I'm working on a sacred huntsmaster inquisitor of Calistria with a giant wasp companion, focused on two-handed melee combat. I can either
-go half-elf and get Martial or Exotic Weapon Proficiency to open up some fairly nice weapons (thinking elven curve blade or elven branched spear, plus I'd get low-light vision and other goodies), or,
-go human and get the Eye for Talent racial trait that will give a +2 ability score increase to my animal companion, which I can use in Int to make the wasp no longer mindless (which opens up feats, way more tricks, skill points, etc.)
I really would prefer half-elf - it's what she is in my mind. But that would mean that the wasp companion would be mindless, which I know has non-trivial effects on gameplay. So my primary question is, how much does it hurt to have a mindless animal companion?
This will be my first character with an animal companion, so I have little to no familiarity with how they work. I know the wasp isn't necessarily the strongest animal companion there is, but I like the idea of the character and would like to do what I can to make the wasp companion work. Any ideas?
It doesn't really hurt unless you wanted a genius for a pet.
It doesn't really hurt unless you wanted a genius for a pet.
Why wouldn't I want a wasp smarter than me for a pet? Wait...scratch that. I can't think of anything more terrifying than a half-ton insect more intelligent than me. o.O That's nightmare fuel.
:)
On a more serious note, I was just afraid that the lack of tricks especially would limit its combat usefulness. Like I said, still very much trying to figure out the animal companion thing.
It depends how your GM handles it really. I know GMs who for the sake of simplicity will just say "You get full control" while others make you learn trick and perform checks.
Mindless animal companions aka vermin do not get skill points or feats either. That might matter to some people, but you only need to give them an int of 1.
how much does it hurt to have a mindless animal companion?
Barely; the immunities may well balance out the loss of skillpoints or feats.
Besides, mindless =/= stupid. Zombies and simple constructs are mindless too, and they can understand and follow orders just fine. Just keep your wasp's Wisdom in mind when deciding what the creature does under given circumstances.
Considering the fact that even with just the bonus tricks alone, your companion can get pretty much every trick you’ll ever need... being mindless is a non-issue. Note: as per the rules for vermin familiars your wasp starts play with 2 tricks (1 + Bonus tricks). Also you can always just put an ability score increase in to bump the wasp up to 1 Int removing mindless...
Can you teach mindless companions tricks?
Yes, mindless animal companions get 1 trick by default plus your bonus tricks from the animal companion chart. You can’t teach them additional tricks though.
Considering the fact that even with just the bonus tricks alone, your companion can get pretty much every trick you’ll ever need... being mindless is a non-issue.
Sure, if you don't mind your animal companion not getting any skills or feats.
Mindless: Vermin companions have no Intelligence score and possess the mindless trait. In spite of this, vermin companions may learn one trick, plus additional bonus tricks as noted on Table: Animal Companion Base Statistics. If a vermin animal companion gains an ability score increase (at 4 Hit Dice, 8 Hit Dice, and so on), the druid can apply this increase to the companion’s Intelligence, changing it from — to 1, at which point the companion loses the mindless quality and is able to know up to 3 tricks per point of Intelligence, plus the additional bonus tricks, as per Handle Animal. Vermin companions have no skill points or feats as long as they have the mindless quality.
This would be a substantial drawback IMO.
on a side note, if you are playing with vermin you might consider worshiping Ghlaunder, I'm not sure about other divine classes (would probably need DM approval), but
Clerics, druids, and rangers of Ghlaunder, upon first gaining the ability to cast divine spells, may choose to affect vermin instead of animals when using animal-oriented spells (such as animal shapes, detect animals or plants, and hide from animals); these spells can no longer be used to affect animals.
The Dread Mosquito God is not for everyone, and a hard sell to a Calistria worshipper.
Lack of skills and feats is a real problem, and the one you're guaranteed to have to deal with.
Lack of tricks... Depends on your GM. Many don't bother with the handling checks, others get real strict with it - doubly so for a mindless critter - so anywhere between "crippling" and "absolute non-issue". Talk to your GM for that one.
Sidenote of my own : if that's something you care about, Eye for Talent (and similar) get you that much closer to 3 Int, which opens up options beyond the limited companion feats and skills choices. Whether it's worth it varies based on what your plan is, but it's something to keep in mind.