If a Ranger chooses to ride a mount AND have an animal companion, does he have to 'split' the levels of those animals in the same way that he would if he just had two normal combat companion animals? That is to say, would I have to split the levels if I only used the mount animal to ride and the other companion animal for combat?
Anyone can have a normal mount, a ranger is just given the choice into making his mount a companion. This has certain benefits, Hit dice increase, smarter mount, more tricks, etc.
Or the Ranger can go with a normal mount (base stats, etc) and another type of animal companion.
As far as I know, there is no feat or class feature that allows the Ranger to 'split' his levels up betten different animal companions.
Thx for the reply. The ability to split your levels (effective druid levels actually) between animal companions comes with the Beastmaster archetype in the APG. But, according to your reply, it must be only related to animal companions BESIDES your normal mount animal.