High Level Cohort

[Vedic Wizard]

An epic character of mine (LE, Fighter 8, Rogue 9, Wizard 7) has just acquired the leadership feat. With all the adjustments he can attract a 17th level cohort.

The area he's in is populated mainly by (Human) Barbarians, Ogres, Dwarves, and Drow. The cohort should be either LN or LE really, other than that I've been allowed a pretty free reign.

I was thinking maybe an OgreMage (Sorceror/Cleric/Mystic Theurge), with a spiked chain. Domains: War & Healing.

The important thing is that he should be able to contribute something in a party made-up of 22+ lvl characters.

What do you think the best way forward is for generating something of this level that can keep up? Any suggestions gratefully received

 

[Rackhir]

An epic character of mine (LE, Fighter 8, Rogue 9, Wizard 7) has just acquired the leadership feat. With all the adjustments he can attract a 17th level cohort.

The area he's in is populated mainly by (Human) Barbarians, Ogres, Dwarves, and Drow. The cohort should be either LN or LE really, other than that I've been allowed a pretty free reign.

I was thinking maybe an OgreMage (Sorceror/Cleric/Mystic Theurge), with a spiked chain. Domains: War & Healing.

The important thing is that he should be able to contribute something in a party made-up of 22+ lvl characters.

What do you think the best way forward is for generating something of this level that can keep up? Any suggestions gratefully received

Well what do you want the cohort to do for you?

The mystic theurge cohort you spec out seems ideal for buffing and support spells. I'd drop the Spiked chain bit though. There's a lot better things for casters to be doing in combat and with the feats required to make effective use of the Spiked chain.

Also +LA races are typically not a great choice for casters, since they really suffer from loosing caster levels. That Ogre Mage is going to have a total LA of +12 (Total LA = +7(LA) +5 (HD)). Which means you'd have 5 caster levels and they don't stack with or synergize with the Spell Like Abilities the OM gets.

You might want to consider designing him around counterspelling. In which case you might want to go Archmage rather than MT. Having someone who can shut down other casters can make a big difference in combat.

If you want a melee crowd control type with a spiked chain, a Dwarven Defender (especially with the proper magic items) makes a great body guard. Especially since at lv 17 he'll have enough DD lvls to get Mobile defense so he can make a 5' step/rnd and still keep the stance bonuses. I'd look at some of the Book of Nine Swords stuff as well for the pre-DD levels.

There's some interesting things you can do with the Tactical Feats from the Complete Warrior. Especially "Shock Trooper" and "Combat Brute". I built a goliath (Races of Stone) that had awesome capabilities for bull rushes and jumping over the heads of opponents at just 6th level. I took Goliath because they are just a +1 LA and get all the benefits of being large or medium depending on which is most advantageous, but you have a lot more levels to play with and can afford a larger LA.

 

[krupintupple]

if you want someone who might be able to tank and would definitely have some staying power, maybe try crusader 17? i know they're fairly hard to bring down and by that level, he'll be popping off a heal every few rounds or so.

failing that, maybe a cleric 17? walking buff-bots aren't ever bad.

don't really know the rest of the party, so it's hard to build, really.

 

[Vedic Wizard]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a look at Crusader, what book are they from?

I guess I'm looking for a Cohort who will primarily work well with my character (the Fighter/Rogue/Wizard), as he sometimes adventures without the rest of the group. He's based around two-weapon fighting, sneak attacks, and stealth.

 

[Rackhir]

Well they are a bit boring from the "Funkyness" standpoint, but a straight Druid handles a lot of things well, which can be important if you're off on your own. Wildshape can make them monsters in melee combat. They get full spell casting. They're as good or better than other classes at summoning, since Summon Nature's Ally is better than Summon Monster until you hit like SM VIII or IX. They're great blasters (just read the description of Nwm destroying the army in Sepulchrave's Tales of Wyre) and can heal nearly as well as a cleric. They cover all the bases, except rogue stuff and your character can handle that.

 

[Folly]

Wildshape can make them monsters in melee combat.

Without significant money investment or a few rounds of buffing a druid doesnt fair well in melee. While they get decent damage out of wildshape, animals AC are terrible and they have next to no means to bypass DR (Without additional buffing)

and can heal nearly as well as a cleric.

No spontanous casting, slower progression of conjuration(healing), and no Heal spell is significant difference is healing potential. To categorize the difference as you have is misleading.

 

[Rackhir]

Without significant money investment or a few rounds of buffing a druid doesnt fair well in melee. While they get decent damage out of wildshape, animals AC are terrible and they have next to no means to bypass DR (Without additional buffing)

Greater Magic Fang is only 3rd lvl. Most of the buff spells are only 2nd. Thus all are easily quicken-able. The cohort will have 9th lvl spells and thus can use that feat (I forget the name) that makes spells last all day (+6 Metamagic adjustment). Not to mention that extended hr/lvl spells will last for 34 hours. The character is also 17th lvl. Character wealth at that level buys a WHOLE LOT of equipment, IIRC something in the ballpark of 200,000 gp worth.

slower progression of conjuration(healing),

The cohort in question is 17th lvl. He gets 9th lvl spells. Progression is irrelevant. He already has the whole ball of wax.

no Heal spell is significant difference is healing potential.

Unless the SRD and Shilsen are lying to me...

Heal

Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 6, Drd 7, Healing 6

Perhaps you were thinking of Mass Heal? That is Cleric 9 only. But there is also only going to be the two of them fairly often and the Cohort's job is to help out his master, not necessarily the entire party.

No spontanous casting, ... To categorize the difference as you have is misleading.

I said "Almost as good", unless the English language has been changed on me and I wasn't notified, this does not equal "as good" or for that matter "better than". They have access to almost all the same spells (some are slightly higher level for the druids and they only get lesser restoration). That's also without getting into Spell Compendium stuff like "Healing Cocoon" (essentially "Heal at 4th level with a delay on it). So I'll stand by my "Almost as Good" description.

 

[Bialaska]

The question about what part he can have in the party depends on the rest of the players. Is healing and buffing a problem or does a player handle that already? If yes, choose another cohort.

I think I'd probably prefer some bard type rather than the cleric type. A Bard/War Chanter with Inspire Legion is quite awesome in a party with a fighter/warrior with high base attack, since all characters gain the base attack of the one with highest base attack. The bonus damage is definitely useful.

 

[Jack Simth]

Without significant money investment or a few rounds of buffing a druid doesnt fair well in melee. While they get decent damage out of wildshape, animals AC are terrible and they have next to no means to bypass DR (Without additional buffing)

I take it you've never really seen a DruidZilla in action, then? Greater Magic Fang is an hours/level buff. Barkskin is 10 minutes/level. If you go non-core, the various "Bite of" spells, while they're only rounds/level, technically stack with Wildshape. Get a fast-moving, high-damage form with Pounce, and it doesn't usually matter that the AC is low - if it's dead, it can't fight back. But then, he doesn't need an optimal cohort - he's playing a Wiz-7/Rogue-9/Fighter-8; the game doesn't really include optimization.

Oh, and you can avoid the money investment with a Vow of Poverty on the cohort.

No spontanous casting, slower progression of conjuration(healing), and no Heal spell is significant difference is healing potential. To categorize the difference as you have is misleading.

Spontaneous Summon Nature's Ally. Look at the Unicorn's Spell-like's sometime.

And there's a feat to get around the no-spontaneous-healing thing. I think it's call Spontaneous Healer, or some such. Lets you convert spells to Cures a number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier.

 

[Keith Robinson]

We have a player in our group who has a blinkdog cohort, with levels in fighter and rogue. Very difficult to hit, gets to use its sneak attack, and is very nimble. Of course, we're only at around 10th level, so I've no idea how it would work out at higher levels. Much fun, though.