Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tribe33 03-14-07, 01:48 AM	Hello, I am about to take my first level of beastmaster now that MoMF is pretty much toast, I was wondering what way to go with my build. The first question would be Animal Companion (druid 9th level equivalant) looking at a Tiger (druid level -6) I would get to advance it 2hd/+2ac/+1str/1trick and evasion Is looking like my best offensive choice for what I have available does that pretty much sum it up? I looked at a Direbat with advancment from a 6th lvl druid (imp nat atk) and it was about the same as a wolf advanced w/ 9th lvl druid using the right feats (imp toughness/imp nat atk) they came out nearly the same, main difference is one flies. but a tigre, with advancement 3rd level druid, if I am doing this right.. its AC is much lower then the other two, but its offensive is pretty down-right obnoxious. Charge/pounce -> full attack claw/claw/bite - 2x rake and it even has evasion! Then during a regualr attack it can do a grappel chk when 1 claw hits, its going to maul whatever its got a hold of with a bite and rake each round.
Cynric 03-14-07, 04:01 AM	I would agree with going for the tiger. My druid has the 1 level of Beastmaster and has advanced his tiger quite a bit (level 12). Given the shortage of fighters around his level, it means he can send the cat in and just buff\heal it when needed.
trollbill 03-14-07, 09:49 AM	Part of it depends on what you want out of the animal. Another part depends on what you want out of the character. Just about any animal companion becomes a real beast (pardon the pun) with a level of Beastmaster. The tiger gives you offense, the bat manueverability, the riding dog durability, etc. Do you want a tank that does lots of damage but may get killed in half your adventures (DMs love to pick on animal companions because they come back for free)? Do you want one that gives battlefield control? Do you want one that can stand there and take it, but doesn't necessarily dish it out so well? Another thing to consider is citizen reactions. Depending both on the DM, the location and the module author, exotic animals like tigers and dire bats may not be allowed into towns or establishments in those towns. Riding dogs and horses, on the other hand, can go just about anywhere. My current druid is a 'citified' druid and would normally not even think about something other than a riding dog or horse as an animal companion without a specific reason to do so.
Lupo 03-14-07, 10:16 AM	Part of it depends on what you want out of the animal. Another part depends on what you want out of the character. Just about any animal companion becomes a real beast (pardon the pun) with a level of Beastmaster. The tiger gives you offense, the bat manueverability, the riding dog durability, etc. Do you want a tank that does lots of damage but may get killed in half your adventures (DMs love to pick on animal companions because they come back for free)? Do you want one that gives battlefield control? Do you want one that can stand there and take it, but doesn't necessarily dish it out so well? Another thing to consider is citizen reactions. Depending both on the DM, the location and the module author, exotic animals like tigers and dire bats may not be allowed into towns or establishments in those towns. Riding dogs and horses, on the other hand, can go just about anywhere. My current druid is a 'citified' druid and would normally not even think about something other than a riding dog or horse as an animal companion without a specific reason to do so. tigers and brown bears are strong combatants when buffed accordingly, bark skin, nature's favor and greater magic fang turn them into killing machines, get your party arcanist to cast a mage armor on them and they have at least a AC that prevents some second and most third attacks from hitting. dire bat is a little tricky, as a combatant it does not pull a lot, but with a skinny druid atop of it, it can become one of the most deadly mounted combat combination. with the free druid point shuffling, i put some skill points into "profession [carney]" and will try to get a cart, complete with cage and pull along my beasties as "circus animal", or if some DMs don't like it, at least let my brown bear do the "dancing bear" performance :) i hope this will let me bring animals along in "civilized" cities. ciao martin m.
Reska 03-14-07, 10:50 AM	with the free druid point shuffling, i put some skill points into "profession [carney]" and will try to get a cart, complete with cage and pull along my beasties as "circus animal", or if some DMs don't like it, at least let my brown bear do the "dancing bear" performance :) i hope this will let me bring animals along in "civilized" cities. ciao martin m. Since we all know I love my Tank (Dire Tortoise), in situations where people look shocked, I just remind them that they're all over the Bright Lands, and it's completely normal.... Of course, this coming from a guy that glows on his own, can't really swim that well without wildshaping or drowning, and casts sea-based spells on his animal companion (mmmm...Jaws of the Moray. Love auto-grapples!) That said, you can look into taking the tiger now, or look at what you gain access to at the next level of Druid. If I remember correctly, you should gain access to the Dire Lion, which has a lot of the same abilities as the Tiger, but gains a bit more as well.
Jay_Ibero_911 03-14-07, 01:46 PM	Since we all know I love my Tank (Dire Tortoise), in situations where people look shocked, I just remind them that they're all over the Bright Lands, and it's completely normal.... Of course, this coming from a guy that glows on his own, can't really swim that well without wildshaping or drowning, and casts sea-based spells on his animal companion (mmmm...Jaws of the Moray. Love auto-grapples!) That said, you can look into taking the tiger now, or look at what you gain access to at the next level of Druid. If I remember correctly, you should gain access to the Dire Lion, which has a lot of the same abilities as the Tiger, but gains a bit more as well. Statistically, an advanced Tiger is superior to a Dire Lion. And you can advance a tiger at effective druid level 9, as opposed to taking Dire Lion at 10.
Lupo 03-14-07, 04:44 PM	Statistically, an advanced Tiger is superior to a Dire Lion. And you can advance a tiger at effective druid level 9, as opposed to taking Dire Lion at 10. apart from the will save the tiger is the better beast ;) the lion has a little better attack bonus, the tiger does significantly more damage and can grapple with EVERY attack. and it gets evasion and some skills and tricks. i would always recommend the tiger OR the brown bear and discard the dire lion. ciao martin m.