Epic Companions

[Lord of the Forest]

Oh yes, yet another suggestion related to rangers and I can already hear some of you moaning or protesting but this came up in my mind a few days ago.

A few days ago I was travelling with my ranger around on west with my lvl 23 animal companion. As I was running around I got to know that my companion is not epic. It is a plain lvl 23 companion.

So why would I complain, isn't it nice to have a companion at lvl 23? A useful fighter in combat? Well the companion is only useful these days as for RP. So I checked out how strong your average companion is. The lvl 3 ranger summon is a lvl 15 ancient dire wolf and it eats my lvl 23 companion for breakfast. It would even eat it when my companion was lvl 30, at least I assume so.

We cannot deny rangers are the best fighters, may this be frontline or archering. The ranger itself is more or less a support class but the idea I have about others is that a ranger fights as a unit together with his companion. The problem just is that these die all to fast and often. A few hits and it is gone. Mind you that rangers cannot buff ther companions like mages and clerics buff their summons which are already stronger.

Yes I know that summons are made stronger as they don't last that long. A companion stays until it is either death or gets unsummoned. But when a summon dies the mage simply shrugs and summons a new one, might buff it again and repeat the whole thing a few times while the ranger calls the companion once, it dies and the ranger has to wait around two hours until he can call it again in case the companion dies.

So why not hand classes who can call a companion/familiar a feat so they can call an epic summon when they reach epic levels? This could be a free chosable feat so only if the player thinks it as useful he will have t chose it from a feat list at level-up. Not like 'Oh I am epic I will now get an epic companion' You will simply only get it when you spend a feat with it.

I think it is kind of sad that we don't see rangers running around with their companions these days as it adds something to the world as well. Besides it would be something rangers could look forward to

Imo it makes sense when a companion gets apic as well as both the ranger and companion can look back a long time of training and fighting together.

So well, just a suggestion...?

[Dorganath]

Wouldn't this be partly alleviated by adding ranger spells as requested in the other thread (i.e. the ability for Rangers to buff their companions)?
 
 And for what it's worth, it's a little incorrect to compare an animal companion to a summon.  The proper equivalent for a mage is his/her familiar, which also has a 2 RL hour time delay if it gets killed before it can be summoned again.
 
 My last comment is that animal companions and familiars, in general, are not intended for combat.  It's like saying to your best friend, "Yeah, I know you're weaker than me, but jump in front of that thing and distract it for me, please."

[Jaigan]

generally speaking a ranger is different then a mage, if you wanted a summon like that you should have made a mage. no offence but I don't like having so little hp, but hells I picked the class if I wanted hp I would have played a barb or fighter. when it comes down to it not all classes are balanced some classes just don't have the mojo.  RP and find a group that's what us rogues do.
 
 I'm not trying to start a war here but really everyclass has something to offer and everyone would love to have something another class has, the envy is with everyone.

[Falonthas]

if a ranger could buff his /her companion like a mage can buff up a summon, it would make them able to be used more then just a frolick in the meadow

even druid companions though we can buff to some extent, after advanced forms and even dire forms are reached you seldom see the companion any more except during casual times in the forest

once a druid hits his dire forms i dont think, speaking from playing drogo, unless i wanted to make a pack of dire wolves appear for a rp standpoint, used his companion for anything more then the rp aspect

now sure rangers wait longer for spells, and basic druid spells like magic fang and barkskin at those levels would enhance their companion to give them some chance to be a with an epic level ranger

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

As I was running around I got to know that my companion is not epic. It is a plain lvl 23 companion.

Isn't level 23, by definition, epic?

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

I think he means a companion thats epic, as in Useful, Capable, Powerful, Deadly, not "Epic"...  Folllow?

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

But Rangers' animal companions aren't even supposed to be as powerful in relation to the character as a Druid's. They're supposed to be half that powerful - an RP tool, not something for use in combat. Something like a weak cohort.