My ranger needs a new pet

Remove all ads!

I have just finished SoU with a pure Ranger, and I'm going to play HotU with him. Now, Dorna and my animal companion, a dire wolf named Raincloud, died bravely in the final battle with Heurodis. I couldn't care less about the dwarf, but the big furball had been with my ranger since level 6 (only had to re-summon him whenever I levelled up) and never died before. Obviously, I could keep using Raincloud under the pretext that I carried his body to the Shadow Plane before escaping falling Undrentide, and had him resurrected later. To be honest, I think the poor beast deserves the rest and if I didn't take Dorna's lighter corpse, I don't think I'd have bothered with the bulk of a dire wolf either.

So I am getting a different animal companion and I need some input to choose one. I'm not a powergamer, and I basically chose the Dire Wolf because I liked its appearance on screen. Also, I'm not really interested in the bear, the hawk, or the badger. Taking into account that my character is supposed to spend some time in the Plane of Shadow, and that I 'm also going to change his alignment before starting HotU (he went from prey to hunter while living in Shadow City), I was thinking that some suitable choices would be:

1. A Dire Rat. Heck, any city is bound to have some rats. Not a powerful companion, but it makes sense. I'd probably end up calling it Big Boo.

2. A sneaky, shadowy Panther. It could be a native animal of the Plane of Shadow. This one is really tempting because of its sneak attack.

3. A Spider. There were plenty in Undrentide, so I guess one could have used one of the portals in the Arcanist Tower. I have never used one, not even as summoned monster, so I haven't got a clue about how useful it may be.

4. A normal Wolf, with which my character could have bonded AFTER leaving the Plane of Shadow and before going to Waterdeep. I have played a bit with one, and the Fear Howl comes in handy sometimes. On the other hand, it looks a bit too small when you get used to the Dire Wolf.


I'd like getting opinions, especially those of who may have played a ranger or a druid with any of these animals.

[ September 05, 2006, 17:17: Message edited by: Colthrun ]

 

I would take the panther. I have taken it before as a companion and liked its usefullness.

 

The panther fits the story well. You found him in the Plane of Shadow. And he'll blend right in in the bleak caverns of Undermountain and the Underdark.

 

Panther is obviously a great choice. It's sneak attack is a killer. Buff him up a bit for good measure and watch the body count. Of course, it may just come down to the part where all you'll do is stand and engage the opponent, while your panther shreds him. Poor AI usualy takes care of this, in a way that panther charges anything he sees first, not getting the sneak attack damage.

My choice would be the spider, but mostly because i've played with the panther all to many times.

 

I'm just going to go with the flow and say that a panther would be a good compnaion for your ranger. Rats just aren't heroic enough for HotU.

 

Panther rules supreme! Use it, no need to explain why.

 

It seems that the panther is the overall favourite... I forgot the dire boar in the list above, but I've tested it and the rat, and their interactions when you scold them are quite funny.

In any case, it seems there aren't many Rangers/Druids around.


EDIT: An update: after my ranger and his new panther were continuously and mercilessly slaughtered by hordes of Duergar and Drow, I've decided that he's better suited to fight on the surface. Still, he wrote "I was here" in the walls near the well before asking to be lifted back to the surface in utter defeat.

[ September 12, 2006, 11:15: Message edited by: Colthrun ]