Core only Ranger animal companion advice

[Diminutive Titan]

Hey all,

I'm playing a 3rd level Ranger in a core-only Pathfinder game, and I've chosen the Wolf as my animal companion for the next level.

My main question is: How do I turn my wolf into a reliable frontliner using Core only rules?

Obviously in every animal companion optimization thread the "Boon Companion" feat comes up. But we're playing core only so that's not an option...

(Even if it was, my ranger is a thrown-weapon specialist so he spends every feat he has in associated combat feats. Since there's a heap of 'em, he would have to change the planning quite a lot to open up a feat slot for it.)

I've calculated that at level 4 my ranger has 26 HP, and my Wolf critter has 16 and an AC of 12(without any enhancements or feats).
So I really feel that my wolf critter is quite squishy for level 4.

I mean a single average attack by a minotaur would basically cripple it.

My wolf gets a single feat, so I was thinking either Dodge, Toughness, or Light Armor proficiency...

Tell me what you guys think?

[Hardwool]

Shouldn't your companion have an AC of 14 (+2 Dex, +2 Nat. Armor) ?
Still low, so Dodge may be a good choice. If you can afford magic aid (wand of mage armor, if someone in your party can use it), you might want to take Toughness.

[Diminutive Titan]

Ah you're right, it should be 14!

[Sub_Zero]

well,

dodge nets you a +1 dodge bonus to AC, and doesn't need any more thought.

Toughness, add 4 hp to his hp total which could help

light armor proficiency, will net a +4 armor bonus and open up the route for better armor later. The drawback is you now have to have special armor made for your wolf that gets pricey. the upside, is that you wolf's armor can be enchanted for even better armor.

So it depends. If you're going for a single dip dodge, or toughness may be worth it, but if your going to really try to up your wolfs AC you can't beat armor proficiency.

[Cap. Darling]

Your wolf is not gonna be a reliable frontliner. but it may be an ok flank buddy. I dont think there is any reason to get too attacthet to it if you plan on using it as a front liner ;)

[Rerednaw]

Diminutive Titan wrote:

Hey all,

I'm playing a 3rd level Ranger in a core-only Pathfinder game, and I've chosen the Wolf as my animal companion for the next level.

My main question is: How do I turn my wolf into a reliable frontliner using Core only rules?
...
Tell me what you guys think?

Your Wolf (or for that matter any core animal companion).

Has lower defenses.
Has lower offense in terms of to hit.
Has lower offense in terms of damage.
His only combat trick, trip, is ignored or difficult to pull off as monsters scale up, and is the one trick that has the most creatures resistant, immune to it via flight, serpent form, sheer size, etc...

Also defenses in the game do not scale well versus offense. Especially against monster offense.

It's not that a single minotaur will cripple him...a lowly CR 1/2 orc with a greataxe may kill him.

So you have a lower baseline to start with.

That being said...out of the three, I'd probably go with Light Armor proficiency. At low levels it's more bang for your buck. +4 AC with chain shirt barding is better than Dodge's +1 and it works when flat-footed. Toughness extra hit points is nice, but I'd probably pick that up second. And use him as a flanker, not a front-liner. Someone else in the party will have to act as front-line.

[Emmit Svenson]

I recommend that you don’t get light armor proficiency for your wolf. Instead, get a 1st level Pearl of Power for your party’s wizard, and have her cast Mage Armor on your wolf every day in return. You’ll get a fine +4 to its AC with no movement or skill penalties, and still have a feat to spend.

Dodge isn’t a terrible choice of a feat if you’re working towards Spring Attack, which is a great feat for a dedicated AC flanker. Consider that route if your Ranger is melee-weapon-heavy, and think about increasing your wolf’s intelligence so she can eventually get teamwork feats along with your Ranger, Outflank for example. If your Ranger is ranged-weapon-heavy, instead consider taking feats that will make your AC better at intercepting attackers, such as Combat Reflexes, and take feats that keep it on its feet, like Toughness and Diehard.

[XMorsX]

A mw studded leatehr barding does not need light amror proficiency. Take this along with dodge and you will have the same ragular AC with a chain shirt barding but with better touch AC.

You cannot do much more that taking dodge and toughness without boon companion. In order to generally increase the effectiveness of your wolf, take weapon focus (bite), cleave (potentially two trips per round), vital strike + improved natural wepaon (bite), power attack and ability focus (trip).

You do not consider APG core right? Otherwise teamwork feats like Outflank and Paired Opportunist are excellent choices.

[Zedth]

Don't you dare waste a feat on Light armor proficiency!
The only penalties for wearing light armor w/o the feat are you take to-hit penalties = to the armor check penalty.
If you use leather armor, that = 0.
If you use masterwork chain shirt, that = -1.
If you use Mithril chain shirt, that = 0.

In other words, you'd be taking a FEAT to avoid a possible -1 penalty, that is completely based on a voluntary choice to equip chain armor. Big waste.

You can wear leather armor or mithril chain with NO penalty whatsoever, without taking the feat.

The only reason to take that feat would be if you wanted to beef him up with medium armor(or heavy) down the road, which would make him slower...which is a big penalty for an animal companion. Mobility is one of their strong suits.

My opinion, just buy him some custom-wolf leather armor, take your +2 armor bonus and spend the feat on something worthwhile.

[Swiftbrook]

Rerednaw wrote:

That being said...out of the three, I'd probably go with Light Armor proficiency.

Naaaa.

Just put Leather barding on your animal. When you can afford it, buy Mithral Chain Shirt barding. Both have a armor check penalty of 0 so there is no down side to not being proficient. Saves an AC feat for something else.

Edit: Crap, ninjaed by Zedth

[Kazandra]

Nooooo! Don't let the poor widdy puppy fight the ogre!

A wolf companion is great for tracking and foraging, and can help you get that rabbit when your are alone and starving in the wilds. Don't make him fight!

[Rerednaw]

Yeah I went with the feat because I don't know what his budget is. If he has a lot of extra money for gear...

4th level wealth by level 6,000 gp.
25% for offense, 25% for defense, 25% other magic, 15% on consumables, 10% misc.

So 1,500 gp. for defensive items.

And you just spent 1,100 gp on mithral shirt.
Oh wait...it's barding. If the woof puppy starts at medium size, that's 2x cost. So 2,200 gp for mithral shirt for your puppy. And you're over budget so nada for the PC.

A Pearl of Power? 1,000 gp. Pass on that magical quiver or slippers of feather step then.

Totally agree the masterwork studded barding, at 25+150 x 2 = 350 gp sounds like a good option and it saves the feat. I went with this before just forgot about it because it's been so long :)

Maybe the leather plus Dodge (if going Spring Attack...though some GMs may ask you how your woof would know how to do a Spring Attack) or maybe just Toughness would be your best bet.

Alternatively I've been a fan of Improved Natural Attack or even Improved Natural Armor. YMMV good luck and have fun whatever you decide!

[Swiftbrook]

I had a cheetah most recently and a wolf before that. I found that for a while, my animal had better AC, better attack options, and more HP than I did! I chose Improved Natural Attack (Bite). The wolfs trip is very nice, especially at low levels. I can't recall then number of times doing just a few points of damage but tripping the BBEG. Really helped out the party. I think I had my animal die once over 12 levels. No meat shield animal for me.

[Hawktitan]

Toughness because of the light armor proficiency reasons as mentioned above.

[Diminutive Titan]

Thanks a bunch everyone! Helped me gain a lot of insight about animal companions! I've decided not to take the light armor prof. I'm giving it armor anyway and going the Dodge route so it can get Spring Attack. Many thanks!