What's the best Familiar in your opinion?

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 8:45 am

The title sais everything: What's the best Familiar in your opinion?

rapier · Post by **rapier** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 8:49 am

The Imp, it can Polymorph self!

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 8:54 am

What algiment is that?

And do you mean that you use it as a fighter?

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 8:55 am

My edited Kensai/mage/thief pseudodragon NPC. Kind of cool that I actually managed to pull that one off with my meager editing skills.

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 8:59 am

Maybe I should've said normal familars...

Otherwise the answer would be simple: lvl 10000 multiclass of all charackters.

[This message has been edited by Vicsun (edited 02-21-2001).]

rapier · Post by **rapier** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 9:32 am

The imp is LE or CE, can't remeber, but its like the polymorph self spell(Gnoll, Mustard Jelly, Troll etc.)...

Brink · Post by **Brink** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 9:36 am

I had posted a list of familiars for each alignment(give me a moment,I'll post it here)

Lawful Good & Neutral Good-Pseudo Dragon(2 attacks per round at THACO :13 for 1-3 damage.Save or be rendered unconscious for 120 seconds.May cast Blur)
Chaotic Good-Fairy Dragon(May cast Mirror Image,Invisibility 10` radius)
Lawful Neutral-Ferret(Has good pickpocketing stats,may detect traps and use stealth)
True Neutral-Rabbit (has detect traps and stealth but no pickpocketing ability)
Chaotic Neutral-Cat(Has hide in shadows and move silently at 99%,surprisingly has pickpocketing skills)
Lawful Evil-Imp(May cast Polymorph Spells)
Neutral Evil-Dust Mephit(May cast Glitterdust)
Chaotic Evil-Quasit(May cast Blur and Horror)

Hope this helps

------------------
Knight of the Fence and Champion of Neutrality

[This message has been edited by Brink (edited 02-21-2001).]

The_Pope · Post by **The_Pope** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 10:23 am

I'd say the Thornscape Familiar

------------------
-Amen

The Outsider · Post by **The Outsider** » Wed Feb 21, 2001 11:03 pm

Okay, so with the ferret and the cat, how much crap can they pickpocket at once? Can they filch entire rooms' worth of stuff, or do you have to recall them after each item?

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Thu Feb 22, 2001 3:09 am

Ferret is the best but it looks rubish
you should choose you familliar at the start(any type)

------------------
My soul may be warped by evil;My conscious by bribe, but the true path has never vanished for i have Just heart and kind way.

Brink · Post by **Brink** » Thu Feb 22, 2001 3:30 am

My list isn't complete(I did it when I was sleepy).Feel free to add into it or update it

------------------
Knight of the Fence and Champion of Neutrality

Pat Bou · Post by **Pat Bou** » Thu Feb 22, 2001 7:54 am

Hello there,

I'm the one who wrote the Solo Sorceror's Guide. My opinion is not necessarily the right one, but for one thing...

DON'T consider the familiars that can pickpocket. Their % stats are crappy (75% is really LOW) and can't be increased with potions of master thievery. Do a little playtesting for yourself : with Jan and some potions, his pickpocket was 140% something, and he still failed sometimes. Why? Because each target or merchant you try to pickpocket has % of difficulty that substracts from your score. A high level mage like Ribald certainly has a rating of 60 and more. So you ferret will only have 15% chance of success. If you don't mind reloading a few times, fine. But you don't need that pickpocket that much.

If you solo, first you'll have plenty of cash, so pickpocket is pointless, even for the regen ring (grab the cloak of the sewer instead for the troll form).

If you party, then another thief will do the pickpocket, not your familiar.

I soloed with the rabbit for his detect trap ability. It helped in the beginning and its low ac (-4) allowed me to send it into melee without fear of losing my familiar.

But I guess you can do without that detect ability eventually, so the pseudodragon or imp will probably be more useful. Keep in mind that after Irenicus dungeon, your familiar will probably stay in your pack 99% of the time, so it's ability will only be used in chapter 1.

BUT!!! I think I have found another use for familiars... I'll playtest this today or tomorrow. The idea is that the mage can use the senses of the familiar (unlike summoned monster, the familiar has a line of sight and can be sent to scout ahead). That means that it might be used, if stealthed or invisible, as an extension of you line of sight... for a dramatic increased range for fireballs and such spells.

I'll keep you informed.

Kovi · Post by **Kovi** » Tue Feb 27, 2001 11:56 am

I agree. The spying skills have the most importance.
The best one for this purpose is the cat (99% hide in shadows/move silently).
For parties or summoners: a Pseudo Dragon (Invisibility 10') can also be interesting.

Kovi · Post by **Kovi** » Tue Feb 27, 2001 12:02 pm

Ooops, I mean Fairy Dragon!

bootlegcorndogs · Post by **bootlegcorndogs** » Tue Feb 27, 2001 11:58 pm

Originally posted by craig:
Ferret is the best but it looks rubish
you should choose you familliar at the start(any type)

The ferret DOES look stupid. More like a gerbil than a ferret. I wouldn't call it the best one.

Frankly, I like cat. Why? Absolutely no reason whatsoever. It's one of the crappier ones, really. However, all the good-aligned familiars are WAY too loving. Kind of gives me the creeps. And the evil familiars are a bit on the obnoxious side. The neutrals are cool, though, and out of the neutral familiars you've got a rabbit, which is hardly awe-inspiring, a ferret that looks like a fat, albino Boo, and a cat. Cats are cool. Hence, cat.

But if you're one of those people that gets hung up on logic, I say rabbit or fairy dragon. The imp's polymorph is decent, but nothing you can't get with the sewer cloak, along with a little ac boost. Rabbit's got good ac and can do a decent job as a third rate thief if you misplace yours. Fairy dragon's invis 10' isn't too crappy. Pseudodragon is acceptable too.

Kovi · Post by **Kovi** » Tue Mar 20, 2001 4:22 pm

Well, with the "new" discoveries about the mirror image, definitely the fairy dragon is the best. It can take even take the burden of trap "deactivating".

vbarash · Post by **vbarash** » Tue Mar 20, 2001 5:49 pm

I agree with thornscape familiar, but his master is MUCH better=)