Is a combat familiar ever worth it?

[atomn]

I am making a Fleshwarper from Lords of Madness (mage PrC who grafts limbs and sensory organs from other races to itself) and thought it would fit well to have a stranger than normal familiar. I came across the Improved Familar feat from C. War which allows you to take a different familiar once you reach a certain level. The two options from the list that appeal to me are the blink dog and howler. The Fleshwarper PrC lets the character improve his familiar in different ways (at different levels). The benefits include:
*immune to crit. hits/sneak attacks
*+4 nat. armor and +2 Fort saves
*increases size category by one
*a fly speed of 40 (good) and +2 Reflex save.

Would the combination of the improved familiar and the special abilities make a combatant familiar viable or would it be just as much of a liability (if not more of a liability)? Thanks for the insight!

 

[Bad Paper]

Would the combination of the improved familiar and the special abilities make a combatant familiar viable or would it be just as much of a liability (if not more of a liability)? Thanks for the insight!

You need to also load up on all the familiar spells in the Spell Compendium, e.g. Augment Familiar and whatnot. Give him some magic items, keep him within five feet to share spells, and you're good to go.

Another option is to simply make the familiar as hard to hit as possible (don't take Improved Familiar, and don't augment the size with the Aberrant Familiar ability). Then your familiar is far less of a liability.

 

[szilard]

Another option is to simply make the familiar as hard to hit as possible (don't take Improved Familiar, and don't augment the size with the Aberrant Familiar ability). Then your familiar is far less of a liability.

The Blink Dog - with a 50% miss chance while blinking - tends to be pretty hard to hit.

The SC spells help. Also consider making your familiar the target of (or sharing) polymorph subschool spells that give extra hit points. Typically, hit points are where familiars are really weak.

Also, the Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability spell rocks.

-Stuart

 

[atomn]

Is Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability in the Spell Compendium?

Also, I was thinking getting the feat that lets the mage and familiar switch damage that they take (I think from C. Mage). Or is it not worth the cost of a feat?

 

[szilard]

Is Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability in the Spell Compendium?

Yes. Essentially you can give some of your spells to your familiar - who can cast them for you (notably at the same time you are casting another spell).

Also, I was thinking getting the feat that lets the mage and familiar switch damage that they take (I think from C. Mage). Or is it not worth the cost of a feat?

I can be worthwhile... if you send a buffed familiar into combat while you stay away, you can essentially supplement its hit points with your own. If you plan on doing this a lot, go ahead. If you find it unlikely that this will be a standard tactic, then forget it.

-Stuart

 

[Iku Rex]

I like this idea.

To make it work you need a good "base creature", effective (yet not too expensive) items for the familiar and, most importantly, lots of buff spells.

The most powerful fleshwarper familiar ability is the size increase IMO. Unfortunately that makes the hippogriff and howler Huge, which is really inconvenient in many situations. I'd go with the Dragon Familiar feat from Draconomicon (page 104). At level 12 you can get a red dragon wyrmling. Make it Large with the size increase and you'll have a quite respectable melee combatant and (!) you can use it as a mount. You'll always be within 5 feet of it and you can keep it buffed and healthy while it fights. Also, it's cool.

The main problem will be hit points. Your character will need a high Con. Maybe the Improved Toughness (CWar) feat too. Temporary hit points from spells such as false life can help. If you can get a shield other effect that would be nice too. (All I can think of is the Friend Shield rings, and they are 50000 gp. :\ ) The Bonded Familiar feat (switch damage) is in PHBII, and yes, I think it could be worthwhile.

(I think I'll be making a level 13 character around this concept just for fun, so let me know if you want me to post it here.)

 

[Fieari]

I asked this question over at the Wizard's CharOp board a couple weeks ago here, and the answer that came back was "Yes it can be worth it, and in fact, your familiar can be made to be more powerful than most untwinked PCs themselves."

Dragon familiar is pretty good, and will provide you with a familiar that has more hit points than you do, but for sheer familiar breaking power, the Blade Guardian from Complete Warrior of all places simply takes the cake.

 

[atomn]

Thanks for the ideas! I wanted to steer clear of dragon familiars because I wanted to have a familiar which looked as strangely warped as its master. So adding wings or scales to the familiar as per the PrC wouldn't make it look like a mad scientist's familiar. But a howler or blink dog with them sure would!

I agree, the larger size category really is slick. Especially for the blink dog.

Iku Rex, if you do get that character build finished, I'd love to see it!