D&D 5E Any Eldritch Knights here use a familiar?

[phantomK9]

I'm currently playing an Eldritch Knight and at 4th level I picked up the Ritual Caster feat. I chose Find Familiar and Alarm as the two free rituals spells.

I chose a Hawk as my familiar, mainly because my character's family name is "Huntinghawk" but also because it has a much better Perception bonus (and advantage) as Wisdom was my dump stat. So far it has worked out great, especially out in the wilderness as it has helped spot ambushes and the like when my character would not have personally been able to. It is great for night time watches as well because as a spirit, it really doesn't need to sleep.

Now would I have given up one of my Eldritch Knight spells for it? Probably not.
I probably wouldn't even have taken find familiar as part of the Magical Training feat (which I took at first level for being a Human).

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I thought it would be so darn cool to have one, but I've never chosen the spell.

Any EK's of yours, or of other players at your tables ever had a familiar (not the improved warlock familiar)? Have you found it worthwhile?

I have, briefly, for an EK created at 8th level (someone else had created it but I got to tweak it before playing). It was useful in the dungeon-crawling scenario we were in, but here's the thing: it was only useful because the party leader/wizard was an incompetent who didn't think to do it himself at a much lower cost. In general, I'd recommend focusing on stuff that only the EK can do well, like holding the line. There is nobody more durable in melee than an EK with Blur and Shield. Not even a bearbarian, unless I'm doing the math wrong. AC 26 + disadvantage > AC 19 and resistance against anything up to and including ancient red dragons.

 

[Celtavian]

I have, briefly, for an EK created at 8th level (someone else had created it but I got to tweak it before playing). It was useful in the dungeon-crawling scenario we were in, but here's the thing: it was only useful because the party leader/wizard was an incompetent who didn't think to do it himself at a much lower cost. In general, I'd recommend focusing on stuff that only the EK can do well, like holding the line. There is nobody more durable in melee than an EK with Blur and Shield. Not even a bearbarian, unless I'm doing the math wrong. AC 26 + disadvantage > AC 19 and resistance against anything up to and including ancient red dragons.

At least for the amount of time you can keep shield up and they don't have truesight or blindsight.

 

[TarionzCousin]

It's an owl, and I've never used it for anything other than scouting.

The owl would be more useful for other things if you took the bones out.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

At least for the amount of time you can keep shield up and they don't have truesight or blindsight.

Yep. In the context, though, the point is that if you take Find Familiar you are giving up Blur or Blink or something similar. There's a high opportunity cost for EKs which doesn't apply to wizards, and the main reason Find Familiar is awesome for wizards is that the opportunity cost of using a familiar is very close to zero.

The familiar did its job, but I wouldn't take the spell on an EK again.

 

[Celtavian]

Yep. In the context, though, the point is that if you take Find Familiar you are giving up Blur or Blink or something similar. There's a high opportunity cost for EKs which doesn't apply to wizards, and the main reason Find Familiar is awesome for wizards is that the opportunity cost of using a familiar is very close to zero.

The familiar did its job, but I wouldn't take the spell on an EK again.

Why are you giving up shield? It is an abjuration spell. EKs get to take it.

find familiar is a good spell for EKs. They get to take better advantage of it than wizards because they can enter melee attracting attacks, so that the familiar isn't hit. They can use the familiar for getting advantage in combat taking advantage of feats like Sharpshooter and GWM earlier.

Blur is an illusion spell. Earliest you could take blur is 8th level. You only get to take abjuration and evocation spells with one spell from another school at 1st level. Since blur is not an option at 1st level, find familiar is quite good. It has a long duration. It has multiple uses including a strong combat use that doesn't require the casting of the spell over and over again. It doesn't take up a concentration slot when active. I don't think it is much of an opportunity cost at all. It's one of the better 1st level spells an EK can take.

EKs can only switch spells for evocation or abjuration spells except if changing the spell at 8th, 14th, and 20th level. You don't get to take blur until 8th level. Your 14th level slot is for haste, the best spell for an EK and will use your concentration slot.

I don't see any opportunity cost for an EK unless you can think of a better 1st level spell that gives more bang for the buck. Find Familiar doesn't compete with blur or blinkon the spell list. I doubt I take blink before I take haste. Haste is all kinds of awesome. An extra attack, +2 on AC, extra movement. No class can take more advantage of haste than an EK.

So what 1st level spell would you take over find familiar? That is the only opportunity cost you can measure it by.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Why are you giving up shield? It is an abjuration spell. EKs get to take it.

find familiar is a good spell for EKs. They get to take better advantage of it than wizards because they can enter melee attracting attacks, so that the familiar isn't hit. They can use the familiar for getting advantage in combat taking advantage of feats like Sharpshooter and GWM earlier.

Blur is an illusion spell. Earliest you could take blur is 8th level. You only get to take abjuration and evocation spells with one spell from another school at 1st level. Since blur is not an option at 1st level, find familiar is quite good. It has a long duration. It has multiple uses including a strong combat use that doesn't require the casting of the spell over and over again. It doesn't take up a concentration slot when active. I don't think it is much of an opportunity cost at all. It's one of the better 1st level spells an EK can take.

EKs can only switch spells for evocation or abjuration spells except if changing the spell at 8th, 14th, and 20th level. You don't get to take blur until 8th level. Your 14th level slot is for haste, the best spell for an EK and will use your concentration slot.

I don't see any opportunity cost for an EK unless you can think of a better 1st level spell that gives more bang for the buck. Find Familiar doesn't compete with blur or blinkon the spell list. I doubt I take blink before I take haste. Haste is all kinds of awesome. An extra attack, +2 on AC, extra movement. No class can take more advantage of haste than an EK.

So what 1st level spell would you take over find familiar? That is the only opportunity cost you can measure it by.

Giving up Shield? I never said that. I said "if you take Find Familiar you are giving up Blur or Blink or something similar". Like Find Familiar, these are both non-abjuration/evocation spells, so the earliest you can get them is 8th level. But you can't get Find Familiar until 8th level either (neglecting Magic Initiate), because it's a Conjuration spell.

That's why Find Familiar is competing with Blur and Blink.

BTW, I find Haste very, very meh for an Eldritch Knight. It increases his damage output by 30% or so while giving him a gaping vulnerability, and it costs a spell slot that otherwise could go to Blink or Counterspell. I see the love for Haste as a relic of how the spell worked in AD&D and 3E, but 5E is a different game. YMMV I guess.

 

[Celtavian]

Giving up Shield? I never said that. I said "if you take Find Familiar you are giving up Blur or Blink or something similar". Like Find Familiar, these are both non-abjuration/evocation spells, so the earliest you can get them is 8th level. But you can't get Find Familiar until 8th level either (neglecting Magic Initiate), because it's a Conjuration spell.

That's why Find Familiar is competing with Blur and Blink.

No. find familiar is not competing with blink or blur.

You get three 1st level spells to start. You can choose one 1st level non-abjuration/evocation spell at 1st level. What is better than find familiar?

 

[Grakarg]

I agree with Celtavian.
Find Familiar is a solid choice for your first 'non-abjuration/evocation' spells, and there are various other ways to get access to it (magic initiate, ritual caster, multi-class wizard lvl 1, etc.) It adds some utility.

I agree that I wouldn't choose it for one of the later 'non-abjuration/evocation' slots when higher level spells are available. there are other tastier choices for those levels instead.

Definately one of the things I've liked so far about this edition is that I've had to make lots of tough/interesting choices as my character develops. Do I take Magic Initiate: Wizard to emphasize my spell casting background? Or do I take that stat bump that will affect every attack I make with my sword? Both options are fun choices.

I think Find Familiar is a solid choice for an EK. But if someone doesn't take Find Familiar, I wouldn't say that's wrong. There are plenty of good options. Well... maybe not Mage Armor. That's a 1st level spell choice that I can't say has lots of utility if you choose it as an EK.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

No. find familiar is not competing with blink or blur.

You get three 1st level spells to start. You can choose one 1st level non-abjuration/evocation spell at 1st level. What is better than find familiar?

Hmmm. I'm AFB, but if you're right about then 1.) I've been doing EKs wrong (weaker than necessary), and 2.) I agree, Find Familiar is a strong choice. I'd rather have Expeditious Retreat but that's a matter of taste.

I'll have to check when I get home.