I think the usual consensus is the large cat is one of the best but others might argue the T-rex
If you're sticking to Core, it's hard to beat the wolf. It's got the speed to get around to a flank (and you can argue with the DM about pack tactics and how a wolf naturally would want to flank, if he's that type of DM), he gets large size, so he can trip more things, and with his Str, should be able to land hits and tip attempts quite often.
Trips are great. If your wolf trips before you act, you get a +4 on all your attacks, so it combines well with Power Attack. Plus, you get a bonus attack when he stands up. And it'll be hard for enemies to disengage from you, so your casters and ranged party members can feel safer.
I've had some fun using Dire Bats as flying animal companions in the past. Maybe Rocs are better, except if you're also a scout and have darkvision. I played a dwarf druid, so the blindsense of the bat came in handy in dungeon scouting, but Rocs are stronger in a combat sense.
I've also played a druid with an ape companion and upped his Int to 3 so he could grip and wield weapons and armor. This allowed us to equip him like other characters with left over gear. An animal companion with that left over +1 Greatsword, power attacking from a flank with you... kinda cool.
EDIT:
I was also going to mention large cat. I've played 4 different animal companions in Pathfinder, and the one I didn't mention was the Dire Tiger (large cat). If you're looking to pile on damage and have a stealthy scouting partner, this is the best bet.
The T-Rex statistically looks pretty amazing, and will have a high AC and deal massive damage and is also capable of grabbing, so it's also super strong, depending on your DM and the campaign setting. If your DM is gonna give you a hard time about bringing a 12 foot tall T-Rex into town, though...
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This list suggests that Allosaurus, Velociraptor and Roc are the best combatants, although some are better at different levels.
It also appears that the Stingray is literally the worst Animal Companion, ever.
I guess it all depends on what you want the companion for, and what role you want it to play in the party.
As for the Ape and that sounds like a laugh. But I would guess that means taken armour and weapon feats for profiency?
Well, yeah. And you'd still probably have to have custom armor made if your DM isn't lenient. But the awesomeness factor alone makes it worth it.
Personaly im looking at the following as good choices:
Small cat(leopard/cheetah)
Wolf
Roc
And now maybe ape :)
With these options, and what you need it for, I'd say go for the small cat. The wolf is better for double teaming a single enemy, and the roc wouldn't be serving the purpose of meeting enemies in melee combat and preventing them from bashing on the rest of the party. Small cats have a great AC, though not a lot of damage, but they would annoy the enemy and have better survivability. I just hate rolling d2's and d3's.
By the way, as a ranger I get this on level 4. Does that mean the animal also is level 4, or does it start at level 1?
Also how/when do animal companions gain feats?
Your animal companion works as if you were a druid three levels lower than your ranger, so at level 4, it'd work as if you were a 1st level druid. Under table 3-8 in the Core Rulebook you'll just use the 1st level animal companions. There's a feat column there for your use, so they would start with 1 feat, get a second at 2nd level (when you hit level 5), and their third at level 5 (you'd be level 8).
If you're a straight ranger, most of the "cool" pets aren't available to you. Of the ones that are available to the Ranger, the Wolf is a great choice, and the small cat isn't bad either.
If you take Beast Master Archetype the whole list opens up to you, but you lose your 6th level Bonus feats. Doesn't seem like much, but for a switch hitter that depends on getting by prereqs for their archery feats, it's pretty significant.
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Well first things first, You can't have the large cat, only Druids and Beastmaster archetype rangers can have that. The Ape is a bad option simply for the clarified rules on Animal Companions and weapons/armor (they basically can't use them without a lot of leeway from your GM).
The small cat is sub-optimal for many rangers, especially from the switch hitter as main melee, since it stays as a medium size and lacks the Hit Points to take the beating the main melee needs to absorb.
The allosaurus is mechanically the best companion but try to bring that anywhere near a town and you'll have more RP issues then you can imagine. Add to that just FINDING one of them to bond with can be an enormous issue.
For simplicity and effectiveness the Wolf is probably the best choice (past 7th level). Fast, powerful, hard hitting and common enough you can find one anywhere. It can function as a melee tank, Battlefield Control, Mount and doesn't slow the game down anywhere near as much as your other options.
Personally I use one on my Ranger and if used correctly can put out and take an absolute ton of damage.
I don't know if I like precise strike as a feat. First, you'd have to raise it's Int by a point because animals can't take Teamwork feats. If you're going to do that, you might as well use something that can grip a weapon and spend a feat taking weapon proficiency. Magic weapons will do more damage in the long run than precise strike, which requires you to flank with your companion, something that might be hard to do if you're the only real melee guy in the party. You companion is probably needed elsewhere, so I doubt you'll actually use the feat that much.
If you're worried about bringing your large sized cat into a dungeon with you, don't be. Most dungeons will easily accommodate large sized creatures, since the majority of what you'll be fighting at higher levels will be larger than you. Grab, pounce, and rake are going to be more useful for you than trip and sprint.
EDIT: Totally forgot that the ranger dealt with a smaller list of companions. Yeah, I'd go small cat, then, for the higher AC. Trip won't hit as often, but it's still a chance.
A Rangers animal companion is treated as a druids but 3 levels lower so will be significantly weaker. Also they have a limited list to chose from so some of the suggestions given in the previous posts are not going to work.
The feat boon companion will make the animal companion the same level as a druids and is almost a must for a ranger looking for a combat capable companion. The problem is you get your companion at 4th and feats your next feat is at 5th.
Another thing to keep in mind is the companions size. A large companion is going to be a lot better in combat but may have trouble getting into some places and have to be left behind. Unlike a Paladins mount it is not something you can summon to you. If you are going to be doing a lot of outdoor adventures this is not much a problem but the dungeon craws may be a different story.
You can also change out your companion as you level up so don't get caught up in the idea you are making a permanent choice. Chose something that is going to stay alive for 4th level and once you can pick up boon companion switch to a more combat capable companion.
At 4th level a bird of some sort is probably decent and will be able to survive a little better by keeping in the air. Also good for scouting. at 5th level switch it out for a wolf if you want more combat ability. At 7th (10th without boon companion) level it becomes large. At this point it monster but you may have trouble taking it with you. This may be a good time to swap it out for a cheetah if taking him with you is going to be a problem.
If you are looking for a mount then this changes things. Start with a horse as it is large so can be used as a mount. At 7th (with boon companion) swap it out for a Roc if you want a flying mount, or a wolf.
I don't know if I like precise strike as a feat. First, you'd have to raise it's Int by a point because animals can't take Teamwork feats. If you're going to do that, you might as well use something that can grip a weapon and spend a feat taking weapon proficiency. Magic weapons will do more damage in the long run than precise strike, which requires you to flank with your companion, something that might be hard to do if you're the only real melee guy in the party. You companion is probably needed elsewhere, so I doubt you'll actually use the feat that much.
If you're worried about bringing your large sized cat into a dungeon with you, don't be. Most dungeons will easily accommodate large sized creatures, since the majority of what you'll be fighting at higher levels will be larger than you. Grab, pounce, and rake are going to be more useful for you than trip and sprint.
EDIT: Totally forgot that the ranger dealt with a smaller list of companions. Yeah, I'd go small cat, then, for the higher AC. Trip won't hit as often, but it's still a chance.
Raising an animal companions INT is a good idea that way they are able to learn more than just feats. With a INT of 3 you can have them learn a language and give them verbal instructions. They also do not have to worry about having to be pushed or learning tricks.
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I don't know if I like precise strike as a feat. First, you'd have to raise it's Int by a point because animals can't take Teamwork feats. If you're going to do that, you might as well use something that can grip a weapon and spend a feat taking weapon proficiency. Magic weapons will do more damage in the long run than precise strike, which requires you to flank with your companion, something that might be hard to do if you're the only real melee guy in the party. You companion is probably needed elsewhere, so I doubt you'll actually use the feat that much.
If you're worried about bringing your large sized cat into a dungeon with you, don't be. Most dungeons will easily accommodate large sized creatures, since the majority of what you'll be fighting at higher levels will be larger than you. Grab, pounce, and rake are going to be more useful for you than trip and sprint.
EDIT: Totally forgot that the ranger dealt with a smaller list of companions. Yeah, I'd go small cat, then, for the higher AC. Trip won't hit as often, but it's still a chance.
Well first, you need to read the Blog post on animals with weapons here. It pretty much killed the idea of using a weapon wielding animal.
As for worrying about whether your large sized AC can get where you want don't really worry about that. The only times you shouldn't be able to take your AC where you go is if you have to climb down a small well (the only time I've needed to leave my wolf behind). The rest of the time they can simply use the squeezed rules (makes for a great blocker since you are the only melee) or invest a few gold into a scroll/wand of reduce animal.
edit: @Maraxion, Keep Reading, You use the Nature's Bond rules from under the druid entry but the Rangers have a separate listing in their entry in the CRB for which animals they are allowed to take. It's about half the size of the druid entry.
The Beastmaster archetype specifically changes that and lets you pull from the full druid list but it has a few different restrictions on it.
edit: Blargh, fixed the link.
Raising an animal companions INT is a good idea that way they are able to learn more than just feats. With a INT of 3 you can have them learn a language and give them verbal instructions. They also do not have to worry about having to be pushed or learning tricks.
Depends on the DM, I'd think. A lot of DMs are pretty lenient with what the animal companion can do and just handwaves a lot of that. I agree with you for the most part, but the last several times I've played a character with an animal companion, the DM didn't really care what tricks I taught it. I was able to control it in combat however I wished. And the last time I DMed and someone had an animal companion (a wolf), and brought up tricks and the fact that the player was trying to get it to do some pretty complicated things in combat, some heated words were exchanged regarding my late mother. *shrug*
I do like the small cat due to the high dex to armour. It should give it a total of 16Ac.
17 AC. It's small sized.
But on the other side a Roc has a whopping 19AC at 1. level.
The problem with the roc is the fact that it flies in combat. You're not dedicated it's skill points to it's Fly skill so it can hover in combat, otherwise it'll be taking AoO's due to it's forced movement to stay airborne. It won't be a problem at later levels when that check is almost an auto success, but they you have to worry about the whole taking it into a dungeon thing, and the fact that there probably won't be room for it to fly at all due to it's massive wingspan. I mean, the giant eagle (also large) has a 30 foot wingspan. Can you imagine something that size flying around a 60 foot square dungeon room, or gliding down a 15 foot wide dungeon corridor?
That are a bit, but a +1 hp pr level cant realy make up for the lack of AC on the wolf an it?
Which is why I think the wolf is a poor choice for a party where the ranger is the primary melee combatant.
Well first, you need to read the Blog post on animals with weapons [urlhttp://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lc1y]here[/url. It pretty much killed the idea of using a weapon wielding animal.
Oh, fix link. I actually want to read that.
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Raising an animal companions INT is a good idea that way they are able to learn more than just feats. With a INT of 3 you can have them learn a language and give them verbal instructions. They also do not have to worry about having to be pushed or learning tricks.I don't know if I like precise strike as a feat. First, you'd have to raise it's Int by a point because animals can't take Teamwork feats. If you're going to do that, you might as well use something that can grip a weapon and spend a feat taking weapon proficiency. Magic weapons will do more damage in the long run than precise strike, which requires you to flank with your companion, something that might be hard to do if you're the only real melee guy in the party. You companion is probably needed elsewhere, so I doubt you'll actually use the feat that much.
If you're worried about bringing your large sized cat into a dungeon with you, don't be. Most dungeons will easily accommodate large sized creatures, since the majority of what you'll be fighting at higher levels will be larger than you. Grab, pounce, and rake are going to be more useful for you than trip and sprint.
EDIT: Totally forgot that the ranger dealt with a smaller list of companions. Yeah, I'd go small cat, then, for the higher AC. Trip won't hit as often, but it's still a chance.
Whoa, stop right there. That is COMPLETELY WRONG!!
An animal companion ALWAYS has to be controlled with Handle Animal checks. It doesn't matter if it has an Int of 3 or 300, if you want it to do anything you have to make that roll.The advantage of having an Int of 3 or better is strictly how many tricks it can learn and what feats it's allowed to take. That's it.
Also at Maraxion, the difference in base AC is not a big deal. Throw some armor/prot spells/feats at them and any of them can have a massive AC, they will still get hit eventually and that's where HP's come in.
The small cat has a con of 13 (15 at 7th level) so it gets 5-6 HP's per level, about the same as a Wizard and we know how squishy those are. The Wolf has a con of 15 (19 at 7th) so it gets 6-8 HP's every level and can easily get 9 HP's ever level, that's Fighter level Hit points. That's how you survive a fight.(we won't even talk about the Allosaurus, that's just sick)
Also at Maraxion, the difference in base AC is not a big deal. Throw some armor/prot spells/feats at them and any of them can have a massive AC, they will still get hit eventually and that's where HP's come in.
The small cat has a con of 13 (15 at 7th level) so it gets 5-6 HP's per level, about the same as a Wizard and we know how squishy those are. The Wolf has a con of 15 (19 at 7th) so it gets 6-8 HP's every level and can easily get 9 HP's ever level, that's Fighter level Hit points. That's how you survive a fight.(we won't even talk about the Allosaurus, that's just sick)
I disagree with this. Maybe if the companion is going to be tanking every hit meant for the ranger, but I've never had a DM so cruel. For the most part, your companion gets attacked every now and then, and having a big AC at lower levels is a great way to avoid most of those hits. A 14 is something easily smacked. A 17 is smacked much less often. That's a big difference, even if the math says it should only be a 15%. It's the expectation for those middling rolls, 8-12 on the d20. Those will likely hit the wolf and miss the cat. You expect things lower to miss and things higher to hit.
Also, at lower levels, you're talking the difference between 11 HPs for a cat and 13 for a wolf. That's not going to come down to a single blow. It'll likely be the same amount of hits to drop either, so the HP argument is mostly null at low levels.
I mean, take an ogre, which is reasonable to fight at level 4. Ogre does average damage of 16. It's not a matter of taking a hit, it's a matter of not being hit. 7 or higher for the wolf, so chances are that ogre swings at your wolf, it's out. 10 or higher for the cat. Now you've got even money shot.
At higher levels you'll start seeing a HP spread where the Con will actually make a difference. But, as others have said, that's when you can switch out animal companions if you choose to.
Maraxion, do you have a copy of the Core Rulebook? Have you read the animal companion section under druids and rangers? It answers most of the questions you're asking.
How do animals handle multiple attacks btw? like tha small cat has 3 and the wolf 1. Does the cat suffer minuses to attack when it uses all the attacks?
No, the cat makes all the attacks at full BAB. This is explained on page 53, second sentence under the heading Animal Choices at the bottom of the page.
The small cat has a great CMB to attack and even grapple after a trip, also by using weapon finesse feat it wil get an awsome to hit.
But, the cat will be taking a -1 penalty on trip attempts due to it's small size, and won't be able to trip large creatures from the beginning (like that ogre I mentioned). The wolf doesn't take a penalty, and can trip large creatures, and eventually huge creatures.
But Mathwei, whats your rulong about teamwork feats?
First of, do the animal have to have an int of minimum 3?
Page 53, Animal Feats, lists the feats an animal can take unless it has an Int of 3 or more. None of the Teamwork feats are on there because the came out in APG.
Also is there anything stopping the smal cat to use weapon finesse?
Weapon Finesse is on the list, and natural weapons are finesse weapons.
Can the wolf and small cat use the trip as a free action if they hit a normal attack, or do they have to make CMD attack?
It operates just like it does in the Bestiary. If the creature hits with the attack that has the Trip ability, it can make a free CMB trip attempt against the opponent's CMD without provoking an AoO (pg 305 Bestiary).
You sure about that? As I read it it has a 21 dex and +1 natural.
That would give it 16. Doesent say anything about small.
Yeah, I'm sure. Small creatures get a +1 size bonus to AC and to hit.
When the wolf goes to large size, it actually takes a -1 size penalty on both AC and to-hit. All of this is covered on page 179 of the Core Rulebook.
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Also at Maraxion, the difference in base AC is not a big deal. Throw some armor/prot spells/feats at them and any of them can have a massive AC, they will still get hit eventually and that's where HP's come in.
The small cat has a con of 13 (15 at 7th level) so it gets 5-6 HP's per level, about the same as a Wizard and we know how squishy those are. The Wolf has a con of 15 (19 at 7th) so it gets 6-8 HP's every level and can easily get 9 HP's ever level, that's Fighter level Hit points. That's how you survive a fight.(we won't even talk about the Allosaurus, that's just sick)I disagree with this. Maybe if the companion is going to be tanking every hit meant for the ranger, but I've never had a DM so cruel. For the most part, your companion gets attacked every now and then, and having a big AC at lower levels is a great way to avoid most of those hits. A 14 is something easily smacked. A 17 is smacked much less often. That's a big difference, even if the math says it should only be a 15%. It's the expectation for those middling rolls, 8-12 on the d20. Those will likely hit the wolf and miss the cat. You expect things lower to miss and things higher to hit.
Also, at lower levels, you're talking the difference between 11 HPs for a cat and 13 for a wolf. That's not going to come down to a single blow. It'll likely be the same amount of hits to drop either, so the HP argument is mostly null at low levels.
I mean, take an ogre, which is reasonable to fight at level 4. Ogre does average damage of 16. It's not a matter of taking a hit, it's a matter of not being hit. 7 or higher for the wolf, so chances are that ogre swings at your wolf, it's out. 10 or higher for the cat. Now you've got even money shot.
At higher levels you'll start seeing a HP spread where the Con will actually make a difference. But, as others have said, that's when you can switch out animal companions if you choose to.
My example is specifically tailored to the OP's question where he and his AC are the ONLY melee in the group. At that point survivability becomes extremely important for the AC. Also as I said the Wolf is the better AC after 7th level, at that point the difference in hit points becomes extremely noticeable. Also that's the point where to hit bonuses start outpacing AC increases.
@Maraxion, to answer your questions.
1. They use natural Attack rules from the back of the Beastiary. It's a little complicated so you really need to go read that chapter.
2. Teamwork feats, they CAN use them but you will need to raise their Int to 3 before they can take them.
3. The trip attempt goes off for free on every attack. The cat gets more tries but the wolf has a much better chance of tripping and can trip larger opponents.
Whoa, stop right there. That is COMPLETELY WRONG!!
An animal companion ALWAYS has to be controlled with Handle Animal checks. It doesn't matter if it has an Int of 3 or 300, if you want it to do anything you have to make that roll.
The advantage of having an Int of 3 or better is strictly how many tricks it can learn and what feats it's allowed to take. That's it.
An animal companion with a 3 or higher INT can purchase ranks in ANY skill. They also get bonus skills for a high INT. Also a 3 INT allows a creature to learn a language. Now I can see that some skills can't be used do to physical limitations, but other than that there are no limitations on what skill an animal companion of 3 or higher INT can have. So I can have an ape companion with a 3 INT who spends skill ranks on linguistics to learn common and profession engineer that is capable of creating a set of plans for a building on his own, but I can't tell him to bring me the green apple?
With only a 3 INT the complexity of the instructions they can understand will not be that high, but they will be a lot more complex then what animal handling can do.
Koko would be a good example of what an animal companion with a higher INT can do.
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Whoa, stop right there. That is COMPLETELY WRONG!!
An animal companion ALWAYS has to be controlled with Handle Animal checks. It doesn't matter if it has an Int of 3 or 300, if you want it to do anything you have to make that roll.
The advantage of having an Int of 3 or better is strictly how many tricks it can learn and what feats it's allowed to take. That's it.An animal companion with a 3 or higher INT can purchase ranks in ANY skill. They also get bonus skills for a high INT. Also a 3 INT allows a creature to learn a language. Now I can see that some skills can't be used do to physical limitations, but other than that there are no limitations on what skill an animal companion of 3 or higher INT can have. So I can have an ape companion with a 3 INT who spends skill ranks on linguistics to learn common and profession engineer that is capable of creating a set of plans for a building on his own, but I can't tell him to bring me the green apple?
With only a 3 INT the complexity of the instructions they can understand will not be that high, but they will be a lot more complex then what animal handling can do.
Koko would be a good example of what an animal companion with a higher INT can do.
You are trying to apply real world examples to a game. Stop it.
The devs have specifically called out that ANY time you try to get a creature of type=animal to do ANYTHING you must succeed on a handle animal check. Doesn't matter if it has an int of 300, is head of 7 magic colleges and routinely discusses philosophy with the GODS over tea. If you want it to attack that guy, handle animal check. You want it to open a door? Handle animal check, You want it to stop licking itself in public? Handle animal check.These are the rules and the devs felt so strongly about it the devoted a 700 post blog update to express this. Go read it, I linked it above.
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Il be reading some pages before I post again I see, thanks il be back.
But mathwei, there is one thing I dont get.
You say that the cat gets more tries to attack/trip.
But wouldent that mean that they get more damage?
The wolf get a 1d6, but the small cat gets 1d4+1d2+1d2, which is 8. Also from level 4-6 the small cat wil have a 1d6+1d3+1d3 so 12damage. And also on a trip the 2 last attempts might be on a prone target?
I was thinking the great thing with the wolf was the increased damage, but it seems that until level 7 the wolf is underpowered both on damage and AC, or am I understanding it wrong?As for the tripping I agree even if the differense is small.
If I do take Agile manouvers on the cat doh, it wil more then even the ods.But again those pesty feats go fast :)
The cat has a higher MAXIMUM damage but a significantly lower average damage and you've identified the main reason why.
The cat has a lower bab/base damage/CMB then the wolf unless you invest lots of feats into improving it. Without Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers and an Amulet of Mighty Fist (Agile) the cat will miss most of it's attacks and the few that do hit will average 3-5 pts of damage a hit.The wolf on the other hand only needs to worry about STRENGTH so he can devote all his feats to that. Give him Power Attack and Cleave and he gets 2 attacks almost every round (even when he moves) with a higher chance to hit and better damage on that hit. Don't forget unlike the cat he gets to add 1.5x Strength bonus on every attack so his average damage will ALWAYS be higher then the cat's (and 90% of all the other AC's too).
The best way I can say it is look at the Cat, small as the Two Weapon fighting Rogue and the wolf as the Two-Hander wielding Barbarian.
When the rogue hits with all their attacks and gets sneak off the damage is insane but they are squishy and rarely get to do that.
The barbarian hits like a truck all the time, every time and can suck up the damage that comes back from doing that. He just caps early on his damage and it's hard to improve it.
And finally the biggest advantage for you choosing the wolf... You can ride him. Grab your bow (and the mounted combat feats) and fly around the battlefield murdering everything with your bow and if anyone tries to get close to you the Wolf hits em like a Semi and leaves em laid out on the ground as you walk away.
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I agreee Mathwei.
It seems to me the strength and weeknesses of those two is blanced on the feat issues. With the right feats both wil overtake the other.
So that brings me to en essential quesion. What hapends to feats/ability and maybe even skill points taken on an Animal companion if you change animal?
Would you rule that the player can re choosem or is he stuck even if the feats do nothing to the new animal?
New animal companion is a new animal companion. Ask your GM.
(Usually they let you build a new one from scratch but YMMV)
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I'm a big fan of the wolf animal companion for all of the reasons stated above.
The biggest drawback to the ranger's animal companion, as was stated above, is that they are obtained at lv.4, where they act as a lv. 1 druid's companion. At 5th level, the Boon Companion feat is really nice, but for the meantime, i.e. at 4th level, he's more of a liability as opposed to an asset. One of the things that can make this an easier transition is to take a 1 level dip in another class, so that your 5th character level coincides with your 4th ranger level, so that when you get your animal companion, you can just take boon companion right off the bat (this makes it very similar to the paladin's bonded mount ability).
Speaking of 1lv. dips, 1 level in another spellcasting class might make for a decent idea. Specifically, one that gets access to Enlarge Person (there are quite a few - wizard, witch, magus, clerics with appropriate domains, etc.) Since your animal companion gets the share spells ability (The druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A druid may cast spells on her animal companion even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion's type (animal).) , you can cast Enlarge person on them, even though they aren't a humanoid. Of course, check with your GM on the legality of this, as the share spells ability can be interpreted to mean that the second line is merely a clarification to the first (since Enlarge Person doesn't have a range of "you", they may rule that it can't be applied to your companion). But you could still cast shield on them, making them far less squishy.
Galahad, I see you're back spreading false information again, please read class abilities before saying things like this.
This does not work, the only spells you can share on your animal companion MUST come from the spell list of the class that grants you the animal companion. Also dipping into another class just for their spell list is sub-optimal for any Ranger.All that does is slow down your ranger class ability progression and give you spells you'll never bother to cast in combat. The only times a ranger casts a spell is when they absolutely have to or when they have a long duration buff they are going to cast before battle.
Wolves are best overall in my experience. If you are willing to you can get them barding and even out the AC issue. Also if you have a small size party member then they can ride the Wolf until it increases in size.
Barding if memory serves doesn't require the animal to take armor proficiency feats.
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But Mathwei.
IF the Gm lets me use eiter Big Cat or Roc, would you still say that the Wolf is a better choice? Or is it just the best of a really small list?
I do see the trip as advantage doh.
If you have the option for the Big Cat then definitely take that. Pounce is an extremely powerful ability especially mixed with Grab and rake.
the Roc can be very potent but only in an outdoor campaign and is a more difficult character build. Doable but niche-y.now if you are going to make hypothetical situations like this then I'd recommend the T-rex instead. It will be the nastiest thing you've seen and the build is easier then you could imagine.
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So, Mathwei, where does it say that the only spells you can share must come from the class granting the companion? I just re-checked the sources (that's right, I looked first), and did not see anything saying that it had to be from a specific spell list. Granted, I could have missed it, but, if you wouldn't mind, please post text or a link that supports this.
Also, I would think that having the scribe scroll feat could be very handy for a number of martial classes. Have a few scrolls of shield, true strike, enlarge person, mage armor, etc. could be VERY handy.
On an unrelated note, why are you always so antagonistic towards me? Have I personally offended you? Perhaps you're unaware that I continually find your commentary towards me demeaning and condescending. I can accept the fact that I am in error, but there is no reason to belittle me. It's not like I'm trying to ruin games by blatantly disseminating erroneous information. I'm trying to present non-obvious options that I think are neat. They may not work as I intend them, but that's a large part of the raison d'etre of the boards - to share ideas and clarify errors.
then apparently you didn't check very well. Here is the listed ability directly from the PRD:
Share Spells (Ex): The druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a spell with a range of touch) instead of on herself. A druid may cast spells on her animal companion even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion's type (animal). Spells cast in this way must come from a class that grants an animal companion. This ability does not allow the animal to share abilities that are not spells, even if they function like spells.
As for the scrolls, any round the ranger is not attacking or FULL ATTACKING, his loss in damage done will significantly outweigh any benefit that spell will offer. The math on this has been run so many times you should have no problem finding it.
Finally my only issue with you is EVERY time you have commented in a thread I have posted in you de-rail it with your half-cocked ideas that have no basis in the rules (they usually are completely illegal or mathematically unsound) and we spend a dozen posts answering the same question from half a dozen readers asking if you're right.
Now, please, if you are going to make a follow up post on something I have commented on I simply ask that you verify it before you muddle the information being discussed.
Now, Good day sir.
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But Mathwei.
IF the Gm lets me use eiter Big Cat or Roc, would you still say that the Wolf is a better choice? Or is it just the best of a really small list?
I do see the trip as advantage doh.If you have the option for the Big Cat then definitely take that. Pounce is an extremely powerful ability especially mixed with Grab and rake.
the Roc can be very potent but only in an outdoor campaign and is a more difficult character build. Doable but niche-y.
now if you are going to make hypothetical situations like this then I'd recommend the T-rex instead. It will be the nastiest thing you've seen and the build is easier then you could imagine.Hehehe, wel he might go for a big cat or roc, but a rex is kinda far out there.
But il keep it under consideration ;)I realy do understand your Wolf idea. In my head it just makes sence that the small cat with weapon finesse wil be able to get more tripped apponents, and with a small party that would be of great help.
you'd expect that but it's actually a lot less likely with the small cat.
Remember it's a CMB check against a larger opponent (cat is small sized until 4th level or 7th if you don't get boon companion) so you are limited to Tripping medium sized opponents and you suffer a -1 penalty to your CMB because of it's small size.Also remember the cat's CMB is strength based (until you burn ANOTHER feat) and it's strength is low (compared to the other tripping pet) so it's CMB is usually 2-10 pts lower then the wolf based on feats/gear.
The cat will have more chances to trip but at a much smaller chance of success and has fewer valid targets it CAN trip.
But the choice is entirely up to you. If you like the flavor of the cat do it, this is only a game after all.