Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 boygenius1991 Dec 05, 2010 19:10:48	I want to build an Arcane Hierophant and was wondering what spells/feats might be a good idea for the wizard half of the character. I thought it would be fun to specialise in conjuration and be like a monster summoner type character. I considered using arcane disciple to get the summon domain which gives bonus summon spells that I use my wisdom for, which'll be high already from my druid half, and also boosts summoning and calling spells's ECL by 2.  the build I'm looking at is: druid 3/ wizard 3/ mystic theurge 2/ arcane hierophant 10/ mystic theurge 2  so by the end I'm casting as a 17th level wizard/ 17th level druid with access to 9th level spells for both. what I'm chiefly interested in is suggestions for feats. since I'll be a summoner, I thought augment summoning and by extension spell focus conjuration were a no brainer, and arcane disciple (summoning domain) looked  cool too. what else might I look at?
#2 hunanoid Dec 05, 2010 19:35:13	Beckon the Frozen is pretty sweet from Frostburn, and Natural Bond will make sure your Familiar Companion is still relevant.
#3 boygenius1991 Dec 05, 2010 20:01:28	beckon the frozen makes summons cold type and deal +1d6 cold, right? can you choose to use it or not use it? (in case you're fighting a fire monster or character with fire) and does it make the summon spell you use a higher slot? does it have any prerequisites Natural bond is pretty good too, but it's not necessary since levels in AH stack with druid for determining animal companion/familiar powers.  all I lose from my companion familiar with the 4 levels of mystic theurge and 3 levels of wizard is improved evasion (which he already has as a familiar) and a few AC points which are, again, made up for by the stuff he gets from his familiar bonuses.
#4 jgumbyrx Dec 06, 2010 17:34:15	might I suggest that, since you're really diggin' on summoning, that you crack open the ol' Unearthed Arcana and check out the Conjurer variants?  Both the Rapid Summoning and the Enhanced Summoning variants are invaluable to summoners (and the benefits will extend to your druid summoning as well).  Take Obtain Familiar, and bam - you got your familiar back (totally worth the expendature).  Additionally, a strict reading of Obtain Familar suggests that it would even advance on your MT levels.  That being the case, if Dragon Magazine is available, then you might want to look at Theurgic Bond (which would be superior to Natural Bond in this case). Practiced Spellcaster will be a help as well (though, admittedly, not quite as valuable as you get higher in level, but useful nonetheless). Have you checked-out these?: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
#5 cru Dec 06, 2010 21:28:48	I just want to mention that familiar is not required to qualify for AH (no need to obtain familiar). Moreover, any arcane casting class stacks for AH's companion familiar. RotW: Upon becoming an arcane hierophant, you must dismiss your familiar, if you have one... You add your arcane hierophant class level to your arcane spellcasting class level...
#6 boygenius1991 Dec 06, 2010 23:16:39	thank you for the links, jgumbyrx! I haven't read either of those, but I will right after finals. I love those handbooks that are on this site. I got a lot of help out of the beguiler one and the enchanter one cru, I think what  jgumbyrx was saying is to take obtain familiar after I enroll in AH, because then I would have a companion familiar and a familiar. I know I'd have one from the get go from being a lvl 1 wiz.  thank you for pointing that out though. is that what you meant, jgumbyrx, or am I misunderstanding? could you please explain theurgic bond? I don't know a good place to look up dragon magazine stuff. I thought about practiced spellcaster, but the fact that I have one "extra" level from it bugs me a teensy bit. since it gives you +4 levels and I'd only be lagging 3 wiz levels at the end of this build. is there a secondary benefit natural bond offers that I am not aware of? how I understand it now is it's kind of like practiced spellcaster but for druid companion animal abilities. wouldn't the bonus stats and hd and such from being a familiar too make up for it, or is it really that much of a boon to have full druid animal abilities and familiar abilities? since the wizard part of the character is going to be a summoner, I figure he'll have lots of spells and such to buff the companion to make up for the lost hd and such.
#7 boygenius1991 Dec 07, 2010 1:43:14	the conjurer's thread was very helpful, thank you very much.