min/max my familiar!

[questbreaker]

what can i do, as an archivist 5/ specialist wizard conjurer 1 / alienist 1, to make my familiar much more powerful in the next couple of levels? as of yet i dont have one, but at lv9 im going to take obtain familiar (since i gave my first familiar up as a specialist) im going to take alienist for lvs 8-10 (right now i am lv7) then mystic theurge from there.

i want examples of variants and/or feats i can take to get a familiar that wont die at the drop of a hat. right now i am Neutral, with no real reason to drift towards something else. please post examples of what could become of my familiar by lv15ish.

 

[Thanee]

Familiar Pocket

Bye
Thanee

 

[Jack Simth]

Craft Contingent Spell?

Levels in Barbarian (It's got half your HP, regardless of what class your HP are from)?

Improved Familiar?

Take a Raven, and con your DM into believing that it can utter the Command Word for your Ring of Invisibility?

 

[Notmousse]

Take the Raven. Especially if you're Know skill based. The raven speaks a language, and thus is infinitely more talkative for your first few levels, and since it has the same ranks as you do, you essentially get a reroll (though at a penalty since it uses it's own INT) of all knowledge checks, which can be quite important.

 

[Milagroso]

Doesn't the Unearthed Arcana have a revised wizard class for more durable familiars?

Oh, but you've already taken a class, that advice would only help if you were just starting the character.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Get a scroll of polymorph any object, use the scroll to turn it into something better that would result in a duration of permanent.
Troll is always a popular choice for polymorph (not sure if its permanent though), but I'm sure you could be more creative than that.


Alternatively just get a wand of polymorph and use it on your familiar, greater versatility but more expensive and action consuming.

 

[questbreaker]

i like that idea, cant believe i didnt think of it myself. thanks a lot. does anyone know the cost off the top of their head for that?

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Any spell that grants you temporary HPs will help him too, if you are touching at the time. False Life is a good pre battle buff, and Vampiric Touch for in combat. If your DM will allow you to craft a spell storing weapon for your familiar, he could really rock as a flanker. Also, anything that can make him incorporeal.

Remember, familiars gain a good bit of INT, so don't be afraid to play them smart. Contingent Spell is a bit pricey, but a good investment overall, as your familiar could set off the spells himself. Even if your DM required you to have the familiar take a standard action to do so, you could essentially give him any spell you know to cast at will.

For a really radical approach, see if your DM will let you take leadership and treat you familiar as your cohort. Imagine a low level raven sorcerer or cat rouge.

Lots of DM conning, but some ideas.