The Animal Companion Problem

I did a forum search for Animal Companion and this seems to be the best place for this post. I've gotten my druid up to level 13 with the same jackal for the whole time. It seems as though the "suicidal" AC is back. However, it also seems like he is way more capable of surviving. With proper long term buffs like Mage armor, barkskin, and greater magic fang, he holds his own pretty well. He has:
+4BAB

+7strength bonus (Was +3 at level 12.)

+9 animal companion hit bonus

2 attacks per round with the second attack not having a lower + to hit

88 hp, that only goes up to 96 with bears endurance, which seems to not be taking into account his total HD.

AC is a paltry 16, I think 4 is dex bonus he has 12 flat footed. Oddly enough some creatures seem to not want to hit him and run by.

I'm wondering now if ditching the jackal for a brown bear at the earliest possible level would yield an equally powerful companion at level 13.

 

I know that (in this computer game) black bears, brown bears, and polar bears each make 3 attacks (claw, claw, bite) whenever they full attack. It's a pity that this computer game doesn't fully comply with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition rules because your level 13 druid would be able to have a Dire Bear for an animal companion if this computer game did comply will all of the 3.5 Edition rules. I once role-played the module Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil where my character was saved by an NPC druid who worshipped Zuggtmoy and who had a Dire Bear as his animal companion and, my God, that Dire Bear was a sight to see on the battlefield! It would tear through enemies quicker than any of our hero PCs! Unfortunately, it died in a big combat in the old Temple of Elemental Evil interior. I found out afterwards that the NPC druid wasn't allowed to have that Dire Bear anyway because the druid was only about level 9 (in D&D 3.5 Edition, a druid can only get a Dire Bear when the druid is level 13+) (the module was written for D&D 3.0 Edition, but we were playing using D&D 3.5 Edition rules), so it was fortuitous that the animal companion died in that instance.

 

After reviewing the options, I think keeping the jackal up until the point when you can summon the polar bear is the best path for a reliable animal companion that can last the whole game with some help. The polar bear has the highest HD, 3 attacks, and +9 str bonus. Next time I take a druid I'll try to post a better set of stats.

The jackal serves as a decent damage sponge long enough to get your real tank up to speed. As soon as possible trade up for the higher damage output,

 

If the animal companian of the druid grew according to his level like in the original D&D rules (from lvl 13 for example a dire bear, or lvl 16 dire tiger) it would compensate much for the weaknesses of the druid and made him a much more interesting character for me. Right now he is just way too weak compared to wizards, fighters and clerics.

 

15th level Jackal stats

To hit: +23
+4 BAB
+8 STR
+11 Animal Companion

Damage: 2X1d6+8 (20X2)
+8 STR

HP: 102
(110 with Bears Endurance. CON bonus only applied to 4HD)
(118 with BE and Animal Growth. Again CON bonus is only for first 4HD)

AC: 21
+5 DEX

Saves:
Fort: +13
+4 Racial
+9 Animal Companion

Reflex: +18
+4 Racial
+5 DEX
+9 Animal Companion

Note: At level 15 gets a base STR vs. Web of 10.

Still looks like Polar Bear with bonuses will be best.

 

Just wanted to add a little insight.

From a few small experiments it appears that in the original incarnation of the game the death of your animal companion was almost a certainty.

Taking a jackal is the "easy mode" option at the start.

A 5th or 6th level jackal is likely to die in the big temple fights and you would summon a bear to replace it. The polar bear is, I think, available only at level 10 and is meant to be the end game AC.

I think the original designers greatly underestimated the lengths people would go to in order to keep the original AC alive. I'm sure there are people who have kept a dire rat or chicken alive all the way to the end.

If anybody can post stats for high level bears for comparison please do. Otherwise I will continue to post whenever I think I have something relevant.

 

I'm playing the latest mod and have a problem with the brown bear. Summoned as an animal companion by my druid it doesn't do anything in battle just standing around. It is also totally ignored by any opponent. The other animal companions so far, like the black bear behaved absolutely normal in battle. Is this a known issue?

 

Does the Brown Bear ignore every opponent, or are you perchance going on the Greater Temple at the moment?

As for other AIs ignoring your brown bear, that's WAI (the AI ignore summons fix).

 

I'm at the second level of the temple at the moment and used the brown bear here for the first time since I just gained the level to use it. I was in a fight with bugbears and in that battlr it was like I desribed. Brownbear just skiped its turn and was never attacked

Ok, just got in my next fight without bugbears and brownbear behaved allright.
So this is tha matter with the AI? (Brownbear being kind of a bugbear familiar?)

 

Okay, I am really confused here.

I've been playing some of the 8.0.1 Standard modification and my druid summoned a Jackal.

The behavior is still the suicidal one and I wish instead that AC would behave at least a bit more intelligently and especially have a higher sense of self preservation.

Have those changes to their script been reverted back to the nonsensical vanilla behavior? I am fond of my animal companion and I don't like to have them die stupidly because they charge every enemy.

 

As far as I know the AI has been reverted. The opinions about what kind of behaviour makes an ally useful obviously are wide apart. A lot of people, like myself, want a meat shield and not an overprotective sissy that quite often doesn't do anything or runs away provoking AoO. But that is naturally a matter of taste and your personal game-style. It helped me a lot to boost my animal companions before combat just like any other group front fighter. If the combat turns out to be suicidal for the companion right away you could place him before combat far enough away so he doesn react in combat when it is his turn.

 

Thanks for your reply, Oleg Ben Loleg.

Thinking of an Animal Companion as a meat shield is, while completely legitimate, a real rip into any (c)RPG's fabric. Like Familiars, Animal Companions have a strong bond to their Master and their role is not the same of disposable summoned animals. Or at least it shouldn't.

I don't mind the fact that the AC would join the battle, even tough ones, but the self preservation factor should really be paramount and accounted for in the AI script.

Very sorry to see those changes - that made complete sense to me - have been reverted.

 

There is a advantage in keeping the AC alive?

Does AC level-up somehow separated from the Druid levelup?

 

I was under the impression that they level with your druid/ranger but you have to dismiss and summon them again after you level if you want to see the difference. I could be wrong here, so maybe someone who knows can confirm.

I quite like my AC because they really make a difference at times. Heck, my brown bear gets 3 attacks and if they hit they do a fair amount of damage. That's assuming he works and isn't standing around doing nothing, which sometimes just happens for some reason. I haven't found a way in replicating it and I wasn't sure if it was a bug or not, but there are times when he CAN move and attack but he just doesn't. I found that if that happens it gets fixed if I summon him again.

 

A druid's AC gains bonus hit dice when the Druid reaches certain levels.

I think at higher levels they can get as high as 12 bonus hit die.