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It starts as a medium creature and unless you are playing a small sized race (gnome or halfling) you can't ride it till 7th.
The mounted problem is that you have to burn your move action every round performing a DC 20 Ride check every time you want to Single Attack while flying. That is unless you can succeed at 2 separate DC 20 Handle Animal Checks and burn 9 Weeks to Ride & Combat Train the bird....
First, you can change Animal Companion (AnCo) after 24 hours of meditation... so until level 7 use something else.
Second, AnCos come pre-trained (all 6 tricks plus bonus tricks are known) and only require a free action to handle them in combat (assuming you give them the Attack trick twice, you probably won't ever run into a situation where you need to handle them as a move action)
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Animal Companions do not come pretrained. The 6 base tricks for animals need to be trained. The bonus tricks for animal companion do not need to be trained. At level 10 when you call the animal companion they will have 4 tricks. And from there they can be trained to have 6 more.
Bonus Tricks: The value given in this column is the
total number of “bonus” tricks that the animal knows in
addition to any that the druid might choose to teach it
(see the Handle Animal skill for more details on how to
teach an animal tricks). These bonus tricks don’t require
any training time or Handle Animal checks, and they
don’t count against the normal limit of tricks known by
the animal. The druid selects these bonus tricks, and once
selected, they can’t be changed.
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Push” an animal 25 DC
Let you do anything you do not have trick for.
Not this trick or that trick is not big deal.
And using that "Push" action is a move action on your AnCo (Full action on any other animal) dropping you back to 1 attack a round.
This is the problem with Flying companions we were describing. It requires multiple actions before and during combat before you are able to function normally.
Horses come pre-trained or auto-pick it up at 4th level, Land based AnCo's you just need to get it into melee range and it defends itself automatically. Flying mounts require constant checks to use, forcing you to burn skill points just to get a chance to Full attack and keeps you out of range for all the buffs your party members are providing.
If you want to full attack while riding a horse you just make it delay it's movement till after you rattle off all your shots then it can do what it wants and you just hold on.
For a flying mount you MUST burn your skill points so you can routinely make a DC 20 Ride check OR push your handle animal skill up to where you can reliably succeed in training it for combat. (AnCo's die A LOT, they are squishy and take forever to properly replace)
Flying mounts are the hardest to replace and take the longest to train.
@Zerumm that is not a valid Animal companion. Those where only available during Beta and have since been disallowed from use.
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It's not that hard for a archer base character to have a very high ride skill. And the reliably train is easy. You take attack as one of your bonus tricks.
Level 1 as a genral example.
Handle Animal : Ranks 1 + 3 class skill + 2 Wis Mod. + 4 Link = 8
So you might have to spend 12 weaks of down time insted of 6. You missed a few rolls dose nothing but take time.
Just saying it's easyer to do then you are making it out to be. Not saying it's a good option. This type of companon is so limited I will not use it. Thats why I favor the medium animal companions. They are not as restricted where they can fit.
Ranger 10 w/boon companion
Cat, Small (Cheetah, Leopard)
Statistics: Size Meduim;
Speed 50 ft.
Ability Scores: Str 20, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6; Special
Qualities: low-light vision, scent, Sprint
Feets: Weapon Focus (Bit,Claw), Light Armor Proficency, Toughness, Improved Initiative
BAB 6 + 5 +1 = to hit 12 Bite(1D6+5:Trip) 2Claws(1D3+5)
Fort 6 + 3 = 9
Ref 6 + 6 = 12
Will 3 + 1 = 4
Init 6 + 4 = 10
AC Base 10 + 7NA + 6 Dex Mod. + 4 Chain Shirt = 27
Bonus Tricks: Attack(2), Down, Heel,
Tricks: Come, Defend, Guard, Stay, Seek, Track.
Skills. Acrobatics 10 Survival 6
(5,000GP Amulet of Mighty Fist Keen (+1), 4,250GP Chain Shirt + 2)9,250GP of the 62,000GP Wealth by Level.
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It's not that hard for a archer base character to have a very high ride skill. And the reliably train is easy. You take attack as one of your bonus tricks.
Level 1 as a genral example.
Handle Animal : Ranks 1 + 3 class skill + 2 Wis Mod. + 4 Link = 8
So you might have to spend 12 weaks of down time insted of 6. You missed a few rolls dose nothing but take time.Just saying it's easyer to do then you are making it out to be. Not saying it's a good option. This type of companon is so limited I will not use it. Thats why I favor the medium animal companions. They are not as restricted where they can fit.
Ranger 10 w/boon companion
Cat, Small (Cheetah, Leopard)
Statistics: Size Meduim;
Speed 50 ft.
Ability Scores: Str 20, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6; Special
Qualities: low-light vision, scent, Sprint
Feets: Weapon Focus (Bit,Claw), Light Armor Proficency, Toughness, Improved Initiative
BAB 6 + 5 +1 = to hit 12 Bite(1D6+5:Trip) 2Claws(1D3+5)
Fort 6 + 3 = 9
Ref 6 + 6 = 12
Will 3 + 1 = 4
Init 6 + 4 = 10
AC Base 10 + 7NA + 6 Dex Mod. + 4 Chain Shirt = 27
Bonus Tricks: Attack(2), Down, Heel,
Tricks: Come, Defend, Guard, Stay, Seek, Track.
Skills. Acrobatics 10 Survival 6
(5,000GP Amulet of Mighty Fist Keen (+1), 4,250GP Chain Shirt + 2)9,250GP of the 62,000GP Wealth by Level.
I've never stated any of these were difficult, merely time consuming and inefficient. As a ranger you have plenty of skill points to get to any rank you want any nearly any skill. It's the multiple weeks of downtime and spending a valuable resource on something that doesn't directly improve my own Character that irks me. I know of only one AP or published module where I could reliably have more than a single week to work on a new AnCo (kingmaker) the rest of them tend to keep you moving. The other pets just seemed a more reliably useful creature in less then perfect scenarios. (Kingmaker I would DEFINITELY have a Roc, it's tailor made for that kind of pet)
Now your Cat is better then it was before but still has less damage, lower combat prowess (CMB/CMD), less survival chances and no aid to the Rangers mobility then the Wolf or Horse without spending 25% of your WBL just to catch up to them. It's a decent druid companion since they can work so well together with Wildshape but for a stationary archer or a slow Melee'er it's contributions are inferior.
Just for my own curiosity.. Keen?? Really? 5% more chance (2 chances in 20) of critting for 8-11 more damage for 5 grand?
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My group uses critical hit deck.
And large is restricted where it can fit in most campanes. Thats why I like meduim. If you don't buy equipment for the animal companion it's not going to be as good as it could be. Spending even a litte for armor will make a big difrence in what kind of AC it hase. So I used one feet and 4250GP to get my animal companion to AC 29. At level 10 this incresses survival chances more then the exta HP.
62,000GP 25% 15,500GP 15% 9,300GP
Look up what space the large animal use. There is no listing for a Large long 5X10 any more. It's only listing is Large 10X10.
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This is the problem with Flying companions we were describing. It requires multiple actions before and during combat before you are able to function normally.
I don't get how flying AnCos would require more checks than land-based ones.
Also, in perhaps all campaigns I've played, there's been the assumption that the ranger/druid trains his critter before showing up at the beginning of the campaign... I'm sure taking a 10 for most would make the DC, especially with the +4 bonus... boohoo, you may have to burn one rank into it and that's pretty much it.
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Attack (DC 20): The animal attacks apparent enemies. You
may point to a particular creature that you wish the animal
to attack, and it will comply if able. Normally, an animal
will attack only humanoids, monstrous humanoids,
giants, or other animals. Teaching an animal to attack all
creatures (including such unnatural creatures as undead
and aberrations) counts as two tricks.
Just needs to be trained Attack two times. Or it will not attack undead or outsiders.
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Large only requires it to use the squeeze rules when going into a smaller space so it's only mildly affected (-2 and no charging) still usable and it's main power is still available, flying birds not so much.
@Kyle Smith, snakes and serpents are just universally a bad option unless you are doing a mostly aquatic campaign. They are as slow as a small sized creature, have less int then other pets (fewer tricks they can learn), weaker attacks and generally poorer special abilities. (Constrict can be useful after 4th level but the constrictors poor armor/HP & CMB make it less likely to succeed on the 2 required grapple checks before being able to use it)
Steer clear of the snakes unless you really have a theme you are shooting for.
@Purple Dragon, First taking 10 on the handle animal check is guaranteed failure before 4th level and it will require at least 3-4 ranks in it then.
As for the difficulty we've stated it multiple times, you are either spending a move action every round on a DC 20 ride check (requiring a significant skill point investment) or you are spending 9+ weeks training your AnCo every time it dies or you want to switch to a new pet (Also requiring a noticeable investment of skill points).
Land based AnCo's can simply stop moving and you don't need to make any checks to full attack while on them and you don't need to train them for combat either since they will have default to defend themselves in combat as soon as you get in melee range (burn their free tricks on Attackx2 and never worry about training them). Everything else is just gravy.
Just because you have a house rule stating your pets magically appear and are fully trained when you get them (even though the rules specifically state they aren't) doesn't mean any other game will have that rule.
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Seems like you can really get over this trick debate by using awaken animal or anthropomorphic animal and give them weapon prof whatever...or heck, take Leadership now you have a powerful "Animal Companion" that just so happens is able to talk and walk on two legs
As soon as you cast Awaken on them they stop being animal companions and lose all those powers. If you cast Anthropomorphic Animal on them they lose all their attacks (except for bite), special abilities, special defenses and movement rates in exchange for... a language. No weapon skills, no extra skill points and no armor skills. They become pretty useless at this point and are more a liability then anything else until the spell wears off.
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Seems like you can really get over this trick debate by using awaken animal or anthropomorphic animal and give them weapon prof whatever...or heck, take Leadership now you have a powerful "Animal Companion" that just so happens is able to talk and walk on two legsAs soon as you cast Awaken on them they stop being animal companions and lose all those powers. If you cast Anthropomorphic Animal on them they lose all their attacks (except for bite), special abilities, special defenses and movement rates in exchange for... a language. No weapon skills, no extra skill points and no armor skills. They become pretty useless at this point and are more a liability then anything else until the spell wears off.
They have hands and therefore can wield weapons and take weapon feats, they still get the Animal companion bonuses and if I remember correctly you could take leadership with them at that point, not sure tho...Either way i normally look to wolf, meaning they lose nothing and gain more..
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As the OP of this thread can someone give me the benefits of Snakes as an animal companion without an insulting "LOL" as a response please.
Level 10 examples.
Snake, ViperStatistics: Size Meduim
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
AC: +8 natural armor
Attack: 10 bite (1d4+4 plus poison);
Ability Scores: Str 16, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2;
Special Attacks: poison (Frequency 1 round (6), Effect 1 Con damage, Cure 1 save,Con-based DC 16 )
Special Qualities: low-light vision, scent.
Slow speed dose have climb and swim speed. However this dose not help much in most combat.
Over all ok AC. Damage is where the Snake, Viper is hurting it's low Str and low save DC for it's poison dose not help.
Low Int. for tricks.
Nothing going for it that other animal companions don't have.
Snake, Constrictor
Statistics: Size Large
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
AC +9 natural armor
Attack bite: (1d4+12);
Ability Scores Str 26, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 2;
Special Attacks grab, constrict (1D4+12)
Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.
Much better over all. The only draw back now is the lack of speed. Other then that it makes a good animal companion. The ability to grab and constrict will help alot with a range archer. If it stays next to you and some one closes it alows the animal companion to remove them as a threat.
So the Snake Viper is not so good. The Snake Constrictor is over all better choice. If it was me snake viper is my pick. Even if it's not the best choice.
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They have hands and therefore can wield weapons and take weapon feats, they still get the Animal companion bonuses and if I remember correctly you could take leadership with them at that point, not sure tho...Either way i normally look to wolf, meaning they lose nothing and gain more..Seems like you can really get over this trick debate by using awaken animal or anthropomorphic animal and give them weapon prof whatever...or heck, take Leadership now you have a powerful "Animal Companion" that just so happens is able to talk and walk on two legsAs soon as you cast Awaken on them they stop being animal companions and lose all those powers. If you cast Anthropomorphic Animal on them they lose all their attacks (except for bite), special abilities, special defenses and movement rates in exchange for... a language. No weapon skills, no extra skill points and no armor skills. They become pretty useless at this point and are more a liability then anything else until the spell wears off.
Yes they have hands but they have no weapon proficiencies so they are at a -4 to use any weapon (including throwing it's own poo) and -5 to use their bite attack if the try to use the bite + weapon. Wolves would only lose the trip but every other AnCo would lose so much more.
They'd be incapable of learning any feat till the earned a level, and no matter what intelligence they get you still need to use handle animal to get them to do anything that isn't a trick they've learned.
Remember though their intelligence has gone up they still stay a normal animal (not a magical beast) so the new rulings for Animal Intelligence stay in effect.
This spell is a trap don't ever try to use it on your own AnCo (great for familiars though), but since rangers don't get Anthropomorphic animal it''s not important.
Mathwei ap Niall fist off hi
Flying moving ride check problem fix with one feat Hover. For the Mount
A rider full attack if mount single move with not penalty.
flank the Flying pet can flank just not with me. cause I am Acher. But It can with the other folk that are melee in the party. If it move to right spot.
Any command give to animal is a move action unless they are your animal companion in witch it is a free action.
Push is Move so that dose hurt some what till get trick that you whan for it.
Train thing what else you doing with your down time
Geting bigger than Meduim you run in to that with most pet some time.
Vary few do not go up in size. Well hold that I need to check that out some more.... be back latter.
PS Snakes still bite SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
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Large only requires it to use the squeeze rules when going into a smaller space so it's only mildly affected (-2 and no charging) still usable and it's main power is still available, flying birds not so much.
Squeezing is -4 to both attack and AC (page 193 of the CRB). Not the best situation for the usually squishy AC especially for Large creatures that are also easier to flank and to hit. The fact that it also divides the creature's move by 2 makes it rather painful.
Furthermore, a Large creature cannot squeeze through a small space (ie half a square) unless it makes a DC30 Escape Artist check, while Medium mounts and characters can without requiring anything special.
Being Small and having a Medium mount avoids this problem entirely as dungeons are ALWAYS accessible to Medium creatures (lest PCs be unable to enter them which would make for a boring adventure).
Land based AnCo's can simply stop moving and you don't need to make any checks to full attack while on them and you don't need to train them for combat either since they will have default to defend themselves in combat as soon as you get in melee range (burn their free tricks on Attackx2 and never worry about training them).
You still need to make the Ride check (DC 5 if combat-trained, DC 20 otherwise) even if your mount is not moving. There is zero difference between flying and land-based mounts there.
As the OP of this thread can someone give me the benefits of Snakes as an animal companion without an insulting "LOL" as a response please.
Free poison supply?
*shrug*
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Mathwei ap Niall fist off hi
Hi youself.
Flying moving ride check problem fix with one feat Hover. For the Mount
Yup, means this pet has a built in feat cost but it would work.
A rider full attack if mount single move with not penalty.
Partially correct, it requires you to have a combat trained mount otherwise controlling it in combat requires a DC 20 ride check and a Move action, restricting the rider to a single melee attack. Also only ranged full attacks are possible during this move.
(core book pg. 201-202)
Any command give to animal is a move action unless they are your animal companion in witch it is a free action.
Incorrect, any command given is a Handle Animal Check which is a Move Action and pushing is a full round action.
If it's your animal companion it changes it to a free action and push is a move action.Why does this matter? Getting it to perform a trick it knows is still a Handle Animal check, so you still have to spend the corresponding action to get it to do it. Limited tricks means you will be spending a LOT of time pushing your pet.
You do know you have to succeed on a handle animal check to get your AnCo to do ANYTHING right?
Train thing what else you doing with your down time
Depends, what if you don't have any down time? Most AP's try not to give you any.
Geting bigger than Meduim you run in to that with most pet some time.
Agreed, bigger hindrance with flying creatures than land bound ones though.
PS Snakes still bite SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
For a 1D4-1D6. Very poor damage there.
@Black Raven, true on the squeeze modifiers (always get that number wrong) and very true on the medium sized mount (was my first suggestion to the OP but everyone focused on the horse so that's where the conversation went).
As for the ride check I disagree.
the quoted line is:
Combat while Mounted: With a DC 5 Ride check, you can
guide your mount with your knees so as to use both hands to
attack or defend yourself. This is a free action.
If it's not moving it doesn't need to be guided so no check required.
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One thing I would like to add that appears to have changes in the switch to Pathfinder from 3.5 is you no longer gain +1 to ranged attacks from higher ground. (Table right hand corner, it is in the core book forget which page)
I may be mistaken, but recollection is that the higher ground bonus only applied to melee attack in 3.5 as well.
For those who are saying Roc's are bad because they are Large...
Reduce Animal. You can then reduce your roc to small/medium (depending on it's size) and take it into town or a dungeon with you. You can buy a 2nd level wand of this spell, and use it at any level you can afford to buy it (since the spell is on the ranger list).
Animal Growth. For the cost of a 4th level wand, you can get a ranger version of this spell for your ranger, and make your Roc Huge if you like, and you are going to be outside for awhile.
Both spells can be used on other ACs as well to deal with tight spaces or open areas.
Also, theoretically, you can get your wizard friend to polymorph your AC into a different animal for taking it into town, if you need to. Granted that's a higher level spell than reduce/grow animal.
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It's not bad becous it's large. It's bad becous any thing other then out doors it is usless. If used in most setings you will never get a chance to realy use the Roc. There are a few exceptions Kingmaker AP is one of them. Thats why the Roc in genral is a bad choice. Not becous the Roc is a bad choice but becous envirement of campanes limits there ability to be used.
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I really don't want to be insulting, but please guys, if you don't understand the advantage of a flying mount over a land based mount, you're missing the point. The flying mount offers countless perks for a *ranger*. You can fly over mountains, towns, survey enemy camps, fly over the Lord's keep and drop a stinkbomb in the courtyard, track a flying dragon to its lair from a distance, etc. etc. etc
And if you want to deconstruct the traditional meaning of a ranger into a piece by piece archetype equivalency with fighter discussion, then forget about it.
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I really don't want to be insulting, but please guys, if you don't understand the advantage of a flying mount over a land based mount, you're missing the point. The flying mount offers countless perks for a *ranger*. You can fly over mountains, towns, survey enemy camps, fly over the Lord's keep and drop a stinkbomb in the courtyard, track a flying dragon to its lair from a distance, etc. etc. etc
And if you want to deconstruct the traditional meaning of a ranger into a piece by piece archetype equivalency with fighter discussion, then forget about it.
And with all that comes with all restrictions as well. Mount of any kind hase limited use in most games. There are few exceptions.
I am sorry it took me so long but i was quite busy these days, so back to wolf vs small cat.
First let's say that the boon companion actually works for a single classed ranger (RAW it doesn't but i have seen many groups, including mine, houseruling it to it's original form), you had some errors in your stat blocks (the cat was missing an ability increase, the wolf had way too much damage, wolf's AC etc.)
So here it is:
BAB +6
Feats: 5
N.A. +6
STR/DEX +3
Wolf:
hp: 76 (40+36)
AC: 22 (10+3+6+4-1)
STR 26 (+8)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 19 (+4)
INT 2
WIS 12
CHA 6
+8 N.A.
CMB: +15 (+18 for trip)
CMD: 28
feats: Power Attack, weapon focus (bite), Vital Strike, Improved Natural Attack, Ability Focus (trip) MultiAttack (free)
Attack routine:
bite +14 (+12 PA) 2d6+8 (2d6+12), bite +9 (+7 PA) 2d6+8 (2d6+12 PA)
without PA and no favored 13.3875
with PA but no favored 12.9675
with PA and favored enemy 35.4375
with PA, VS and FE 24.9375
Small Cat
hp: 76 (40+27+9)
AC: 23 (10+6+7)
STR 20 (+5)
DEX 22 (+6)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 2
WIS 12
CHA 6
+6 N.A.
CMB: +11 (+12 for trip)
CMD: 27
feats: Power attack, weapon focus (bite & Claws), toughness +1 feat of your choice
Attack routine:
bite +12 (+10 PA) 1d6+5 (1d6+9 PA), claw +12 (+10 PA) 1d3+5 (1d3+9 PA), claw +12 (+10 PA) 1d3+5 (1d3+9 PA)
without PA and no favored 10.15875
with PA but no favored 12.31125
with PA and favored enemy 35.14875
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
So you were right, the wolf has slightly better damage than the small cat at that level (the multiattack helped him a LOT) but that would change at higher levels (extra PA damage, extra FA and the amulet of mighty fists helps the cat more than it does the wolf). I would like to say that the ability focus (trip) doesn't work since the trip doesn't have a DC.
Anyway this round goes to you, now with how much equipment do you want to give to the animals?
Multiclass as a Wizard-Ranger-Druid...you'll have two AC's and a familiar. Now take the Leadership Feat and get a Wizard-Ranger-Druid Cohort who will also have two AC's and a familiar.
If all four party members do that, you'll have a whole pack of...nothing.
Cheers
Str mod for damage for the wolf is 1 1/2 (+12). So you need fix that and redo the DPR.
Before he gets multiattack and gains one more attack yes it is but after that it's only STR times 1.
Animal Choices
Each animal companion has different starting sizes, speed, attacks, ability scores, and special qualities. All animal attacks are made using the creature's full base attack bonus unless otherwise noted. Animal attacks add the animal's Strength modifier to the damage roll, unless it is its only attack, in which case it adds 1-1/2 its Strength modifier. Some have special abilities, such as scent. See Special Abilities for more information on these abilities. As you gain levels, your animal companion improves as well, usually at 4th or 7th level, in addition to the standard bonuses noted on Table: Animal Companion Base Statistics. Instead of taking the listed benefit at 4th or 7th level, you can instead choose to increase the companion's Dexterity and Constitution by 2.
Empahsis mine.
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It still only hase one Attack Bite. It dose not have Bite 2Claw, or Bite 2Talons, or Bite 2Hooves. So it gets the 1 1/2 str mod.
Multiattack: An animal companion gains Multiattack as
a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does
not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite
three or more natural attacks, the animal companion
instead gains a second attack with one of its natural
weapons, albeit at a –5 penalty.
Multiclass as a Wizard-Ranger-Druid...you'll have two AC's and a familiar. Now take the Leadership Feat and get a Wizard-Ranger-Druid Cohort who will also have two AC's and a familiar.
If all four party members do that, you'll have a whole pack of...nothing.
Cheers
No
It is you the PC, 1 Familiar, 1 Animal Companion.The Ranger/Druid/Paladin /Caviler all Stack so only get one.
Caviler 3 Druid 3 Ranger 5 has one pet level 8 level 12 if they take boon companion.
It still only hase one Attack Bite. It dose not have Bite 2Claw, or Bite 2Talons, or Bite 2Hooves. So it gets the 1 1/2 str mod.
Multiattack: An animal companion gains Multiattack as
a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does
not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite
three or more natural attacks, the animal companion
instead gains a second attack with one of its natural
weapons, albeit at a –5 penalty.
Where do you get that? the rule doesn't say that you get 1.5 STR when you have one natural weapon to attack with, it says one attack and since the multiattack grants you a second attack then you don't add STR 1.5 to damage. It doesn't matter if you have bite/claw/claw or bite/bite/bite since you don't have one attack you don't get to add 1.5 times your STR to damage.
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It still only hase one Attack Bite. It dose not have Bite 2Claw, or Bite 2Talons, or Bite 2Hooves. So it gets the 1 1/2 str mod.
Multiattack: An animal companion gains Multiattack as
a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does
not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite
three or more natural attacks, the animal companion
instead gains a second attack with one of its natural
weapons, albeit at a –5 penalty.
Yup, it doesn't get another natural attack it gets an additional attack with one of the other Natural Attacks it already has. So add +4 damage to each of to the wolf's attacks and it really jumps out ahead of the cat.
Easiest way of examining this is look at the wolf as a two handed fighter and the cat as a dual wielding rogue using 2 different weapons and no sneak attack.
The wolf is all about mobility and burst damage (it's bite functions exactly like a 2hd weapon) with a status effect on every attack it does and it can get in and out of combat quickly.
The cat is forced to burn three times the feats to improve it's weapons (weapon finesse and Weapon focusx2, etc), doesn't benefit from it's damaging stat as well as the Wolf, and doesn't have the staying power in combat (lower HP's & fort saves).
The cat can be a very useful pet early game if you are willing to give it enough support (flanking, gear, buffs, etc. like the average low level rogue) but that kind of defeats it's purpose. Your animal companion is there to provide YOU with the support not the other way around.
As for Boon Companion I fail to see how anyone could mistake how it works, but I'm not starting that argument again.
@Purple Dragon Rider, none of us have ever said it was bad pet, just that in comparison to the other choices it's type has requirements that make it a worse choice
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Where do you get that? the rule doesn't say that you get 1.5 STR when you have one natural weapon to attack with, it says one attack and since the multiattack grants you a second attack then you don't add STR 1.5 to damage. It doesn't matter if you have bite/claw/claw or bite/bite/bite since you don't have one attack you don't get to add 1.5 times your STR to damage.It still only hase one Attack Bite. It dose not have Bite 2Claw, or Bite 2Talons, or Bite 2Hooves. So it gets the 1 1/2 str mod.
Multiattack: An animal companion gains Multiattack as
a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does
not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite
three or more natural attacks, the animal companion
instead gains a second attack with one of its natural
weapons, albeit at a –5 penalty.
No, what it says is:
If you possess only one natural attack (such as a bite—two claw attacks do not qualify), you add 1–1/2 times your Strength bonus on
damage rolls made with that attack.
The Wolf still only has 1 natural attack, it just gets a second attack with one of it's other natural attacks and since the wolf STILL only has one attack (a bite) it keeps the bonus.
The "all animal attacks" part of the rule doesn't say anything about different types/modes/weapons of attack, it simply says attacks (plural), now that the wolf doesn't have 1 attack and has 2 attacks (plural again) it doesn't get the extra STR to damage. I don't know how you can read any other way, it's looks pretty simple to me, when you have a single attack you get extra damage when you have more than one attacks you don't get the extra damage.
No, what it says is:If you possess only one natural attack (such as a bite—two claw attacks do not qualify), you add 1–1/2 times your Strength bonus on
damage rolls made with that attack.The Wolf still only has 1 natural attack, it just gets a second attack with one of it's other natural attacks and since the wolf STILL only has one attack (a bite) it keeps the bonus.
Where does this quote comes from? I don't see it like that in the PRD.
As for the boon companion, it's pretty clear that RAW the feat doesn't help a single class ranger but from what i have heard the wording of the feat has changed at last time. I am not saying i like the wording of the feat (and apperantly other people do not like it either), that's why i said that yes a ranger would have it (unless he is a switch hitter, those guys really don't have feats to spare).
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As for the ride check I disagree.
the quoted line is:
Combat while Mounted: With a DC 5 Ride check, you can
guide your mount with your knees so as to use both hands to
attack or defend yourself. This is a free action....
If it's not moving it doesn't need to be guided so no check required
There is absolutely nothing in the text you quoted (or in the entire RAW by the way) that says that the Combat while Mounted rule (and the necessary Ride check) only applies when your mount is moving. It clearly says that it applies whenever you want to use both hands to attack or defend yourself while mounted, no matter what your mount is doing.
In fact, from RL-experience, keeping a mount such as a horse not moving while in a stressful situation such as combat (even ranged combat) requires a strict guidance from the rider and thus a lot of skill. Far more than just letting it move and trying to stay on top of it.
Back to the OP : the Best Animal Companion for an Archery Ranger is the mount with the Lookout feat (of course you need to get it too).
It dramatically reduces your chance of being surprised, and thus flat-footed, in the surprise round and greatly increases your chance of unleashing your deadly full-attack one round earlier at targets that might still be flat-footed themselves. And that is not counting that your faithful mount gets a full round of actions too to do with as it pleases.
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best mount for a ranger archer is a dire bat. nothing in the game gives you a better option for damage, maneuver ability, and it can still walk with you in dungeons.
wolf would be my second choice because of the ability to stop targets from getting to you. but if you care about pure DPR then i would say a raptor/lepord for pounce insanity.
so, imo, ranking would be:
1. dire bat(archetype/druid)
2. wolf (utility)
2. raptor(archetype/druid)/large cat (DPR)
3. bird
but you would have to use an archetype or dip druid, but it would be worth it.
I am hoping its a Hippogriff. I am playing a ranger in Curse of the Crimson throne. Just a few more levels.
My level 14 ranger has a hippogriff mount/companion. Doesn't get any better than that.
Good to know. Should I regret going switch hitter infavor of full on archer.
