" really mean. And can the familiar stop touching me as a free action? The only thing I have to compare to is dropping a weapon, which is a free action. I mean it is just letting go of me.
Edit: Found out that ending a spell is a standard action. It's just weird to me because this is an ability not a spell.
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Dismissing a spell is a standard action, I don't think this ability needs to be dismissed. In fact, I don't know the rules allow SU to be dismissed but it does have conditions for breaking the link. Honestly, I would actually ignore that I even brought up the other reading it is unnecessarily complicating things
To the rest of your Op. I have never really like the once a day ability of an emissary. Even with the best options, one is too few.
Saga, mauler, protector, valet and improved are the premier familiar options from my perspective.
I FAQed the post where I quoted the Shield Master ability. I would just like to know what the designers meant.
With the Emissary, I just wish it had abilities that I could use more frequently and that would get better over time. Having it's two big abilities be once a day isn't so great, and guidance doesn't get any better over time. Mauler actually looks really interesting, I just don't think it is right for this character RP wise.