You’ll notice that each entry in the “Familiars” chapter of this book lists a “growth pattern.” Familiars with a normal growth pattern gain roughly the same boost to their primary abilities at every level, as is typical of leveling systems.
But there are two other types of growth patterns: early risers and late bloomers. Early risers gain slightly bigger ability boosts at lower levels and slightly smaller ones at higher levels.
They’re typically stronger than familiars with a normal growth pattern until around level 40 or so, at which point they begin to fall behind.
Familiars with a late-bloomer growth pattern are typically weaker at lower levels but make up for lost time—and then some—at higher levels.
They’ll be outpaced by familiars with normal growth patterns until around level 80 or so, at which point their abilities will grow rapidly to leave all the other familiars in the dust.
Needless to say, early risers are great in the early game, although players may want to develop some familiars with normal growth patterns for use later in the game.
Late-blooming familiars are really only recommended for players who intend to complete all of the game’s optional content and completely max out their familiars; other players will beat the game long before the familiars would naturally reach level 80.
