For a Large animal companion, such as Big Cat at 7th level, the Rake special attack does 1d6 damage. If the animal companion takes the Improved Natural Attack Feat for claws, increasing the damage the claws do to 1d8. Would the Feat also affect the Rake special attack?
Thanks.
To further the question, is the grab only on the bite attack? And, when you look up animals with grab (lion, giant mantis, ect) they typically have a higher cmb for grapple. How is this figured?
This topic was discussed a bit more here:
Animal Companion Pounce Ability Question
That thread is a bit confusing.
To clarify:
On a charge a big cat (with Rake) has the following attack sequence:
Bite/Claw/Claw/Rake/Rake.
All are at FULL BAB. (No Multiattack necessary since they are all primary attacks).
Next: The Bite, Claw, and Claw attacks each get to make a Grab Check.
Grab grants a +4 bonus to grapple attempts.
Success does NOT mean you stop your attacks right there. Continue your attacks normally. (This is debated by some who believe that once you are grappled you cannot make a full-attack. This is true, on the subsequent rounds).
Assuming Grapple is a success, the next round your big cat makes a grapple check to maintain the grapple. This check has a +9 bonus (+4 for Grab, +5 for making a grapple check in successive rounds). Success means you do damage with whichever bodypart is grappling AND you make 2 rake attacks.
Some people like to release and make a full attack but that is not effective with a big cat that has Rake.
Summary:
Round 1: Charge (5 attacks at full BAB), Make grapple checks (+4bonus with Grab) on Bite and Claw attacks that hit. Do not make grapple checks for the Rake attacks that hit.
Round 2: Maintain check (+4bonus for grab, +5 for maintaining) and if successful do damage with relevant bodypart and make 2 rake attacks.
- Gauss
My questions are: 1) Why do animals companions get multiattack free if they do not have the -5 penalty to secondary attacks? Just for those with only one attack? 2)Why would anyone chose anything else than a big cat for an animal companion?
I have a players who'd like to take an ape, but there is no reason why he should aside from the reach when he gets large. Is adding rend naughty?
goldomark: Not all animal companions are the same.
Some have a one or two attacks. For those, multiattack gives them an additional attack at a -5penalty.
Some have three or more attacks with some of those attacks coming from secondary attacks. For those, changing a -5penalty to a -2penalty is a bonus.
Out of the CRB:
The Ape, Badger, Bear, Bird, Big Cat, Small Cat, Dinosaur, and Horse* do not benefit.
The Boar, Camel, Crocodile, Dog, Pony, Shark, Constrictor Snake, Viper Snake, and Wolf all benefit.
* The Horse starts out with secondary attacks but at level 4 no longer has secondary attacks (all 3 attacks become primary).
So, for some creatures there are benefits, for many others there are not.
- Gauss
The Big Cat is the king of the animal companion jungle when it comes to damage output, but there are other companions with different and interesting abilities. For instance:
Ape - if you add a point of Int the Ape can take the Lunge feat and attack from the 2nd or 3rd rank with 15 foot reach
Crocodile - has a swim speed, potentially very useful for aquatic adventures
Dog, Small Cat, and Wolf - get free Trip attacks - these generally aren't as effective as Grab, but when they do work it is pretty cool (+4 bonus for you to hit plus a free attack if the foe tries to stand up)
Snake, Constrictor - constricts grappled foes, gains large size at just 4th level
Also, while the Big Cat is powerful it also takes up 4 squares, so it might have trouble finding space in cramped dungeons to bring that power to bear on enemies. A size Small or Medium animal companion such as a Dog (or Hyena) might be more effective as a highly mobile flanker (the trip ability can also be very effective at low levels or against humanoid foes).
Finally, the Big Cat's damage comes from lots of small attacks which aren't likely to beat DR. Something with one big attack might be more likely to break through DR and inflict some real damage on high level foes.
The Big Cat is the king of the animal companion jungle when it comes to damage output, but there are other companions with different and interesting abilities. For instance:
Ape - if you add a point of Int the Ape can take the Lunge feat and attack from the 2nd or 3rd rank with 15 foot reach
Crocodile - has a swim speed, potentially very useful for aquatic adventures
Dog, Small Cat, and Wolf - get free Trip attacks - these generally aren't as effective as Grab, but when they do work it is pretty cool (+4 bonus for you to hit plus a free attack if the foe tries to stand up)
Snake, Constrictor - constricts grappled foes, gains large size at just 4th level
Also, while the Big Cat is powerful it also takes up 4 squares, so it might have trouble finding space in cramped dungeons to bring that power to bear on enemies. A size Small or Medium animal companion such as a Dog (or Hyena) might be more effective as a highly mobile flanker (the trip ability can also be very effective at low levels or against humanoid foes).
Finally, the Big Cat's damage comes from lots of small attacks which aren't likely to beat DR. Something with one big attack might be more likely to break through DR and inflict some real damage on high level foes.
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