Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Better Animal Companions for Rangers

I searched around the forum to see if anyone was already discussing this, but couldn't find any posts. So apologies if I just missed it, but:

I would really like to see the Ranger animal companions get reworked to follow the Tasha's Cauldron ruleset. The mechanic of each animal having a custom ability is perfect. But other than that, their stats should be pretty standard. And a bit better than they currently are. I get that Larian is following the PHB ruleset, but even WotC has realized how broken the PHB beastmaster is. Having all the core stats be the same for companions means you can use whichever animal form you want without making mechanical concessions. For those who don't play D&D, the rules published in Tasha's are:

You have 3 animal types to choose from, and each has slightly different abilities.
AC for all companions is 13+PB (proficiency bonus) - This means the animal's AC grows with the ranger's level
Attack rolls use the ranger's spell attack bonus
Damage rolls include the PB for extra damage - So again, the ranger's increasing level boosts the companion
HP for your companion is 5+ranger level times 5 (flying companions getting 4+ranger level times 4)

The increased HP and AC are by far the most important part of those stats. I realize non of this is a one-to-one comparison. In D&D you have to spend a bonus action to have your companion attack. So it's bigger resource expenditure to use your companion in combat. But I've been using the wolf companion, and I would be willing to bet that's one of the most popular options. (In my case, I've rebuilt an old D&D character. But let's face it, the wolf is most likely the most popular option across the board.) By the time I'm fighting level 3 enemies, and CERTAINLY once I'm in the underdark, my wolf is gone in one hit. Half the time he doesn't even get an attack. The current 11 HP just isn't enough past 2nd level.

Edit: I went back to look at the current companion stats just to make sure I remembered the wolf's HP correctly (I did). Looked at the other companions while I had the game running. The raven has better stats than the wolf. WTF!?

They just need to scale with levels that's is it. How or if they plan to do that we have no way to know. Pets feel like summons spells anyway. Nothing like Animal companions at all.
Familiars in BG2 had a better vibe to it and that was 20 years ago. Looks like one of those ported dnd features that just got thrown in there with little to no preplaining.


I'm sure in the end it will be fine probably just like summoning spell, nothing new or amazing that would set new standards. Shovel makes for a better animal companion right now and his not even an animal or companion.


To add they still didn't fix the fact that if you take level 1 pet with ranger you get stuffed if you pick the wrong subclass. Many players will fall for that trap.

I agree the animal companions feel underpowered by level 4. I hope this is just because we’re in EA and it will be addressed. I’m not sure I like the idea of their stats being basically the same, though, as I’d prefer the ability to choose a companion that complements my play style, or even to develop a play style that complements my chosen companion. I’d prefer it if some companions were better tanks, DPS, CC, etc. That said, as long as they could reasonably survive as a member of the party past level 3 I’d cope with however that was achieved.

I’d also love it if animal companions had more personality, and it seems really inconsistent that you can’t talk to them when you can speak to random animals throughout the game. It would be great if they’d be more active around camp too, even perhaps interacting with Scratch and the owlbear cub. All cosmetic of course, but for me it helps bring the game to life.


What is the potential problem here? I may well have fallen for whatever the trap is but not known it.

I'm not really good with stats and numbers, so I can't comment on that aspect, but I wholly agree with Red that animal companions should feel more interesting and active as part of the game. They should actually feel like companions and have some degree of personality. Not super unique, but like, they shouldn't just be summon spells, they should at least try and make us the player feel connected with them. Same goes for Warlock familiars I think.

I'd like to see them follow Tasha's too. I also wish they'd put more time and detail into the animal companion/familiar concept in this game as part of the story. For a class type like a Ranger being able to customize the aesthetic elements of the companion animal would be particularly cool.

I agree that the wolf is likely the most popular, but I'll just use the dog as a great example. So say the game could provide a situation where the Ranger character comes across a brood of puppies while exploring the wilds. Perhaps the mother has been killed in a trap, or something fucked up like that to really tug at the empathy chords, (similar to the owlbear situation, but maybe it was goblins this time?) Anyhow, now the Ranger is tasked with bringing the little hound pups to Nettie so she can look after them and make sure they're alright. When that's all finished one of the pups takes a special shine to the Ranger, and that point they are prompted with a series options like a mini animal companion creation menu. Something like...

1. "Who's a good Boy/Girl?"
2. Sighthound, Scenthound, Shepherd, Mastiff etc for the basic model type
3. Fur color and patterning solid/stripes/patches etc for the specific look
4. Name

Now the Ranger has a doggo companion that feels a bit more like a companion, and less like a generic summons or a charmed animal type situation.

They could do something very similar for a Feline companion, or for birds where maybe it's a nestling that falls from a tree. Perhaps it's a Raven, Hawk, Sparrow, Owl, Parrot etc with the player providing the answer there. Stuff of that sort. Sure it could take place as part of char creation, but having it woven into the plotline for the Ranger early on, so it feels more unique and special to that path, would be even cooler.

For an animal familiar they the same, but with a more arcane bent to it. Like maybe there is a witches' menagerie at Ethel's place, where magical beasts are being held in cages and experimented on. The player is given the option to free the creatures, and that point the Wizard creates a bond with one of them launching the familiar creator. Again following that stuff with options to choose colors or aesthetic features to personalize the familiar.

I love Scratch and think that was a pretty nice touch in this game, but I wish he could come along for the ride as an actual companion. I think a "who do you dream of?" style creation option, but for Dogs and Cats and whatnot is a golden opportunity. I mean how could that not be an instant hit?

Panthera is probably more popular than Felis, in the same way one expects that a player might pick a Wolf over a Hound. But done properly they could make them feel more like the wild version. More like bobcats maybe, or little lions. If it's a bear or a boar or something a bit more exotic like a ferret or lizard or a spider, you could still get a lot of mileage out of choosing colors and patterns for the fur or feather or scales. The sort of attention often given to horses in other games which feature mounts and such, but I'd really lean into it with the dogs and cats. I think it would be totally worth the dev zots, whatever was required heheh

personally i hate the idea that a cat has the same stats as a Bear or frog but i always take spiders anyway

I do recall another thread touching on ranger animal companions. They really do need a rework. The magical summoning of animal companions is anathema to me in terms of immersion with the ranger class. They are supposed to have a bond with one creature as far as I know, not summoning various animals from a selection.

It’s another one of those instances where Larian have seemingly gone with what they consider the more ‘fun’, more ‘options’ route but actually just cheapens the class as a whole. I want my ranger to have an unbreakable bond with a single animal not a bunch of personality void summons.

Totally agree that the animal companion would feel so much more meaningful if it were a single animal. Players could be given the opportunity to change their companion animal at level up to provide some flexibility.

I’d probably go the same way with familiars, though there I can see more of a rationale for being able to summon different beasts.

BG3 animal companions are for sure perplexing. They don't feel like a real entities, they are expendable tools with no identity. I really liked to name and make builds for my pets in BG3, you could even make them very powerful with the right set of perks.

I DID fall for this the first time I created a Beastmaster. During character creation I had hoped that summoning a familiar would not affect my animal companion. The idea in my head being that I would have a wolf as my companion and could summon a bird to be a scout.

I like where your head is at, but this is one of the pitfalls of the original PHB Beastmaster sub class that wizards had to correct. If your companion is just an actual living breathing animal it becomes very problematic if it dies. Not so much from a storytelling standpoint; that could be potentially good character development. But your companion is tied to your mechanical combat options. So you have to have a way to replace it. Not to mention how much extra programming/writing it would take to create all that content.

That's how I thought about it originally. Then I played a beastmaster in a 5e campaign and realized how mechanically compromised the subclass was. Viewing it through the TCoE lens shifts the idea a bit. Your companion is an animal infused with your magic. It's stats are an expression of your magic.

I think a fun workaround to preserve the vibe in BG3 while still addressing the main prob, would be if they kinda Planescaped it when the animal companion died. So the first time the animal dies, they could do a cinematic where the heavens open up and the animal returns from over the rainbow bridge. Like all done up proper with at least as much flare as we get from the various camp cutscenes or like getting hit in the head before falling off the nautiloid hehe.

Then the animal companion becomes like the spirit version with the magical bond that is all connected up to the Ranger and endures in that way. Perhaps a magic collar with a bell that only the PC can hear, and a deeper level of communication at periodic intervals. Done more narrative than direct dialog perhaps, but stuff of that sort fleshed into the story. In BG3 they have some freedom to riff, so it'd be nice to see something of that sort. Sure it'd be some definite work to create the content and especially the customizations, but then that's the sort of content I'm pretty into, so making more work for them on that one doesn't seem like a bad trade off. At least for where my heart's at with it hehe.

I think the Ranger really requires some extra animal something just to keep them interesting, beyond the woodland scout that looks and feels like a rogue here, since they don't have the same sorta fight like the older versions and even their starting getup is just a recolor right now. More animal flare at char creation or right afterwards in the early game would be cool.

I'd prefer to stick to the PHB myself.
My gaming group has been running 5e almost since it came out and we passed on Tasha's for making some stuff ridiculously overpowered.

I've been playing D&D for over 40+ years now, and have played all editions - AD&D 1E being my favorite.
Rangers didn't have animal companions.
In either tabletop or video games it always seems like there is just too much focus on the animal companion, and in some cases they have been more interesting and/or effective in combat than their counterparts!

I think too many ppl have read Emo Drow Ranger stories and want a panther, failing to make the distinction that that is a Figurine of Wonderous Power.
Yeah, that cat is more exceptional, that's not what you get for being a Ranger...