Sharklords: Do they Suck?

[zoobob9]

Does the Animal Lord option Sharklord suck? It seems like a broken class. I'm in an aquatic campaign, and I thought Sharklord would be a logical choice...but am I missing what it's good at?

[limejuicepowder]

I doubt you're missing anything; animal lord is fairly terrible. The problem is they get no way to buff their animal companion - most animals glaring weakness is low armor and a reliance on melee. This translates to lots of squashed animals if you can't buff the armor.

Get some barding ASAP and that'll help a lot. Unfortunately it won't help you be a better combatant.

Edit: Instead, I recommend you go for Beast Heart Adept. It is also not a super-powered class, but it's better than animal lord. Much more fun too, IMO - they actually gain abilities that synergize, like team-based tactics between you and your beast. RAW there is are no aquatic monstrous companions to chose from, but it would be very reasonable to work something out with the DM to get one. This class can be found in Dungeonscape.

[WhatBigTeeth]

Sharklords: Do they Suck?
Yes.

You could get better versions of half its class features just by being a darfellan.

[Nightgaun7]

There's a PrC called the waverider or something similar that gives a bunch of underwater mount abilities. I think it's in Savage Species.