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Hello fellow NWN2 players! I am Revi, and I've just finished my last playthrough of Baldur's Gate 1 through Throne of Bhaal, and started playing Neverwinter Nights 2.

I've rolled a halfling ranger, and I already love the character. It's awesome being small and deadly, and I love the fact you can get an animal companion. But I have a few newbie questions about the animal companions I would like to ask...

First of all, do animal companions gain hitpoints when I level up, or do they stay at their original hp total?

Second, is there some way to heal them or increase their defenses through feats or skills?

I chose a badger for a companion (because I throught it was really cute :laugh ... are they viable as pets for the duration of the game, or will my poor pet be toasted by every spellcaster I meet near the end of the game?

My apologies if I am asking something very obvious

-Revi

They do get stronger when you level, but you can't choose their feats like you can in PnP.
The Badger is rather a poor performer in NWN2, though.

Okay, thanks Well, I will stick with her anyway, and see how it goes. I was just a little worried she would stay at those 13 hps.

-Revi

Poor?
It gets the highest AC, best AB and average HP (spider got less). What it lacks in damage can easily be countered with Bull's strength, Awaken, Jagged tooth, Greater magic fang and Nature's Avatar.

Oh, and animal companions do get improved evasion at one point, so they will not be too bothered by spells that require a reflex save.

Spoiler:

I based my judgement on the Druid NPC's badger.
Also note that the OP is a Ranger, not a Druid.

Hmmm... I just noticed that.
Means the animal companion won't be as powerful as the druid's companion, since it won't be the same level as you and the ranger doesn't get the same spells as druids do. It'll only lose 1 AC and AB, though.

Fiberfar wrote:Oh, and animal companions do get improved evasion at one point, so they will not be too bothered by spells that require a reflex save.

Awesome!

Both Druids and Rangers (with Storm of Zehir) can gain the Dinosaur Companion feat. This one is the tank of the Animal Companions.

My Storm of Zehir manual doesn't list that feat. Is it an omission?

Likely. But there have been Many omissions in the Manual that I have heard about...

Druid gets it at about level 6-7.

Nice. Is there a thread somewhere which lists all these omissions?

The nwn2 wiki barely mentions dionsaur companion... It'll probably be updated sometime, though.

The builders guild for bioware forum people are talking about dinosaur animal companion.

So, it's just a custom content feat now?

no its a real feat. the builders guild (I speak of) is character building level by level rather than mods with construction set...

It really is the first thing I hear about this.

I will have a look at getting a dino then... when I start SoZ, that is. Currently still too busy playing the original game to consider starting its expansions

Revi wrote:I will have a look at getting a dino then... when I start SoZ, that is. Currently still too busy playing the original game to consider starting its expansions

Well, you can already install the expansions to benefit from new spells, feats and classes in the original game.

For animal companions the boar is the best blend of tank/damage. The badger is good at high levels because he has the highest AB and that means when you cast: nature's avatar, awaken, greater magic fang = now he is better than the boar. That would only happen if you have a druid in the party with spells to spare (might be you)..

The dinosaur is the best but I think you have to take Natural Bond (which might be wasted unless you multiclass) and also the dinosaur companion feat.

So cool that there are still people reading and replying to my post Thank you for the useful advice.

Is there any decent build around that combines ranger and druid levels to make the pets a little stronger?

-Revi