Finally, Animal Companions should differ from Familiars in that they can fight and attack and such while Familiars are more for scouting and for channeling magic through them. Here's my suggestion for Familiars in BG3. In tabletop, the wizard can channel magic through the familiar if it has a range of touch. SOOOooooo, there aren't that many spells like that in BG3 that would really benefit the spellcaster. SOOOOooooo, I think it'd be really cool if the wizard could channel ALL spells that make sense through the Familiar. In other words, move the Familiar into range of Minthara, then Gale casts Magic Missile with Level 2 Spell Slot through the Familiar. Bam! Gale's way at the back, but the Familiar got up close and hurled Magic Missile. (Keeping in mind the Familiar must still be within 100 feet of the Mage for the Mage to channel through the familiar.)
I agree with most of these points. It's kinda funny, because in a way, Familiars are already partial channels. If you double click on a scroll from your party panel while a familiar is selected, the Familiar will cast the spell. (I'm still trying to find a scroll of Disguise Self, see what happens in this case.) A few days ago, QA Oly said this was fixed in his build, but it didn't make it into todays hotfix.
