Unless your GM is allowing it a ranger normally can't have an ape or a big cat. Their list of companion options is: badger, bird, camel, cat (small), dire rat, dog, horse, pony, snake (viper or constrictor), or wolf. That being said I typically like the wolf the free trip attempt when he attacks is nice to have. I typically recommend use the companion's first ability boost to increase their int to 3 so that you have a few more feat options. I like the feats: Improved Natural Attack, Weapon Focus, Eldritch Claws, and depending on your game and how you use your companion: Toughness, Improved Natural Armor, Armor Proficiency (light), or any of the save feats. And I would also recommend Boon Companion for your ranger to bring your companion level equal to your character level. What race is your ranger? If Half-Orc maybe look at getting Beast Rider it adds: elephant, pteranodon, rhinoceros, stegosaurus, or triceratops to your list of companion options. If Aasimar you will probably want Celestial Servant to give your companion the celestial template.
Nope their companion feature works like the druid class feature rangers just have a limited selection to choose from.
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Yeah, if you look on the animal companion list, they have little superscript numbers that indicate which ACs are available to various classes.
For an Archer ranger, you probably want a nice sturdy companion that can keep enemies off your back in combat. The Wolf trip is typically nice, but since prone foes are actually harder to hit with ranged attacks, I'd probably stay away from it in this case.
If you're OK with a large companion, I would go Camel - they have a huge Con, a no-save sickening touch attack, and being able to move and full attack at range is pretty darn sweet.
If it's indoors and large companions won't fit, Badger could actually be a nice fit. The starting strength isn't super great but he can Rage as a Barbarian and has burrow, climb, and scent, plus a nice high Con so he won't go down quick.
I took another look and noticed the clarification on the Ranger list. So I guess I'm going with a wolf. Does eldricht claws work with bite attacks? I was planning on the stat boost going into int and I'll put a skill into linguistics so it can understand common. Since my Ranger is ranged, I figured I would use the companion for damage and flanking aid for the party.
Yes
Eldritch ClawsPrerequisites: Str 15, natural weapons, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: You natural weapons are considered both magic and silver for purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Yeah, if you look on the animal companion list, they have little superscript numbers that indicate which ACs are available to various classes.
For an Archer ranger, you probably want a nice sturdy companion that can keep enemies off your back in combat. The Wolf trip is typically nice, but since prone foes are actually harder to hit with ranged attacks, I'd probably stay away from it in this case.
If you're OK with a large companion, I would go Camel - they have a huge Con, a no-save sickening touch attack, and being able to move and full attack at range is pretty darn sweet.
If it's indoors and large companions won't fit, Badger could actually be a nice fit. The starting strength isn't super great but he can Rage as a Barbarian and has burrow, climb, and scent, plus a nice high Con so he won't go down quick.
True prone targets are harder to hit with range, but if one of the primary goals if to provide flanking for allies you can use the trip to potentially provide an AOO for a melee heavy hitter when the baddie tries to stand. And at that point you could start shooting at a new target, but I may be biased from having used a wolf with the ranger that I played last.
Carefully - the term cat (small) is actually referring to smaller big cats - leopard, cheetah, mountain lion - while the term Cat (big) refers to the other big cats (lion, tiger)!
The badger is an intriguing idea but how does the rage work for it? And it would NEED imp. natural attack to bring it's damage up a bit, probably bite.
Same as a barbarian +4 Str/Con, +2 on Will saves, but –2 AC. the badger can go for 6 rds/day. The only thing I am not positive about is if it scales with levels like a barbarian does.
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There are Ranger archetypes that can open up the entire druid list as animal companions. But you give up a few things. I use the Beastmaster on my ranger I'm playing currently. I'm a mounted Halfling riding a Giant Gecko. Had to take the Archetype to get a Giant gecko as a mount. No other class/archetype allows it unless House ruled...I'm playing PFS with him so I had to make it legal. People have been asking why not cavalier or Paladin and just ride a dog...I snicker as I can auto climb a 40' wall in a single move, charge on low hanging ceilings, and have good skills to boot. Not to mention mounted counts as a medium creature. I have thought about switching to a Dire Bat or Roc but Stickfoot has grown on me and is making a legend for himself at our Location I play at. The gecko is more impressionable then the character.
But I highly suggest wolf if your not taking an archetype or another class route. Straight Ranger Wolf, Camel, Badger, and Horse are the best vanilla options.
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If third party material is allowed, I'd suggest taking a look at the New Paths Compendium from Kobold Press
There's a host of cool feats within specifically for making your animal companion cooler!
There is even a ranger archetype, the companion-bound ranger, that really enhances the ranger's bond with his animal companion.
Oh, and there are quite a few cool archery-oriented spells as well
If you are a ranger fan, the New Paths Compendium is definitely worth checking out :)
Personally, for an archer ranger the best AC is one that can serve as a mount. Being able to move and still make a full attack is huge.
To that end, a horse until the wolf grows to large is the best way to go in my opinion. They get 3 natural attacks, and once trained all are primary attacks. With power attack they can deal a substantial amount of damage.
i'd suggest the wolf. starting at 7th you can use him as a mount, which is handy, but more importantly its useful in melee. it offers 2 good options with its free trip: you can send into melee and, in addition to providing flanks, it can force enemies to suffer prone penalties or AoOs; and, it can keep melee guys off you by tripping them before they can close (leaving you free to rain death on people unmolested).
ps- remember that creatures with only one natural attack add 1.5 Str to damage.
Wolves with power attack and improved natural weapon can be very nasty, as single natural attacks mean they're effectively using a 2h weapon for the effects of power attack and strength bonuses as nate lange says. With their +8 strength advance at level 7 this can get brutal.
i'd suggest the wolf. starting at 7th you can use him as a mount, which is handy, but more importantly its useful in melee. it offers 2 good options with its free trip: you can send into melee and, in addition to providing flanks, it can force enemies to suffer prone penalties or AoOs; and, it can keep melee guys off you by tripping them before they can close (leaving you free to rain death on people unmolested).
ps- remember that creatures with only one natural attack add 1.5 Str to damage.
Wolves with power attack and improved natural weapon can be very nasty, as single natural attacks mean they're effectively using a 2h weapon for the effects of power attack and strength bonuses as nate lange says. With their +8 strength advance at level 7 this can get brutal.
Just to make a correction here for both of you, the wolf advances at 7th level...for a druid. But rangers function as a druid of their level -3. So, a ranger has to wait until level 10 for the wolf to become large and get a strength upgrade. For me, this is unacceptable. I'm going to go with the better animal companion and upgrade later, because remember, you can always get a new AC with a 24 hour "ceremony" as a druid/ranger.
Prior to 10th level you should take the horse. Mounted mobility enabling you to full attack is better than what the wolf has to offer you. Rendering enemies prone hurts you as an archer, and he will deal more damage than the wolf between his three attacks (on average, especially since the base horse is stronger than the base wolf).
Do you want to tough it out for half you adventuring career with a subpar animal companion? You can if you want, but from an optimazation stand point the wolf is a step down compared to the horse for the archer ranger until level 10.
I had an archery ranger once, I took a horse as his AC. I kept its stealth ranks maxed out and had it stay outside and hide any time I went in a dungeon. That horse was like a brother to me, er him. I named it Equus Mortuus just for good measure, you never know when you need one around.
Just to make a correction here for both of you, the wolf advances at 7th level...for a druid. But rangers function as a druid of their level -3. So, a ranger has to wait until level 10 for the wolf to become large and get a strength upgrade. For me, this is unacceptable. I'm going to go with the better animal companion and upgrade later, because remember, you can always get a new AC with a 24 hour "ceremony" as a druid/ranger.
Boon Companion is to Rangers what Natural Spell is to Druids. I'm sure there are some who don't take it, but I don't understand why. For one feat it's a big boost in effective arse-kicking level.
The badger is an intriguing idea but how does the rage work for it? And it would NEED imp. natural attack to bring it's damage up a bit, probably bite.Same as a barbarian +4 Str/Con, +2 on Will saves, but –2 AC. the badger can go for 6 rds/day. The only thing I am not positive about is if it scales with levels like a barbarian does.
Well, even if it doesn't, since this companion will be at level 5, then the ability score adjustment would have already come and gone. And it gets access to another feat at level 5. So extra rage to get 6 more rounds/day is totally a thing.
I'd prefer a wolf though myself. It is generally versatile, since it can be both a flank buddy, maneuver user (which you don't necessarily have to use if you don't want things prone), and even a mount after level 7. It actually gets fairly decent strength once it gets large (21 before the scaling bonuses AC's get). And by level 9 it actually gets an iterative with its natural attack via the multiattack ability. Combined with the 1.5xstr and power attack from having only one natural weapon, this works out rather well for keeping it on par with other ranger options.
Also-Simon Legrande: The idea of a high stealth horse seems awesome. I would half want to take it with me. The idea that there is always an unseen horse in the room seems hilarious to me. And Corvino-people don't take boon companion because they decided to be freebooters instead.
may i reccommend a Warg, as the wolf will knock people prone and that makes it harder to shoot them
Just to make a correction here for both of you, the wolf advances at 7th level...for a druid. But rangers function as a druid of their level -3. So, a ranger has to wait until level 10 for the wolf to become large and get a strength upgrade. For me, this is unacceptable. I'm going to go with the better animal companion and upgrade later, because remember, you can always get a new AC with a 24 hour "ceremony" as a druid/ranger.Boon Companion is to Rangers what Natural Spell is to Druids. I'm sure there are some who don't take it, but I don't understand why. For one feat it's a big boost in effective arse-kicking level.
Boon Companion becomes even more insanely good if you choose the Archetypes that get more than 1 animal companion. With for example 5 druid level equivalents you can have a pair of lvl 5 and lvl 4 companions which is kind of nasty. It totally breaks the action economy. More wicked: 3 companions for druod lvl 5: lvl 5, lvl 5, lvl 3 for the cost of 2 feats.
He has Boon Companion so his AC functions at +4 levels (not to exceed his total character level).
I had missed that post, but my above post remains true despite that. Until the wolf advances the horse is mechanically stronger, especially for an archer ranger.
Boon Companion is to Rangers what Natural Spell is to Druids. I'm sure there are some who don't take it, but I don't understand why. For one feat it's a big boost in effective arse-kicking level.
I'm not saying you shouldn't take boon companion, but assuming that every play takes it or should, isn't as clear to me. It's a good feat, but it's not necessarily easy to work in to a build. At least not an archery build.
I currerntly have a ranger, a non-human ranger, at 5th level. Currently I have:
Deadly Aim
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Rapid Shot
There's no room in the build to pick up Boon Companion Right now. And I wont for at least 2 more levels, and then I need to choose between it and Many Shot.
It's a good feat, but for a non-human ranger it's just hard to work in until later levels.