D&D 2024 Familiars: Find Familiar, Pact of the Chain & Wild Companion

Introduction

A familiar is a small magical creature bound to your service. It can scout, deliver a touch spell, and give you another set of eyes in a room you would rather not enter yourself.

Most familiar routes in this guide use Find Familiar. The guide covers the spell's core rules, the Warlock's Pact of the Chain, the Druid's Wild Companion, the feat and Eberron spell-list routes, and Arcana Unleashed's familiar options.

Arcana Unleashed expands that basic package with the Familiar Friend Origin feat, four level 4 familiar feats, and Battle Familiar. It also gives the Vestige Patron Warlock a separate Vestige Companion. That subclass companion is not a Find Familiar familiar, so do not assume familiar feats apply to it.

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Find Familiar: The Base Spell

Find Familiar is a level 1 Conjuration spell on the Wizard spell list.

Find Familiar has a one-hour casting time, so it is usually cast before an expedition rather than during an encounter. The Ritual tag provides the spell's ritual option; check the Ritual rule for how your character can use that tag.

Choosing a form. You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: Bat, Cat, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Octopus, Owl, Rat, Raven, Spider, Weasel, or another Beast that has a Challenge Rating of 0. It appears in an unoccupied space within range and uses the statistics of the chosen form, except that its creature type is Celestial, Fey, or Fiend (your choice) instead of Beast.

One Familiar Only. You can't have more than one familiar at a time from Find Familiar. If you cast it again while you already have a familiar, the spell does not summon a second one. Your existing familiar instead adopts a new eligible form.

Independent but obedient. Your familiar acts independently of you, but it obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own Initiative and acts on its own turn. It can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal - Dash, Hide, Help, and so on.

Hot Take: A familiar earns its place by acting before the danger reaches the party. Because it rolls its own Initiative and takes its own turn, a Raven sent ahead can provide information that a shoulder-perched Raven never will. That utility depends on the table's tolerance for scouting time.

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What a Familiar Actually Does

Telepathic Connection

While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. As a Bonus Action, you can also see through its eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses it has - Darkvision through an Owl's eyes, for instance.

Delivering Touch Spells

When you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the touch for you. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its Reaction to deliver the touch when you cast the spell.

Disappearance and Restoration

When the familiar drops to 0 Hit Points, it disappears. It reappears after you cast Find Familiar again - there's no separate restoration cost beyond recasting the spell.

Dismissal to a pocket dimension. As a Magic action, you can temporarily dismiss your familiar to a pocket dimension, or dismiss it forever. As a Magic action while it's temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.

Whenever the familiar drops to 0 Hit Points or disappears into the pocket dimension, it leaves behind in its space anything it was wearing or carrying.

Practical read: dismiss a familiar before a fight you expect to be dangerous for it rather than leaving a fragile creature in the open. It takes a Magic action to bring it back later.

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Warlock: Pact of the Chain

The Warlock reaches Find Familiar through Pact of the Chain, an Eldritch Invocation with no listed level prerequisite.

Pact of the Chain grants:

• The spell itself. You learn Find Familiar and can cast it as a Magic action without expending a spell slot.
• An expanded form list. When you cast the spell this way, you choose one of the normal Find Familiar forms or one of the following special forms: Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Slaad Tadpole, Sphinx of Wonder, or Sprite, or Venomous Snake.
• An attack option. When you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to let your familiar make one attack of its own with its Reaction. This is the one way a Find Familiar creature can attack at all.

Best pick for scouting-and-utility Warlocks. The special forms and the option to exchange one of your own attacks for the familiar's Reaction give Pact of the Chain a different role from the base spell. Check the chosen familiar's current stat block before relying on a particular ability.

If you also take the Investment of the Chain Master invocation (Prerequisite: level 5+ Warlock, Pact of the Chain invocation), your familiar additionally gains a Fly or Swim Speed of 40 feet, a Bonus Action Quick Attack option, the ability to deal Necrotic or Radiant damage instead of its normal type, use of your spell save DC on its own save-forcing effects, and a Reaction-granted Resistance against damage it takes. That stacks meaningfully on top of the base Pact of the Chain package.

For the full Warlock build breakdown, invocation tier list, and Pact Boon comparison, see the D&D 2024 Warlock guide.

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Druid: Wild Companion

Druids get their own free route to Find Familiar through Wild Companion, a level 2 class feature.

As a Magic action, you can expend a spell slot or a use of Wild Shape to cast Find Familiar without a Material component. When you cast the spell this way, the familiar is a Fey creature, and it disappears when you finish a Long Rest.

Wild Companion is a low-commitment utility option. It lets a Druid choose between a spell slot and a use of Wild Shape, and it skips Material components. The familiar disappears at the next Long Rest, so it works best for a same-day plan rather than a companion you expect to keep between adventuring days.

For the full Druid build breakdown and Wild Shape economy, see the D&D 2024 Druid guide.

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Wizard: The Default Route

Wizards have Find Familiar on their class spell list. The spell's one-hour casting time makes it a preparation choice rather than an encounter response.

For the full Wizard build breakdown and spell list priorities, see the D&D 2024 Wizard guide.

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Feat Route: Magic Initiate

Magic Initiate grants two cantrips and one level 1 spell from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list - Find Familiar is a Wizard spell, so Magic Initiate (Wizard) is a valid way for a non-caster to reach it.

You always have your chosen level 1 spell prepared, and you can cast it once without a spell slot, regaining that use on a Long Rest. Magic Initiate also lets you cast the selected spell with any spell slots you have. Because Find Familiar has the Ritual tag, consult the Ritual rule for the ways your character can use it.

A martial can gain a scout without multiclassing. A Fighter or Barbarian who picks Magic Initiate (Wizard) and selects Find Familiar as the level 1 spell gets a familiar without taking a spellcasting class.

For the full feat breakdown, see the D&D 2024 General Feats guide.

Eberron: Mark of Handling

In an Eberron campaign, the Mark of Handling Dragonmark feat adds Find Familiar to the spell list of a character who has the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature. It does not give a character without either feature a standalone casting of the spell. The feat itself requires an Eberron campaign and prevents the character from having another Dragonmark feat.

That route matters because it expands the list available to an eligible spellcaster. It does not change Find Familiar's casting time, one-familiar rule, or base familiar rules.

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Arcana Unleashed Familiar Builds

Arcana Unleashed turns a familiar from a useful spell into a build package. Start with the Familiar Trainer background, which grants Familiar Friend, or take the Origin feat through another available route. Familiar Friend keeps Find Familiar prepared, includes a limited free cast without its normal material cost, makes the familiar sturdier, and lets a nearby familiar support a skill check you are proficient in. That is the right entry point for a character who expects the familiar to remain part of their normal adventuring routine rather than appear only for scouting.

At level 4, the four follow-up General feats require Familiar Friend and each includes an ability score increase. Pick the feat that matches the familiar's table job rather than treating them as interchangeable upgrades.

The D&D 2024 Origin Feats guide covers Familiar Friend alongside the other starting choices. The D&D 2024 General Feats guide compares its four level 4 follow-ups with the wider feat pool.

Battle Familiar and an Existing Familiar

Battle Familiar is a level 2 Arcana Unleashed spell for Druids, Warlocks, and Wizards. If you already have a Find Familiar familiar when you cast it, the spell temporarily empowers that creature instead of summoning another one. The familiar can attack for the spell's duration, uses the Battle Familiar stat block while retaining listed elements of its prior identity, and returns to its prior form when the spell ends.

When no Find Familiar familiar is present, Battle Familiar conjures its own temporary familiar. The spell limits itself to one familiar at a time and replaces its own existing familiar when recast. It pairs naturally with Warlike Familiar, but the spell is also on the Druid, Warlock, and Wizard lists. For the broader source-labeled spell list, see the D&D 2024 Spell Guide Hub.

Vestige Companion Is a Different Kind of Companion

The Vestige Patron's Vestige Companion is a Warlock subclass feature with its own companion rules and stat block. It is not granted by Find Familiar, and Arcana Unleashed does not say it counts as a familiar for Familiar Friend or its follow-up feats. A Vestige Patron should treat those as separate character options unless a later rule explicitly connects them. For the subclass's place in a Warlock build, see the D&D 2024 Warlock guide.

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Frequently Overlooked Rules

Recasting Find Familiar does not stack familiar forms. Casting Find Familiar while you already have its familiar changes that familiar's form rather than summoning another creature. Battle Familiar has a separate replacement rule for a familiar it has already summoned, and it empowers an existing Find Familiar familiar when one is present.

The familiar can't attack unless something says it can. The base spell is explicit: no attacking. Pact of the Chain can trade one of the Warlock's attacks for the familiar's Reaction, and Battle Familiar can temporarily give an existing Find Familiar familiar a combat form.

A Find Familiar creature uses its chosen form's statistics. Its base value is often utility: scouting, touch delivery, and the telepathic Bonus Action. Pact of the Chain, Investment of the Chain Master, Familiar Friend, familiar feats, and Battle Familiar each change that baseline in source-specific ways.

Losing worn gear. If you've handed your familiar anything to carry - a scroll, a small item - remember it drops that item in place whenever the familiar disappears, whether from 0 Hit Points or a pocket-dimension dismissal.

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Bottom Line

Find Familiar is available through the Wizard spell list, Pact of the Chain, Wild Companion, Magic Initiate (Wizard), and, for eligible spellcasters in an Eberron campaign, Mark of Handling. Arcana Unleashed adds Familiar Friend and familiar-focused follow-up feats.

The right form and access route depend on the job at the table. Choose base Find Familiar for utility, Pact of the Chain when its special forms and attack exchange match the Warlock's plan, Wild Companion when a Druid can spare a Wild Shape use or spell slot, and Arcana Unleashed's options when the character is built around a familiar.

For everything else 2024 changed about spellcasting classes, start at the D&D 2024 Class Guide Hub.