Ranger's Animal Companion: A Wolf? Really?

[VorpalKnight]

Nothing against wolves but Druid already have a wolf companion.

And nice to see they get favored enemies enhancements as well(lvl2: Reptillian. lvl9:Monstrous Humanoid, lvl17:Vermin, lvl23:Elf)

Pic:

[Fungi]

What are you talking about i don't see ranger pets on lamania.

[Archangel666]

Just logged into Lamm and I second this question. What are you talking about? Not seeing Ranger Animal Companions anywhere.

[fatherpirate]

Rangers don't have pets..in DDO

should they ? sure at about lvl 5 or so

maybe in the future

[MrkGrismer]

Did I miss a big sale on crack?

[VorpalKnight]

Here you go:



And heres a list of possible Animal Companions for the Druid:

4th Level or Higher (Level –3)
Ape (animal)
Bear, black (animal)
Bison (animal)
Boar (animal)
Cheetah (animal)
Crocodile (animal)1
Dire badger
Dire bat
Dire weasel
Leopard (animal)
Lizard, monitor (animal)
Shark, Large1 (animal)
Snake, constrictor (animal)
Snake, Large viper (animal)
Wolverine (animal)



7th Level or Higher (Level –6)
Bear, brown (animal)
Dire wolverine
Crocodile, giant (animal)
Deinonychus (dinosaur)
Dire ape
Dire boar
Dire wolf
Elasmosaurus (dinosaur)1
Lion (animal)
Rhinoceros (animal)
Snake, Huge viper (animal)
Tiger (animal)



10th Level or Higher (Level –9)
Bear, polar (animal)
Dire lion
Megaraptor (dinosaur)
Shark, Huge (animal)1
Snake, giant constrictor (animal)
Whale, orca (animal)1

13th Level or Higher (Level –12)
Dire bear
Elephant (animal)
Octopus, giant (animal)1

16th Level or Higher (Level –15)
Dire shark1
Dire tiger
Squid, giant (animal)1
Triceratops (dinosaur)
Tyrannosaurus (dinosaur)

Obviously its not set in stone that rangers will get Wolf, but so far it seems that they are planning on it, perhaps a new choice for druids so that everyone and their grandmother doesn't have a wolf?

[Memnir]

Here you go:

I'm not any less confused now.

[Terminus-Est]

Its an enhancement that gives the ranger's animal companion favored enemy damage. While we cant see the companion, we can see the enhancement, thus suggesting.

The list of chosen enemies does seem a bit off though... no undead, and vermin at level 17, really? afaik if reptilian hits kobolds that's fine for level 2, but... eh. What does monstrous humanoids hit, ogres?

[Ganolyn]

Oooooh! I want the shark! Maybe it will manage to get a grazing hit or two with its tail as it thrashes around on the ground and dies of suffocation!

[Ganolyn]

What does monstrous humanoids hit, ogres?

No, ogres are listed as Giant Class. MH = Minotaurs, Wildmen, Gargoyles, Medusas, Sahuagin and probably some others I am forgetting.

[Terminus-Est]

The shark is only available in aquatic campaigns anyways; that is what the superscript 1 is for.

That being said, I don't even want any of the more exotic animal companions; just give me -half- of the level one list:

Badger, camel, dire rat, dog, riding dog, eagle, hawk, horse (light or heavy), owl, pony, snake (Small or Medium viper), or wolf.

Lets say, give us Badger/Rat/Snake/Wolf.

Tank (Barb), Striker (Rogue), Debuff (Rogue/Bard?), Striker (Ranger).

That'd be awesome. Let Rat get all the sneak-attack stuff that wolves are doing and give wolves more/better trip-stuff. Let the snake have poisons and some random SLAs. Give the Badger the survivability of an arti-pet. It'd be awesome.

[ShadowFlash]

Nothing against wolves but Druid already have a wolf companion.

And nice to see they get favored enemies enhancements as well(lvl2: Reptillian. lvl9:Monstrous Humanoid, lvl17:Vermin, lvl23:Elf)

Honestly thought you were nuts Great find and follow through with the SS...+1 good sir

ShadowFlash

[PuppiesAndRainbows]

I think a miniature giant space hamster would be fun for a ranger animal companion.

[VorpalKnight]

Honestly thought you were nuts Great find and follow through with the SS...+1 good sir

ShadowFlash

You mean im not .







If you guys ever wanted a ranger animal companion jaguar, now is your time! Also Druid: Repay me back by demanding a Megaraptor pet! My halfling will be pleased.

[Ape_Man]

Please for the love of all that is holy do not give rangers a "buff" in the form of a stupid and useless animal companion. The pets in DDO are terrible and add no value, do not waste your programers time on this nonsense.

[Aerendil]

Please for the love of all that is holy do not give rangers a "buff" in the form of a stupid and useless animal companion. The pets in DDO are terrible and add no value, do not waste your programers time on this nonsense.

Kind of have to agree on this, although I'd love to have an animal companion. However, in today's DDO, it would be absolutely useless.

Druids and Artificers have pets that, at level 20 and above, still get slaughtered way too easily.
Now imagine a Ranger companion that's going to be literally half his/her level - if they follow the PnP rules, anyways.
At 20, that'd be a level 10 animal companion.

Yeah....


So before they work on this, can we ensure the Rangers get a boost to keep them competitive with other melee or archers (such as class-based toughness enhancements, a further boost to Tempest, boosts to favored enemies (since favored attack and defense is arguably less useful now), class-based archery damage bonuses (without requiring us to be an Elf or PL:Ranger for crying out loud), and a reasonable capstone for the non-archers).
Currently there's little reason to stay pure as a Ranger - whether you prefer melee or bow. And that's a huge issue IMO.


*edit* - animal companions could be SOOOO much more, as could shapeshifting (Druid).
Eberron allowed druids and rangers to align themselves with certain monsters, and included a feat "Beast Totem" which allowed them to have that monster as a companion.
Imagine walking around with a displacer beast, or chimera, as your companion.

Druids could then shapechange into their totem animal with a feat. Or, in Draconomicon, could shapechange into a dragon....
Now *that* would feel epic.
Summoning a wolf that has pathing issues and dies against the first fireball-hurling Khyber reaver? Not so epic.

[Cyr]

I don't mind the idea of rangers getting a pet as long as it is full levels for ranger levels and ranger levels + arty levels + druid levels stack for determining it's level (with highest levels in a class determining which type of pet it is).

[Havok.cry]

No offense to anyone here, but speaking for my artificer, the pets arent useless if you use them right and are willing to use workarounds to get past thier bugs. My pet rarely dies and rarely gets healing, and it even damages things.

I'm not saying it is good, but from my experience, my pet is ~a minor dps buff. I don't try to have my pet tank though, as pet with aggro equals useless pixels IMHO.

[Aerendil]

No offense to anyone here, but speaking for my artificer, the pets arent useless if you use them right and are willing to use workarounds to get past thier bugs. My pet rarely dies and rarely gets healing, and it even damages things.

I'm not saying it is good, but from my experience, my pet is ~a minor dps buff. I don't try to have my pet tank though, as pet with aggro equals useless pixels IMHO.

Then what's the point of having "tank" companions to summon, or "tank"-like enhancements for your companion, if it can't tank anything??

D&D pretty much created a lot of the stereotypes we see in modern day MMOs. Dual-wielding Rangers. Large double-bladed axe-wielding Barbarians. Druids with giant bears as companions. Wizards summoning denizens of the lower planes to do their bidding.

And it irks me that so many other MMOs have now used these with much more effect than DDO has.

[Havok.cry]

Then what's the point of having "tank" companions to summon, or "tank"-like enhancements for your companion, if it can't tank anything??

D&D pretty much created a lot of the stereotypes we see in modern day MMOs. Dual-wielding Rangers. Large double-bladed axe-wielding Barbarians. Druids with giant bears as companions. Wizards summoning denizens of the lower planes to do their bidding.

And it irks me that so many other MMOs have now used these with much more effect than DDO has.

I agree that they could be far more, and I too am disappointed in them. I just disagree with those that call them useless. Also DnD did not create those stereotypes, they have been around long before DnD existed, in liturature(lol spelling), but that is off subject. The one thing that I hate about DDO (best game out there) is not its bugs, but that it' s devs have decided that many of my favorite character archtypes need to be inferior for whatever reason:
Army-of-the-dead necromancer
Archer
Conjuror(read summoner)
Illusionist
Thrower
Etc
And some cant even exist, IE
Trident + net fighter
Halfing pocket calvalry dungeon capable due to medium sized mount
Etc