Question on Lunar Oracle's Primal Companion vs Druid's Animal Companion

[RigaMortus]

Been awhile since I played a Druid or any class that had an Animal Companion for that matter...

So I've been intrigued with the Oracle class lately, they have a lot of flexibility, and I thought about a Lunar Oracle w/ an animal companion.

But I am confused on what type animal companion I am using for the stat block? Is it the one listed in the Bestiary or is the one listed under the Druid's Animal Companions?

So for example, this is listed for the Oracle:

Quote:

Primal Companion (Ex): You gain the service of a faithful animal of the night. You can select from a bear, boar, crocodile, shark, tiger, or wolf. This animal functions as a druid's animal companion, using your oracle level as your effective druid level.

I am interested in starting with a Tiger. So do I use the Tiger from the Bestiary?

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/tiger.html

It states to use the druid's animal companion, but they do not have an actual tiger listed. The closest they have is "Cat, big" with Lion or Tiger as an example.

So I am OK with using that, but the # do not match... The Bestiary gives the Tiger Grab, Rake and Pounce, but the Druid AC listing omits the grab and pounce ability (until level 7). Also, the damage on the claws and bite are lower than the default Tiger in the Bestiary...

So I am OK with starting out with a "newbie" Tiger, maybe they do not get all the cool abilities from the get-go or higher damage. I get that you have to level it up. But it isn't exactly clear when abilities like Grab and Pounce get activated? Do I assume level 7 as it says in the Druid AC stat block? Do they just automatically get them at that level? Where does it state this? Do I need to burn a feats for them as they level up? If so, why am I not burning a feat for Rake?

Need help/advice on where to start with my Animal Companion. Thank you.

[Saldiven]

You use the "Cat, big" category.

Bestiary entry animals that have their own Animal Companion option will have a separate block after the regular entry. This is done for all the Animal Companion options that didn't already get a treatment in the CRB entry for Druid.

This is the listing of animals for which you use the Bestiary entry for the companion stats:

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/bestiary/animalCompanions.html

This is the same reason why your Bear companion doesn't have Grizzly Bear stats and abilities when becoming large, nor is your Wolf companion resemble a Dire Wolf when it becomes large.

Edit:

Also, there is no guarantee that your Animal Companion Tiger will ever achieve the same ability scores, feats, special attacks, etc. as the Bestiary entry Tiger.

[RigaMortus]

I see.

Any idea why the level 7 version of "Cat, big" has pounce and grab added as special attacks, and not the level 1 version?

Do I have to select them as feats as they companion levels up in order to obtain them? Or is this a special attack they somehow get for free at some point?

The fact that it shows a level 1 version vs a level 7 version w/o explaining how/when they get the special attacks is throwing me off.

Why does the (Lunar) Oracle Primal Companion Revelation specifically state Tiger as an option, rather than "Cat, big"?

[Dave Justus]

As you gain in level, animal companions get more powerful. Usually there is a significant jump in size and often special abilities and attacks at either level 4 or level 7. You don't have to select them as feats, the animal companion just gets them.

The lunar oracle gets animal companions keyed to types of lycanthropes. This is just the flavor of the mystery. While a druid could select from several types of big cats, all with the same game stats, the lunar oracle only get Tiger, in relation to weretigers.