How to make an effective Effigy Master?

[A2Z]

Can it be done? I really really like the idea of a Wizard who crafts constructs and at first glance Effigy Master seems perfect. And it might be too if it wasn't for the fact that constructs are gimped so much they can't possibly work for a PC.

With the prices given there is no way you could ever make an Effigy that would be effective at your character level. At best they could take some hits that might've landed on you. But that's a lot of gp to spend to avoide some damage.

So, maybe they aren't meant to be fighters. Okay, I could live with that except as written they can't really do anything but fight. They lose all their abilities, skills and feats not related to combat. So no guarding, no tracking no nothing but combat. Except they couldn't possibly survive that.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Has anyone come up with a fix? Should constructs remain the purview of NPCs or is there someway to make them worthwhile?

 

[Deset Gled]

IIRC, the tiny effigy was about 50 gp. Could a swarm of them be useful?

 

[griff_goodbeard]

Be an Articifer

 

[lukelightning]

Make an "And Then" monster. Never heard of an "And Then" monster? Sure you have. That's when you fight a monster and the DM rolls its attacks...claw...claw...bite...and then gore and then tail lash and then wing slams and then tongue lash and then...

Dragons are good for this, plus they can be useful in other ways; they can fly and often have other modes of movement (swimming or burrowing). Plus, despite the fact that the artwork of effigy creatures makes it seem like they are obviously constructs, the text states that it is actually quite hard to identify them. So an effigy dragon can be great for intimidation. Plus dragons have pretty good strengths and natural armor, and even a medium dragon can have a lot of hit dice.

 

[Zomg Zombies]

Hydra, sure they don't have the sweet regeneration but their multiattack still works fine, with humanlike shaped effigies give 'em toys, also look out for trips, pouncing, grappling/constriction.

Also, you don't need to go huge to be effective, think fine sized stuff like hummingbirds, could you imagine a dozen hummingbirds pecking away incessantly with needle-like adamantite beaks? That's right effigies hit DR/adamantite.

Finally have your character buff: most of the buffs would work, as long as they don't require intelligence or constitution, or research a repair-based vigor spell.