D&D 5E (2014) Any Eldritch Knights here use a familiar?

[gyor]

A Paladin Avenger can take more advantage of Haste then a Eldrich Knight, because A) He can share it with his summoned mount, which means the mount gains the same benifits B) Can smite with the extra attack.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Okay, I checked, and [MENTION=5834]Celtavian[/MENTION], thanks for the correction. The 3rd level slot is the only one that's special: if you trade it out, you have to replace it with evoc/abj only (i.e. you lose the unrestricted pick).

Looking through the spell list, I see only three real candidates for that unrestricted pick at 3rd level.

Offensive: Find Familiar can grant you advantage on most attack rolls if you pick an Owl, tell it to Flyby, and guess well about who you'll be attacking next turn (i.e. whom the owl is going to Help you against). It costs 10 gold per casting, which might not be a big deal, and it has no impact on your action economy.

Defensive + Offensive: Expeditious Retreat consumes your bonus action and doubles your movement in combat, for up to 10 minutes at a time. For melee fighters, this can mean closing with the enemy faster before it gets any ranged attacks in, or running away when things go sour. For missile fighters, it means staying out of range and getting "free" attacks while the enemy attempts to close. Most likely to be useful in a group with a paucity of other front-liners.

Utility/Offensive/Defensive: Disguise Self has obvious utility in social settings, but it also has combat application. Disguise yourself as a Medusa, and many intelligent foes will avert their gaze to avoid being stoned. Per the Medusa entry in the DMG, this grants you advantage to attack them, and disadvantage for them to attack you, for as long as they continue to avert their gaze.

 

[Minsc]

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).

I really like this option. Plus, you picked two perfect spells for "ritual only"

 

[Psikerlord#]

Yep, as a variant human with the Magic Initiate (wizard) feat, I took it at first level for my EK.

Super useful, as it helped expand my character's usefulness in exploration/scouting, and I've been able to use it frequently in combat to provide advantage by using the help action. If it dies, I can recast using the spell from the feat, rather than my normal spell slots. This also gives me the chance to swap its form into different forms if needed.

I prefer the Owl for helping in combat, since it doesn't provoke AOO's with movement, it can swoop in- help- then fly out of danger. While not super useful yet, I have had it deliver a couple of shocking grasps, making for a surprised opponent who would have normally been behind cover.

Note that the familiar moves/acts on its own initiative from you. So if it provides a 'help' action, it might be providing advantage for one of your teammates instead, not necessarily for you. Because its not always 'in sync' to provide help, I've found the ability to be much less of an issue than I'd feared it might be. It doesn't seem to be game breaking or over powered at all. All in all, I'm happy with the choice.

That is a really handy ability to lend adv to anyone in the party each round. Massive!

 

[phantomK9]

I really like this option. Plus, you picked two perfect spells for "ritual only"

Yeah, I'm really enjoying the build so far.
Magical Training + Ritual Caster + full EK has been a lot of fun, plenty of cantrips and first level spells.
Now...if only the DM would only throw some wizards at us so I can find ritual spells and copy them in my ritual spell book ....

 

[Scott DeWar]

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

But then the owl wouldn't be 'crunchy Owl" with no bones in it.

 

[Lidgar]

I agree Find Familiar is a great 1st level spell for EK. If choosing Magic Initiate or Ritual Caster, grab it.

But for my one non-abj/evo 1st level spell, I prefer False Life. Especially at low levels, HP rule the roost. And it just gets better when you can use it in a higher spell slots.

Find Familiar, alas, does not ramp up if used with a higher spell slots. Hence, using it with Magic Initiate or Ritual Caster seems best.

 

[Scott DeWar]

I had no idea there was a [MENTION=10107]krunchyfrogg[/MENTION] on enworld. Glad you liked that!!