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Cavaliers are THE mounted class, but are they really that much better at it than a Ranger with a horse AC?
At low levels? Yes. I mean, the Ranger doesn't even get a full AC until level 5 (and even then it costs a Feat), while the Cavalier has one to begin with free of charge. Ignoring armor check penalties on Ride is also great. Cavalier mounts also get a free bonus Feat, which is nice.
Does the Challenge ability compare to Favored Enemy?
At high levels? Very well. A 16th level Ranger has +8 to hit and +8 damage. An Order of the Dragon Cavalier has +5 to hit (which he also grants all allies) and +16 damage. And at high levels (as the popularity of Power Attack demonstrates) +8 damage tends to be better than +3 to-hit on a full BAB class. Now, some other Orders get less good Challenge bonuses than that, but even they get the +16 damage, and their Order powers tend to be better.
And the Cavalier has those Teamwork Feats he can give everyone (many of which are horrifying if used correctly). And a Banner. And several other nice things.
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Now, is Cavalier quite as good a class as Ranger? Eh...maybe not. Rangers get spellcasting, which is a hard bonus to compete with (especially since Rangers get more skills, too), but they're certainly in the same ball park, unlike some other classes which shall remain nameless.
Tough call. I've never seen a Cavalier in play, nor ever even seen one built, so it's hard for me to compare them. Cavalier is the class nobody remembers exists, probably because Mounted Combat is rarely a viable strategy in most campaigns.
Perosnally I think they bring a bit to the table. Challenge is a lot like Smite as far as damage goes, which is quite good, and blows FE out of the water past level 6 or so damage-wise (But FE's to-hit bonus closes the gap).
Some of the Orders are quite good.
I actually like the Tactician ability, one of the two ways (the other being the Inquisitor's Solo Tactics) to make Teamwork Feats worthwhile.
Mighty Charge might be what pushes it over the edge as far as Mounted Combat goes.
Cavaliers are pretty all right as far as just a straight class features comparison goes.
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Step 1) take a Cavalier
Step 2) Get the Beast Rider archetype
Step 3) Get a T-rex Mount
Step 4) Charge with 2 lances on top of a T-Rex
Step 5) Laugh at the carnage.
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Oh1 And if you want to be REALLY funny you get a Triceratops mount and you effectively have 5 lances charging at them :P
Cavaliers can also help make for a Un-lethal party xD
Sap Master Rogue
Cavalier of the Blue Rose
Monk of the Lotus
Sorc/Wizard who Merciful's all spells
Cleric.
The real problem with using any sort of animal companion at high level is that their saves really do not keep up. They might be sort of OK against stock Bestiary monsters but any kind of spell caster which has a bit more care and attention in how it is created by the GM will quite probably render the companion useless almost incidentally.
There's a feat for that. Incidentally their are feats for both rider and mount to help that.
Good saves are not that hard to come by. But it does require investment and some cooperation with party spellcasters.
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The real problem with using any sort of animal companion at high level is that their saves really do not keep up.
You realize that the animal companion has better saves than the Fighter by a substantial margin, right? They've actually got better saves than every class except the monk and Paladin, capping at 12/10/10.
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The real problem with using any sort of animal companion at high level is that their saves really do not keep up.You realize that the animal companion has better saves than the Fighter by a substantial margin, right? They've actually got better saves than every class except the monk and Paladin, capping at 12/10/10.
Monk, paladin, and barbarian. The big thing with will saves is that a single 1st level spell (protection from x) really helps shore up will saves, and then there's the slotless wayfinder+clear spindle ioun stone). The other thing that's nice about ACs is the free evasion too.
Well the ranger casts spell, has more skills, more feats, tracks, wild empathy, favored terrain, quarry, favored enemy, evasion. So the ranger does a ton more. The animal companion is something extra on top of it all.
Keep in mind the 8th level Order of the Sword ability grants you your animal companion's strength bonus to damage as well as your own strength bonus when charging. This can lead to some insane damage.
And the Ranger has a flying mount archetype. Beast Riders were specifically prevented from choosing a mount with a fly speed, which is just bogus.
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And the Ranger has a flying mount archetype. Beast Riders were specifically prevented from choosing a mount with a fly speed, which is just bogus.
There's a Feat for that, though.
It's Orc or Half-Orc only, but still a definite option. It lets you class-dabble, too. And it doesn't leave you any Feats behind a Ranger, who needs to grab Boon Companion for a full animal companion.
And the Ranger has a flying mount archetype. Beast Riders were specifically prevented from choosing a mount with a fly speed, which is just bogus.There's a Feat for that, though.
It's Orc or Half-Orc only, but still a definite option. It lets you class-dabble, too. And it doesn't leave you any Feats behind a Ranger, who needs to grab Boon Companion for a full animal companion.
You can also get one through Leadership which is suitable for some orders.
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A cavalier does things differently than a ranger. A cavalier can tank and buff in addition to dishing out damage and acting as a party face. The Ranger is more of a skill monkey who can also buff if he takes the right kind of hunter's bond and can be an effective scout and a decent striker depending on how he specs.
As to which is better at Mounted Combat? It really depends on what feats they take and how they spec out. Generally I think the cavalier wins that race in the end, because that fighting style is baked into the class, but a ranger can become VERY good at mounted combat under the right circumstances.
Also, if your GM lets your Cavalier use a heavy horse as the base animal for the Animal companion then it will have no problem keeping up as the cavalier levels. Granted, that's fudging the rules a little but in my experience it doesn't have that significant an effect on the game other than making the mount more survivable. Most of the time the Cavalier is charging and doing ride-by attacks when he's on his mount so the mount rarely attacks anyway.
BTW: If you want to use mounted combat without everyone having to invest in feats they don't want, etc, then you can try this book.
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Step 4) Charge with 2 lances on top of a T-Rex
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What is the advantage of charging with 2 lances when you dont get pounce?
A cavalier can wear heavy armor and keep all his bonus feats, and can charge without the ac penalty. While the ranger gets access to the mounted skirmisher feat earlier than the cavalier, the cavalier can still easily get it later. It's not that rangers can do everything a cavalier does, a ranger does different things than cavaliers, and vice versa. A basic cavalier is suited very well to do what you want in a large number of areas. If you want a glass cannon you can do that, a mounted archer there's an order for that, all the damage in the world sure, or be super tanky (I'm looking at you order of the shield) it can do that. Just like a ranger can be built to do a variety of things, so can a cavalier.